Hey, so we have been screening films via USB and Hard Drives for the last 2 Bluescreens and while the quality of how films look on screen has been largely improved and we have had more films and people in through the door (thank you all!), we have encountered a few teething problems with screening from digital files, which has regrettably caused some delays at our screenings.

Some of the file sizes have been very large, meaning it takes ages to transfer films onto our Laptop to screen; there has been several versions of the same film in a folder and some files were are not labelled at all, causing some confusion which ones to screen. And we had some Hard drives problems too.
I guess we don’t really tell people how we want films ‘formatted’ to screen at Bluescreen, but as screening from digital files has been causing delays at our last 2 screenings and as we do want to carry on screening them, we have decided to put together some guidelines (see below). We also hear that the Tech setup in the Cube Projection room has been upgraded, so this should iron out any other problems too.

So ideally we like to screen from either DVD or USB….
DVD - Should be playable in a DVD Player (ie. not data files) and bring a backup disk if you can.
USB  - Digital Film Files should be clearly marked with your name, film title and our name - BLUESCREEN, so it can be quickly found by our projectionist.
To get the best screening experience at Bluescreen, we suggest your film should be formatted in H264 video compression, with AAC compression for audio. And limit the data rate to 15,000 kbits/sec and films should be no larger than 5GB per file.
https://handbrake.fr/ is a great free program than can help you with this, but there are others out there too.

We hope this all helps to improve your Bluescreen screening experience in the future!

Thanks for reading!

Bluescreen

We have been thinking about this for a while... screening films from Memory sticks instead of from DVDs. Good idea/bad idea? Better quality and no DVD glitches and may simplify the process of getting films off computers and bringing them to screen at Bluescreen.. but we do like to keep your DVDs in our archive...mmnn..

Anyway so at our May event (21st), if you want to bring your films along on a Memory stick instead of a DVD then please do it!

But if you still want to bring films along on DVD then thats cool too.

We are an equal opportunities film formatting event!

Cube Orchestra rescore: Lyrebird Soup (2012) - Naren Wilks - 6 mins
Breakfast - Jo and Pete – 7.50 mins
Gasp - Andrzej Sosnowski & Christian Lapidge – 3.47 mins
The Shadow Remains - Ariel Pintor  - 27 mins
Baffin Island Expedition 2010 - Vijay Shah - 19 Mins
Punishment (Directors cut) - Kevin – 10 mins.
In at the deep end - Diana Taylor - 9 mins.

A belated Happy New Year to you all, from us here at Bluescreen HQ!

We will be making an announcement soon on which film we have selected to be included in the 70minute Film for The Film That Buys The Cinema Project. We have had a number of entries and it wont be an easy decision to make as, not surprisingly, the quality of the films are of a very high standard. We will let you know soon.

And we have our 1st event of the year coming up at The Cube in just 2 weeks! Looking forward to seeing some more of your amazing films, you never seem to let us down! Join up to our Facebook Event here.... https://www.facebook.com/events/579095082164810/?ref=22 And please feel free to share with any other interested parties. Will be great to start the year off with a packed Bluescreen..  

Spread the word...  22/01/14

Thanks All

Bluescreen

The deadline for submissions to Bluescreen for The Film That Buys The Cinema (FTBTC) project is Dec 31st i.e. TOMORROW!

FTBTC is a 70 minute art feature film comprised of one-minute takes, no edits. Each minute is shot by contributors who have passed through the Cube.. By making a 60 second take YOU can contribute to this project and in doing so raise money for the Cube. Bluescreen will be picking ONE of the submitted takes and this will be INCLUDED in the 70 min feature. http://www.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/ftbtc/ftbtc.pl?action=home

So if you have not sent us a 60 second Film, then you have one more day...

Submit films up to 2k resolution (ideally high def) -  via wetransfer or similar to: bluescreen@cubecinema.com by midnight tomorrow.

Good luck all!

http://bluescreenfilms.weebly.com/

28/11/13 - Update: Deadline for submissions to Bluescreen now extended until December 31st!

Bluescreen are excited to announce that we have been invited to take part in The Film That Buys the Cinema (FTBTC) and what we need from you is a '60 second Take'!  Read on...

"FTBTC is a 70 minute art feature film comprised of one-minute takes, no edits. Each minute is shot by contributors who have passed through the Cube and who are special to us: film makers, musicians, poets, amateurs, wrestlers, radicals, community groups and more.

Each contributor's take is 60 seconds long. Each minute will be sequenced together to morph into a labyrinthine journey of light and sound, capturing not only the here and now but the history and future of our very special and deeply loved independent social cinema space.

From the wilfully obscure to the cult, the pop spectrum to the outer limits, from scientists to skaters The Film That Buys the Cinema will be a series of takes on life's rich pageant, bumper to bumper. An artistic time capsule.

Through associated art objects, credits and then exhibition, this film will help raise the final funds needed to buy the actual building the Cube is housed in and secure the plucky Microplex's future"

And Bluescreens part is...

Bluescreen: Contribute a Take
"...1 x 60 second take is open for sourcing. YOU can contribute by sending a take into Cube's very own Bluescreen, the 'Open Screen Independent Walk-in Film Programme' operating since 2001. Bluescreen will pick one of the submitted takes and this will be included in the 70 min feature.

Delivery: Up to 2k resolution (ideally high def) - on tape, USB stick and sent to BLUESCREEN / FTBTC to Cube address: 4 Princess Row, Bristol, UK, BS2 8NQ, or upload to us via wetransfer or similar: bluescreen@cubecinema.com. Any technical queries please contact ftbtc@cubecinema.com.
IMPORTANT. Only submit material that is unique, able to be used for eternity by the Freehold project and has no strings attached."

