In this day and age, and I’m sure many would disagree with me, trailers sell films! How’s that? you ask. Easy A kick-ass trailer opens doors, builds interest, and builds audiences. Oh,  and here’s the kicker — kiss ass trailers sell movie tickets, sell DVDs, and sell downloads!

You know that’s right! (to coin a phrase from my favorite show Psych)

So what is a kick-ass trailer, particular as it pertains to independent film? I dunno. It’s one of those things that you only recognize after you see it and say, “That was totally bad ass!” Case in point. I edited version two of the RSR trailer, posted it online for  few select people. It was raw, but I liked it. Turned out several others liked it too. They say it was, bad ass.

The Meeting

Then I moved on to edit number 27. I thought I was doing something better, bigger, more studio-ish. It sucked. It no longer kicked ass. But Why? I used 90% of the same scenes and dialog, but the pacing sucked. The energy was missing.

I got some advice from a trusted friend. Put edit on hold for a 24 hours and jumped on it again. Guess what? The new edit kicks ass again. Well…at least to me.

Obviously a trailer should entice the viewer to want to see the movie. No-brainer there. But remember, your trailer isn’t for everyone. It’s for YOUR FILM’S audience. If someone isn’t within the targeted demographic for your film — guess what, they probably wont give a crap about your trailer.

So, Resurrection of Serious Rogers is for the neo noir, action thriller seeking audience. It’s for guys and gals who like hot women with guns, a film with a cool look, a film with a cool story, a film with hot guys, with blood, cussing and a few other choice elements. It’s not really for the arthouse clan.

The trailer will be released very soon.

http://www.filmthreat.com/news/23686/

Are You A Film Threat?

This is a red-band trailer. Mature Audiences only.

]]> http://www.angelobell.com/2010/07/play-to-your-strengths/feed/ 0 http://www.angelobell.com/2010/07/email-vs-social-media/ http://www.angelobell.com/2010/07/email-vs-social-media/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:17:10 +0000 Angelo http://www.angelobell.com/?p=2918

Email vs. Social Media

A good friend of mine from Twitter, Michael Barnard wrote an article about using email vs contemporary social media tools (like Twitter) for communicating with your audience. This is particularly interesting and dynamic info for filmmakers employing the DIY, DIWO or four-walling methods for distribution. What’s the best way to get your message across: Shout it out to everyone in the room or whisper directly in the ears of your targeted audience?

Here’s an excerpt:

As filmmakers, we need to grasp how to reach our audience and let them know our film exists, and communicate how the film might interest them. This used to be the jurisdiction of distributors, but that old world is in turmoil and may be dead. With filmmakers scrambling to figure out the theoretical pathways of DIY, DIWO, rent-a-distributors, four-walling, etc., they find themselves needing to grasp some basic marketing concepts.

Here’s one:

Studies show that most consumers prefer E-mail for communication.

Yes, social media is the elephant-in-the-room now, and the indie film biz is absorbing the possibility that Twitter has replaced and accelerated word-of-mouth.

Click on the link below to read more:

http://michaelrbarnard.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/filmmakers-and-e-mail-versus-social-media/

Have you finished watching? For real? Okay, then I will proceed with my blog. First let me say that I’ve watched this video (today) about eight times. Aside from the fact that I’ve always been a fan of P!nk’s music, of the woman, and of her commitment to be herself, the video opened my eyes.

For a second I want you to consider that there are two ways that this performance could have gone. She could have said, I want to hang from a sheet about 20 feet in the air, half-naked and sing along with the vocal tract playing in the background. Or she could have said, I want hang from a sheet about 20 feet in the air, half-naked and sing live and… upside down.

I know too many people who would have played it safe and plugged in the recording of the vocal track. And this is what I see many independent filmmakers doing — playing it safe. We call it staying in your comfort zone, or something like that.

What P!nk did was stay true to her art, and isn’t art ultimately about touching us on an emotional level by pushing our bodies, minds and souls beyond our comfort levels? She also put other artists on notice: they  can no longer claim that it’s impossible to perform live without a vocal track. P!ink sung a song upside down, hanging from the ceiling. Why can’t other artists sing and perform a few carefully choreographed dance routines on a 30-ft soundstage?

