EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/78788
20 EW NEWS & OPINION August 2012 2013 Film Festival submissions open to everyone by Stephanie Graham EyeWorld Contributing Writer sions goes up and the competition gets fiercer. The Grand Prize winner of the 2012 Film Festival, the professional-quality film by Minoru Tomita, M.D., titled "Infinite Possi- bility: Using Small Aperture Corneal Inlay to Treat a Variety of Presbyopic Patients," was no exception. "The ASCRS Film Festival is a T tough festival. The judges have strict criteria. As a result, the quality of the videos at ASCRS is exceptional," said William J. Fishkind, M.D., clinical professor of ophthalmology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and University of Arizona, Tucson, and chair of the Film Festival judges' panel since 2008. But this shouldn't deter anyone thinking about submit- ting a film, according to judges and past winners of the Festival. The essential qualities What are the judges looking for in a winning film? While films are judged based on video quality, effects, narration, originality, applicability, and science, for Liliana Werner, M.D., associate professor and co-director, Inter- mountain Ocular Research Center, John A. Moran Eye Center, Salt Lake City, and one of the judges of the ASCRS Film Festival, the most im- portant criteria are "accurate science and originality." Ehud Assia, M.D., full professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Meir he Film Festival is one of the highlights of the ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress, and every year the quality of the submis- Film abstract deadline: September 25 Film submission deadline: March 1, 2013 Film Festival eligibility All films must meet these three requirements: 1. 8 minutes maximum, which includes opening and closing credits and financial interest statement 2. Opening credits include financial interest statement or lack thereof, only as it applies to the video 3. English narration (titling, subtitling, and soundtrack) Film Festival judging criteria 1. Applicability/educational value 2. Originality 3. Scientific content/validity 4. Clarity 5. Cinematic quality (audio, editing, technical) 6. Artistic effects (music, graphic, lighting, animation, talent, effects) Hospital, Israel, and past Film Festi- val judge, concurred that originality is key. "Show something you did not think of before or present a simple solution to a complicated problem," he said. From his perspective, Film Festival judges are all professional eye surgeons who are more im- pressed by a brilliant idea than professional videography or special effects. "The ones that rise above the rest are the ones that tell an interest- ing or exciting story, they offer a new way of looking at things, or they put things together in a way never done before," said Dr. Fishkind. The films must also offer educational value. Professional isn't always better "Approximately 50% of the videos we receive either have professionally done segments or have the whole thing professionally done. Some- times it works for the producer and sometimes it works against them," said Dr. Fishkind. Having things done profession- ally can be risky. According to Dr. Fishkind, sometimes the profes- sional is too slick, glosses over important facts, and pushes unnec- essary animations that work against the way the judges see it. "If an ani- mation shows something that is dif- ficult to visualize in any other way and it makes something clear that would otherwise be difficult, then it's worth using," said Dr. Fishkind. Drs. Werner and Assia gave Arup Dr. Fishkind (right) awards the grand prize to Dr. Tomita at the 2012 Film Festival in Chicago Source: ASCRS/EyeWorld Bhaumik's 2010 Grand Prize-win- ning film, "Out or In: It's the Same Door," as an example of a film with- out fancy effects, narrated by the surgeon, and likely produced in his clinics. "The topic was very interest- ing: a device designed and fabricated by the surgeon to explant foldable IOLs," said Dr. Werner. Dr. Assia said, "The video production was simple and basic; however, when the IOL folded gently and elegantly back into the cartridge, there was a loud 'wow' from the entire audience. That is what made it the best video, the recognition of a brilliant idea," he said. Films send out ripples of change Amid the narration, the animations, and the other special effects, the un- derlying goal of the ASCRS Film Fes- tival is to educate. But there have been numerous films that have gone beyond merely educating to revolu- tionizing the field of ophthalmol- ogy. Dr. Fishkind said, "All Film Festival submissions that truly rise above the rest move our surgery in one direction or another." For example, Dr. Howard Gimbel's film "Continuous Tear Capsulotomy" (1985) altered the way cataract surgery is performed. Dr. Kunihiro Nagahara's "Phaco Chop" (1993) introduced the phaco chop technique. Dr. Thomas Neuhann's film "Origin of Central Islands" (1996) changed the way surgeons do LASIK surgery. Dr. Roger Steinert's film "Dr. Zernicke's View of the World" (2003) explained Zernicke's polynomials in a way that people could understand. Dr. Richard Hoffman's film "Scleral Fixation without Conjunctival Dissection" (2008) changed the way physicians fixate lens implants. The list goes on and on. "If you have a good idea, show it," said Dr. Assia. "There is no better educational media than an 8 minute video." He added, "The Film Festival is not just a competition. These videos are being watched by hun- dreds of colleagues and the real prize is much bigger than a trophy." What are you waiting for? Producing and submitting films to the ASCRS Film Festival is within reach of any ophthalmologist. Dr. Fishkind pointed out that editing used to be a big deal, but today there are sophisticated, easy-to-use editing programs for both PC and Mac. continued on page 23