To further develop my researching process into the production of my five minute film, we studied the use of viral marketing in coercion with the success of popular mystery films. Famous titles, addressed above in the presentation such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" all became famous from the production and incorporation of viral marketing. It can be defined as follows:
"Viral marketing and viral advertising, (buzzwords), refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes"
This means that, through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or even interactive film websites set up and heavily detailled, producers and marketers are able to reach massive audiences whilst still in the early stages of film production. Mysterys are developed and created, little revelation of details about the film itsself are given, and slowly but surely, fan sites and members build as the clues are tried to be pieced together, to attempt to make some sort of sense out of the enigma. It is a highly successful, yet cheap method of marketing, and many examples of this have been seen ever since the birth of the internet.
The earliest account was, "The Blair Witch Project", created in 1999 by Robin Cowie and
Gregg Hale. Previously mentioned as one of the leading successors in cheap production huge profit, it heavily exploited the capabilities of the internets mass audience, and the possibilities of incorporating many different aspects of multimedia into the marketing of the film. Because it could be created so cheaply, and due to the ease and extreme success of the viral marketing campaign, the creators made a very large profit.
Another aspect of its extreme success was its incorporation of "Hyper-realism". They created a background to their horrific tale, even adding a section for mythology that details the events leading up to the students doomed journey. They even went as far, in terms of making it as believable as possible, to produce a section focused on "The Aftermath", explaining and documenting the evidence that show the students were in fact killed during that horrific night. Photographs of their ruined bags and clothes are shown, marked as "Evidence", and films from those individuals who supposedly found the evidence, under a 100 year old bunker cabin, explaining that there was no possible way it could have got there.
Another film that has been possibly the most successful viral marketing campaign of all time was that of the "The Dark Knight", the most recent batman film. It began months before its premiere, and we as the mass internet audience, were introduced into the world of The Joker, as he created a list on website " http://www.whysoserious.com/ " of to do things that would wreak havoc around the globe. The response was enormous.
The video below outlines the extent of the influence and effect over the people of the world, solely from this viral marketing campaign.
The impact this particular viral campaign had was so substantial, an almost alternate life was created, in which people were able to feel part, or a 'citizen', of a fictional Gotham City.
To carry out this particular section of research, I must focus on the audience, the most important factor in the decision and outlining of my overall short films plot. The audience, as a collective and each individual, is integral to its success, and we as directors must adhere to their preferences in order to allow the short film to be a success. For example, if I chose to create a short film of the romance genre, but no one I had asked who may be watching the short film had chosen that as a particular preference, they would lose interest quickly, and it would not turn out a success.
To begin my research on what audiences want and expect out of short films, I composed a questionnaire. I felt this form of inquiry was most personal, and would enable me to receive all the essential answers to any queries I may have regarding the production and success of short films, both existing and yet to be made. The majority of people I handed my questionnaire to were in the age cache of 18-36, and I felt this was most important, as my film will be watched by people in this age group, therefore their opinions and ideas are most valued. I have provided a screen shot of what my questionnaire looked like. The questions included:
Screen shot of my Audience Research Survey
What kinds of films do you enjoy?
Do short films interest you? If so, how?
What is your favorite genre of film?
What is your favorite short film?
Where would you watch a short film?
What makes a good short film? What interests you most?
How do you think a short film could be best publicized? Through viral marketing? Film festivals?
What key features would you like to see in a new short film? (E.g. Unusual characters, different settings, aspects of the paranormal, etc.)
I was very pleased with my questionnaire questions, as I felt they cover all aspects of areas I felt unsure of how to develop concerning the audiences preferences. From the results, I was able to piece together several certainties concerning the production and development of my short film ,in order to make it a success. After receiving the results and piecing them together, I felt it was most effective to produce an Xtranormal presentation outlining them in an interesting, unusual way. I have embedded this below:
I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with the capabilities of the Xtranormal medium of presentation software, and felt the final product was interesting and effective in presenting my results in a different way. Now that my results have been accumulated and formed a picture of how my very own short film should be developed and publicized, I will summarize them in a list of bullet points, to outline a clear structure of audience opinion:
As horror was the most popular genre among individuals of this age cache, I will develop my short film plot surrounding the conventions and codes of a horror genre piece. As comedy was a close follower, I will incorporate aspects of humour into plot and dialogue, thus making it a hybrid genre film. This will add unusual and interesting aspects to a seemingly guessable storyline
9 people, the majority, said that they did enjoy short films, though 7 people said they did not. Due to this mixture of beliefs, I will work hard to make my short film as entertaining and interesting as possible, in order for it to be a success. It was concluded that many did not enjoy them due to a lack of depth, therefore I will add as much detail to my film within the time period of five minutes allocated to make it as concise and thoroughly exact as capable.
