Thank You

All we are is what we put out in the world.

Through conversation, body language, long stares from across a crowded room, a smile, welled-up eyes, that moment of speechlessness when your emotions overtake you. Everything we are is in all of those moments. For me and for all of us in #506iv, it's in our writing.

I remember a conversation I had with a indie film colleague about other people's feelings on his work, on my work, on all of our work. I said a variety of things, but it boiled down to this:

"We can't control how people will react to our material. We can only control the material"

Thinking back, I wonder if that's true. After the writing, I have to promote. I write query letters and pitches. I enter contests and festivals. I submit articles for publication. I'm putting my name out there, but where I was pinning the cause of my acceptance or rejection on the subjective nature of the business, maybe I should be looking at the way I'm presenting my work. I may find more fault with myself than the subjectiveness of others. I control the way people respond to my material, by the way I present it.

He's talking about "Tomorrowland", which I love.

This class, I've been challenged to dissect my name and how it's discovered on-line. The ease that my real name is searched for in Google. The difficulty that people who don't know me can find my website. I share many of my articles and published work, but I wonder if I'm sharing it the right way.

I have to focus on my brand. I'm not the biggest fan of that term. For me, it's synonymous with being phony. Being out of touch with others. A brand isn't approachable. A brand isn't personal. But, it's what we all are. Even if we use a different term like image or reputation, it means the same thing. Perhaps, it's time to own it.

I'm faced with another choice. My writing voice. Much of my writing has been from a place of "high on the mountaintop," preaching to the people below. This was never a conscious decision. It was not my intention to place myself on a different status than my audience. It was just how I wrote many of my articles about the film business and my experiences, but my tone betrayed my intentions. I didn't know why. I didn't know how to amend that tone.

Professor Kalm challenged (yes, another one) me to be more personal in my writing. To interject more life experience in my writing. To be more honest and open, but to get to the point. (Thank you, Struck and White)  Not that I wasn't honest before, but there was always a wall. Something that stopped me from letting others see me. I'd be honest, but not enough. I'd be open, but leave out other thoughts. I would tell myself that no one wants to read it, but in reality I was too afraid to share it. So I accepted the challenge and focused on being more personal and open. I still work on it and will continue to work on it in future writing endeavors.

I chose indie film as my beat because I've lived inside indie film for so long and while I'll always enjoy discussing film, breaking down the industry and simply watching stories. I'll probably still write about indie film. But the indie film beat is not my greatest takeaway from this class.

I am a writer. I always will be a writer, but it's time I work on becoming a better writer. In my head I hear the advice I've heard countless times before. "Write. Write. Write." and "The only way to become a good writer is to keep writing." Yes. Those are great pieces of advice and I could continue to write and write, but never push myself to grow as a writer. I could keep writing, but never learn how to be a good writer.

#506iv helped me realize that I needed and wanted to work on the craft of writing. I don't know my future. I don't know where my writing or the rest of my graduate studies will take me, but I know I'm on a new path. A trajectory that will involved my writing in some form. It was probably fate that brought me to #506iv this summer session. Stephen King's memoir "On Writing"was one of our suggested readings in the syllabus and I was already 100 pages into the book. I began this class before realizing it and now it's tough for me to leave.

"I don't want to go." - The 10th Doctor (David Tennant)

IndieApp Campaign

Be original. Be creative.

Easier said than done, but let's get the basics out of the way.

Twitter
It should be every new venture's first step. Create a Twitter handle. It's one of the best ways to connect with your audience, with the world. The way you use Twitter also helps a great deal, but we're starting with the basics right now. Hopefully, we can land "@IndieApp" as our handle and once that's set we have an open connection to help gather our audience.

Facebook
We'll create an IndieApp page which will be used to primarily increase our reach to our audience. Since filmmaking is a young man and woman's game, it's worth noting the level of reach we would have on Facebook. The site has a higher demographic of older users to newer users, which isn't to say that young filmmakers aren't creating accounts. They might not be checking them as much.

Vine
It's a no-brainer that we'll be a presence on Vine, a social media platform with a focus on visual storytelling makes perfect sense for the IndieApp. "6-second stories" could be a great social media campaign on Vine. We challenge indie filmmakers to tell a story with the constraints of Vine, which could be opened up to contests and giveaways. A great tool for IndieApp.

SnapChat
Another visual social media portal that IndieApp can use to its advantage. Connecting with the young demographic that utilizes SnapChat more than other generations is a paramount to keep IndieApp relevant as the years progress. Much like Vine, SnapChat can be used as a story device for filmmakers. A documentary style of filmmaking could be a better on SnapChat.

