On Location: The Gizmo Tree

Project: The Gizmo Tree
Shot: December 2007
Location: Saskatchewan Legislative Building - Wascana Park
Revisited: March 2009

I'm not sure you can really expect trees to change that much in just a few years, but revisiting the location of The Gizmo Tree was fun. Shooting was such a rush, and after everything that followed it's easy to see why the project is still one of my favorites.

Gizmo's in the Top 10! Please Vote

My short film, the Gizmo Tree has just reached the Top 10 of the Yobi Film Contest! We started out with 30 movies/semi-finalists and after a month of voting I now find myself only a single round away from reaching the Top 5 - the ultimate round - the Finals!

To skip ahead and cast a much appreciated vote for my movie, click here.

Ever since uploading my work to the Yobi Contest site back in December, my focus has been making it to the finals in the film category. Win or lose, I really just want to feel satisfied that I pushed as hard as I could, promoted as hard as I could, and even if it's just for a week, feel like I had a shot at the top title. Opportunities like this are obviously few and far between.

While I can't deny how helpful the $10,000+ grand prize would be in helping me advance my own career and facilitate a desired move to Vancouver, what's actually fuelling my campaign for votes is the exposure that a contest like this gives my work and myself (which it already has). If I can gain even a couple new contacts to improve my network, the reward can be far more significant and long lasting - being featured as a finalist is a great start!

It's funny to be talking about my serious outlook in relation to a short like, the Gizmo Tree. It's a clean cut, quirky little comedy that seems to serve its purpose and encourage a few laughs - but the positive response and feedback has been incredibly humbling. I've watched it and critiqued it more times than I'd care to remember, and yet it's this easy going flick that has the potential to influence some fairly dramatic personal and professional upgrades.

Your votes, attention, time, support, viewership, feedback, and even your ability to put up with my self campaigning, speaks to the fact that many of you are willing to help me achieve something that I can't possibly succeed at alone. In this case it's a single weekly vote and telling others about my short, which in turn is helping me reach new viewers and grow in popularity. In the last round alone, the Gizmo Tree shot up over 9,000 views.

To cast a vote for the Gizmo Tree:
1. Visit Yobi.tv and use your email address to join the site.
2. Once logged in, simply visit my Gizmo Tree Contest Profile.
3. Click the THUMBS UP under my movie. That's it!

I want to thank you all for your help and support - whether this is the first time you've voted or the 5th, the rounds are only getting more competitive and intense. That said, I'm going to give my weekly pitch again and ask if any of you can mention my short to a co-worker, friend, spouse, family member, etc. it would be greatly appreciated! This is the last round of the semi-finals, and the Top 5 is almost close enough to touch.

Thank you!

The Jumbo Diamond

Date:
December 2007

Associated Video(s):

• The Gizmo Tree
• VOTE for the Gizmo Tree
  

Story:
It was this random Christmas tree ornament that became the elaborate treasure and reward in my short the Gizmo Tree. Just a piece of plastic that hung heavy side down on a cheap holiday display . . . I saw it and instantly thought that it would make a perfect prop for some future project. It didn't inspire the Gizmo Tree, but it seemed fitting for the fantasy element of the movie and made up for the faulty gift plot line - somewhere in the rush of writing the project it was included for the extra novelty and punchline. To this day, the 'jumbo diamond' as I excitedly referred to it in Gizmo, still sits on my desk as a reminder of the project.

The Gizmo Toque

Date:
December 2007

Associated Video(s):

• The Gizmo Tree
• VOTE for the Gizmo Tree

Story:
I remember I was out shopping for some winter clothes and came across this toque. The first time I actually decided to wear it was for the Gizmo Tree project, so it essentially became a piece of my winter costume - never to be worn again after how many times I had to see it in the video. For a simple little toque, it seemed to fit the childish fantasy theme of the short and based on the success of the movie, the $10 investment was well worth it.

I Need Your Vote For The Gizmo Tree

The Semi-Finals for the Yobi.tv Film Contest have begun, and in order to win I need your vote for my short film, The Gizmo Tree. To skip ahead and cast your vote on the site, click here.

