straight 8

+ WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRAIGHT 8 AND STRAIGHT 8 SHOOTOUT?

in one sentence: straight 8 is for individuals, and straight 8 shootout is for creative companies

click here to see the difference between the two

+ when will i get to see my film?

no one is allowed to see their film before its premiere, if it's selected. look at the dates page for the latest info on screenings

after the screenings, all entries will be uploaded so that you can download yours digitally

+ do you colour grade our straight 8 scans?

yes and no!

we add a single best-light grade to the overal film, this'll include a bit of a curve, slight colour correction and black-and-white levels. but this is applied to the film as a whole. nothing is applied to individual shots or sections, as tempted as we might be! so this does mean that if you really nail your exposure throughout, the likelihood is the end result will look punchier than if your exposure varies throughout.

why do we do this? straight 8 used to be shot on colour reversal, where the scan matched what you saw when you projected the film. with negative stock, all scans need inverting with the right colour cast and levels. but it's important to us that straight 8s are as close to 'straight out the camera' as possible, so no fiddling with or helping specific shots!

+ can i enter my films to other festivals?

yes! absolutely. we love it when straight 8 films get screened at other festivals. and win! which is amazing when you consider they're competing with films that had the benefit of editing, grading, sound synching and other post-production! BUT (and that's a big fat but) if you change a hair, a frame, a colour, an audio moment or anything else you mustn't use the straight 8 slate anymore as it won't be honest where it says: one super 8 cartridge no editing so be brave. keep it true and you may be surprised how well it will do. one recent entrant who's done really well on the festival circuit with her 2020 top 8 straight 8 'a portrait' is carlotta beck peccoz. we asked her a few questions as we thought it would be useful for other straight8ers to get her perspecticve on it all...

first you can watch 'a portrait' and meet carlotta here

carlotta: *A Portrait’s festival run was surprising and super exciting. It started during lockdown, almost as an experiment. I never really had a festival run before and I didn’t know what to expect as it is such a peculiar film. But the feedback was extraordinary! The success rate is quite good as well (especially considering I wasn’t an expert at it). It got in about one third of the festivals I submitted it to. I didn’t have a clear plan in mind, which more savvy filmmakers might have. I sent it mostly through FilmFreeway to smaller festivals and other bigger ones which I had always wanted to attend. And it actually got into a couple of them - notably BAFTA qualifying Raindance and Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

With the lockdown, most of the run has been online, but it was still a great platform to start conversations and to promote our work and team. Plus, the most recent festivals, which we could finally attend in person, were great places to connect and champion our film. Trust me, the fact that the short is made in such a peculiar way means it’s a great conversation starter and ice-breaker in any networking situation!

It has been two years since A Portrait’s first online screening at the premiere, and I’d say that I have two main tips for you if you’re thinking of submitting your Straight 8 film to festivals:

1 - know your film! What’s the genre? What’s the audience? I love how diverse the Straight 8 collection of films is. Horror, animation, comedy, music videos etc. A Portrait is a biopic documentary so that’s where I’ve started. And the first festival to select it was Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest. A Portrait follows the journey of Chris, the cinematographer for Derek Jarman, so we are talking about a huge icon of British cinema. And in fact, it found most success in UK based film festivals (these being about 65% of the total). Finally, it is linked to LGBTQ+ themes and (although I didn’t pursue this path much) it was included in a couple of dedicated festivals - like New Renaissance Film Festival in Amsterdam and the new Flikkers Queer Film Festival in Birmingham.

2 and… don’t re-edit it! That’s the beauty of it! There is a car crossing one of the frames in A Portrait. I used to hate it. And maybe I still do. But that’s part of the charm of the Straight 8 films. What makes them stand out is also their form and medium. Make sure this is clear in the description of the project you submit. And actually this is also an extra opportunity for your festival run: there is a vast amount of inspiring festivals and categories for experimental and artistic shorts.

I wish you all the best of luck with your Straight 8 festival run! *

+ who enters straight 8?

check out our straight8ers page. the level playing field created by straight 8's rules makes it a great chance for people with everything to prove and nothing to lose. some of the greatest straight 8 films have been made by first time filmmakers. and we love that. and if you are a filmmaker, well you'd love this opportunity to return to your roots, scare yourself, enjoy total film-making freedom: you get final cut. all be it in-camera. we don't mind if you use a pseudonym — we just want you to have fun

+ can i put on my own straight 8 screening?

yes please! we want to have as many screenings in as many places as possible. if you’d like to put on a screening or would like to suggest that we screen somewhere please get in touch

+ i have a question about copyright

first off - make sure you've carefully read the full rules of the straight 8 competition you're entering. in there is a legal copyright paragraph that you must agree to and abide by when you make your film.

and more generally, we often get asked about whether something specific can be shown in a film. we always advise to play it safe, but one way to think about it might be 'if this was featured prominently in my multi-million-pound movie, would I probably have to pay for permission to do so?' if the answer might be yes, rule it out.