Instagram
The visual is what Instagram is all about. Yes, the video component can be utilized much the same way that SnapChat and Vine would be, but the power of Instagram is in its photos. IndieApp would use Instagram as a behind the scenes tool from work on other indie filmmaker's projects to what goes into working on the IndieApp.

These are probably the five top social media portals, IndieApp would have a presence at the start. Obviously, there are others that we could use and promote the brand of IndieApp, but for now, we'll start slow and then grow when needed.

Be Original. Be Creative.

What to do when on these portals is the real question. Yes, IndieApp will have its own website/blog which would contain articles on the business side of independent cinema, production stories from filmmakers and other content all focused on getting films made and distributed. The five portals (Twitter, Facebook, Vine, SnapChat and Instagram) are designed to bring traffic to the IndieApp website. But how?

YouTube
As much as Vimeo appeals to me as a filmmaker, I believe YouTube has a greater reach for us in terms of finding our audience. It's also name brand recognition for audiences outside of the indie film world. Remember, we may attract people who have thoughts of becoming indie filmmakers. They're not entrenched in this world yet, so the gamble is that they would know about YouTube first over Vimeo. A gamble we're willing to make. (Plus, who says we can't just include Vimeo in the fold later) Again, this is to start out.

Film Festivals
IndieApp needs to be on the festival circuit. That's where the indie filmmakers are, so that's where IndieApp needs to be. A team of journalists and filmmakers scouring the country, hitting festivals after festival and watching movies. Interviewing people. Creating 6-second interviews for Vine. Cutting 3-5 minute run-downs of films for our YouTube channel. Long-form articles to the website, reviewing the movies and spreading the word on some of these lesser-known indie films looking for a distribution home.

Contests and Giveaways
 - One-page writing contests and Five-page writing contests. Winners could get their scripts produced.
 - Participatory giveaways to promote audience interaction on the website.

Workshops
IndieApp has a responsibility to make sure every indie filmmaker has the tools and knowledge to further their careers as storytellers. No better way to do this than hold workshops on all different aspects of filmmaking.
 - Production - Directing, Screenwriting, cinematography, grip and electric, production design, set design, art department
 - Post-Production - Editing, Marketing, Sound Design

The promotion of knowledge is a vital part of the IndieApp. All content created by the IndieApp would be in service of providing knowledge for the indie filmmakers that would visit the website and other social media portals. Growing a community requires consistent updates on our social media portals and creative ways to bring future storytellers to the website. What has been listed above is just a start. If we remain focused on our motto, then our community will continue to grow.

Be Original. Be Creative.

"Is it real?" Marketing

With the return of the Blair Witch in theaters this September, I thought it fitting to take a look at the viral campaign that surrounded the original movie, The Blair Witch Project. For those who may not be aware or are too young to remember, way back in 1999, movie audiences were put on alert that something sinister lay deep in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland.

A year earlier, three filmmakers had gone into the woods in search of the Blair Witch, a legend that has plagued the local townsfolk, and no one had heard from them again until the footage from their cameras were found. The footage was spliced together and premiered for audiences at the Sundance Film Festival and even after it was bought by Artisan Entertainment for one million dollars, audiences around the world kept asking: "Is this real?"

That was the beauty behind the campaign. The website and the marketing campaign promoted the movie as a documentary as if saying: "These events happened! These filmmakers went missing and now we know how and why. These are their final moments."

I was 24 years old in 1999 and I was brimming with a large amount of cynicism in those days and even I had to pause and investigate the movie to see if it was real or not. It's amazing how far technology has come in 15 years when you realize that all the producers had back then was their website, television ad campaigns and print-ads. There was no Facebook, Twitter or even MySpace. There was LiveJournal and other blogging sites, but in 1999, it was nothing compared to what we do now.

Could this type of "Is it real?" campaign happen today? It would be very hard to pull off, but it would be worth it if it was successful. The Blair Witch Project was made for around $25,000, sold for one million and went on to gross almost 250 million worldwide. It also was one of the early adopters of the "Found Footage" genre which has spawned countless movies such as Chronicle, Cloverfield and the Paranormal Activity series.

Looking back, the campaign's biggest asset was the fact it came about before the internet exploded with social media portals and handheld devices ruled our lives. That's a fair argument when critiquing the campaign, but it should not overshadow the originality of the campaign. Viral marketing has always been around, in some form or another. Just take a look at the campaign for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

The Blair Witch Project took viral marketing a step further. Just like Hitchcock, the producers of the Blair Witch Project pushed boundaries by being original and creative. No matter the technology or lack thereof, being original and creative should be the first goal of every marketing campaign, including the IndieApp campaign.