WEEK ONE: Voting Begins (April 13-19)

In December 2008 I was voted into the semi-finals for week 17 of the 30 week Yobi.tv Filmmaking Contest. I'm now one of 30 independent filmmakers in competition for over $10,000 for 1st place, and it's been a long road to get here.

The way the contest works, is that each week (Monday-Sunday) you are allowed to cast ONE vote for a single semi-finalist's entry (thumbs up or thumbs down). That means if you choose to help me out, you only have to place a single vote for the entire week. Each following week, the 5 films with the lowest number of votes are eliminated from the contest and the cycle repeats. You'll be able to place another single vote each week until there are 5 remaining films - the Finalists. Also important to note, is that the votes never reset throughout the competition, so having as many votes as possible each week is key because they add up.

To cast a vote for the Gizmo Tree is easy and fast.

1. Visit Yobi.tv and use your email address to join the site.
2. Once logged in, simply visit my Gizmo Tree semi-finalist page.
3. Click the THUMBS UP under my movie. You've just voted for the week.

I can't express enough, how with each film contest or competition that I take part in, I'm always humbled by the support many of you show me. Because I'm working as hard as I can to get the word out about my short and campaign for votes, I want you to know that I wouldn't be able to have these positive experiences were it not for you taking the time to help me out.

I want to make this as easy for you to do as possible, so if there is anything I can do, or anyone else you can think of who might be willing to vote - don't hesitate to get in touch with me personally and I'll spread the word. My email is fandrix@hotmail.com

OR, if you'd like to forward my message to help me campaign and reach the YobiFILM finals, I've tried to make that easier too. I've created a promo clip and posted it on YouTube to introduce myself, showcase my short, and explain the contest. Spreading the word is as easy as forwarding the promo clip to your family and friends. Here it is below:



Again, I want to say thank you for your help. If I make it through a few rounds, this is going to be a long contest as the weeks roll on. However, because each person can only cast a vote a week for my short, the challenge really becomes reaching as many people as possible. If you've got a few minutes, please check it out - Vote for the Gizmo Tree.

Thanks for your time folks!

-Luke Fandrich

The Gizmo Tree (2007)

Back in late November of 2007 I had just completed my first entry for the Cell-ebrities contest, Give it Time. I'd thought about that film and concept since I first heard about the competition back in the summer, but with over a month left to do something else it didn't seem like such a bad idea to make another movie.

Up until then it was really just a thought. What I liked about Give it Time was that it was something I was able to do completely solo. It was a nice simple idea, with an original twist, and I knew it was unlike the other entries I'd seen on the site. I was more than happy to stand by my original film, and believed, given the other videos I'd seen, that I had the potential to be selected for the final round. Still, there's something energizing about putting your work out there. Being in the heat of things, so to speak, had me checking the Cell-ebrities site on a regular basis and telling everyone to check out my entry.

It was now mid-December, and late one evening I found myself searching through pages of music on a royalty free site. Out of nowhere really, I found myself listening to a track that just sparked an idea. Having the desire to make another project is one thing, but having a complete concept pop into your head doesn't usually happen so quickly. Maybe it's fitting, and definitely cheesy, that the instrumental track was called 'Eternal Hope'. I can see now, that had I not come across the piece of music that I did, the Gizmo Tree and a second submission probably would have never happened.

That exact night of finding the song I began to write and record some narration. I wasn't completely committed to the idea yet, but I figured if I put a few pieces together I'd know. A few minutes turned into a few hours and I found myself with a rough script, and a decent mock-up of my audio and narration. I was excited, and as only an evening of creative efficiency will allow, I had completed enough prep work to convince myself that the idea was still worth completing in the morning.

As was the case with both my Cell-ebrities films, the production came together quickly and was helped by a lot of in-the-moment ambition. It was a Sunday that my friend Tyler helped me out in shooting what would become the initial scenes of my film. The weather was perfect for it, fresh snow on the ground, frost on the trees, all around a perfect winter scene. That night I remember being so upset because all of the dialogue scenes (with me in front, facing the tree) were off balance, and the shots just didn't look as good as the stuff shot earlier.

