Consolidated Films

Movie Producing: Selling Tickets vs. Telling Stories

Price Jaccobi — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:34:19 -0600

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For some filmmakers there is some confusion as to what a movie is. Movie producers talk about elements that a movie needs, but many film makers aren't clear as to why these are necessary. A movie can be almost anything, really, but if you want people to pay money to see your movie there are some principles that will help out. This isn't an apology for the narrow-minded focus of Hollywood producers, rather an explanation of why they are thus.

Hook

A hook is a simple, easy to communicate encapsulation of the most appealing parts of the movie. A hook can be a simple as "it's Bambi meets Transformers but funnier" or as long as a sentence that explains the action in the film. "An alien comes to Earth and a little boy helps him get home". The reason why they want these hooks is that they don't have much time or attention of the potential consumer to generate their interest. In an environment where there are so many other possible entertainment outlets and a movie isn't based on a franchise this is the easiest way to interest movie goers.

Star

Some people see anything and everything a certain movie star is in. They don't hire actors because they are good at what they do on-screen, they hire them because people like to see them in movies. They are brand names that make people feel more confident paying for a product they aren't completely sure about. They feel at the very least they will get to watch this person the whole time no matter how stupid the movie is.

Genre

If you don't have a star or a hook, you can still garner attention by presenting the movie as belonging to an existing body of work that audiences like. In a way it's the simplest hook ever. For horror the hook would read: "you will get scared", for comedies: "you will laugh". For many people this is enough to get them to see the film. If they have come to develop a taste for thrillers or sci-fi, anything that falls within the conventions of those genres will give these audience members a certain threshold of pleasure.
Genre is the original franchise, in a sense.

Trailer Moments

More and more these days a hook, stars, and genre are not enough. Movies are about pictures and nothing convinces like images. As of late it's become common for movies to be constructed in such a way to be able to fill the trailer with arresting images that will hopefully attract eyeballs. The other elements are still important, but increasingly the money people are demanding five to six moments in a movie they can put in a trailer that make people say "wow".

This isn't the way to make a work of art or tell a good story, rather how to get people to pay money to sit in a seat and watch the movie. There are other ways, and your movie might not benefit from this advice. If you find yourself hearing people mention these things as something you should do with your film, you ought to be cautious because it means someone probably wants to get rich. Indie films often try to include these elements in their films but it doesn't have the same effect. Instead of following what Hollywood does, give thought to the basic thing each of these tactics tries to do. Then do it in a way that complements your film and would appeal to your audience rather than a faceless mass that Hollywood markets to.

Hollywood Movies Don't Use Permission Marketing

Julian Perrera — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:10:32 -0600

Image by CyrenaZ

As I advise filmmakers on how to do film marketing I mention the principles of permission marketing. I go on and on about how it's important to not market movies to people that don't want to hear to be marketed to. Using permission marketing is simple: find fans, ask them if you can keep contacting them, and then keep in touch by giving them information of value and not just commercial offerings.

Some may be skeptical of my claims and cite mainstream movie marketing as a reason they shouldn't have to care about permission. Indie filmmakers are qualitatively different than Hollywood. They sell mainstream culture, we sell a sub-culture. By definition sub-cultures are more personal and relevant. They are smaller and more intimate. Hollywood has good reasons to not care about permission marketing that you don't.

Set In Their Ways

Movies have been marketed and sold the way they are now for a long time. Hollywood may be called a small town but it's full of large companies. Studios are huge and most are part of much bigger corporations that aren't naturally nimble. This corporate environment is an impediment to doing anything other than the status quo. They may approve a wild advertising campaign, but they will never get behind the idea of not advertising at all.

Audience Expects Ads

It's become expected that big mainstream movies will advertise. It's almost an indication of quality to much of the audience. Not only the substance of the ads, but how pervasive they are adds to the perception of a film. In certain industries there are marketing expectations that need to be met or else you will have a hard time competing. Big movies are advertised on TV and on billboards and in the newspaper, if you want to be in that game you have to follow suit.

Low Audience Trust

Even if the Hollywood studios decide to supplement their ads with a permission marketing campaign it's not clear that people would participate. People feel cheated by studios all the time when they are tricked into seeing a movie that is nothing like the trailer or the best parts were in the trailer. Bait and switch is a common tactic that big studios use to get people to watch their movie. Without trust permission marketing doesn't work.

