Videos for Audience Profiles

Aspiring Filmmaker

For the aspiring filmmaker, we tend to watch videos online that either demo equipment or are tutorials for film software. We rarely care about other projects than our own, so this might be a good tactic. For the last 3 years, I have been working in the UCF Film equipment room creating content just like this. I might to a series of posts highlighting videos about DSLR cameras and Final Cut Pro. In fact, my ingest video for FCP has over 10,000 views on Vimeo. I have made another ingest video for Adobe Premiere, which is much more relevant than FCP. It also uses footage from SEANCE, the prequel to my feature film.

These are the keywords I came up with last week: DSLR, workflow, sound design, sound recording, lighting, grip, editing software, after effects plug-ins, camera rigs.

Here is a description: INGEST AND SOUND SYNC USING ADOBE PREMIERE CS6: Filmmaker Zachary Beckler takes us through an entire DSLR workflow using Adobe Premiere CS6. In this video, you will see his own personal workflow for SEANCE using Canon EOS 7D footage and Zoom H4n recorded audio within this new and popular editing program.

You can watch SEANCE, a micro-budget short film, in its entirety here: https://vimeo.com/25320119

Like us on Facebook.com/interiormovie

Horror Fanatic

I don't really know what kind of video we could make for this audience, as YouTube is currently flooded with "Scariest Films" videos. Perhaps one could do something similar to what Red Letter Media is doing, hilariously intelligent reviews of bad genre movies. Perhaps we should think outside the box... What if we did a series of videos for YouTube just like the "Scariest Films" clip packages, and we insert clips from our film within the classic films. Horror movie filmmakers, tend to have a brooder knowledge of the genre, so finding obscure clips isn't the problem. This is a form of spamming, but within a video it actually might work, if the content made sense. Or, if that it is too sleazy, just make a really great package:

Keywords we search: horror films, scariest, goriest, 100 best horror, new horror releases, upcoming horror, classic horror.

Description: SCARIEST SCENES EVER: This is a collection of the scariest horror films ever made, some new horror, some classic horror, a lot you may have never heard of. All of them, though, are guaranteed to terrify, horrify, haunt, and scare you off the computer. All clips were selected by horror director Zachary Beckler, whose award-winning film, SEANCE, is available online.

For more videos, including Goriest and Craziest, Like us on Facebook.com/interiormovie

Ghost HuntersThis might be a little more tricky. My first thought is to make a series of fake ghost videos and pass them off as real, something that is happening a lot online (though no one admits to it). This type of video has the most potential to go viral. Here is a fake one with 70 million views! 

Keywords I search: ghost video, caught on tape, paranormal activity, supernatural, evidence of paranormal, best ghost pictures, spirit photography, poltergeists, demonology.

(I love that "ghost caught on tape" is still vastly more popular than anything else, even though we have all stopped using tape)

DESCRIPTION: I CAUGHT A GHOST ON TAPE: Here is ghost footage I caught on tape in my own house. I am dont know how to explain this. Can you? Is it paranormal activity? Evidence of the supernatural? A weird artifact in the video? A poltergeist? This is one of the best ghost videos ever!

I am going to keep filming, perhaps even spend the night alone. Track my progress: Like us on Facebook.com/interiormovie

Goals for PMD

1) Define our areas of difference from competition.

2) Create a general marketing and distribution strategy.

3) Publicize our Kickstarter page.

4) Clarify target audience.

5) Research on the best distribution methods at our disposal.

6) Create a marketing schedule for the release of materials.

7) Maintain the social media websites daily.

8) Create small print campaign around Orlando.

9) Plan public screenings of my short film, Séance.

10) Create Facebook pages for every character in the film, and have the actors post regularly, in character. 

11) Start a viral campaign of ghost videos on Youtube as ads for the film.

12) Make a list of festivals that INTERIOR would have the most exposure from.

Positioning INTERIOR and Potential Viewers

INTERIOR is a micro-budget independent horror feature about one man alone in a haunted house over the course of one night. The horror market is pretty flooded with ghost films in a post Paranormal Activity movie business. But there is an old adage that it does not matter what the film is about, but how it is about it. What makes INTERIOR stand out?

