Eleven Minutes Late (2006) · Short Film | Written and Directed Gerald Martin Davenport

3.1.1 The Contest

Back in the early, to mid, 2000's, Apple hosted a yearly Insomnia Film Festival. Gerald was amiss when he found out about it and wondered why this was the first year he heard about it. After entering, he find out that 2006 was the last year they were doing the event.

The Apple Insomnia Film Festival is open to all student videomakers and filmmakers, and is free to enter. Multiple submissions are not permitted.

- All entries must be 3 minutes or less. Films over 3 minutes will not be accepted.
- All eligible teams must be registered before 5:00 p.m. EST, November 9, 2006.
- Each team member must create their own Apple ID and agree to the Terms and Conditions before a entry will be accepted.
- Entries must be compressed as QuickTime movies.
- Movies submitted should have a maximum width of 400 pixels. We suggest using the "Compress Movie for: Web Streaming" setting in iMovie or if using another tool:
    Size: 320 X 240 (or 320X180 for 16X9 projects)
    Video Compression: H.264; Quality: High; Frame Rate: 15; Key Frame Rate: 75; Bitrate: 320kbits/sec; Frame Reordering: yes; Encoding Mode: multi-pass Sound: AAC; Sample Rate: 32.000kHz; Channels: Mono or Stereo; Bit rate: 48 kbps Prepare for Internet Streaming: Fast Start - Compressed
- Entries must be made on a Macintosh computer.
- Teams are limited to 5 people.
- Videos must include the required elements, as posted on the Insomnia Film Festival website at 5:00 p.m. EST, November 10, 2006.
- All entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST November 11, 2006. Heavy demand in the final minutes may cause a delay in your submission, so try to beat the rush. - All accepted videos will be showcased online.
- In the event the same team wins both the peer review and judge panel contests, the runner up in the peer review will be awarded one of the two prize packages. A team can only win one category.

Eligibility. The contest is open to all student videomakers and filmmakers in the U.S. attending an accredited college or university, and are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. There is no entry fee. The contest is void where prohibited by law, or where the registration or filing requirements of any state or local jurisdiction have not been complied with. The contest is not open to employees of Apple Computer, including their immediate families.

Originality (Original Video). Only original videos made specifically for this contest are eligible to win. The video may not be posted or screened on another website until winners have been announced. No Purchase Necessary to Enter or Win. Entrants are not required to purchase any product or service in order to enter the contest.

How to Enter. No Entry Fee. To enter, each team must complete the following steps:
Step 1. Read and understand all the Official Rules & Regulations on this page.
Step 2. Fill out and submit the online form.
Submissions will be reviewed for conformity with these Official Rules and Guidelines before being accepted as entries in the contest.

Video Submission Requirements. Entrants may use any visual medium to create the video, including without limitation, film, animation, and digital photography. The entrants must own all rights to the video submitted and must be authorized to submit this video. All videos must be the original work of the entrants and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity, or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the video contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the film, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use and exploitation of the video by Apple Computer in the manner set forth in these Official Rules and Regulations. For more information about copyright law, please visit www.copyright.gov/laws/.

This is a Contest about creative, quick-thinking filmmaking. Any video being submitted to the contest must be useable as such. The following is a set of guidelines for an acceptable video:
- Videos must not make unauthorized use of copyrighted property from any other film, song, or composition.
- Videos must not exploit children or animals.
- Videos must not contain any material which Apple Computer, in its sole discretion, deems patently offensive or having explicit and gratuitous violence, nudity, or sexual content.
- The video quality should be sharp and have good contrast.
- The video should target an English-speaking audience.

Right to Display Video Submissions. Each entrant agrees and grants Apple Computer permission to make available and display/perform and otherwise distribute entrants’ names and video submission in all media in perpetuity without compensation. Except where legally prohibited, submission of an entry into this contest constitutes permission for Sponsors to use the entrants’ names, photograph, likeness, voice, school, address (city and state), and testimonials, in printed, broadcast media, or new media, in perpetuity, in any manner they deem appropriate in connection with promoting the video submission itself or this contest, without further compensation in connection with this contest or the prize awarded.

Contest Submissions Deadlines. All entries must be submitted and received by Apple Computer by November 11, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. EST to be eligible to win. Once the video has been submitted, Apple will not accept substitutions or new versions. Apple Computer is not responsible for any lost, stolen, or undelivered entries, or any entries not received within the applicable contest periods mentioned above. The Sponsor reserves the right  to suspend or cancel the contest in its sole discretion if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration or security of the contest, and (b) to select winners from among all eligible entries received prior to the cancellation time.

