Drew Ott
Wish I were banned.
I'm so game.
Going viral
- Thread starter Jawa Ex Machina
- Start date
I'm so game.
j
Veteran
DR. STEVE BRULE EXPLAINS VIRAL VIDEO
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2008/12/dr-steve-brule-explains-viral-video
-J
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2008/12/dr-steve-brule-explains-viral-video
-J
taubkin
Veteran
I've worked more than a year shooting stuff that should be viral, hired by advertisement agencies, and while I'm not a HUGE successful viral video director (I think the most popular one I directed had 1.5 million in a month - good but not uncanny), I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, to make your video viwed by millions of people you pay for media. The same you pay your 30 second TV ads. You pay for blogs to post them (there are agencies for that, you don't have to go blog by blog), you pay for Google to have your video pop in your country for every similar keyword searched for both in the google site and on youtube), you buy banners, you craft a campaign and shoot. It's the same as any other advertisement campaign.
My videos were written and created by agencies, and most of them, in my opinion are not very good or very interesting, but they have lot's of views because of the money invested in them.
To believe your searches on the web aren't moderated is very, very, very, naive.
Sure there are true viral films, spread by the people who actually watch them and like them, but to ask how to shoot a viral video would be the same as asking how to write a bestselling novel. Or how to make a Blockbuster feature film (although there seem to be tons of books written about the latter).
Cheers
My videos were written and created by agencies, and most of them, in my opinion are not very good or very interesting, but they have lot's of views because of the money invested in them.
To believe your searches on the web aren't moderated is very, very, very, naive.
Sure there are true viral films, spread by the people who actually watch them and like them, but to ask how to shoot a viral video would be the same as asking how to write a bestselling novel. Or how to make a Blockbuster feature film (although there seem to be tons of books written about the latter).
Cheers
polfilmblog
Well-known member
Oh, that's so easy, taubkin. Simply write the next Star Wars/Star Trek/Batman film. It's SO easy!
I'm 100% in agreement with you here.
Or you could just be good at what you do and write something mostly original, have connections to the talent and funds to get it done, build tenure, etc.
see: Christopher Nolan and INCEPTION.
It's probably not easy to write/create a blockbuster feature film, but it can be done. Doesn't James Cameron prove this every time he stamps his name on anything?
Yeahp. Which is why I don't get why the term viral is being compounded and complicated. By any means necessary is fine, as long as it achieves the final goal without someone dying.
It's all the same, no matter which method is used.
Indeed. You can easily find out what the most searched term/phrase is on google each day.
Also, about videos and agencies having bad ideas... see Quiznos... shudder.
There aren't a lot of things man made that can't be broken down into a formula and most of the time it's easier to say that it's either impossible or improbable versus just saying "well, it's really hard and you'll need a lot of this or that to do it, but it can be done."
I like problem solving, though. So, I might be different.
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
Anything can be sold for a bundle if marketed correctly.
Otherwise we wouldn't have things like Big Brother, The Phantom Menace or Paris Hilton.
If marketed correctly, people would pay to eat their own feces.
taubkin
Veteran
I don't think the problem lies in learning, or studying to make a good film, I think the problem is believing a viral/blockbuster/bestseller is a work sprinkled in pixie dust. Learn how to make a GOOD product and publish it, and it will be a blockbuster, viral, bestseller, or whatever is the term.
Besides, there are tons of stuff that can be made and can't be broken down into formula. Love, a not so minor one, for instance. But even if there are no formulas, there is definitely a craft, and learning it should not be taken for granted.
Again, my problem with the term viral is that it only designates "successful" for an internet piece, and to make a successful internet piece, you should be able to make a GOOD internet piece.
taubkin
Veteran
With the money you'll spend to buy the franchise, you better be sure you can make a pretty darn good work, because the stakes are much higher. It won't be a blockbuster unless it's well made, otherwise it won't make the first weeks of cinema theaters will not sell very well worldwide, and won't make a good profit. What else explains why Nolan's first Batman was a huge hit grossing millions, and the last one before him was pretty lame, if profitable at all...