They Would Abuse The Asset

With the quarterly profit expectations that corporations have they often cut corners in order to make their numbers and keep the stock price up. With a list of contact info for movie enthusiasts there would be too much pressure to monetize it. The asset of the list would be seen as a possible profit maker instead of the slow burning marketing vehicle it is. So even if one quarter they are able to muster up the courage to start a permission marketing campaign, they could ruin the whole proposition the next quarter when they need to add a couple million to the bottom line. They sell or rent the list or send spam to the list which makes the money, but kills the goose.

As an indie filmmaker you are making movies that can be confused with being in the same class as Hollywood movies, but they aren't. Instead of copying Hollywood marketing, treat your fans with respect by asking for permission to market to them. Show them that courtesy and they will stick with you throughout your career, burn them once and you will be lumped in with the rest of the profiteers.

How Filmmakers Overcome Plot Holes, Unconvincing Movie Parts

Price Jaccobi — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:01:47 -0500

Image by ryaninc

No movie will completely tickle everyone who sees it. There will always be parts that strain credulity or test patience. No film will ever satisfy all who see it, no matter what you do. Still you want to keep people as engaged as possible. There are ways a filmmaker can mitigate parts of their movie that may offend, bore, or take someone out of the film-watching experience.

Suspended Disbelief

A film maker will get a certain amount of leeway from the audience no matter how they feel about you. To start with, nobody quibbles with the unstated camera and microphone that make it possible to record this supposed event. We all agree that this is a fictitious event that is being played back to us as a facsimile of life and not life itself. This works in your favor not only for the basics of the filmmaking conceit, but also can bleed into other areas like an actor's performance that is a little too "up" or the color of a car not making sense for the character that drives it.

Authority

Beyond the base level of rope an audience gives you, more can be gotten when you prove you are an authority on the world portrayed on screen. If you show you are in control of the elements that make up the setting, characters and story, an audience may grant you the benefit of the doubt in other areas. Authority need not be something they like or agree with, more like a stamp that is unique to you as a filmmaker. They may not agree with the types of fabrics you have clothed your characters in, but since it seems to be a style and doesn't stick out with other elements they will likely accept it.

Unique Vision

It's easy to pick apart big budget movies because they are a dime a dozen. If the one that came out this week is stupid, there is always next week. These movies are commodities. Just like anything plentiful, you are more particular about it. Water is available everywhere, but we want bottled water because it tastes better. Clothing is cheap and available everywhere, but we want certain kinds of clothes. When a filmmaker comes with a movie that is nothing like anything seen before, audiences will recognize it as a rarity. If it is at all compelling to them, they will savor the experience. Instead of holding it to the same standard as a bigger movie, they will overlook things in light of the unusual nature of it. Make something that is different and people will give you a break.

Respect

Much of the movie-going public craves respect. They don't want to be talked down to, they want to be challenged. These audience members will reward this respect you show them with leniency. When you give them something they've wanted in a movie for a long time, they will overlook those rough areas that could ruin a lesser movie. Respect could be stories with complex characters, it could be lack of explanation of things the audience should figure out for themselves, or it could be just telling a story that has never been told before.

Saul Bellow said "with a novelist like a surgeon, you have to get the feeling you've fallen into good hands - someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence." I feel filmmakers need to exude the same qualities. If you do the most on your part to make it a good experience for the audience, they will give back and allow you room to experiment and grow as an artist.

Marketing Films By Giving Media Production Stories

Julian Perrera — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:02:47 -0500

Image by mugley

In an earlier post I suggested that behind the scenes material on the DVD isn't the best way to use those stories. Stories from the making of the film are valuable. Not so much for pure entertainment value, but more as a film marketing tool. Though these stories can be compelling content, they are best used as a way to interest media in your movie. With media interest comes more exposure and fans still get the peak behind the scenes many of them crave.

There are so many things that happen during the making of a movie that it can be difficult to know what's good and what's just inside jokes.

