Submissions Guidelines FAQ

Last updated 10/29/02 10:42 AM

1. What is a Six Minute Movie?

The Six Minute Movie (6M2) takes its inspiration from the Drabble. A Drabble is a short story of exactly 100 words, and part of the art form is to tell a good story or write a good piece without cramming it or padding it to 100 words. The Six Minute Movie is a structured video art form consisting of an original visual production lasting six minutes. As with a Drabble, the content of the production is entirely at the whim of the producers, be it comedy or drama, black and white or colour, animated or live-action. Many of the Six Minute Movies produced are expected to be brief parodies, cross-overs, and comedy sketches.

2. What is the structure of a Six Minute Movie?

The Six Minute Movie  is actually five minutes (approximately) of content bookended by a semi-standardised 10+ second opening credit/title and 30+ second closing credit/title. The total production time (content and credits) must add up to six minutes, +/- 10 seconds. As stated before, the content can be anything as long as it is represented by the motion video medium.

3. How will people see my Six Minute Movie?

The Internet provides us with the perfect means of distributing each 6M2 and indeed is one of the reasons for the six minute limit. A central web site has been established to store and distribute each 6M2 in RealVideo format. RealVideo encoders and players are free downloads from www.real.com. As more 6M2s are produced, compilation videotapes will be made available through the site to enable people to see the movies in their full-screen, full-motion glory...but remember, the intended viewing method is through the Internet.

4. What is the credit/title standard?

The opening ten-plus-second credit/title sequence must begin with your name or production company name and the word "presents" followed by the title of the movie. The title must begin with "The Six Minute" -- for example "The Six Minute Babylon 5" or "The Six Minute Jerry Springer". You may include any other credits you wish, but the credit sequence must last for a total of ten to thirty seconds, at which point the narrative begins. After the five minutes (+/- 10 seconds) of narrative, you have thirty - fifty seconds (depending on the length of the opening credits) to include any closing credits you wish. Also, if you're using characters, shows, etc. copyrighted to someone else (especially a corporation), please include acknowledgement of who owns the copyright and that you're using the elements without permission. (Just trying to keep everyone's butt covered as much as possible, although in the arena of fan fiction/video, that little disclaimer won't even be a g-string's worth of coverage.)

5. How strict are these rules?

Pretty strict. One of the purposes of the Six Minute Movie is to create something worthwhile given a certain time constraint. If your idea can't be boiled down to approximately five minutes, then it doesn't fit the format. The Six Minute Movie Committee will make final judgment on whether a movie can be officially considered a 6M2, although if a submission fails the producer has the option to re-work the submission to fit the guidelines.

Now, this may sound strict, but it's really quite flexible within the time constraints. Take a look at both The Six Minute UNIT Files and The Six Minute The Master: The Sinister Smell of Success for examples of how to push the credit time limit and still qualify as a 6M2.

6. Would you mind giving an example of what all this +/- ten seconds etc. really means?

Of course not. Take The Doctor Files, for example. Running time of content is 5:07. (Running time of content could have been anywhere between 4:50 and 5:10 to fit format.) That leaves :43 to 1:03 for credits, at least :10 of which must appear at the beginning and include the items listed in #4.

7. Who can submit videos?

Anyone who wants to, really. E-mail your real media files (zipped, if possible) to Jennifer Kelley, or snail mail it to Jennifer at the address in (8.). 

 

Formatting should be as follows:

 

provide two files, one optimized for 56k dialup, one for 384k dsl

image size should be 320 x 240 (or whatever is closest that makes your video card happy-- for example, Federation videos are 352 x 240)

optimize both files for normal motion video, audio w/background music

  

 

8. What if I don't have access to the equipment that will let me create a RealVideo file?

You may send an NTSC format S-VHS or VHS tape, or a PC-formatted CD-ROM with an .avi or .mov file to  

Jennifer Kelley
c/o P.O. Box 633
Skokie, IL 60077 USA

and we will convert it for you.

9. Who is on the Six Minute Movie Committee?

At present the Committee consists of members of the Federation, a fan video cooperative that has been making videos since 1983. We will judge videos on length only, not on overall quality. (Although, we hope you'll keep things relatively clean, in the spirit of Doctor Who (the show that got us making videos in the first place).

10. Why is the Federation doing this 6M2 thing, anyway?

The Federation came up with this idea in part to give ourselves an outlet for making and showing short videos in the spirit of some of our long-form projects like S-A-V-E-W-H-O and The Reign of Turner. Then it occurred to us that other people might like to try their hand as well, either because they have a really wicked idea or because they're new at making video and want/need an easy outlet for display and discussion. Since we've always felt the more, the merrier when it comes to fan videomaking, we decided that we would host the site and encourage others to produce content for it.

11. Who do I contact for more information?

Either Steve Hill, Jennifer Kelley, or Robert Warnock.