Just throwing a couple of ideas around in my head at the weekend. Reading back, its kind of long- read what you can with speedy eyes and leave out the rest if you like !
Introduction: Ted Hope, The Six Pillars of Cinema, and four eyed monsters.
This is Ted Hope’s excellent keynote addressing the current state of cinema and tv, and suggesting his ’six pillars’ theory. What is interesting is that he stops short of suggesting a definitive solution as there is none out there yet.
This video is a case study by foureyedmonsters, who created and distributed a successful feature film (including a series of episodic podcasts) online.
The foureyedmonsters creators were quirky emo kids with no charm. They were addictive because they drew you in with a strange deception. What was real and what wasn’t in their relationship and more importantly in the way they told their story? It was scary and brilliant. It was difficult to stop watching their webisodes because I wanted to know what would happen…
They by no means solved the problem of online marketing and distribution. (Arin Crumley went on to form the From Here to Awesome festival and continues to explore the area). Their use of the technology available at the time (a case study) is interesting, as is the narrative they presented during the course of making their movie- was it all a lie??? Or a beautiful truth we wouldn’t see anywhere else than alone in our rooms, privately watching on our computer screens….all the while anticipating the full feature film in the local cinema…
The more niche and the quirkier it is the better it works. Other great examples of episodic content online used in film are:
M Dot Strange (We Are the Strange)
Lance Weiler (Workbook Project)
I should say that in my opinion, online series fail if they exist only on their own. They have to be part of a whole story- the story is online as part of series but may also appear elsewhere- on a cinema screen, or a tv, or in emails…Lance Weiler presents social media for storytellers here…
I can see the need to lean in the direction of social media marketing and engagement- I see it as vital as the production in the creative and commercial process now. The thing is (and this comes up all the time), the technology can be as much of a hindrance as a help. Particularly when we’re looking at the internet and the infinite possibilities there for creation and experimentation. The image I have for when someone tunnels too far down into researching and understanding the tools of technology is of lemmings jumping off a cliff. It distracts from the human and the creative side.
Here’s what the traditional production process looks like, roughly speaking, and its what most film producers are familiar with:
Pre-production->Production->Post-production->Marketing and Distribution.
If we look at that process energetically this is what you get:
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