Writing Of The Script

One of the things that was mentioned ad nauseum about "Juno" was the facts surrounding the writing of the script. Not only was it interesting that the writer was an ex-stripper but also the fact that it was written in a Starbucks in a Target somewhere in Minnesota. These are things that media love to repeat even if another outlet has already broken the news. Think on the writing of your script. Consider anything unique about it or whether you can introduce something unique to it if it hasn't been written yet.

How The Cast Met The Filmmakers

To this day people still talk about how Lana Turner was discovered, though the movie she first appeared in has largely been forgotten. She was at a cafe cutting class, a man noticed her, introduced her to a producer, and soon she was in pictures. At the time this was exciting, though now it's become a bit of a cliche. The way your actors are found can still become an interesting anecdote that will help people remember your movie and have media want to tell others about you.

How Money Was Raised

The Coen Brothers' first feature film "Blood Simple" was funded by getting a lot of small investments from Mid West dentists and doctors. At a time when independent film wasn't a household phrase, these filmmakers took a unique approach to making their movie and it paid off with media attention. Having your movie dependent on an inordinate amount of money is counterproductive, but an interesting story of how funding was gained can help you spread the word when the media turn out to want to tell your story for you.

Unusual Film Inspiration

Sleep Dealer, a sci-fi film screened at Sundance 2008 got a write up in Wired. The movie was purported to be inspired by a Wired Magazine article and I can't help but believe this helped them get this media coverage. You needn't have your movie be inspired by a particular publication, but you should definitely consider what the inspiration was and if there is any story that can be told arising from it.

Cast Bio Tid Bits

Novelist Aleida Rodriguez was once introduced as having been "born on a kitchen table in Cuba". This is something I never forgot and it can help people remember your work as well. If you have an interesting personal bit you can include in your communication with media it can help you stick out. A company I read about was formed by two "former Israeli fighter pilots", this too I remembered. What is in your casts' bios that you can use to help people remember you better and want to pass along the news to their friends, even.

Story Behind Name Of Film

Some people just title their film with whatever first comes to them. A name with a story will help you better get the word out. Not a movie but a company named Miramax was christened thus in honor of the parents of the brothers who founded and ran the company until recently; Miriam and Maxwell. If you can come up with a story around the name of your movie or put a little more thought into it that develops into an interesting anecdote, it can help you garner media attention.

Where Edited

I never expected the editing of a movie to ever loom large in the media stories of a movie. A recent movie "Son of Rambow" was edited on a barge and has been mentioned a lot in any media stories about the film. So it goes to show that any unorthodox aspect of the movie making can play a part in helping spread the word about the movie if given a chance.

The goal isn't to fabricate ridiculous, tacked-on, fantastical stories or copy what these people have done. The idea is to give a lot of attention to what stories you already have waiting to be uncovered. Pay a little attention to making the normal goings on of the filmmaking and see if it can be made more interesting with a little effort.

Movies With Stories Interest Future Film Fans

Price Jaccobi — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:04:47 -0500

Image by DrStarbuck

It's true that you don't have to tell a story in your film. Your movie can just be filled with exciting elements, photographed in cool ways, with a popular soundtrack. A film really is anything that people are willing to pay money to watch. Though you needn't tell a story with your movie, doing so does pay off.

Stories are something that never gets old. People still read the Bible and already know how it ends. Even if you are just in movies for purely financial reasons, there is a really good reason to tell a story with your movie; so people keep wanting to watch it when the excitement dies.

Stars Fade

There's a pervasive notion that including a star or many stars in a movie will make certain that people will watch it. This is true for the short term. People generally will flock to see anything with the new It Girl or Mr. Now. The problem is that these people that are so important right now might be forgotten in a few short years. So your movie that relies on stars may not shine as bright when these stars burn out.

Styles Change

Filling your movie with cutting edge clothing, brand new automobiles, and hot interior design is a way to keep people watching a movie; but it won't be exciting once all this stuff is available at Walmart. A movie that was once eye candy will someday be lumped in with all the banal stuff you can get at any corner store.

Technology Evolves

Every so often a technology arises a producer thinks is so powerful it can carry a movie on its own. Most technology is not as groundbreaking as sync-sound, so most movies will not be as well-remembered as "The Jazz Singer". Most technology that comes along is a slight improvement on what already exists and will soon be taken over by a yet-to-be-invented technology. Nothing to base a movie's success on wholly.