Competition: Ever since the success of Paranormal Activity, there have been more and more ultra low-budget horror films about the supernatural that are yielding high profit margins. A few of the titles include The Devil Inside, The Last Exorcism, Insidious, and Sinister to name a few. Apart from major Hollywood, the independent market is positively exploding with films like these. Needless to say, there is a lot of competition.

Competitors Position: The competition makes these films because they are cheap and yield high profits. They want to tell stories about groups of people experiencing the paranormal. A lot of the films are in the "found-footage" sub-genre, so they are striving for absolute realism. They all kind of look and sound the same way though. The sound design on these films are interchangeable, and the technology used within the narrative is never really cutting edge. (The characters in Sinister are still using film reels). Also, all the films are made for a theatrical experience with no thought toward home viewing.

My USP: Create a film about one character stuck in one supernatural location in binaural sound and using this new filmmaker culture within the narrative.

Areas of Difference: The film is unique in three ways: 1) For most of the film, it is one character in one location, like Cast Away with ghosts. 2) With todays technology making any and everyone and potential filmmaker, this new culture of DSLR filmmakers has never been shown in a narrative film. 3) This film is the first horror feature to use 3D Audio.

Who would want to see this film? The easy answer is everyone, because everyone likes a good horror film. But let's talk about the target demographic, a phrase that makes me nauseous when applied to an artistic endeavor, so bare with me through this. The audience is me. I would want to see this film, and as an independent filmmaker, I only have myself to please, with the hope that others enjoy the film too.

So who am I, this target demo?

Aspiring Filmmaker
There are more and more of us each day. I enjoy films that are about the process of filmmaking and film  viewing. I frequent websites like nofilmschool.com and cinema5d.com to learn about new equipment and obtain knowledge to make films. Some keywords I search about this: DSLR, workflow, sound design, sound recording, lighting, grip, editing software, after effects plug-ins, camera rigs.

Horror Fanatic
We see as many horror films as we can, and are always on the look out for good new ones. We love finding films first and championing them. Also, when we hear about a low-budget work we are interested in, we want it immediately or quickly lose interest. Some websites: bloodydisgusting.com, shocktillyoudrop.com, aintitcoolnews.com, slashfilm.com. Keywords we search: horror films, scariest, goriest, 100 best horror, new horror releases, upcoming horror, classic horror.

Ghost Hunters
I am not necessarily a ghost hunter per-say, but I am fascinated with the paranormal and watch all kinds of supernatural themed reality T.V. shows and documentaries. I also watch a lot of YouTube videos claiming to be real footage of ghosts or aliens. I would say I primarily use YouTube for my website viewing, or local paranormal websites, as there is no real hub for all things paranormal. Keywords I search: ghost video, caught on tape, paranormal activity, supernatural, evidence of paranormal, best ghost pictures, spirit photography, poltergeists, demonology.

FANTASTIC FEST 2012 Journal

I thought I would use this blog for my Guerilla Marketing class to talk about my trip to Austin, TX for FANTASTIC FEST 2012. This is the largest and most prestigious genre film festival in America, and my short film SÉANCE was an Official Selection, a rare and distinguished honor (they select only 50 shorts out of the hundreds of submissions each year.)

A scene from SÉANCE

Here is a journal of my amazing experience:

DAY 1:
My producer (Susan Williams) and I arrived in Austin about 4:00pm. We decided that before getting to the house we were staying at, we would case out the theater and pick up our Badges. The theater was the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, which has 6 theaters. For the entire week, the theater is dedicated to the festival. We picked up our badges and were surprised to find gift cards for both Susan and I for $60 each, to be used for food and drinks during the festival. Already this was way better than any festival had treated us. There were two big screenings that night: Frankenweenie and Dredd 3D, both of which were sold out by the time we arrived. After dropping our stuff off at the house we were staying (Thanks again Andrea!) we headed back and decided to hang out and mingle.

We are shy people, so there was not much mingling. We got some amazing food truck tacos, but before that, we did go to the Dredd Slo Mo Booth!

DAY 2:

We arrived back at the theater at 11:00am for the shuttle to Tim League's house for a very special lunch for the filmmakers. We were then treated to amazing food (WHOLE HOG!) and got to meet a few of the filmmakers.