Batman Forever definitely was a profitable feature film world wide. Adjust for inflation and Forever probably made as much as Begins did.
taubkin
Veteran
First Google:
against 185 mi budget and more than a 1 billion profit for the dark knight, witch should still be grossing highly from international TV sales by now.
Batman Begins was Nolan's first Batman movie, Dark Knight was the second following. You said his first Batman movie, not Dark Knight.
Forever was still profitable, and while I don't necessarily believe it's RIGHT, good and bad are subjective... profit and popularity can be proven. You can profit and have a wildly popular IP that is completely terrible.
Please see: Birdemic
At least in my opinion.
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Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
I find that when you talk to a writer, his definition of a "good" film tends to be a film that's well written. A director's definition is that it's well directed. A producer defines a "good" film as successfull one in terms of box office, and a movie goer defines "good" as "I liked it when I watched it" (which is obviously depending on what mood he was in that day, how much he payed for it, what the weather was like, what he had to eat and what he expected the movie to be compared to what it actually was).
taubkin
Veteran
You're absolutely right. Sorry for my confusion. So begins was pretty equivalent to forever. That seems fine, I probably expressed myself badly. It's not about Batman, anyway.
Okay, let's not use the subjective terms of good and bad.
There are stuff that money can buy. If you spend more than 100mi on a film you are probably NEED to spend around 15 to 30 mi on advertisement and release, and that can get you a lot of moviegoers to see your film. On the internet it is the same.
If you have a less expensive product, you can sell it to less people, so you might not need the advertisement, or even the millions of dollars income to call that a profit. ON the internet it is the same.
But INSIDE your league, you certainly aim to create content your audience relates to. That's what makes a film such as Dark Knight to do spectacularly well, and Forever not to. Forever isn't a piece of cr@p, and was, in fact profitable. But the dark knight was a billion times better, and it wasn't only about the franchise it's made on.
Sure sometimes weird stuff happens, such as bidermic, el mariachi, blair witch project, napoleon dynamite, or whatever. Year in and year out it's the same story. Chocolate Rain is the internet equivalent of this stuff.
But that's abnormal, that's a happy coincidence, a good product that for some reason performed spectacularly. That's winning the lottery, even with all the deserved credit due. But he had no way of knowing it would be this big, and that is: we can't explain why it's this big. It's not the best singing I've heard, it's definitely not the best song and it's not an incredible video, so right now, I'd say the combination of things that made it rock the charts is so intricate and unknown, I'd rather take as random. The same thing about the anomalies that end up rising to be blockbusters in the film industry. The sequence of entered festivals, the type of audience and performance, the interest of the majors in your film, there are tons of good indie films that don't make all of the steps in the right order to rise unexpectedly to become a HUGE hit.
So we can worry about competently making a good product, a great product, that's what professionals should do, and worry to make it successful inside it's own league (AKA profitable), but you can't make it an anomaly even if you try. Best bet of making a viral, make a good video a day. That would raise your odds. (Zefrank or MisteryGuitarman) are adepts of this techinique.
Other than that, it boils down to making good products that relate to people. In a movie theater it means people will tell everybody else the next day and more people will pay to see it. On the internet, it will make people show your film to their friends and you'll get more hits. If you are going to pay for the hits, you can manufacture a huge number of those spending in advertisement, if not, you should not count on to many to be successful.
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
btw why is everybody talking about Batman Forever? Batman and Robin was the one that preceded Batman Begins...
Spend money you don't have.
The problem being is that people see viral videos = free marketing. But it's not like that at all.
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
Whether your film is good or bad or makes a profit or not isn't as important here as the actual campaign.
Lots of great movies have failed miserably and lots of awful ones have made huge profits.
What's important is the marketing campaign. How do you make a successfull low budget Marketing Campaign for your independent film?
We work in low budget production, so we need to find low budget sollutions to marketing and distribution that work well.
Lots of great movies have failed miserably and lots of awful ones have made huge profits.
What's important is the marketing campaign. How do you make a successfull low budget Marketing Campaign for your independent film?
We work in low budget production, so we need to find low budget sollutions to marketing and distribution that work well.