Current Events Change

A movie that dramatizes recent news events may be very appealing at the time it's released. Seeing a story you have only read about is indeed a compelling concept. As the news cycle continues and things are forgotten or deemed not as important as once thought, these movies that base their existence solely on being timely will find nobody cares anymore.

Exploitation Values Lose Luster

Naked body parts and fantastic scenes of violence might just get a lot of people to see the movie today. Once the rest of the world copies everything you did in that movie (maybe doing it better), you will find your movie is no longer coveted. Nobody wants to see the original just because it was the original, they will only watch it if it's compelling. Exploitation values like sex and violence lose their luster while a story keeps it.

Genres Die

There's a blind edict from many producers that a film need fit squarely in a genre to be able to find an audience. The problem is when the genre dies and that's all the movie had going for it. A boring western might have been tolerated when westerns were hot, but now it's just plain boring. A western with a story will continue to find an audience long after the genre has died.

Instead of gambling with a movie that hopes to capture the feeling of the moment, tell a story with your movie. Films with stories won't be disposable pieces of culture, but lasting contributions to society. Even if they aren't of the highest literary value, they will at least keep finding an audience as years go by.

Marketing Movies Without Behind the Scenes Extras

Julian Perrera — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:35:24 -0500

Image by iateapie

Unlike in the days of VHS where space and access was limited, DVDs have room for more stuff and makes it easy to get to. It's become a hard and fast rule that you can't just release the DVD of a film without a little something extra to sweeten the deal. With everybody else who puts their film on DVD adding more stuff to fill the disc, a filmmaker can't afford to just put just the movie alone on the disc. With this hunger for more content, most filmmakers take the easy road and shoot a making-of documentary and put that in there. Then they watch the movie, talk about it and record that and add it as an additional audio track on the DVD.

Although behind the scenes footage and DVD commentary tracks hold value, they aren't the best way to add value to your DVD release.

Lessens Suspension of Disbelief

When you only see an actor in the guise of a character there is an extra layer of seeming authenticity. Having a person's likeness only exist within the world of a story is so rare and such a treat. Seeing an actor only in the fictional world makes it seem that much more real. Conversely, with each contact with the actor outside of a fictional construct the less real it becomes. Soon you are more worried about the "real" person and not the characters they play. Soon the portrayal of the character isn't as compelling since you've had more impressions of the actor in "normal" mode.

Mostly Appeals To Other Filmmakers

For those who want to know how sausage is made, behind the scenes filmmaking material is a God-send. It's a cheap film school and a way to imagine themselves in the same situations and live vicariously through the film makers. The material can be made compelling to normal people, but it's something that is more interesting to those drawn to the making of films than just the watching of films. Your average film goer would rather have more episodes of a TV show rather than a making-of documentary. Most would prefer a sequel to the movie as opposed to interviews with the cast.

May Overtake Storyworld

Your movie's story may be of the subtle variety. It may be a quiet and nuanced portrait of a less-than-exciting character. It may be a valuable film experience, but may not seem so when compared to the documentary of the making of the movie. A movie will be compared to the other features offered on a DVD and you may not like the conclusions people come to. If your star is a very dynamic personality in real life but is playing a subdued character in the movie, showing substantial amounts of his real personality will make the movie pale in comparison.

Better Given To Media To Disseminate

It would be disingenuous to say that only filmmaking type people care about the making of films. People are interested in people and any compelling story will keep their interest. If they like the film, they will want to know more about the people who made it. So there is a desire for information about the behind the scenes, but it's not something that should be offered in a medium that competes with the storyworld of the film. Non-fiction stories like behind the scenes anecdotes are best left to smaller segments on video and lengthy treatment in print. These happen to be things that media (TV, newspapers, radio) have a need for on a daily basis. The media needs interesting stories, you want more fans and to downplay the comparison of these stories to your fictional storyworld. Give them the stories, your problems are solved.

Behind the scenes film making stories are important and something that interests lots of people. Instead of just doing as everyone does and filming the production of the film and putting it on the DVD, give it to the media so they can tell the stories in a way that won't undercut the fictional world you are creating in the first place. Don't do like everyone does, consider the principle behind tactics and create your own strategy.

