Get ready to yell at short film fest Scream It Off Screen

• The twist: The audience gets a say (or a scream) in which film wins a giant $101.01 check.

Details: About halfway through the film, organizers turn on an ominous red light and wheel out a gong. The audience has to scream "GONG" or "LET IT PLAY" as loud as they can to decide the film's fate.

• If the loudest vote gong, organizers end the film immediately. The latter, well, you get to watch the whole thing.
• The winner is later picked from the surviving videos via a sound level meter.

My experience: I attended February's competition and, to echo the words of a fellow attendee, I'd never seen Minnesotans this aggressive about anything.

• Finalists included a truly horrifying surrealist film, something about "Lettuce Man", a well-produced sci-fi short and an 8-minute review of a Pop-Tart.

The results: The Pop-Tart video won — only because the sci-fi director didn't show up.

• If this sounds like your thing, get your tickets to Friday night's Scream It Off Screen at the Parkway Theater.