Does controversial violence in indie films sell?

[ironpony]

A lot indie films that are successes seem to say yes, it does. I've seen a lot of indies and a lot of them are really graphic and even some are appalling, compared to what Hollywood is willing to put on the screen. The ones that are not, don't seem to really do well a lot of the time, unless it's a horror, that concentrates on horror more than violence but I have no good ideas for horror. I have some thriller ideas, one of them with a very violent outcome of a climax. I can drag the climax out and have the sequence of brutal violence even last 10 minutes. I've asked some people online and here's what they have to say. The ones that have not made their first feature think that story and character depth is the way to go. The ones that have made their first feature say that violence gets distribution and story comes second. Story is good if you want get praised at festivals though. So I was thinking of writing a thriller with a complex story, with lots of twists and turns, but have the sequences of violence be extremely brutal, like you wouldn't often see, not even in a dark movie. Trying to make the best script for both audiences, but I would be switching back and forth between depth and possible exploitation.

I have one idea for a script in mind, and showed the treatment to a few friends. They said that it is so violent and brutal in it's scenarios, and one friend said she couldn't see a movie like this being accepted for at least five years. But they also said for a such a brutally violent movie, I have a lot of character depth and oddly, it's a thinking plot that actually makes a lot of sense more than usual, for what would otherwise be considered torture porn exploitation. What do you think a script for both audiences? A good idea? I know we all don't like to believe that violence sells, but in the microbudget indie world, it does, and lets' face it, we want to be successful.

[Dan Pears]

Brutality when done well can be amazingly powerful, Irreversible is an example of this. But when done poorly, exploitation is just boring.

Though, if your friend couldn't see a movie like this being made for 5 years, you're pretty far ahead of the curve at least.

[Matthew B]

I have one idea for a script in mind, and showed the treatment to a few friends.

There's your first mistake. Friends and family either can't or won't give you honest feedback. Find someone who knows what they're doing, someone you respect and send them the treatment.

[Matthew B]

I think the reason alot of the micro-budget indies seem to be turning to what I can only describe and growingly-grafic torture porn genre is because fake blood is cheap. Torture scenes don't require big explosions, huge fight scenes, large expensive set design. Most of them are generally done in a dark room/factory/basement with minimal actors, and because they are so easy for those on a small budget to make they generally can be done very effectively.

[Egg Born Son]

...compared to what Hollywood is willing to put on the screen...

Whether it is graphic violence, taboo subject matter or some other facet ignored by mainstream production - if you can give the audience something they don't usually get to see then you have a chance to compete. An indie film doesn't need to recover $100 mil so you can seek to please some people a lot rather than everybody a little bit. Indie always has a chance in genre films because hollywood can't afford to jump in with both feet. Graphic violence is only one of the avenues but one that will always appeal to teenage boys in particular, a demographic with nothing but disposible income. A movie that is presented as a challenge ('I dare you to watch this') can be irresistable to those with a tendency towards pack behavior and hormonally driven to risk-taking. If it makes good on it's promise.

While it's the largest exploitable market it is also for this reason the most competitive. Due to societal attitudes if you made a movie about gay issues, unless you have an actor with existing mainstream appeal it has a potential market of maybe 10% of the population at best, half that if the movie is biased to one gender. But you will get some of that audience purely because they are starved for identifiable material. It used to be like that for scifi. You would watch anything you could get your hands on, travel great distances to find a rental VHS because your local video store would only have a small selection. And you would enjoy it no matter how bad because you had to take what you could get.

[Postmaster]

Worked here in a gory but good way, cause - while not being exactly subtle - the emphasis is not on violence for the sake of it (shot on a FS100, by the way).

[PremiumIC]

Your film needs something to be different. It doesn't need violence per-say, but it needs something to differentiate itself from the thousands of other indie films out there. Never forget that your vision and hard work and genius doesn't mean s*%t if someone else can't package it and turn it into money. It's cold and hard to think that way but as someone pouring your own money into projects you want them to pay you back in some way so knowing what works money wise is always a good idea. Violence/sex is a pretty proven formula.

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

A lot indie films that are successes seem to say yes, it does. I've seen a lot of indies and a lot of them are really graphic and even some are appalling, compared to what Hollywood is willing to put on the screen.

Hollywood is driven by maximizing the number of viewers. The current 'sweetspot' is PG-13. The MPAA raters will not give a film with any one of, or any combination of blood, gore, sex, drugs, excessive violence etc. an PG-13 rating... therefore... Hollywood avoids those movies that have such content.

Indie films typically are not rated unless they are picked up at a fest by a mainstream distributor. They may even be 'cut' to R if required.

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Violence/sex is a pretty proven formula.

However, actual sex will kill a film, relative to 'mainstream' distribution, whereas almost any amount of violence, if unconnected with sex, does frequently sell...

[Gillvane]

There's your first mistake. Friends and family either can't or won't give you honest feedback. Find someone who knows what they're doing, someone you respect and send them the treatment.

Whatever you are working on, you have an audience. 99.99% of the time your friends and family are NOT that audience.

It's like asking a vegetarian if they liked the way you cooked a steak.

The problem is it's very hard to find your audience so we tend to just ask anyone we can find. But if you're doing horror, you need to ask true horror fans. Anyone else's opinion will hurt more than it helps.