DEADLINE for submissions is December 2nd.

More on the FTBTC here:http://www.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/ftbtc/ftbtc.pl?action=home

 28/11/13 - Update: Deadline for submissions to Bluescreen now extended until December 31st!

"FTBTC is a 70 minute art feature film comprised of one-minute takes, no edits. Each minute is shot by contributors who have passed through the Cube and who are special to us.."

YOU can contribute to this project and in doing so raise money for the Cube.. by making a 60 second take and sending it to us here. Bluescreen will be picking ONE of the submitted takes and this will be INCLUDED in the 70 min feature.

More on the FTBTC here: http://www.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/ftbtc/ftbtc.pl?action=home

The deadline for submissions to Bluescreen is December 31st and just to let you know that ALL films submitted will be screened at a Bluescreen in 2014!

Delivery: Up to 2k resolution (ideally high def) - on tape, USB stick and sent to: BLUESCREEN / FTBTC to Cube address: 4 Princess Row, Bristol, UK, BS2 8NQ. OR upload to us via wetransfer or similar to: bluescreen@cubecinema.com.
Any technical queries please contact ftbtc@cubecinema.com.

IMPORTANT. Only submit material that is unique, able to be used for eternity by the Freehold project and has no strings attached.

Good luck to everyone!

Wow! Thanks Bristol for another evening of great short films last night! And here’s what we screened...

Cube Orchestra rescore: Earthen  – Tom Swindell  (2008)  - (16mins)
Black Cab To Rehab – Adam Richards & Rowdy - (4mins)
Higher Channels/One Man/Total Immortal – Benji  - (4mins)
Return to Sendai – G Slater ( 12mins)
Into The Light – Declan Smith (7.07mins)
Escalation – Catarina Oliveira – (11mins)
Land of Dreams (Transpersonals promo) – Piski Films (6.34mins)
The End – Santo (10mins)
Dog End – Santo (3.30mins)
The End Point of a Circle – D Wade & R Wickings ( 13mins)
Untitled Short Film – Lukas (5mins)
Rainbow – Muscat/Southsection (4mins)
Flight of the Fly – Muscat/Southsection (4mins)

Apologies to Jammy who brought in My Farewell Ride and we couldnt get it to play; bring another copy in on dvd and we will screen it next time.

We are now off to our Bluescreen bunker to compile our yearly Bluescreen DVD compilation, so the next Bluescreen will be with you in July. See you all then and thanks all for coming down, we all enjoyed it, hope you did too :)

Films Screened in March @ Bluescreen
It is not a little humbling and also just so fabulous that Bristol filmmakers can provide over an hour and a half of thought provoking and entertaining films just two months after the last Bluescreen.

Huge thank you to all who came tonight. It was a total treat. You brought us/ we saw five absorbing and interesting documentaries, a beautiful and haunting animation of a folk tale that had a stronger message, a compelling music video and an unsettling and intriguing drama.

Below are the list of films. Filmmakers if you have your film on Vimeo or Youtube please do email us the link for us to be able to post your film on our page in future.

Many many thanks to you all for coming filmmakers and viewers alike – and to the fabulous Cube staff volunteers who made it all happen.

The films:
Andrew Williams Probing the west country. 8 minutes. (Documentary)
Dominic Wade. Decks Dance Videotape. 13.5 Minutes. (Documentary)
Piskie Films. Piper of Hameln. 13 minutes. (Animation)
Fabian Martin. A way of life. 17 minutes. (Documentary)
Fabian Martin. War Face. 9 minutes. (Music film).
Vivi Insightful donation. 20.00 (Documentary).
Santo. The End. 9minutes. (Drama).
Molly Gibney. Frog in the Water. 8 minutes. (Documentary).


Looking forward to seeing you all on May 15th.

Films Screened on January 16th

Thanks to everyone who came along to The Cube on Wednesday, particularly on such a cold night! And what fantastic films too!

So here’s what we screened…

The Cube Orchestra rescored The Cardboard Orchestra by Scott Buchanan Barden (2010).

Then we screened..
La Perida del juicio – Maria Manero
Docobanksy – Docobanksy
A Brief Comedy of Polarisation – Adam Bell
Two Detectives – Tom Betts
Exile – Adam Petruczok
Munbefenaat – Piski Films
Notorious War by Wave N400 – Pablo Mestres
Who Goes We? – Lisa Shuh

And from our 2009 Compilation, we screened..
Gordon Emmanuel - Atem
Tom Mansfield - Felix machines
Ben Dowden - Dub FX1 – Flow/Step
Tajinder Dhami - Alpha, Diagnostic, Hospitalised
Hywel George - The life and life of Horace
Andy Sowerby - Tulips
Ben Dowden - Dance Film 3
Dylan Radclyffe - Doug Tabbard, Human Curler

And the film compilation screening in the lounge was from 2005 …
The Ram Inn – Sebastian Nolan/Chris Bradford/James Atkinson
Rusty Road less Travelled – Woody James
Maja – Chris Barnett
A Royal Obsession - Dan Brown
Short Sharp Shock – Dee Kalakoti
Old Street – Jacob Parish
The Battle of Cable Street – Toby Trackman/Yoav Segal

Thanks again for bringing in your films. Looking forward to the next Bluescreen, which is March 27th. See you all again then.