Film Budget As Movie Producer Creative Limitation

Price Jaccobi — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:05:24 -0500

Image by MShades

Too many filmmakers worry about getting money and don't appreciate the situation they are in. Painters don't complain about how they can't have motion or sound in their paintings. They work within the art form they've chosen. Even if a painter would love to have the expensive paints and canvas that the big painters have, it won't stop them from creating. Producers of movies too often concentrate on getting the resources that other artists have instead of using what they already have to make something unique with it.

People paint because it's a challenge. It has boundaries and that makes it so they can fully concentrate on the options they do have. Instead of wishing and praying for more money so you can be like big filmmakers, embrace your situation and produce a movie with a story tailor-made for it.

Available Locations

Every filmmaker lives in a unique place, yet they all seem to gravitate toward the same locations. Where you live has visual value, you just haven't found it yet. Instead of shooting in the downtown area like everybody, take a close look at places you have access to and create a world around them. There are so many ways to shoot a film and you sticking to what's already been done is not the best option. Keep an open mind when putting together a movie and employ the rarities that surround you that nobody else pays attention to.

Limited Characters

Your resources will be stretched thin no matter what you do. The more actors you add to a film the worse your situation will become. Actors need food, bathrooms, and wardrobe; these are things you may not have access to so why make them a part of your film. Instead of blindly following the movie making convention of filling a movie with people, find a few very special actors that are committed and will help the film rather than be a drag. You can't expect extras to feed themselves and pee in the bushes all the time, but the stars of your picture should be motivated enough to rough it for the duration of the shoot.

No Special Effects

If you can't swim, you shouldn't ever get in the water. If you try to do something a little bit, it's easy for it to become more complicated than you thought. Gunshots might seem right for the movie and stunts may appear to be cool things to add, but they can easily become more trouble than they're worth. Since you likely don't have the resources to do them right, don't do them at all. Rewrite the parts that call for expensive effects or move on to a less expensive script. Don't put yourself in a position where one aspect of the film might hold the rest at its mercy.

Emphasis On Story

The one thing that is great about having no money to make a film, is it forces you to use the few resources you do have to great effect. You will have lots of time and good will. Use it to get the best story possible before any production begins. If you don't know what a good story looks like, you have time to learn that. If you can't find a good writer, you have time to find one or learn about writing and maybe do some writing yourself. The one place where your movie can compete with any other is on story, so don't forget to put in the effort where it will reap the most reward.

Just because you have low-budget circumstances doesn't mean the film will be inferior. Don't think about what other filmmakers have. Start looking for the unique stuff you have at your disposal. All these things you think are necessary to be in a film was thought up by someone some time. Nothing new will ever come about if all we do is copy what others have done. Use your unique lot to spur creativity rather than sap your enthusiasm.

Get Film Fan Permission To Market Your Movie To Them

Julian Perrera — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:01:55 -0500

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A crucial part of an independent low-budget filmmaker's marketing plan is getting permission to follow up with people that have already found out about the film. You don't have the money to keep reminding them with advertising, so you need to keep in touch with them in other ways. Permission marketing takes a lot of discipline because it's just as easy to do it right as it is to do it horribly wrong.

Get Attention

You have to get the people to notice you first before you can build a relationship with them. This is where advertising could come in handy, but you will likely do it in other ways due to budget constraints. There are places where people gather and if you have something of value on your site you might mention it after becoming a good citizen of whatever online community. Or people might find you from a social bookmarking site or maybe they are introduced to you by a friend.

Ask Permission

Once they get to your site, you need to get them to give you some contact info or make a connection of some kind. You can have a blog-based site that they can subscribe to using their RSS reader or you can offer an email newsletter that goes to their inbox. You may even ask for a mailing address and send printed material. Whatever it is, you need to get permission and have a way to follow up with them that is sustainable.

Give Them Content

Once you have a way to keep in touch with these people you have newly become acquainted with, you need stuff to show them on a consistent basis. You might keep them informed of fun stuff that happens on your web site or let them know when you have new videos released. The important thing is that you don't just keep asking them to buy stuff. Have something they care to consume that markets your movie indirectly.