Time was running out by this point. I was heading home for Christmas in less than a week, and I still needed to re-shoot, edit and then be sure I could upload to the site. A few months earlier in the contest, the site was down for nearly 3 weeks so I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit superstitious or concerned that my luck would run out as I was rushing to finish.

I went out the next day alone to re-shoot my dialogue scenes. There is a huge park around the Legislative Building in Regina, SK so that served as the location for my enchanted forest. There were about 3 or 4 different trees that I used as the actual Gizmo Tree throughout the process, but the biggest issue at that point was that the lighting for my re-shoot day had completely changed. The day before it was grey and snowy, the next day the skies were clear and the sun was shining. Although I wasn't initially crazy about it, as soon as I started shooting I could see how good it looked. The lighting created strong contrast, it added welcome colour, it made the tree really stand out, and it gave me a great silhouette and sunset to cut away to.

You can also see a few of the props that were used that day, including the Jumbo Diamond and the Gizmo Toque. I can't look at either of these items without associating the project with them.

That night the editing came together like clockwork. Even though I was incredibly anxious to get my new film out there, I sat on it for a couple of days just to make sure that it was the project I wanted. It was then uploaded early on December 19 and within minutes I had some positive comments and ratings underneath my film.

The Gizmo Tree was above all, another personal exercise in what I was capable of. I often work solo, not because I don't want to collaborate, but because at this point in my life I'm testing myself to see how I can work things out. There's just so much to learn, and if I can compete in a competition where groups of people worked on a film, compared to just me working on a film then I think that says a lot about my personal skill. It could also just be Charlie Chaplin syndrome kicking in and feeling like it's just better if I can control everything about my movies . . . and a lot times that's probably true.

On January 9 the news came in the form of a voicemail message. "Luke, I have some good news. Not only did we love your film Give it Time, but we also loved the Gizmo Tree. It looks like both films have a great shot at being in the finals". Two days later, both films were indeed in the finals, and I was the only filmmaker in the competition to have 2 films in the Top 10. I never expected that they'd include both of my entries, I figured I had 2 diverse films and that I had a great shot at getting one of them selected. It was a pleasant surprise.

Fast forward to late January 2008 and after a week of voting, promos, a new facebook group, and more emails and updates than I can really remember, the news came. I'd won 2nd place, $3500, and an amazing new credit to my name. The several months of the process suddenly flooded forward and all the work and planning seemed like the completion of an intricate puzzle that I hadn't realized I'd made correctly until that moment. I just remember feeling so relieved that I finally had some money to pay the university, some money for myself, and from what it felt like at the time, finally some good news to share.

At first there was rush of realizing what $3500 meant with me being a broke student. All that wears off pretty quick though. What stuck with me soon after, and what I still feel was the most enlightening part of the experience, was the overwhelming show of support and positive feedback that I realized I'd been riding on. When your pushing your work as hard as you possibly can, there's nothing like someone willing to get behind you and push too. Sure, I got the word out in every way I could, but it was the actual votes that won the competition. It's a testament to the people who wanted to see me succeed and their efforts to help me get there.

At the end of it all I was told I was the largest single cash winner in the competition as the first and third place films each had multiple filmmakers attached. I received a giant novelty cheque which hung on the wall of my dorm as a reminder until leaving university in April. With a handful of wins and a handful of losses, it's experiences like this that remind me what an exciting career path I'm on. You never know where your next life lesson will come from; for a moment playing in an enchanted forest didn't seem quite so ridiculous.

*Update 2009* After entering this short in the Yobi.tv Film Contest in December 2008, I became a weekly winner and semi-finalist to compete in the Yobi Finals in April 2009. Gizmo went on to get voted through 5 rounds, making the top 10 - just a few votes shy of the last round. While the finish was somewhat anti-climactic after coming so close to a win, I was very proud to have beaten out over 20 other independent filmmakers for my spot. Plus, the Gizmo Tree was viewed nearly 50,000 times during the contest. You can see my promo video for the contest here.

The Gizmo Tree (2007)
Written, Edited & Directed by Luke Fandrich

Gizmo'd Out!

