Morrison

Put 'film' and 'festival' together and chances are, lights as paparazzi click away at the stars, high-end cameras and the action of announcers ripping envelopes dramatically to say "and the winner is ..." are among the images that come to mind.

And the feature film is invariably the focus of the whole shebang.

However, David Morrison, who organises a movie club each Saturday at Redbones the Blues Café in New Kingston, has something totally different in mind for the Jamaica Short Film Festival. Also to be held at RedBones, it is slated to be a part of the third Kingston on the Edge celebration, which runs from June 19-27.

Invitation for entries

Morrison recently made an open invitation for entries, asking for films between one and 10 minutes long. Filmmakers interested in entering the Jamaica Short Film Festival should email Morrison at davidmorrison@cwjamaica.com or dplus@cwjamaica.com.

"A couple months ago, I saw that there was a 60-second film festival done by Edna Manley College students, and apparently there is one international film festival that only features one-minute-long films," Morrison told The Gleaner. He said that while filmmaking is seen as a very expensive process, and for longer films it is, "if you take it down to short films you open up the market a bit."

Morrison said that the Edna Manley College students produced a "mixed bag", with films of varying quality, using no special effects and no major film personalities. But "I thought 'wow, people are making films; let's get the people involved'.

"It opens up the market to the vast majority of us who have some filmmaking desire," Morrison said of the short-film format.

That also applies to the equipment that is required. Morrison said, for those wishing to enter the Jamaica Short Film Festival, "I'm thinking that the really base consumer level camcorder will do." There is, however, the editing process and Morrison is offering some assistance in teaching interested persons the basics of iMovie, an editing programme on Macintosh machines with which he has experience.

"I am hoping that perhaps, if I can get sufficient people who are willing I could do a basic workshop. You can shoot a movie, but to take it to the next level you have to edit it," he said. The editing process itself is done on different levels: first, so that it is cohesive and flows without abrupt transitions as it tells a story, and then adding special effects such as rain and thunder.

No entry fee planned

Morrison said "at the moment, there is no entry fee planned. I doubt that will change." And there will be no awards.

"This, for me, isn't a competition so much as gathering people together to create a culture of filmmaking and watching films, which I have already done with my movie club, but I want to include Jamaican filmmakers," Morrison said.

"I am excited," Morrison said, noting that he wishes to get filmmakers out of the closet and showing their work. "I am interested in getting non-professionals out. I think filmmaking is such an elite activity," Morrison said, noting that people generally have had to go to film school and have access to funding.

"I want it to be as democratic as possible," Morrison said of the Jamaica Short Film Festival. I feel that everybody has a story to tell. Film needs participation, not exclusivity."