Sources:

MWP Digital Media
Pajiba

90s Movie Making Memories

This past week's module got me thinking of what making movies used to be like for me. Here's a piece I wrote a while back this year about those times. Enjoy.

When you start rummaging through boxes in the basement, you know you’re going to find memories. You’re just not sure what kind of memories. Mostly good ones, I suppose.

MXLLS
​​The photo you see (recently placed on Instagram by yours truly) is a stack of HI-8 tapes with various, as they call it today, forms of content that I was part of back in the 90s. Remember the 90s. It seems so long ago and when I look at the calendar, it feels even longer.

I have different memories from all those Hi-8 tapes and they’re all enjoyable. Just a bunch of naïve 20-somethings thinking they were the next coming of Kevin Smith or Richard Linklater. And if you’ve seen any of the content on those tapes, you’d soon realize that they were not.

No. You can’t watch it.

Who could forget “Grievances Foregone”, the most pretentious title ever put to a Hi-8 tape. That is until the sequel, “Retribution” was concocted and subsequently attempted. Truthfully, I’m hazy if we even finished “Retribution” or even it was actually the sequel or first movie. I don’t have the emotional strength to watch it and find out.

No. You can’t watch it.

The rest of the titles are skit shows we used to do. Just quick comedic bits that, as I think back are probably mildly offensive on many levels. Oh, to be young.

You can’t ever go back and sometimes your old content reminds you just how far (hopefully) you have come. For a while, amongst our friends, we were known for the Santa skit. Thankfully, that subsided. I hope.

No. You can’t watch it.

We had fun. We learned some things. No matter the size or the professional level of the production, if you’re genuine in your intent you’ll always grow as an artist.

I should also note that “Kissery” was written and directed by my friend. We all loved Misery and we knew someone that loved the band Kiss. Put your hands together and you got that fourth tape down from the top.

No. You can’t watch it. (You saw that ending coming, didn’t you?)

 

Module 11 Thought - Just One

I wanted to piggy-back on a section of the module that dealt with the visual over the written. Clearly, you've guessed by now, that I enjoy a great story. Movies have been part of my life for quite some time.

I wish I could tell you I remember seeing Star Wars in the theater, but I was 2 years-old and apparently I spent most of it in the lobby crying. I do have countless other memories associated with the movies and storytelling.

I discovered Spielberg in the mid-80s while watching "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" one night on HBO and loving it, only to find out that there was a first movie. "What?! What's it called?!"

I cheered loudly from the front rows in the theater with my cousin while watching "Total Recall". The house was packed and we all loved watching Arnie dispatch his so-called friends be the stairs as they tried to ambush him.

My first day working as an usher at the local movie theater was the opening weekend of "In the Line of Fire" and "Interview With A Vampire" and it was crazy, especially when the cos-play people showed up dressed like vampires.

Belaboring the point is that I clearly have seen quite a bit. Bad and Good. One of my favorite moments in cinema comes from the movie "L.A. Confidential". If you haven't seen it, please do. It's great.

There's a moment in the movie when one of our leads, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is telling the story of why he wanted to be a cop to fellow detective, Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey). Vincennes is an officer who prefers to moonlight as a police consultant with Hollywood. Vincennes like the easy life and is often considered less-than by many of his fellow officers.

Exley tells Vincennes the story of Rollo Tomasi who had murdered Exley's father. Exley's dad was a cop, but at the time he was off-duty when Tomasi killed him. The story is not the moment and I won't ruin the dialogue for you, if you haven't seen it.

The moment is when Exley asks Vincennes why he became a cop and Vincennes freezes. Spacey plays the moment brilliantly as he searches for the answer to the question and you realize that Vincennes has been lost this whole time. He comes back with a line: "I don't remember", but he doesn't even need to say it. We already know this.

No dialogue could've explained the backstory of Jack Vincennes better than those few seconds of Jack searching for the answer to that question. It's always the example I think of when people talk about "show, don't tell" in writing.

If you're interested in re-living the scene: See below.

Indie Film Cycle Script

I was going to copy and paste the script, but the formatting was terrible. Then I was going to offer the .pdf version, but...you can't offer any kind of downloads with blogger.

So I did some screen shots of the script and dropped them below. They are in order. Enjoy!

It's a script highlighting how the impetus to create stories all begins. For myself, it wasn't exactly like this situation. But a gradual realization that I wanted to make movies. Enjoy!

Indie Film Cycle - By Alex Faison

 

Web Series or Short Film - Inforgraphic

If you're trying to decide whether a short film or web series would fit your next production best, take a look at possible thoughts you might be having and how they relate to whether you're leaning towards a web series or a short film.