Winner Selection and Prizes. From among eligible entries, two teams will be chosen and will be awarded prizes as follows:
- The team that receives the highest rating during the "peer rating" portion of the contest each receives a copy of Final Cut Studio, a copy of Shake, and an 80GB iPod.
- Each member of the team that receives the highest ratings from the panel of judges receives a copy of Final Cut Studio, a copy of Shake, and an 80GB iPod. In the event the same team wins both the peer review and judge panel contests, the runner up in the peer review will be awarded one of the two prize packages. - A team can only win one category.
- Each member of the winning team must have registered with an Apple ID and agreed to the Terms and Conditions of the contest in order to be eligible to be awarded a prize.
- All eligible video submissions (that meet the requirements of these Rules and Regulations) will be made available to the public for viewing. Visitors to Apple’s Insomnia Film Festival website will have the opportunity to view and vote on the submissions. Each entrant must sign a video release form that will explicitly grant the Sponsors the right to their video via any and all media (including, without limitation, Internet, and television). Noncompliance will result in disqualification of the winner and an alternate winner will be selected by the Sponsors from remaining eligible entries. Prizes will be delivered to each legally qualified winner within fifteen (15) days of the Sponsor’s receipt of all necessary legal documents.
Judging Criteria. Finalists and winners will be selected by the judges based on the technical quality, creativity, and originality in use of required elements of their video. The decisions are at the complete discretion of the judges, and all decisions are final.

Winner Notification. Contest finalists and winners’ names will be announced by Apple Computer on December 10, 2006. The winners will be notified by email, phone, or first-class mail within five (5) business days of winning. If a winner does not respond within five (5) business days after the date of notice from Apple, Apple shall not be liable for (1) failed, returned, or misdirected notifications based on inaccurate information provided by the winner (2) entries and responses to winner notifications which are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, misdirected, damaged, or otherwise not received by the intended recipient in whole or in part or for computer or technical error of any kind. A non-response by the winner or non-receipt of notification response after the specified five (5) business days will be considered a forfeiture of the prize. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, the prize will also be forfeited.

Miscellaneous. By participating in this contest, entrants agree to be bound by these rules and by the decisions of Apple, which are final in all matters relating to this contest. Prizes are nontransferable. Arrangements for the fulfillment of all prizes will be made by Apple. Receipt of any prize is conditioned upon compliance with any and all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. Winners of any prize(s) will be solely responsible for payment of all federal, state, and local taxes.

Releases. Before participating in the Film Festival, participants agree to have all team members read and sign the release forms to be found at the Insomnia Film Festival Registration website. This assures Apple that it has all rights necessary to publicly display your work.

General Conditions. This contest is void where prohibited by law and is subject to all applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations. In the event of non-compliance by the winner with the official rules of this contest, an alternative winner may be awarded the respective prize. Return of any prize or prize notification as undeliverable will result in a disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected. All prizes will be awarded. Winners are solely responsible for all taxes on prizes. All incidental expenses will be the responsibility of the Winner. Any questions or further inquiries regarding this contest, please contact studentfilmmakers@apple.com.

In the event that these Rules and Regulation are violated in any way, Apple Computer will remove the offending material from the contest.

12:46:35 PM Gerald: Must be 18 or older
12:47:13 PM Gerald: And all that are on the team need to have their own apple id
1:10:32 PM connorring: i have one
1:10:48 PM Gerald: ok, I say we just do it.
1:10:55 PM Gerald: I already made a team.
1:11:00 PM Gerald: MovieMen
1:15:22 PM connorring: you sure about the age thing?
1:15:45 PM Gerald: Yeah. we can do it, what the heck. just do it
1:16:18 PM connorring: ok
3:57:51 PM connorring: and you have to be 18 to register?
4:01:19 PM Gerald: Let us do it anyway
4:01:43 PM connorring: ok
4:02:46 PM connorring: but i can get everything to shoot
4:04:44 PM connorring: and i have three other people for crew
4:05:10 PM Gerald: OK, do they have an apple id
4:08:39 PM connorring: not sure. can any 1 get 1?
4:08:55 PM Gerald: Yup, free...
4:09:56 PM connorring: ok.
4:10:34 PM connorring: where will we meet fri?
4:10:43 PM Gerald: You name it
4:11:46 PM connorring: your place? i dont care
4:23:01 PM Gerald: What time, after five, around five?