Respect Their Wishes

It's easy to ruin the relationships you build with these fans. They often change their mind or are finicky about what kind of stuff they want. Don't make them do anything they really don't want to do. If you publish videos and blog posts but they only want to know about the videos, make it happen. Don't force them to endure something that will ultimately create ill will. Help them have the most positive experience possible. When they don't want to hear from you anymore, don't make them go through hoops.

No Spam, List Sharing

Your list of people you have gathered is not only not for anyone else to use, it's only for this movie. You may be doing other projects, but you can't expect these people to necessarily care. Don't let other people use your list for sending promotional messages and don't send any blatantly commercial messages yourself. This doesn't mean you can't mention people's stuff in your communications, but it means it must be something of interest and value to them. A link to free stuff of a friend that you thought your fans might like would work. An advertisement to get fans to buy your friend's stuff would not.

Turn Strangers Into Friends

It may not seem very clear what it is we are doing with all this free stuff we are giving away. You don't go from stranger to marriage overnight, likewise these fans won't very quickly go from never hearing about you to rabid lover of anything you do. The idea behind the permission and content strategy is to give these people a better idea of what you're about with the hopes that some will turn into paying customers. Many will never buy, but they will tell friends and some of them might buy. In this new economy you cannot concentrate on the sale. In fact sales will likely be a minority of the interactions you have with people.

Likely Interested In Next Project

You cannot use this list for your next project, but that's not to say many of the fans of your previous work won't also like your new stuff. When you have moved on from the project that attracted all these fans in the first place, they are a natural source of people for the permission marketing for the next thing. Make mentions of your new stuff and offer for them to give permission to get content from the new thing. Don't just convert the list wholesale or else you will be breaking the bond with them you so painstakingly built.

You need to find fans and keep them. You can't afford to be doing shotgun marketing with the hopes that some of it will stick. Come up with a series of things you can release to fans that give you permission to let them get to know you and your storyworld. Just because it's not a sales exercise explicitly, doesn't mean it's not worthwhile and won't eventually help spur money being exchanged.

Movie Producer Concepts To Judge A Film Story By

Price Jaccobi — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:57:17 -0500

Image by prakhar

When you want to produce films, it can be hard to know what to judge a movie script by. You can assess purely by its entertainment value or you can hold it to a higher standard. Every film should be able to hold an audience's attention and be entertaining, but to maximize the use of the cinema certain principles ought be followed.

You can't just tell any kind of story in a feature-length movie and expect it to play well. Certain stories fit in the cinema and some don't. Look for stories that have the following characteristics if you want to make sure it's deserving of the big screen.

Visual, Aural

If this screenplay you are reading has significant bits of information told in non-visual ways you may be setting yourself up for problems later. In movies people don't "realize" things. He or she can make a face in reaction to something but they cannot actually realize anything definitively because we would never know for sure. If the story turns on things that you cannot see or hear it won't easily become a film. If a significant amount of the entertainment value of the story comes from words used to describe things, you may be reading a novel that looks like a screenplay.

Progression

If the story seems to go in circles and not lead anywhere it might not need to be a movie. It might be 70 pages, but the scenes within may be better cut into pieces and consumed separately. Movies are about a single event and the give and take of the protagonist and antagonist. If these scenes in the movie don't seem to go toward a conclusion and just meander around, this may not be something you want to make as a film. It might be better off as an episodic series.

Thematic, Causal Scene Relation

Not only should the scenes move us toward an inevitable ending, the inclusion of scenes should be restricted to only those necessary for the story. Each and every scene should help the telling of the story by being a natural outgrowth of the previous scene. If you have a subplot story intertwined with your main story you need be sure it is thematically related, otherwise it will feel like two different stories instead of two takes on the same story. Each story need have the protagonist seeking related goals though they needn't both go through the same actions to reach them.

Climax, End Of The Line

If you have scenes that do grow out of each other and take the story closer and closer to the final act, you will want to make sure it doesn't stop before the end. There is a limit to human experience and that is what an audience wants in a feature-length movie. They want your protagonist to be forced to make the most difficult decisions ever and required to use the utmost efforts to prevail. They may or may not achieve what they want, but they will have had to do everything within their power while trying.