You don’t need to understand the complexities to get a sense of the danger involved. All you need to know, all you need to remember is that you got chills when she spun around in circles, hanging from a sheet 20 feet in the air, with NO safety harness. As folks left the theater they didn’t chat about designer clothing anymore, they talked about P!nk’s performance. Simply put, you will NEVER forget her performance.

Isn’t that what a film should do to you? Shouldn’t it compel people to discuss it after they’ve left the theater ? Shouldn’t it stick in our minds long after?

Shouldn’t a film push you out of your comfort zone, make you consider the complexities involved, then toss it all aside in favor of the enduring tingle running up your spine? Shouldn’t you want to relive the moment over and over again?

But how can a film do this to you when the artists behind the film haven’t pushed themselves out of their comfort zone? How can a film move you when the artists behind it approached the film with an assembly-line mentality? How can a film challenge you if it didn’t challenge the filmmaker’s body, mind, and soul? I don’t mean a challenge on a financial level. That’s just stress. I’m referring to a challenge so huge and terrifying that it makes you reconsider everything, if only for a fleeting moment.

By challenge I don’t mean stumbling over the decision to use a 7D DSLR camera instead of the 5D, fretting over whether you should shoot the murder scene in your basement or rent a hotel room, or casting a redhead over a brunette. I mean challenges like casting the fat guy in your leading role because he’s a better actor than the skinny guy. Or shooting that horror script you have no clue how to make instead of your third romantic comedy. Or shooting in a primo Downtown location using guerrilla filmmaking tactics and risking getting busted instead of settling for yet another scene shot in your cleverly disguised condo? Trust me, I know about the condo part, I’ve shot in my condo 8 times.

So I ask all the artists: are you challenged in the making of your film, song, music video, orchestral score, painting, photography, sketch, etc? Were you pushed to the limits of your creativity to complete this passion project? Did you step out of your comfort zone?

…Did you hang by a cloth 20 feet high, upside down, singing LIVE with no safety harness?

That’s my goal. Push myself. Push the game of artistry. Raise the bar. Every project must be more ambitious than the last. Every goal must be aggressively attacked. Every project must push me out of my comfort zone. Every film must present me with an opportunity for an instance that I will never forget. In ensuring these guidelines I am better positioned to give my audience something they will never forget.

It’s exciting to think that finally, lots and lots of people will be watching my films — not on their computer — on television.

The films chronicle “10 Years of Living Dangerously” — my ten years in the business of making independent filmmaking. From being a first-time filmmaker to becoming someone who doesn’t freak out on the set when production issues arise.

Disk One

Get Spielberg – four wannabe Hollywood-types kidnap Steven Spielberg to force him to greenlight their film

Picture Perfect – two art thieves try to steal the same priceless painting, resulting in deadly consequences…or love?

Sex, Shoes & Unicorns – Four women hunt for good men and great designer shoe sales (feature)

Renounced – a heroine addict’s attempt to get clean may be the last thing he ever does

The First Time – a botched robbery sets a deadly precedent for a pair of hapless thieves

Donate to Legend of Black Lotus now

Disk Two

Broken Hearts Club (short) – through a series a vignettes, hapless couples discuss their deteriorating relationships

Nanny and the Professional – an assassin’s life is complicated by her tenuous friendship with a wanted nanny (feature — this is the film the serves as the blueprint for Resurrection of Serious Rogers)

Love is for Democrats – on the eve of the Republican Party’s first female nominee for President trouble comes in the form of a stripper.

When you donate $25 or more you’ll also receive the following

• Private online access to director commentary videos for every film in the set.
• Private online access to an extended sneak preview of Resurrection of Serious Rogers
• Private online access to an extended animated storyboard for Legend of Black Lotus
• Plus access to slideshows for the disc set consisting of production stills and screen grabs

I’m very happy to share this collection with you. The work is real, and exists exactly how it was when I made the films. I didn’t remaster the video or audio to make myself look like  better filmmaker than I was at the time. Basically, it as raw as it gets!

Check out the list of Indiegogo perks when you donate as little as $10.

