Advertising your short

You've lost all touch with humanity due to being locked in the editing bay for 18 hours a day. You can't remember the difference between scene 2 and scene 22 anymore. This strange daylight phenomenon happening outside is confusing to you. Congratulations! You are now finished editing your short film! Sit back, relax, take a deep breath...deeper... a little more... Ok. Good. Now, let it out and GET STARTED PROMOTING YOUR MOVIE!

As many times as you may hear this, it's true. Finishing your short film is only half the work. Now comes the hard part. Convincing people to see your movie and yes, maybe even paying to do so. At last check there were about 10,000 short films made in 2006. How do I know that number? I don't. I made it up, but for the sake of this post, we will assume it's accurate. So, you have a 1/10,000th stake in the short film community . How do you let the masses know about your latest opus? Well, if you are age 27 and under like most short filmmakers seem to be, you are probably quite familiar with this inter-web-net thing. (Heck, you're already somewhat Internet savvy if you managed to find this blog.)

How can you make the Internet work for you? Easy! There's several ways of advertising on the Internet and some don't even cost you any money. We'll start off cheaply. Start a blog/myspace/chain-letter. (Maybe not the chain-letter). Blogging about your film serves many functions.

1. It generates awareness of not only your movie, but it also shows everyone that real people made the movie. It's not just some faceless product out there floating around on the Internet. Adding a human element to your project can make it that much more interesting.
2. You can update the blog about the film festivals your film has been accepted to. This can be useful in bringing more people to your festival screenings. (The Internet is worldwide after all.)
   
3. On your blog, you can post helpful articles and how-to's regarding filmmaking. If you do these on a weekly-ish basis, people will keep returning to the blog (and in the process they will be more interested in the progress of your movie).

Another free method of advertising is to find an online message board (preferably one that relates to movie making, or at least the topic of your movie) and tell their users about it. Now, this can be difficult to pull off without sounding like a spam post. The best way to do it is sign up about a month or two in advance of when you'd like to announce your movie. In that time, check on the board, post as you see fit, and try to fit in. Then, after you've been accepted into their tribe, casually mention your new movie. If the board is a supportive and nurturing type, the users will inquire further and you can start a dialog. If your post is deleted as spam, accept it and move on with your life.

The next Internet marketing technique is, duh, start a website. In this modern day, a short film without a website is like a... something without a something else. You don't need anything flashy (in fact, the less Flash, the better), a simple one page site is fine. Have your movie's main image on the site, along with a synopsis, some credits, and an email to contact the director. You can get as in depth with your website as you like, but I believe that simplicity is key. This website will at least make your presence known online and give people an opportunity to contact you about it.

Moving up in price, we reach banner ads. Now, I am presently paying for several banner ads on a variety of targeted websites. Having said that, I believe that most banner ads do almost NO GOOD in terms of getting people to purchase your DVD (if you are doing a self-distribution thing). My website's server tells me where the visitors were referred from and less than .5% came to the site as a result of the banner ads. That's not to say that online banner ads don't serve a purpose. They certianly do. They help generate awareness of your movie and can make people feel more comfortable with it down the line. Imagine if you had seen this ad on several sites over the course of a few months.


Then, you happen to find yourself at a film festival and you see that lo and behold, Flip is playing. You'll put two and two together and very likely go and see that movie you'd been "hearing about" for the last few months. In that situation, the user never even clicked the ad but it still served a purpose. And this is why I still buy banner ad space. I believe it can benefit the movie in the long run by getting people to become familiar with the title.

So, where do you buy your banner ad space? Well, consider your target demographic. For my movie, I listed all the possible people who could benefit from watching Flip. I narrowed it down to the following: Filmmakers, Men ages 17-30 and Women ages 25-40. Of course, the ages are somewhat arbitrary, but just listing "Men" or "Women" as demographics is a little... broad. Finding a place to post the banner ad to attract filmmakers was easy. My favorite message board, DVXuser was my first stop. Getting a banner ad there for a month cost me about $300, which I was happy to pay because it was not only a perfect demographic, but I felt good finally giving back to a site that had provided me with so much free information in the past. Another site I have ads running on is Filmthreat. Filmthreat fits all my demographics so it was a real no brainer. Best of all, they are very supportive of independent filmmakers and they will work with you to maximize your advertising budget.