Character Dimensions

There are writers that never breathe life into their characters and some who make too many characters real. Depending on their function in the story they may or may not need be fully fleshed out. The more prominent a character is in the story the more dimensions should be revealed to us. It feels wrong if a bit character is more compelling than the main character and likewise if the main character never seems more than a stereotype.

Sub-Text In Text

Mostly in regards to dialogue, the text should never appear to mean precisely what it actually means in the story. If you want this film to have the aura of reality you need characters to feel like real people. When people want something they rarely ask for it directly. They hint, they complain, and they nag but they never ever come out and ask for what they actually want (at least at first). Your characters should be the same, and it's the basis for many scenes. A scene is nothing but a progression of actions, the next always being more difficult than the first. It's more difficult to be direct because the stakes are higher, so we always try the easiest way first.

Movies are just at least 70 minutes of 24 photos a second with a soundtrack, but there are qualities that will help a story thrive in that environment. These qualities will help you make sure the story you're telling isn't just long and seen on a big screen, but wants to be thus.

Effective Movie Internet Marketing

Julian Perrera — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:53:56 -0500

Image by Gavin Anderson

Film marketing gurus faced with the question of what a low-budget filmmaker should do to market their movies say the same thing. Use the internet. They speak the truth. They just don't give you any concrete things to do with the internet. The internet is a vast place and it's easy for your movie to get lost in it.

Don't get overwhelmed by the options, use the following to start you off and build on it.

Web Sites

This is absolutely the first thing you must do for internet movie marketing. Most movies in fact do have a web site but it's on MySpace, Geocities, or some other place with limited features available. Having a web site is only one part, you need to have stuff there people care about and help them understand your movie. So don't rush to make a web site, first come up with what you want to put there to pique interest and keep them coming back.

Free Content

A movie is not enough anymore. You can't just put out a movie and expect the world to care. There are too many movies and too many entertainment options to give yours a try. Instead of hoping you'll hit the zeitgeist right in the gut, create extra fictional content you can give out on your web site and other places online. There are probably scenes you cut from the film you could expand into compelling shorts. You might be able to take the screenwriter's notes and turn them into a short story series. To get people to want to see your movie you can't just put up a trailer (which by definition shows the good parts) and expect them to line up. Give them an idea of what the world is like, get them to love your characters and they might give your movie a chance.

Character Blogs

If you don't have any extra content or are stuck for ideas, let the actors do some of the heavy lifting. Many actors take the time to write back stories and some love to improvise. Put together whatever acting talent you have and see if they could run a character diary of some kind online. Instead of making extra video content, just have them write in first-person about situations in and around the movie. Are there things mentioned in the movie that are never shown? They could talk about it in a blog post. Was there a traumatic incident in a character's life that defines them now? Let them talk about it online. The more people know your characters the more likely they will be interested in your movie.

Permission Marketing

It's easy to get people to come to the site but hard to get them to come back. Once you do get them, collect their contact info and keep in touch with them. When I say keep in touch I don't mean spamming them to buy stuff every week. I mean keep them notified of free content on your site and any news in regards to your production. These people are trusting you and you should take that seriously. Don't rent your list of fans and don't abuse them. Treat them like friends and share stuff with them they want to know about and it will keep your movie in their consciousness.

Viral Marketing

When you create web site content that is free, you have chances of it becoming bookmarked by people on social media sites, passed around to friends, and this could bring you a lot of attention. The more content you have the more chances you have of something hitting a chord and it taking off. This is a microcosm of what filmmakers hope their film will do; go viral. Only this has a much better chance of working because you can create this content cheaply and more often.

Social Groups

An important part of any creative work for an audience is sharing it with friends. There are some people that love movies and don't care what friends think but a lot of people like the communal aspect of movies. Don't neglect the community side of the fan-creator relationship. Give them opportunities to interact with you and each other. Host a forum where they can chat about stuff and let them participate in the filmmaking process. Ultimately you aren't selling a movie, rather the group of people who made it.

Now you know some things you can do with internet marketing. It's easy to start but difficult to master. The important thing is to give it attention and start early. What should be clear by now is that you cannot just do what Hollywood movies do, you need to have your marketing be as remarkable as your movie.