Unusual plot lines and unexpected twists were aspects highlighted as being most effective. The storyline I will develop will be complicated yet easy to follow, and incorporate an unexpected turn of events in order to maintain interest and add alternate perspectives.
"Im Here" by Spike Jonze was the main short film people had heard of, and was mentioned frequently, over 12 times. This could be a point of interest, and I have focused upon its composition frequently throughout my coursework; it could be a focal point for aspects of intrigue the audience look for.
Short films are most frequently watched when recommended by others. By heavily publicizing my finished product through mediums such as You tube, its success could be broadened by word of mouth, or by social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. As you tube was found as the most popular medium for watching short films, I will heavily focus upon it as a starting point for getting my short film noticed and watched.
Film festivals were highlighted as an easy and popular way for short films to be brought to light. I will research their effectiveness in the success of films. However, it was viral marketing that was recognised as the most effective form of publication. After extensive research on the capabilities and past successes of viral marketing, I feel comfortable with the prospect of perhaps developing this idea and making my short film well recognised via this form of media recognition. Perhaps by establishing a website? Creating an enigma about the short film before its release?
Time as an element of intrigue within a short film story line was brought up frequently, a total of 8 times throughout the questionnaire. I will most definitely incorporate this aspect, and make time elements of change, expansion or reversal clear through typical conventions such as camera angles and lighting associated with the change of time.
It is now clear what specific elements must be incorporated into my short film, in order for it to become successful, and appeal to the audiences.
An interesting point of focus concerning pre existing film successes could be the process of which reviews of particular films take place. Reviews can have a substantial level of influence over whether someone decides to watch a film or not, and there are several highly popular websites that retain this influence. I will now look in depth at these websites, in order to gain perspective on how the review process works, and what attracts or deters an audience individual from a certain film, solely due to reviewers opinion.
Rotten Tomatoes
This particular review website enables the individual to decide whether a film is "fresh" or "rotten", with many written critiques available to read, and agree or disagree with. It instantly recognises you from your facebook page should you have an account, to "personalize the experience", an aspect I was taken aback by due to its seemingly invasive nature.
If you choose a particular film to 'review', it gives details of box office money success, its length, director, and how many ratings it has had. It goes with the majority, in this case fresh. I feel its influence over what people feel about a particular film is great, as its biased synopsis of a film and wording of opinion by the individual critiquer is set in a way to sway the online individual towards a certain standing, good or bad. Personally, I don't feel the review process it uses is professional, though admit it did sway my opinion slightly concerning films I haven't even seen yet. Should I go to see the films I read reviews on, I feel it may have a minor impact over my overall opinion of them , though should I entirely enjoy the film, it would probably make no difference whether the review I read was bad or good. It is because of its highly persuasive nature, mainly due to linguistic factors, that this particular review website could be essential in the success of a new short film. Should the overall review regard it as "fresh", it could sway many individuals towards watching it.
There have been many tales of success concerning the production of a short film, just a small idea that has developed, at a low cost, into a widespread hit and a massive phenomena. I researched the reasoning behind why directors decide to produce short films, and found that overall, it was all on a basis of funding. Directors such as Joe Nussbaum, ("George Lucas in Love"), Alex Merkin, ("Across the Hall"), and, a point of my own subject focus, Spike Jonze ("I'm Here") all struggled with the idea of profit. Jonze struck lucky and found sponsorship in the form of vodka company Smirnoff, an internationally recognised and reputable company that allowed his initial idea to stem and develop, resulting in a highly successful slightly lengthy half an hour short film.
There could be many reasons why an individual decides to produce a short film. They are ideal for a simple, or short plot line and narrative,
Award Winning Spike Jonze
free from the constraints of extensive budgets necessary to create multi-million pound box office hits with never-before-seen special effects, and effective in their very own quirky, individual sense. Once the film has been created, the last finishing touches added, and the credits produced, all that is left to do to get your product out into the market is get it played at one of the many film festivals that are gaining increasing popularity. If the audience like your film, then you could be in for recieving a massive amount of profit from such a small project.
Alex Merkin (Left)
The success of many directors of short films is evident. It all stems from the simple fact that their usually humble origins are of the everyday working class, and their ability to create from their own imaginative minds a realistic and interesting, whilst extremely entertaining short film. The audience can relate to them, and thus from this laugh along, share the comical antics of the person onscreen ( who is just another average joe, more often than not) and thoroughly enjoy the film in its simplest form; free from the facade of block buster special effects and false faced actors.
In summation, I now know enough of the pro's as to why someone would decide to make a short film, to understand the process behind my very own future feature length. Its success and likeability however, will all depend on my most important factor in its production; the individual audience member in society.
The earliest account was, "The Blair Witch Project", created in 1999 by Robin Cowie and
Photographs of their ruined bags and clothes are shown, marked as "Evidence", and films from those individuals who supposedly found the evidence, under a 100 year old bunker cabin, explaining that there was no possible way it could have got there.
