How I did it...

You're right -- I misspoke on the 'higher score' part. But the point still stands -- MORE people watched 'Blair Witch' and rated it, FIVE TIMES more people. Assuming a direct correlation to audience, that would mean FIVE TIMES more people saw 'Blair Witch' than saw 'El Mariachi'. If that's what we're using as a measure of how 'good' a movie is, then 'Blair Witch' would have to be considered a far better movie than 'El Mariachi'.
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A movie that pleases 80% of the people that stumble upon it will do better than a movie that pleases just 20% of the people that stumble upon it. If you promote the first movie heavily, you end up with lots of profit. If you promote the second movie heavily, you end up with losses. Because marketing costs money. Fortunately, the Blair Witch Project was able to get a lot of cheap and undeserved marketing by spreading the rumor that it was a real documentary. El Mariachi didn't have any such luck so it had to rely on old-fashioned entertainment value. Hence the slight anomaly.

Any kind of ratings like these are subjective at best. There's nothing to prevent the same person from voting multiple times. There's nothing to stop people who are financially or personally involved with the movie from voting, thus skewing the results. It's a crap shoot.
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What we're looking for is the subjective view of the majority of the target audience. If you show a movie to 100 random strangers in your target audience and 90 of them felt it was worth their time and money, then maybe it's a good movie. On the other hand, if 70% of them didn't enjoy it, then maybe it's not so good.

Your target audience is not the film festival crowd, but the man on the street, right? Then you can't say a movie is "good" just because a bunch of filmmakers in a certain film festival like it. Unless: you made the movie specifically for filmmakers, actors, etc. If the movie is for the filmmaking community, then you shouldn't expect Hollywood Studios to promote it because they need a much bigger audience. So, yes, it's all relative, but it's not that random.
 
After reading this for 5 pages, I realized that few even mentioned how cool the book would be and a with the DVXuser discount, I would definitely check it out. I would love to hear about the challenges, the numbers of setups you did, the location challenges, etc. It would be interesting; the other argument is moot because the discussion should be about the viability of the book and not market analysis using the IMDB of all things. Hate me, scorn me, jeer me, but answer the initial question first then pontificate...
 
Absolutely right, pharpsied. I shouldn't have strayed from the main subject of the thread. It's an interesting discussion, but it does deserve a thread of its own.

Thanks for your interest in the book. This whole project has been a very educational experience for me. I'll keep you posted.

David
 
my only concern is im not sure i care to read about your Webcam movie. Not that the movie isnt any good, it might be great, but that answers the "how i did it" question; I made a movie from the POV of webcams.
 
Cheesesailor77 said:
my only concern is im not sure i care to read about your Webcam movie. Not that the movie isnt any good, it might be great, but that answers the "how i did it" question; I made a movie from the POV of webcams.
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Are we so professional that we can't learn? Then why are we here??

I love this job, this life, I love it, so I want to know, learn from what worked and what didn't. You can learn as much from Uwe Boll as from Kubrick. How did you direct your actors? How did they react to the stifling POV? Why did you choose that particular POV? It worked, how? It didn't, why? What was your personal directing style for this shoot?
I'll buy the book regardless because frankly you are my competition and you did something that I haven't done and I am intrigued. I love to see projects come to fruition and the process is just as intriguing as the result. I'll be a director for the rest of my life and will still be a newbie, so feed me your knowledge and you can have mine...

As for everything and everyone else, remember-
Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did. - Duke Ellington
 
Cheesesailor77 said:
my only concern is im not sure i care to read about your Webcam movie. Not that the movie isnt any good, it might be great, but that answers the "how i did it" question; I made a movie from the POV of webcams.
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Fair enough. Why read Robert Rodriguez's book about how he made 'El Mariachi'? He got a camera, got some actors, went to Mexico and made a movie. Does that answer all the 'how I did it' questions?

I can sort of see your point -- and if you know all you care to know about my film, that's okay. Others feel differently, and that's good too. The book isn't for everyone -- it's only for whoever might be interested.
 
ok ok, sry ;)

Let me just say that i didn't feel i learned a lot from Rodriguez's book either, but he did grab a camera, go to mexico, whip out a movie, get picked up by a major studio, be selected at a ton of fancy festivals, hung out with Tarantino and other shiny types, etc etc. It's a great story.

Frankly i think the "production" chapters were by far the most boring.

If the events of your webcam shoot are a great story, then i'm all for it. If the book is to be educational, i just worry there might not be a lot of meat there. like i said, if the question is "how you did it" then you've told us the answer, limit the number of setups by telling the story from the POV of webcams. It's an ingenious idea, i commend you, and i hope the movie is awesome, but im just not sure on the potential of a "how to" book.

N
 
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You make a good point, Cheese. I think Rodriguez's book was more important for its inspiration than for its information. I'll see if I can make mine entertaining. ;)
 
Writing a book about how you did it...a movie that is...is always going to have some fans and some that say they already know all that stuff...if you have something that you feel is valuable to say then do it and if it has a life, the audience will decide...this may seem like a silly thing to say but if you wait for everyone else's approval, you will never do anything...I have a book out about a very similar subject and if it sells or not is up to the Gods...I know that some have found it very inspirational or invaluable while others felt that they already knew it all...I do the same with movies...If you have a voice, put it out there...there will always be critics.

Best,
Stan The Man
www.xristosproductions.com
www.igfdb.com
 
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