From: Student Filmmakers studentfilmmakers@apple.com
Date: November 10, 2006 11:12:50 AM PST
Subject: Insomnia Film Festival Reminders
Insomniacs. Before we post the required elements today at 5pm EST, 2pm PST so that you can get started on your films, we wanted to clear up some questions so that everyone is on the same page.

- Can we use any kind of Apple computer to create our film?
Yes. As long as your film is created using an Apple computer (laptop or desktop), we're happy.

- Do actors count as team members?
We were purposely vague when we developed the rules for this contest because we want you to be as resourceful as possible. You can divide up the labor however you'd like, but Apple will only award prizes to the 5 registered team members. If you are able to get friends to help with your project for “free,” we cannot control that (in fact, we encourage it).

- What are the rules around music usage?
You cannot use music that you don't have specific permission from the artist to use. You are responsible for obtaining permission for any music usage that might be in question prior to the submission of your film. This is in the Terms and Conditions under “Video Submission Requirements”:

All videos must be the original work of the entrants and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity, or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the video contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the film, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use and exploitation of the video by Apple Computer in the manner set forth in these Official Rules and Regulations.

If you need a release to use, please see the US Copyright Office's web page of forms: https://www.copyright.gov/forms/

- What's the deal with the talent releases? How do we submit them?
The releases on our website are for your protection. You need to get them signed, but you don't need to submit them to us unless there is some kind of problem in the future. When you signed up for the contest, you agreed to the Terms and Conditions which state that you will submit only original work for judging, and that everyone appearing would have consented. Team captains should keep the signed release forms in a safe place.

- Does everyone need to register? Does everyone need to be a college student?
Yes and yes. All team members need to register through the Insomnia website and agree to the Terms and Conditions of the contest. Captains - it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone on your team has done this. All registered team members need to be current students in the US attending an accredited college or university.

- Do credits count in the 3 minute time limit?
Absolutely. Your entire submission cannot exceed 3 minutes in length.

Connor and Chris show up, and I try to explain to them the rules, but they want to do it anyway. Chris is a little hyperactive — a little.

Received the email from Apple about the criteria. They gave us ten items to choose three from, and then we formulated a story. Connor and Chris's first initial idea was a robbery, break-in, they brought illegally changed air-soft guns — strange children spacy guns. They wanted to do something dark, but I wanted something with a story and a plot. So we got together and came up with the idea that CONNOR is a thief teaching a new guy on the job, but the guy is a no show, so he does the job himself, but the newbie is already there stealing.

I wrote the script and most of the dialog then the storyboards. We started at 2 pm, when we got the news about the criteria. We finished the screenplay by 6:30 and recorded the movie until 10pm. We did stop for pizza that Tamara got for us.

Editing was a pain since the boys wanted to be noisy and obnoxious while I tried to edit. We completed picture lock after I took out 16 seconds and put in more space in the front and temp credits. We went downstairs to record Connor's voice-over dialog.

3.1.2 Rules

From: Student Filmmakers
Date: November 10, 2006 2:00:03 PM PST
To: studentfilmmakers@apple.com
Subject: Insomnia Film Festival- It's Show Time

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your cameras.
Listed below are the film requirements. You must incorporate at least 3 of these elements in order to make your film eligible for the contest.

Required character named: Alex Kona
Required Dialog line: “No, you don't understand what it's like growing up here.”
Required costume: Leather jacket and dark sunglasses
Required prop: Ice
Required side kick: Pet monkey
Required setting: Abandoned building
Required shot: Clock with 4:11 on face
Required makeup: Fake eyelashes and blue eye shadow
Required genre: Sci-fi/fantasy
Required Camera effect: Crane or boom shot
Required editing device: Musical montage

**IMPORTANT**
We would hate for you to be disqualified for not posting your movie correctly. Please allow at least 1 hour to post your completed entry, just in case. (This means that you really only have 23 hours to write, shoot, edit and score your movie.)

If you are taking still photos of the process, we'd love to have you share them with us. Details coming soon… You have 24 hours, until 5:00 PM EST on November 11, 2006, to complete and upload your film. Exclusive student discounts on Apple products. To start saving and learn more go to https://www.apple.com/education/shop