It's been nearly a week now since I found out and the reality has finally set in. Last Thursday I got the call with the news I'd hoped I'd hear - that I'd placed 2nd in the Sasktel Cell-ebrities competition with my film the Gizmo Tree and won $3500!

It's been a long process, but it's nice to finally be able to reflect on it all. The idea of participating in this contest came about back in August 2007, and it's a trip to think about how much has happened in that time.

I made 2 films (Give it Time & the Gizmo Tree); I told everyone I knew about the contest and my flicks; after Xmas had both of them were selected as Top 10 finalists; I promoted the hell out of The Gizmo Tree for 2 weeks of voting; I got the call just a week ago that I'd won 2nd place and that I'd be going in for an interview and to pick up my check!

I feel pretty good about the result too because I had been so concerned about being the only person directly promoting my film. Some of the other finalists had groups of people behind their projects. I never felt relaxed about the contest or my chances, but I felt like I did everything I possibly could have done to get the word out and collect votes.

It's kind of a big sigh of relief to be able to move on, especially with the satisfaction of reaching my goal to make it to the top 3. The contest was both exciting and consuming, and for that I'm going to miss it. It was great getting up in the morning and checking for comments on my film, or sharing the experience with friends, or getting feedback from strangers, etc. Having my film in direct competition with others also felt incredibly validating. I knew exactly what I was up against, but instead of worrying about others work I continually thought about ways to improve my promotion strategy (which lead to a YouTube video, facebook groups, regular emails, blog updates, etc.)

The cell-ebrities contest was another reminder of how much I've grown over the last few years. Each festival or contest I participate in I get a little more confident, a little stronger and better prepared for the next time around. I didn't have any excuses for my work, and I really feel like I've earned my reward.


At the same time it's been an emotional ride. I've been sharing this experience with my friend Tyler, whose film Gilligan also made the finals. When we found out that he didn't win one of the top 3 prizes it was an awkward situation to say the least. Obviously I was celebrating my victory and spreading the good news within my own camp of supporters, but at the same time I couldn't help but think about what Tyler was experiencing.

He's relatively knew to festival stuff, and just based on my own losses I knew it was hitting him hard. It was fun going head to head in this competition when we knew that winning one of the big prizes would have such a dramatic effect on our poor university lives. I'm very proud of our films regardless of this contest though, and I think with the initial shock of loss out of the way, Tyler realizes as well as I do what a great experience this was. We're both left with great films, something for our portfolios, and experience gained that will help us down the road.

With all this wrapped up now, I'd like to take this one last opportunity to say thank you to all of you who checked out my films, who voted, who shared your words of support, who ultimately helped me win! Whether I know you, or whether you just happened to hear about the contest over my blog, I just want to say thank you for your help! This win is a huge reward, and a huge financial boost to help pay some of my student debt.

Also, I want to say thanks to my friend Tyler who made this experience twice as much fun and rewarding. When I think of how much we talked about doing this, and sharing our strategies, etc. I feel like I can't wait to do it all again!

Thanks everyone!

Final results can be seen on the contest site:
www.cell-ebrities.ca

Making of the Gizmo Tree

I think I've spent quite a bit of time explaining why the Cell-ebrities contest is important to me, why your vote is important, why it's such a big opportunity for me, etc. etc. What I haven't done though is explain why I made the film that I did.  Here's how everything got up to this point with my short, The Gizmo Tree.

Back in late November I had just completed my first entry for the Cell-ebrities contest, Give it Time. I'd thought about that film and concept since I first heard about the contest back in the summer, but with over a month left to do something else it didn't seem like such a bad idea to make another movie.

Up until then it was really just a thought though. What I liked about Give it Time was that it was something I was able to do completely solo. It was a nice simple idea, with an original twist, and I knew it was unlike the other entries I'd seen on the site. I was more than happy to stand by my original film, and believed, given the other videos I'd seen, that I had the potential to be selected for the finals round. Still, there's something energizing about putting your work out there. Being in the heat of things, so to speak, had me checking the Cell-ebrities site on a regular basis and telling everyone to check out my entry.

