the first short movie (17 mins. long) I posted on youtube as one movie. Its gotten about 240 views in four months. Does anyone know if posting a video in small segments is better and will bring in more views, or do I simply need to do somehting else to raise attention to my videos?
how should I post my movie?
- Thread starter nobudgetfilmmaker
- Start date
This is a tough one.
A 17 minute movie is difficult on line no matter where you
post it. It's too long. A narrative short is difficult because
most people are not used to seeing these. People do not
watch short films. And they do not watch short films made
by people they don't know with actors they have never heard
of.
You don't.
Right now, as it stands in the full version, how can people find
it? What are you doing to drive people to your YouTube page?
Is there anything that makes it stand out for people who are just
looking around for something to watch.
And the question I always ask in this situation:
What drives you to watch a short film made by people you don't
know with actors you have never heard of? Sometimes turning
the question back on yourself may provide answers. Think of the
last four months; how many short films have you watched on
YouTube - how did you find them? Would you have preferred small
segments or the entire film?
A 17 minute movie is difficult on line no matter where you
post it. It's too long. A narrative short is difficult because
most people are not used to seeing these. People do not
watch short films. And they do not watch short films made
by people they don't know with actors they have never heard
of.
You don't.
Right now, as it stands in the full version, how can people find
it? What are you doing to drive people to your YouTube page?
Is there anything that makes it stand out for people who are just
looking around for something to watch.
And the question I always ask in this situation:
What drives you to watch a short film made by people you don't
know with actors you have never heard of? Sometimes turning
the question back on yourself may provide answers. Think of the
last four months; how many short films have you watched on
YouTube - how did you find them? Would you have preferred small
segments or the entire film?
Agreed that most shorts will NOT be watched, but if it's something clever enough or interesting enough, YouTube can work. Note the length on these, though; 17 minutes may be stretching it for anyone under 30.
"Merci" dir. Christine Rabette (also known as "Bodhisattva in Metro") has probably over a million view among the several times it's been copied onto YouTube (just one posting has a quarter million).
Venetian Princess, with her whimsical I-played-every-role videos and her music video parodies (the fact that she looks a lot like Angelica Jolie doesn't hurt) has found her a HUGE following.
Same for Felicia Day and her "The Guild" series.
"Merci" dir. Christine Rabette (also known as "Bodhisattva in Metro") has probably over a million view among the several times it's been copied onto YouTube (just one posting has a quarter million).
Venetian Princess, with her whimsical I-played-every-role videos and her music video parodies (the fact that she looks a lot like Angelica Jolie doesn't hurt) has found her a HUGE following.
Same for Felicia Day and her "The Guild" series.
I would have uploaded the video in two different parts. Maybe uploaded each part as a "Response Video" to a Short Film that has generated a lot of views. Also, the tags in the video really help when people are searching for something. Try sending it around to online film festivals. Most will require a small fee to post it, but they really do help generate views, and the more people that see your films, the better known you will become.
I barely get past 2 minutes before quitting when I'm looking at 5 minute shorts here. A 17 minute "short" is unlikely to EVER get watched by me.
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To get more views, you need to spend more time marketing the film than you spent actually making the film. If you don't want to market, you might as well forget about making films.
Welcome to the harsh reality of the film business.
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To get more views, you need to spend more time marketing the film than you spent actually making the film. If you don't want to market, you might as well forget about making films.
Welcome to the harsh reality of the film business.
I'd love to get 240 views in four months...that's a lot of views for a 17 minute film! Perhaps more than if it showed on the big screen in a regional festival. Let me ask you...what did you do to get those 240 views?
Well, the film took me two years to SHOOT, not including editing and post-production.
And GuerrillaAngel is right. You will need to spend more than two
years marketing the film. Especially a short. If we having the built in
following that some people have we are left with the simple fact that
most people just do not watch short films.
nobudget, how many short films do you watch on line in a week?
How do you find them?
I've never heard of this. But how did it allow to you get 240 people to watch your film? Did you just chat with random folks and send them the link?
Five years from pre to post with my feature film. Now on my third year marketing it. By gosh I'm going to squeeze every penny out of this thing! Giving the festival circuit a bit more time and then the official DVD release.
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Here's a secret, you will likely get more $$ out of a well-marketed poorly-made film than a well-made but poorly-marketed film.
A short though, likely won't earn you a dime.
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That said, good luck!
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actually it was more like ... "here watch this link to movie" and I would copy that message and paste it after saying hello. lol