tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post115860180050567437..comments2023-10-02T03:17:59.953-07:00Comments on Moviepie Musings: TIFF 2006 #13: Insane TIFF Math – The Fest’s Awards Baffle Me Yet AgainLindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738949094361039874noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158768007230708442006-09-20T09:00:00.000-07:002006-09-20T09:00:00.000-07:00The best way to do it would be to do a root square...The best way to do it would be to do a root square mean voting system, with a weighting to push it to either higher or lower sections based on the number of ballots submitted or seats in the theatre.<BR/><BR/>Think about: say 1 person voted for a film out of 750 people who saw it... and that person gave it a 5... it shouldn't win on one vote. For every uncounted ballot for a certain film, you count a vote of 3 and count those votes equal to other votes. That way a 1 person voted film would be scaled to a more avg rating. It would theoretically be fair towards small films, large films, and films people vote on or not vote on.<BR/><BR/>The root square mean part of it just evens out extremes a bit more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158625639976753592006-09-18T17:27:00.000-07:002006-09-18T17:27:00.000-07:00Yep, I totally agree. The hardcore festgoers are l...Yep, I totally agree. The hardcore festgoers are less easily swayed and are often much tougher to please.<BR/><BR/>Then again, there are the people like me, who see lots of movies but still fall head over heels for feel-good movies almost every time. ;-)Vickiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13827246920952240232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158624310763830052006-09-18T17:05:00.000-07:002006-09-18T17:05:00.000-07:00Re: Voting in general...I noticed that at SIFF, th...Re: Voting in general...<BR/><BR/>I noticed that at SIFF, the Full Pass holders, or "Fool Serious" folks, or "passholes" ;) or whatever you want to call them, tend to be much more critical when rating a movie at the fest. Do you think the same is true at TIFF?<BR/><BR/>You'll have the folks seeing three movies in a row at a theater, who have made a nest of their stuff in their favorite spot, and they'll be the first to rip ANYTHING to shreds as soon as the credits roll (if they haven't darted out the door at that point)... VS. three grandmas from the suburbs who will coo at the in-person directors and actors and murmur to each other, "Well, I'd give that a 5! It was wonderful, don't you think?" (while the Full Series folks roll their eyes in the row right behind them).<BR/><BR/>Luckily, for all involved I think, this guaranteed mix will just about prevent any movie from getting perfect 5's. But it also means that often crowd-pleasing "pop" movies like <I><B>Pump Up the Volume</B></I> (a SIFF winner way back when) will occasionally win the Audience Award.<BR/><BR/>Needless to say, I am often surprised by festival winners!Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738949094361039874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158612912458300842006-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:002006-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00With enough ballots an exact tie is unlikely. May...With enough ballots an exact tie is unlikely. Maybe Bella beat Summercamp! 4.8147 to 4.8133 (that'd be a one-vote difference in a sample of 750). Or, you could throw in some advanced statistics (which I'm glad to have avoided taking the courses for) to determine which vote pattern has more "significance".<BR/><BR/>I really like the idea of one person, one vote. But while it'd be easy to make happen for pass & coupon book people, and might be doable for people who pay for screening tickets with credit cards, it'd be nearly impossible to handle cash sales.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158612146381188602006-09-18T13:42:00.000-07:002006-09-18T13:42:00.000-07:00Yeah, my fest diet is always horrible. I feel like...Yeah, my fest diet is always horrible. I feel like grease actually oozes out of my pores for a good few days after my last film. (Pretty, no?)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for posting, and for reading the blog!Vickiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13827246920952240232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158610379810822342006-09-18T13:12:00.000-07:002006-09-18T13:12:00.000-07:00Vickie,I love that you're so angry about the TIFF ...Vickie,<BR/><BR/>I love that you're so angry about the TIFF awards. It makes for great reading.<BR/><BR/>I'm sad the Festival is gone for another year.<BR/><BR/>Seriously though, you need to eat better food. Perhaps your readers should pool our cash and buy you gift cards to Pusateri's or Hemmingway's or something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158609511135272952006-09-18T12:58:00.000-07:002006-09-18T12:58:00.000-07:00This is a test to see if non-bloggers can comment....This is a test to see if non-bloggers can comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158608274374848542006-09-18T12:37:00.000-07:002006-09-18T12:37:00.000-07:00Geez. Please insert a space between the "some" and...Geez. Please insert a space between the "some" and the "way" of "someway." Damn the lack of a comment-editing feature! ;-)Vickiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13827246920952240232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158608193427483522006-09-18T12:36:00.000-07:002006-09-18T12:36:00.000-07:00The thing about calculating an average score (out ...The thing about calculating an average score (out of 5) would be that you'd likely wind up with multiple films scoring, say, 4.8 or higher. So, they'd either have to award numerous films a People's Choice plaque (and cheque) or find someway of then picking one from the top scorers. TIFF loves lotteries, so I wouldn't be surprised if a random draw to determine the People's Choice winner becomes next year's brilliant idea.<BR/><BR/>Again, it's all rather flawed and, given what you've just posted matt, somewhat suspect.Vickiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13827246920952240232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158606368511373292006-09-18T12:06:00.000-07:002006-09-18T12:06:00.000-07:00None of the theatre staff or volunteers seem to kn...None of the theatre staff or volunteers seem to know how the ballots are tabulated. It happens later, at an "undisclosed location". The fine print at the bottom of the ballot does say that "5 is most positive", but it's too hard to read (especially in dim theatres). I've heard many people asking how it all works.<BR/><BR/>More factors to consider: theatres aren't always full (a few daytime screenings at the 1200 seat Ryerson get Varsity-sized crowds). And this year's write-in-the-title system allowed people to vote for a different movie than the one they were attending, though I don't know if and how those ballots would be counted. At single-screen venues, ballots with blank titles were kept together per film, though again I can't say for sure they did get counted.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me an average rating system (total points divided by total ballots for that film; probably need over 4.9 to win) would be the fairest way to count these ballots, though tricky to get right for films with very small audiences. The old system was prone to ballot box stuffing, so it wasn't perfect either.<BR/><BR/>Last year, with the same system except no place to write in the title, the pick was <I>Tsotsi</I>. I'd never heard of it then, but it did go on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, so the system wasn't completely broken...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999615.post-1158604351200308472006-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:002006-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00At SIFF there is almost always a volunteer introdu...At SIFF there is almost always a volunteer introducing the movie and the voting system, before the lights go down, as in "Tear through the 1 if you didn't like the movie, and 5 if you thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread!" The drill this over and over at every screening, so that everyone is rolling their eyeballs, but the audience at least is not confused.<BR/><BR/>As for the number of screenings/sizes of audience question, I know that SIFF has some very careful formula to accomodate that issue. Otherwise, every locally-made so-so production would win the top prize, because the entire cast, crew, and their friends and family would totally stuff the ballot box with 5s for a sweep. Luckily that technique never seems to work.<BR/><BR/>Usually the Golden Space Needle (Audience Award) goes to a true crowd pleaser (yes, often where the director and/or actors are there to hype up the audience).<BR/><BR/>That said, I think it is only twice in the last 10 or so SIFFs that I've attended that I managed to see the winner at the fest, and those were <I><B>Whale Rider</B></I> (where the audience was so electrified by the experience, you KNEW it would win), and <B><I>Facing Windows</I></B> (which had the director there, and the audience reduced to a sobbing mess at the end of the movie).Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738949094361039874noreply@blogger.com