I'm no stranger to (smaller scale) film festivals and competitions and have been applying and submitting since early in my film school career.  I don't tire of pushing my work though, which is probably beneficial seeing as that's a huge part of the process. So after feeling like I'd spread the word as much as I could over a couple of weeks, I knew I wanted to make another submission and take another approach with it. I knew all this, because of a little piece of music.

It was now mid-December, and late one evening I found myself searching through pages of music on a royalty free site. Out of nowhere really, I found myself listening to a track that just sparked an idea. Having the desire to make another project is one thing, but having a good concept is another. The instrumental track was called Eternal Hope, which couldn't have been a more corny motivator at the time, but it worked. I can see now, that had I not come across the piece of music that I did, the Gizmo Tree and a second submission probably wouldn't have happened.

That exact night of finding the song I began to write and record some narration. I wasn't completely committed to the idea yet, but I figured if I put a few pieces together I'd know. A few minutes turned into a few hours and I found myself with a rough script, and a decent mock-up of my audio and narration. I was excited again to say the least.

In the case of both my films, the production came together pretty quickly, helped by a lot of in-the-moment ambition. It was a Sunday that my friend Tyler helped me out in shooting what would become the initial scenes of my film. The weather was perfect for it, fresh snow on the ground, frost on the trees, a perfect winter scene. That night I remember being so upset because all of the dialogue scenes (with me in front, facing the tree) were off balance, and the shots just didn't look as good as the stuff shot earlier.

Time was pretty short by this point. I was heading home for Christmas in less than a week, and I still needed to re-shoot, edit and then be sure I could upload to the site. A few months earlier in the contest, the site was down for nearly 3 weeks so I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit superstitious or concerned that my luck would run out as I was rushing to finish.

I went out the next day alone to re-shoot my dialogue scenes. There is a huge park around the Legislative Building here in Regina, SK so that served as my enchanted forest, and to be honest, there were about 3 or 4 different trees that I used as the actual Gizmo Tree. The biggest issue at that point was that the lighting had completely changed. The day before it was grey and snowy, the next day the skies were clear and the sun was shining. Although I wasn't initially crazy about it, as soon as I started shooting I could see how good it looked. The lighting created great contrast, it brought a wealth of needed colour, it made the tree really stand out, and it gave me a great silhouette and sunset to cut away to.

That night the editing came together like clockwork. Even though I was incredibly anxious to get my new film out there, I sat on it for a couple of days just to make sure that it was the project I wanted. It was then uploaded early on December 19 and within minutes I had some positive comments and ratings underneath my film.

The Gizmo Tree was above all, another personal exercise and experiment. I often work solo, not because I don't want to collaborate, but because at this point in my life I'm continually pushing myself to see how far I can go. There's just so much to learn, and if I can compete in a competition where groups of people worked on a film, compared to just me working on a film then I think that says a lot about my abilities.

On January 9 the news came in the form of a voicemail message. "Luke, I have some good news. Not only did we love your film Give it Time, but we also love the Gizmo Tree. It looks like both films have a great shot at being in the finals". Two days later, both films were indeed in the finals, and I was the only filmmaker in the competition to have 2 films in the Top 10. I never expected that they'd include both of my entries.  I figured I had 2 diverse films and that I had a great shot at getting one of them selected. It was awesome news!

Now here I am in the homestretch. On Friday everything ends. I've been sticking by my film the Gizmo Tree as to not divide my votes, but campaigning has been quite the ordeal. I can't put a price on each individual vote because there is no telling how many I've gotten, but all I can ask is that you take the time to see the film I've made and decide for yourself whether or not it deserves your vote.

It's a simple process that can have a huge effect on my student career. The top 3 prizes range from $2000-$5000, and as a student filmmaker I can't even begin to explain what an effect that would have on me just in regards to the cost of school, my debt, etc. If you've got a moment, please visit the site to watch my film The Gizmo Tree, sign up and vote. It'll take 5 minutes tops.  Thanks!

*UPDATE*

The contest has ended, but in the end I won 2nd place taking home $3500. All in all it was a pretty wild and drawn out ride, but a great and fun experience. You can now watch the Gizmo Tree below.