The Directors Project: Update on the Point Values

Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street

With a large passing of time since the last update of The Director Project, I figured that it was time to share the progress that has been made in putting the special summer programming together. In this particular update, I will be discussion how the point values work in more specific detail and also provide the qualifications for what films will be accepted into the cannon. With this being a big ordeal set to launch in June (Date still TBA), things are still being organized, but have come quite a way since the announcement a few weeks back.

As a refresher, the project is set to highlight my Top 50 favorite directors of all time based on information gathered from both IMDb and Flickchart. I feel like these resources are the least biased sampling of films that are likely to exist, as most of my voting has already been locked in and only new entries are likely to make an upset. I feel like these two sources will help me to best judge what films in general I rally like and the filmmakers that I didn't know I liked all that much.

The points system will run on 10 point increments for IMDb. Since there aren't any half stars available to the voter, this system is particularly easy. The pairing will appear like for the ratings on a scale of 1-10 (based on stars):

1 -- 10 points

2 -- 20 points

3 -- 30 points

4 -- 40 points 

5 -- 50 points 

6 -- 60 points

7 -- 70 points

8 -- 80 points

9 -- 90 points

10 -- 100 points

From these ratings, the points will be given to the director who produced it. While there is a chance that films will likely overlap and have multiple directors, the points system will not be split among duos or any subsequent number. Everyone will receive that 10 point score. Any filmmaker with more than five perfect 10's will automatically have their score doubled. Speaking as my ratings usually fall in the middle bracket, this is also an unlikely scenario.

As for Flickchart, things will become slightly more complicated. Since this will be the basis for my final selections, I will be working on a 50 point scale with additional bonus points as the categories go up. I will be selecting my choices for "favorite" films from the titles that rank in my Top 1000. With this in mind, I will also be placing the 50 point values with each interval of 50 getting a slight boost in points:

1000-950 -- 50 points

949-900 -- 100 points

899-850 -- 150 points

849-800 -- 200 points

799-750 -- 250 points

749-700 -- 300 points

699-650 -- 350 points

649-600 -- 400 points

599-550 -- 450 points

450-549 -- 450 points
449-400 -- 500 points

399-350 -- 550 points

349-300 -- 600 points

299-250 -- 650 points

249-200 -- 700 points

199-150 -- 750 points

149-100 -- 800 points

99-50 -- 850 points

49-1 -- 900 points

There will be an additional 100 points rewarded to the film that takes the top spot on the selection. While it would seem unfair, it is one of the many ways that I am benefiting films that I like more than others. This counts for every film and no director has a restricted limit for their points.

Another way is through specialty points systems, which are harder to come by. I have decided that with many filmmakers releasing minimal amounts of films, I will be courteous to those and reward points to two achievements, if just to show how much I like them. The following point values are in accordance to achieving an entire catalog rank in the following fields:

All Place in Top 1000 - 50 points

All Place in Top 500 - 100 points

All Place in Top 100 - 500 points

This particular category is only applicable if every film title meets these requirements. With the rarity that a director's entire catalog is likely to place in the Top 100, I have made the value exceedingly high in order to allow the recognition to be understood as having value. However, do know that with exception to directors with a few films to their name, this isn't going to be a popular category when adding up points.

I will also reward a small point value for any director who has a trilogy ranked in the Top 1000. Let it be known that this will only be applicable if all films were directed by the same person. With this in mind, any director with a trilogy in this category will receive an additional 10 points. It may seem small, but considering all of the other benefits, it is likely to add up to something.

Unless complications come up, there will be no deductions of points given to any performer. There will also not be points awarded to the filmmaker who has the most films in the final tally, as that would seem unfair. The list should be as unbiased as possible when it comes to this regards. I will not reward based on acclaim nor prestige other than my personal voting system. 

So what films qualify? I have decided to disqualify any TV specials that aren't necessarily prominent in the cinema landscape. Specials such as Charlie Brown specials will not be included. As well, shorts by filmmakers such as David Lynch will also be disqualified in order to not have an abundance of "free" points rewarded to a filmmaker prolific in the short form entertainment. The rules are basically that it has to justify as being cinematic in some format.

I am not disqualifying any specific form of "cinema" and I hope to have a strong representation of categories ranging from comedy and drama to documentaries and foreign titles. As long as they would work as plausible sources of entertainment of a certain quality, they will qualify. I am currently weeding out any potential upsets from my Flickchart in order to make this more fair. They don't necessarily need to have played in theaters, but they need to be a film. Due to my extension to the beginning of cinema in the 1890's, I have disqualified the time limit as based on the era. Films from the "silent" era or early Hollywood will receive a pass if their films come in under 60 minutes provided they were released as movies for the general public. However, films past 1950 are unlikely to qualify because of the changing atmosphere.

There you have it. That's most of the rules for my list. I will continue to keep you updated as more things occur. I am enjoying it and I hope to launch this in June in the best way possible. As I am ranking everything, please feel free to name films that I should check out in order to give the list a more fleshed out and professional look. I also hope that this will make me appreciate the directors more and that give me reason to check out their more obscure titles.