//. ED WOOD VIDEO AWARDS

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The 2008 annual Ed Wood Student Film Competition is now open, and we will be accepting entries over the coming few months.

Films can be in any genre you choose, there are only a few rules – but mainly keep it clean, and legal!

You have until September 29th to submit your finished film to us. The screening and awards night will be held on Thursday 9th October where we will be awarding trophies and prizes for categories such as: Best film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Spirit Of Ed Woods, Best Horror, Best Use of Whitewear, Best Editor, Best Actor, Best Special Effects, Best Documentary, Best Stunts…. And anything else we feel like.

WEEKEND WONDER

This newly added category gives filmmakers 72 hours to create their film for entry. At 4pm on Friday 26^th September, the conditions and elements that must be included in your film will be given out. To register for this category, please email events@ucsa.canterbury.ac.nz

Your film will be due at 4pm on Monday 29^th September.

IMPORTANT DATES & INFO

Monday 29^th September:

All entries must be submitted to UCSA reception, and be accompanied by the official entry form.

Thursday 9^th October:

Ed Woods award & screening night

CONDITIONS

At least one UCSA student needs to be involved in your production
The maximum length of a film is 10 minutes
Films must not be racist, homophobic, or sexist
The producer will give the UCSA limited screening and taping rights to their Film.

Films must be submitted as a Mini DV tape, or DVD.

WHO IS THIS ED WOOD CHARACTER?

A Man, a Plan, an Angora Sweater. Welcome to the world of Ed Wood.

Dressed as a girl by his mother, Lillian, until he was old enough to know better, and having seen the movie ‘Dracula’ at the tender age of 6, Ed Jr. was passionate about film and fascinated by the feminine wardrobe. These passions are reflected in a quote from Ed Jr. about his film, Glen or Glenda: ‘This story's gonna grab people. It's about this guy, he's crazy about this girl, but he likes to wear dresses. Should he tell her? Should he not tell her? He's torn, Georgie. This is drama.”

When it came to making movies, Ed Jr. had a talent for the awful. His stiff characters filled the screen like mannequins in a shop window. His scripts included such gems as: “My friends, can your hearts stand the shocking facts about grave robbers from outer space?” and, “I'll tell you one thing, if a little green man pops out at me, I'm shooting first and asking questions later." His flying saucers zoomed around the sky on bits of string. His characters wore kitchen sieves as helmets. His aliens possessed profound and shrewd logic, and were angered by the ‘stupid minds’ of planet Earth. His tombstones were flimsily constructed of cardboard. Ah yes! These were the giddy heights of B-grade films of the 1950s.

As with so many artists, his true popularity was only realized following his death in 1978. His film ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’ has been hailed as ‘the worst film of all time’ by numerous critics and yet, like the runt of a litter, it is one of those things that is so awful that you can’t help but love it. Even the tagline is classic: ‘Unspeakable Horrors from Outer Space Paralyze the Living and Resurrect the Dead!’.

But Plan 9, his masterpiece, was not his only gift to the world of film. There were other classics such as ‘Glen or Glenda (I led two lives, I changed my sex)’, ‘Crossroad Avenger’, ‘Bride of the Monster’, ‘Jailbait’, ‘The Night the Banshee Cried’, ‘The Sinister Urge’, ‘Married too Young’, ‘Orgy of the Dead’, ‘Necromania’, ‘Dropout Wife’, ‘Sex Education Correspondence School’ ….the list is almost endless and the titles are always entertaining.

And he was so very proud of his achievements. Not content to settle for being ordinary, he was heard to say, “It's not a monster movie. It's a supernatural thriller”, and when told that one of his films was the worst a critic had ever seen, he replied, “Well, my next one will be better”.

At the end of the day, though, the reason we love Ed Wood Jr. is not because of the quality of his films but because the absolute passion he had for making them. It is like a love story with Hugh Grant: full of bumbling and fumbling, sometimes quite embarrassingly wrong, but ultimately unashamedly romantic.