Speaking of the Filmthreat ad campaign, I'd like to point out another form of advertising. Video! I know, it seems so obvious, but many filmmakers completely ignore this aspect of online advertising. If you already made a movie, you clearly posses the skills to cut a trailer for it. Go make a 30 second trailer and post a link to it anywhere you can. (Specifiably, your website/blog/myspace). This can be the most influential factor in terms of getting people interested in your movie, so take your time and make it a good trailer. And, while you're at it, go out shoot some original video content using the characters from the movie. You can use these to pique people's interest in the movie as well. For a better example of what I'm talking about, you can view a PSA (public service announcement) type clip we shot for Flip to be aired on Filmthreat in January.
Flip - Aldo's PSA (Give it a minute to load).

These ads are intended to familiarize people with the characters and hopefully get them to visit the website. As an added bonus, they were a chance to get together with the same cast and crew from the movie, which is always fun.

Well, those are just a few of the traditional ways of advertising online. If you really are a filmmaker, you should be creative enough to figure out some more original ways to get your name out there.

Suggested Reading

Well, the Flip DVD is out and selling quite well. Thanks to everybody who has picked up a copy! Now begins a weekly(ish) segment on the Flip Blog: Articles and Such. In every Article (and Such) we'll discuss the various aspects of filmmaking. This weeks Article is Suggested Reading. This is a list of great books that any filmmaker should own, or at least have read. Starting in no particular order with...

1) Rebel Without A Crew:
Robert Rodriguez' personal diary during the production of his first feature, El Mariachi. This book is, without a doubt, the best "on set diary" I have ever read. It covers not only how he financed, shot, edited, and distributed the movie, but also how he did it for under $7,000. It's full of great tid-bits and helpful information for filmmakers, and is an entertaining read even if you don't care about filmmaking. I always tend to read this book before I start a new project. It gets me enthused about the project. (Once you have read Rebel, check out David Carradine's similar, but much less technical, Kill Bill Diary)

2) The ScreenWriter's Problem Solver:
This book, by master-of-screenwriting
-books Syd Field, is a catalogued reference book for screenwriters. If you are in the middle of a script and come to a roadblock, simply flip to your specific problem in the index and follow the directions prescribed. Examples of the types of problems (and solutions) offered: "Talking Heads", "Something's Missing", "Enter Late, Get Out Early", etc. This is a wonderful reference and it doesn't get too philosophical. It treats screenwriting almost like an alchemy, which is essentially what it is (no matter what anyone says).

3) Extreme DV :
Rick Schmidt has created a wonderful "How-To" book with Extreme DV. The "How-To" in question is how-to write, direct, shoot, edit and produce a DV feature for under $3,000. Over the course of some 300 or so pages, Rick diagrams how exactly this is all possible. Of course, in the interests of making his book cover seem as attractive as possible, the aforementioned $3,000 assumes you already posses a nice video camera or are willing to buy a $400 1 chip camera. The rest of the information is very solid, and he backs it all up with his own feature experiences. This book may not portray the most realistic way to spend $3,000 but it certainly gives the reader a lot of good "cost-cutting" ideas.

4) Directing Actors :
Author/ Director Judith Weston has given her readers the ultimate resource with her book Directing Actors. It should really be called "Understanding Actors" because it goes in-depth as to what the actors are really thinking when you are directing them. The book gives many good examples of counter productive techniques, such as "I need you to be angrier" and then gives ways to correct that kind of direction. She also offers examples of notable actors and goes in-depth into their processes. This book can save you a year of directing classes at film school.

Liftoff!