YK Kim runs onto the table. Susan and I are visible in the background (Tall guy and Red head)

We ate with the Souska Sisters, amazingly nice people whose film AMERICAN MARY was a big hit at the festival. Then we met the writer and director of THE COLLECTION, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who seemed to enjoy how much I liked their previous film, The Collector. They convinced me to try to get tickets for their sold out show that night, so I agreed to try.

After lunch, we headed straight to the Guest Services table, where Madison Pope and Johnny Martinez worked tirelessly to make sure our stay was amazing and we got into every screening we wanted. These were amazing people! They got us tickets to two sold out films that night:

THE COLLECTION: Really fun gory slasher film. 

MIAMI CONNECTION: One of the worst films I have ever seen, on par with The Room and Troll 2. Also one of the most fun screenings ever. Tears of laughter. I actually flew in with the cast of this film, all very sweet people.

We decided to skip the live performance of Dragon Sound and go home.

DAY 3:

This was the day of our screening, which played before a wonderful documentary called MY AMITYVILLE HORROR, one of the most anticipated films of the festival.

But before that, SHOTGUNS!

We had a SHOTGUN OUTING! Our group consisted of Me, Susan, Cole Drumb and Jen Luk (POSTHUMAN), James Nunn and Robbie Thompson (TOWER BLOCK) and Matthias Hoene (COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES). I hit 3 out of 10 clay pigeons. Susan hit 0.

After overheating in the Texas sun, we went back and freshened up a bit before the Premiere of SÉANCE. The audience responded extremely positively to the film, which played before the feature doc MY AMITYVILLE HORROR, directed by Eric Walter, who was also super nice. On top of that, he made a really great film. We meet a writer for TwitchFilm who loved the film and was astonished that it only cost $700. We then went to the screening of THE EXORCIST IN THE 21st CENTURY, which was also very interesting. The filmmakers were extremely fun guys, and talked with us a bit afterwards.

DAY 4:

Our goal was to get into ROOM 237. I wanted to see this more than any other film. We waited in line for an hour for tickets. While in line, we met Michael Stephenson, director of Best Worst Movie and THE AMERICAN SCREAM. He really liked Séance!

We finally got to the ticket desk, but ROOM 237 was sold out. We then went to Johnny and Madison on our knees looking for a miracle. They said to check back around 2:00pm, which meant we would have to cut the outing to Smitty's BBQ short by driving ourselves.

SMITTY'S BBQ: Authentic Texas BBQ. Everything else is poison!

We then raced back 40 minutes to see if we did get the tickets... Then Johnny said we didn't. As the air left our body, a woman on the phone with Madison handed us two tickets! According to Madison, the phone call went something like this:

"Hey, we got two cancellations. What do the Seance people look like?"
"Um... Beard and Redhead."
"... Got em!"

ROOM 237: Very entertaining film that goes against everything I believe Kubrick intended. Still worth seeing!

We then met the director, Rodney Asher. He was nice enough, but I'm sure he was tired of talking all day, so the conversation was a bit short.

With no other films to see at the festival, we decided to hang out and mingle a bit. We met back up with Eric Walter and Producer Andrea Adams of MY AMITYVILLE HORROR and shot the shit a bit before leaving to see the Austin Bats. They were awesome, but it was a bit too dark.

We had plans to see a 70mm print of The Master at 10:30 that night, but I was way too exhausted. We went home and slept through our last night in Austin.

DAY 5:

We basically just hung out at the theater until our flight. We said our goodbyes to Johnny and Madison, as well as Willita Mahone (Transportation, super cool too). While killing time, we hung out with the Souska Twins again, and met up with Eric Walter again. He assured us he would say nice things about Séance before the second screening, which we could not attend. I have not followed up on this... I'm sure he did it. Then we drove to the airport.

And that was my trip to Austin. I assured everyone I would be back in two years with INTERIOR, my feature. And goddammit I will! It was the best festival I have ever been to and the best weekend of my life.

INTERIOR: Posting the Opening Scene

To coordinate with the launch of the KICKSTARTER campaign, we decided to post the Opening Scene of INTERIOR in full Binaural Sound. These are the keywords I chose:

interior, binaural, sound, horror, microbudget, opening scene, 3D audio, seance, zachary, beckler.

