"you gotta be fucking kidding me" - Lee Hardcastle on finding out he won the ABCs competition.
Congratulations to Mr Hardcastle and his wonderfui short that took out top honours. His short Toilet will be the T word in the 2012 Feature film THE ABCs OF DEATH alongside 25 other short films in the most ambitious anthology ever attempted.
Thanks to all those who participated in this competition. We had a lot of fun watching all the entries and see just how much talent is starting to creep out into the sunlight. It was a very close race and here were the runner ups; 2nd place “T is for Talk,” by Peter Haynes, 3rd place “T is for Turbo,” by François Simard, Anouk Whissel and Yoann-Karl Whissel, 4th place “T is for Table,” by Shane Free and 5th place “T is for Termite,” by Steve Daniels.
Read Submission Guidelines
We are searching for the next great genre director and we are prepared to give away five grand in cash and a dose of fame to find a lucky winner. The ABCs of Death has already signed up 25 of the most talented genre directors on this planet and have saved the 26th spot for someone to grab with both hands and to throttle it into submission. The winner of this global search will have their work included in a feature film alongside some of the genre's most talented new blood. But even if you don't win, your searing talent may just be discovered through this competition. So if you want to take part in the greatest horror project since Dr Frankenstein first threw that switch, then just read the below and start those bloody creative juices flowing.
Remember to upload your work as quickly as possible, as the more people you can get to vote for your short the more chance you'll be in the Top Ten and to go onto the final judging round, when the 25 other directors get to choose the winner.
Choose your own ABCs of Death word starting with the letter “T”. ie T is for TAZER (you get to choose your own word, probably best not to use Tazer, unless you really want to do a Tazer to the groin short).
Then create a short film that is inspired by the ‘word’ you have chosen. How you interpret the word is entirely up each competitor. You can shoot live-action, animation, stop-motion, use actors, cut-outs, puppets or animals. The choice is yours, there are no restrictions on content or creativity, provided of course you don’t break any international laws.
Words that explain exactly how the death will occur are fun but they offer little surprise. T is for TAZER means that the audience will know that someone is going to die via a Tazer somehow in advance. This can be a very good thing (anticipation) or it can be somewhat anti-climatic (if you deliver whats expected). It depends on how you play it out. Please keep in mind that there are many other directors all making similarly structured works that are all operating within the same theme.
We are looking for the “Holy Shit” factor.
Ultimately we would like your segment to have the ability to stand on its own as well as being integrated into the final project. We feel it would be best to make each segment a complete mini-tale, with a beginning, middle and end.
Here are some things to think about.
- Do you put your death in the beginning, middle or end?
- Do you make it subtle nod to your “T” word or take the sledgehammer approach?
- Do you create a beautiful death or a scary one or a humourous one or a very unpleasant one?
- Do you have a twist in the tail of your tale?
- Do you give it a specific perspective? ie POV
- Do you set it in one room or in several locations?
- Do you use dialogue or make it a visual poem?
- Do you make it live-action or animate it?
Upload your short to Vimeo™ or Youtube™ (Please remember that Youtube may pull your film for restricted material, so if you have material you think is questionable, then upload it to vimeo) and then link to the Official ABCs Of Death site. Please enter valid contact details before you upload your Film to the ABCs Of Death official website and accept the Terms and Conditions and agree to be bound by them.
Please read the Terms and Conditions as they contain very important information about the making of your short.
TIMELINE
Deadline for Your Submission : October 1st, 2011
Public Voting Starts : As soon as the film is loaded (Share your short on Facebook, twitter, everywhere to get people to vote for it)
Top 10 Shorts as Voted by Public : Ends, Oct 31st, Halloween
26th Director Chosen : November 15th (The 25 other ABC directors will choose the 26th Director from the Public's Top Ten Shorts)
SPECIFICATIONS
Do not upload any film which contains third party copyrighted material unless you have obtained prior written approval for your use of same. Nor upload any Film which contains branded segments unless you have obtained prior written approval for your use of same. All parties who appear recognizably in your film must execute a talent release form. All music and songs are cleared for use within this competition by the appropriate parties.
Your ABC Film must be four (4) minutes or under in length. Your title & credits do not count towards the final running time. All films must be finished to 16:9 HD. Your film's aspect ratio must be 1.77:1. The uploaded version should not be a monster sized file. A smaller file probably means more people will view it and vote for it.
You must put the title of your short (ie T is for Tazer) before the short commences and all your credits must be after the short ends. (title & credits do not count towards running time)
All shorts must begin with a full screen of RED. Camera can pan or zoom away from the RED.
All shorts must end on a RED screen of some sort. Camera can pan or zoom into the RED.
PLEASE NOTE : The above is just an example. Be creative with it.
*Voting
To prevent spammers and cheats we have a system that means you must respond to an automated email to register your vote. This way the competition will be fair and even. If you want your short or a short you love to win the competition then use the social networking buttons to share the short with your friends. The more people that see it and vote, the more chance it will be in the Top Ten come October.
You can vote for each short only once. You can however vote for as many shorts as you'd like.
We promise not to spam your email with offers of penis enlargement or to help us shift $100,000,000 we have in a bank in Nigeria.
Contact
Please contact Zack Carlson if you have any further questions about the submission process.
Hide Submission Guidelines