The Official Flip Website is now indeed official! It's up and running. It's already logged a ton of hits in the past few days, so thanks a bunch everybody! I'd just like to mention that the DVD is available now for $14.99, and as a special thank you to those "internet-savvy" people out there, if you enter the code "FlipBlog" at the check out, you get free shipping!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everybody who supported myself and the rest of the cast and crew while we were making this movie. If you're name was missed, please let me know and I'll add it in a BOLD, 48pt font!

Thanks to:
Tim and Mary Jane Torpin
Jarrod Weintraub
Rebecca Seubert
Geoff Goodloe
Matt Jarbo
Charley Miller
Matt Masten
Nick Munoz
Romeo Gutierrez
Dan Orr
Fernando Huerto
Brian Valente
Jarred Land
Dmitry Kichenko
Rachael Dillman
DVXuser.com
Josh Freeman
Lauren Maiman
Joe Maiman
Melinda Seubert
Winona & Paul McNitt
Jerry Seubert
Target Stores Inc
That guy in Vegas that left the full bottle of Grey Goose outside his room
All the wonderful MySpacers and Bloggers who've shown their support!

Thanks a bunch everybody! It means a ton!

Countdown... 10... 9... 8...

Well, it's officially countdown time. My DVDs will be arriving Thursday, which, coincidently, is the same day the Official Flip Website will launch. The website will serve as a place where people can read about the movie, view trailers, get bios of the cast and crew and much more!

The website will also be the only place to buy the Flip DVD! The DVD is packed with hours upon hours of special features and enough commentary tracks to... well, let's just say there's a lot. The DVD will be available only through the www.flipmovie.net for a limited time only. After that, it will also be found on Amazon.com and other online retailers, who will likely charge a higher price. You can buy the DVD now (well, not quite now, but soon. Very soon.) for $14.99.

As a special treat for all you loyal bloggers, by entering the code "FlipBlog" at the checkout process, you will receive free standard shipping to anywhere in the USA! Just a little "thank you" from all of us here at Component Pictures. Stay tuned, it's going to be an exciting couple of days!

Update

Yes, I'm well aware that it's been almost 3 months since an update (heck, I think it's been exactly 3). I appreciate everyone's patience with me while I'm finishing up the Flip DVD. I'm currently wrapping everything up with it and it's going off to the Replication house on the 9th of Oct. Until then, you can get your "Flip Fix" here at the Flickr Gallery (I did a huge update to it!) Talk to you all soon! Carleton.

Flickr Gallery for Flip

Cover art

Thanks to the fine photography of Josh Freeman , I have the first composite image of what the DVD cover will look like. This is a rough assembly of several separate elements. The BG is currently white, but I will be replacing that with something more visually dynamic. Also, the logo on the chip itself is a little too clear, so we'll be working on that too. As I said, this is a rough composite of what I'm going for. So far, I'm happy with how it's looking. All in all, Josh ended up shooting about 600 pictures for us. It took some time, but Rebecca and I narrowed it down to about 70 images. Most of them are for use in the press kits, but I can use elements of the images for posters and other artwork for the movie.

Sound mixing

I've been working in Soundtrack Pro for the last few days, trying to make the best of the audio we recorded on location. I've mixed in all the ADR that was usable, but it's still not enough. Too much of it sounds canned and some of it is out of sync. So, we are bringing Jarrod and Rebecca in tomorrow to record more (this time with videoplayback for their benefit). The picture is more or less "locked", meaning that the video is edited the way I want it to be. I need to shoot one more shot (of a clock) and then it will be done. I'm working to get this movie finished by July 15th. Once it's done I can submit it to festivals and then get started cutting the Behind the Scenes footage and featurettes for the DVD. I've worked it out on paper, and to get all the features on this DVD that I planned to have, I need to edit about 8 hours every day for 3 weeks (to get the long BTS feature done). Starting in August, I will need to shoot and edit a featurette every day for 2 weeks (I've got 14 featurettes planned). That takes me to mid-august, then I have to go on a vacation for a week. When I get back, I have to get the DVD all set and ready to go. That should take about 3 weeks as well. Then, I am sending it off to the duplication house. I'll go into that later though...