What is Crowdsourced Cinema?
Crowdsourced Cinema is a creative challenge that brings community members together to remake a feature-length film. This year we are remaking the 90s holiday classic Home Alone.
Join us for the premiere screening on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 6:30pm at CMAC in downtown Fresno. Tickets are free, but you must RSVP.
How does it work?
Keep the change, ya filthy animal because this project is open to everyone in the greater Fresno area, you do not need to be a CMAC member to participate. You can work alone or as part of a team. Everyone who signs up will be randomly assigned a 1-3 minute scene from the movie. We will provide you with a video clip of your scene and the written script. Then it’s up to you to remake the scene however you wish! Cast your friends, family, coworkers, or classmates as the characters, use some homemade props and costumes, and be creative! You will have until September 6 to record, edit, and submit your scene.
After all the scenes are submitted, we will assemble them back together into a feature-length film – but now it will be OUR crowdsourced version!
There are more than 40 scenes to remake. CMAC will provide guidance along the way with workshops, tech support, and a Discord server to share your ideas, questions, and works in progress.
The family is gone, the house is empty, and the Wet Bandits are casing the joint.
Channel your inner Kevin McCallister to help CMAC remake the holiday classic Home Alone.
This is our first community -wide collaborative film project. “Operation Ho-Ho-Ho” is a go!
Timeline
Rules and FAQs
How close does my remake need to be to the original scene?
Be creative! Make your own homemade props and costumes. We ask that you follow the script in terms of dialogue and action, but it will be more entertaining the more creative you get.
Please stick to the total running time of the scene you are assigned. Going over or under by a few seconds is OK. Keep in mind your scene is a small part of a long movie. Make sure the beginning and end of your scene matches up closely to the original so it will transition nicely with everyone else’s scenes.
We have the right to deny inclusion of a submitted scene if it does not fall in line with the spirit of the Crowdsourced Cinema project.
Can I use visuals or sound from the original scene?
Nope! You need to RE-MAKE the scene with your own visuals and sound. Everything in your completed scene should be your own creation. If your scene includes music, do not remake the music. Music will be handled by the CMAC staff after all the completed scenes have been submitted. If you have any questions or need clarification, please reach out!
Can I choose which scene to remake?
Scenes will be randomly assigned to teams as they sign-up. If you have a special request for a certain scene, please note that when you sign up and we’ll do our best to accommodate, but there’s no guarantees.
Do I have to be a CMAC member to participate?
Nope. You do not need to be a CMAC member to participate, but members can check-out equipment, reserve facilities, and consult with staff. If that assistance would be useful, please consider becoming a member.
When will I be assigned a scene?
After you sign-up, give us about one week to respond with information about your assigned scene.
When is the deadline to sign up for a scene?
Sign ups will be accepted on a rolling basis until all scenes have been assigned. On the sign up form, there’s an option to join the waitlist if all the scenes have been assigned.
Do I need to follow any technical specs?
Yes, please make sure you record your video horizontally (wide screen or landscape mode) and not vertically (portrait mode) – this is especially important if you’re using a phone. We prefer that everyone delivers their completed scene at full HD resolution 1920×1080 (1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall) and a frame rate of 30 frames per second. If you have any technical questions or concerns, please reach out.
Is this like Swede Fest?
Yes, Crowdsourced Cinema is similar to Swede Fest in that you are remaking a movie with your friends and family using homemade props and costumes. The difference is we are all collectively working together to remake scenes from the same movie and will end up with an entire feature-length film. Exciting!
Do you have more questions? Contact CMAC’s Operations Manager Kyle Lowe at kyle@cmac.tv or call 559-266-2622.
Previous Films (from Media Factory)
Partners
The Crowdsourced Cinema project is part of a collaboration with other community media centers across the country: Northampton Open Media, Brookline Interactive Group, and Media Factory. Each are producing their own version of the same film.