This is a very dated way of Tagging videos. Using the YOUTUBE keywords tool, I started refining the words I chose, and added others. This is what I came out with:

interior, binaural, 3d, horror, sound effects, audio, illusion, terrifying video, ghost footage, scary videos, poltergeist, scariest, ghosts, micro budget filmmaking.

We'll see how well these words do in the coming weeks.

INTERIOR - 10 Key Words To Market Binaural Horror

These are 10 Keywords I came up with to help people find my film INTERIOR on the web:

- Binaural
- Paranormal
- Haunted House

- Isolation
- Independent Film
- DSLR
- UCF Film

- Horror

- 3D Sound

- Interior

INTERIOR is an independent horror production that happens the be the first binaural horror film ever made.  In making the project, I must consider the end game of distribution and marketing. In an age where theatrical distribution is becoming more and more rare (though projection systems are getting more and more and more inclusive...), making a feature film that would work best via download and home viewing seems like a smart tactic. Then again, I would take theatrical distribution in a heartbeat if it was offered. Does this make me a whore for the old ways? It is definitely a more difficult way, and harder to integrate into the production.

In reality, INTERIOR has gone a step further by integrating distribution into the AESTHETIC of the film. Binaural audio requires headphones, something theaters do not have (save for those crappy assisted listening devices). By shooting an entire feature with Binaural Sound, it forces a method of online distribution for private viewings. Though a separate soundtrack would be made for theatrical viewings, the optimum exhibition format would be on your home computer with headphones. 

What can we do to integrate marketing, though? I have already started a small online campaign involving the opening scene of INTERIOR, which we made this summer. I am sending the video to friends and anyone else interested on the condition that they video themselves watching the scene. Not only have I gotten great reactions, but they are watching the scene the same way you would watch the finished film. This will be effective in creating content for the marketing and will help the video go viral.

In fact, if you're reading this now, consider watching the scene and filming your reaction.

Now the really hard part comes: Make a film engaging enough so people won't leave their computers for 90 minutes.

Positioning

Where do we position the UCF Film MFA? Let's look at three things: Where are we located, what do we offer, and how successful have we been?

Where are we located?

In Florida, not only do we have FSU, one of the most prestigious film schools in the country, but right down the road in Orlando is Full Sail University. Full Sail does not offer any MFA degree in filmmaking, as you can see on the front page of their website. FSU does have a Film Production MFA, as well as access to the latest and greatest in camera equipment. which leads me to my next question:

What do we offer?

In terms of equipment, very little in fact. You get to work with DSLR cameras and prosumer sound gear to make movies here. But what PSU doesn't offer is the Feature Length Project. You graduate from their program with a very expensive short film ready for festival run and little else. UCF Film allows student to make a feature length film and own it themselves. FSU still owns their students' films when they graduate. So UCF Film is one of the few universities that allows the student a) to make a feature, and b) to own it when they leave. Of the other film schools that allow you to make a feature in the US, they seem to only a allow documentary features. This is a very unique and interesting market that is left untapped.

How Successful Have We Been?

I couldn't tell you. Because UCF Film can't tell me. Because there is no one at UCF Film who can keep track of these things. FSU, Full Sail, AFI, etc, have committees and divisions dedicated to keeping track of alumni. UCF Film doesn't even have a person running the blog anymore. The marketing of this former department and current division (?) has always been somewhat of an afterthought. Why else are all marketing materials created by the Operations Manager and students in the Equipment Room, even when there was a marketing person on staff? UCF Film has a "specialist" now, but they mostly do office work for the division, through no fault of their own. This is one of the main reasons UCF Film is not of any stature today. What it offers is unique and kind of amazing, but the sights are too short.

If I was positioning UCF Film, I would sell it not as any kind of lesser program, or fall back option. I would say they are the ONLY ones doing what they are doing, and the first. They do their own thing. Here are a couple of not-so-serious slogans:

UCF Film: What the hell can you do with a short these days?
UCF Film: Yeah, we're here.
UCF Film: Why pay more for less?
UCF Film: Make the feature you never would otherwise.
or, more concise:
UCF Film: Make YOUR feature.