My next script is a sci-fi action drama titled A.E. (sorry, I cannot disclose the title just yet.) I love writing roles for women because I find female characters to be more flexible. In light of this, I think it’s fitting that I introduce you to a Top Ten List of Women Who Shook Up the Traditionally ALL-MALE Sci-Fi Scene.

Total Sci Fi Online

25 Sci Fi Women

The sci-fi and fantasy genres have been marked by many iconic heroines. Some are striking for their leadership and bravery, others for their incredible sexiness, many for both. Following lengthy debate, Total Sci-Fi now reveals the 25 most important SF & fantasy heroines of all time. We’ve limited ourselves to TV and film – SF and fantasy literature probably warrants a further list all of its own – and in those instances where multiple actresses have portrayed a character, we’ve written who we believe gave the most definitive performance in brackets.

Read more: http://totalscifionline.com/features/3566-the-25-women-who-shook-sci-fi

Resurrection of Serious Rogers

Resurrection of Serious Rogers

=====================================

Today was the first day I used my right hand to operate my computer mouse since I broke my wrist on the set of Resurrection of Serious Rogers. It feels good. Oddly enough, in the same way I had to become acclimated to used my left hand, I now how to reacclimate to using my right hand.

I chatted with Jon Pierre, the composer who jumped in, took the bull by the horns and offered to write original music for Resurrection of Serious Rogers. All the original music is written, scored, remixed, mastered and now…in-hand! Thank you, Jesus!

Also, I hear through the grapevine that there’s some potential money coming in for a second episode (if you will) of RSR. This is good news, but it’s more of hurry up and wait news. If the money does come, RSR will be even more bloody, have more action, more guns and more scantily clad hot girls and guys.

Broken Hearts Club goes mobile!

Broken Hearts Club should launch in the next thirty days on mobile phone platform in 22 mid-eastern countries and Australia through Yuuzoo and CKE.  (http://ckeglobal.com/)

TV Anyone?

Meanwhile a friend of mine is working on launching her own independent TV channel; she’s negotiating with a company in Canada after being offered placement of her new network/channel on Popbox and Boxee. She will be in full control of her catalog — that means I pretty much have a home for any new film projects I complete.  Boxee has over 500,000 registered users and will offer many titles through Netflix as well.

Crowdfunding Legend of Black Lotus

I’ve launched a new Indiegogo crowdfunding profile for Legend of Black Lotus here: www.indiegogo.com/legend-of-black-lotus. Same perks apply. Feel free to visit and donate today.

Also, I was contacted by a new crowdsourcing portal (I can’t name names yet) about submitting my project to their site. This new portal supposedly works a little differently. While it is a 100%-funded-or-nothing deal, the people behind the site actively promote your project. This is why they’ve solicited projects that excite them. Fortunately, Legend of Black Lotus caught their eye. Basically you have a crowdfunding partner and this is especially important if you don’t have 10,000 Facebook or Twitter followers to ask for donations.

I’ve also edited a new teaser/animatic/storyboard thingy for the short film project as well. I’m waiting for approval before I release it to the general public.

Here is a re-post of Facebook message by Lucas McNelly — if you visit my site often, please visit Lucas’ page. He’s one of the filmmakers I follow who writes and makes engaging and thought provoking independent films

After a wee bit of buyer’s remorse, I’m happy to say that I’ve purchased a used white Macbook laptop with 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB Ram, 120GB hard disk, running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Final Cut Studio 2 for a bargain basement deal.

Hey, I'm a Mac...again!

There’s one person I must thank for helping me make this transition back to Mac:  Rashad on Twitter (@Os1019), whose selfless friendship, direction and guidance has been invaluable to me!  In the last year I went from Mac to PC (out of financial necessity) and now back to Mac. Rashad has often gone above and beyond what any friend could expect to help me along the way. Thanks bro!

I decided to go with a Macbook for travel flexibility. Now I can take my kids to the park and still work on my screenplays and treatments. Having Final Cut Studio 2 preinstalled was a bonus!  While I do not plan to do any heavy editing anymore, it’s nice to know that I can come home, connect to my 22″ monitor, mac keyboard and firewire drives and edit IF I must.