This article originally appeared in the October, 2001, Number 25 issue of *spark.
Anybody can make a short video. This is the message of the On the Fly video festival.
On the Fly started in 1997 when a group of videographers in Toronto, led by Scott McLaren and Andrew Bee, decided that a video festival was the best way to pool their resources and make videos. They asked a few of their friends to participate and screened the results in a local club; thus was the tradition born.
One important contributing factor to the creation of the video festival was the development of inexpensive and highly portable digital video cameras and non-linear (digital) editing systems. On the Fly is a video festival that comes with a philosophy, and a large part of that philosophy is that, unlike with film, which can be expensive and requires cumbersome equipment, anybody can make a video.
The festival quickly developed a few rules (and with them, an identity): each video must be shot and edited in a day. In addition, all of the videos would all be screened in a day (which would require much stamina on the part of audiences, given that some of the screenings were over three hours long). To make the screenings a little easier to sit through, and to help focus the energies of the directors, a strict 10-minute limit was placed on the length of the videos.
By the time of the fourth On the Fly, the producers opened the festival up to anybody who wanted to apply. Good press for the previous festivals and a strong word of mouth campaign meant that over 300 people applied for 24 positions. A lottery had to be instituted to ensure that the people who got to make videos were chosen fairly. The producers divided up the entrants into those who had made films before and those who hadn't; 12 positions were made available for each. The On the Fly philosophy had expanded to encourage the development of the talents of people who had never directed before.
They aren't thrown into production blind, however. Before the shoots, there are six weeks of meetings. Some of these are for people to get to know each other. There is, however, one meeting devoted to a camera workshop, and a second meeting devoted to a digital editing workshop. If the directors require it, they can also get help with casting and script development (among his many other talents, McLaren is a wicked story editor).
For On the Fly 3, awards had been designed (including the much coveted Mouche d'Or, or Golden Fly) and a panel of celebrity judges was asked to choose the best films. The judges for On the Fly 4 included Canadian filmmakers Patricia Rozema, Deepah Mehta and Don McKellar. On the Fly 4 was also the first year that celebrity filmmakers were invited to make short videos; they included directors John Greyson and Clement Virgo, actor Sarah Polley and Toronto Star entertainment writer, and former film critic, Peter Goddard.
The best 20 videos were shown at two screenings over an evening. (Those who were brave enough could attend a screening of all 29 completed videos the following Saturday afternoon.) The screenings took place at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto; although it holds between 600 and 700 viewers, dozens of people had to be turned away at the door.
How could the producers top On the Fly 4? Somebody had a bright idea: why not hold number five in five Canadian cities? (I wish I could be more specific about who had the bright idea, but each of the three producers— McLaren, Bee and Angelina Vaz—have given credit to (blamed it on?) one of the others.) Twenty individuals and four guests will produce videos in five cities -- 120 altogether.
The producers have traveled to Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal, making contacts with local filmmakers and organizations (such as film and video co-ops, local Canadian Broadcasting Corporation branches, et al). The national On the Fly festival will be decentralized: a person from each city will be chosen to run the festival there. The producers from Toronto will offer their expertise and collected experience, but each branch will be run independently.
McLaren has told me that he sees this as a model that he hopes will spread to any Canadian city where there is enough interest among videomakers, and those who would like to become videomakers. In line with this, On the Fly is producing a manual that would not only advise individuals on how to become guerrilla videographers, but will contain tips on how to create video festivals.
As of this writing, the dates for On the Fly 5 have yet to be finalized. According to McLaren, they would like to take applications until the end of November, with the lottery being held in December. Prep meetings would happen in January and February 2002, with shooting and editing taking place over the following two months, and screenings held in the five cities in May. When the dates have been confirmed, you can expect to hear about it.
Anybody can make a short video. What are you waiting for?
To learn more about On the Fly, or to sign up for OTF 5 in your city, go to: www.onthefly.org.
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