Making a feature just for YouTube?

[NatalieOshea]

Happy New Year everybody.

I had been planning to develop a short film but now I'm torn between doing a short or a feature, because I'm really interested in this script I'm writing which is actually a feature.

I'm just curious about the practicality of making a 90-something-minute feature film for say $5,000 and then putting up on YouTube for free. Because that's what I thought about doing.

I know it sounds like I'm answering my own question, but I'm thinking maybe it'll be a way to gain exposure as a filmmaker and then when I get around to making other films with bigger budgets and bigger actors, then those movies would be going to film festivals, movie theaters and the whole shebang.

I was also wondering if anyone here has made a feature-length movie and then posted it on YouTube for free.

 

[mus]

I'm not going to spend an hour watching a YouTube video... and most others won't either.

Actually, youtube has moved into a position where most audiences watch (and prefer) longer videos. Youtube even rewards channels that have higher retention on their videos by promoting them more. This is why Let's Play Channels and 'top ten list' channels are so popular (among other easy-to-produce content.)
People binge-watch these videos, most of which have a 10-15 minute minimum duration.

I get half of my entertainment from youtube and it's mostly longer form content. FilmmakerJ just recommended a great channel, whose "Mr. Plinkett" videos should be viewed by every aspiring writer. Other review based channels like RLM produce long videos that are funny and entertaining on their own, making the subject of the reviews no longer the reason they have audiences. Like Jontron or "The Nostalgia Critic," who has a 50+ minute review of Man of Steel.


And youtube is looking to take on Netflix by leasing the rights to stream big movies for a limited time on their site. They already allow you to rent a lot of movies.


Though, I do think that youtube isn't the place right now for feature films by un-established filmmakers. It's not the duration that's the issue, it's the type of content, and you'll have a hard time getting someone to watch your film by ANY means, so why go with youtube? At least you can monetize it better through other avenues

 

[SkyCopeland]

I will argue this notion, to a degree, with a channel known as RedLetterMedia.

The majority of their content consists of 45 to 1 hour and 45 minute videos where they sit and talk about crappy movies that they just watched previously, as well as brand new movies that they just saw in theaters. And most of their recent videos (at that length) in their series called "Half in the Bag" and "Best of the Worst" have between 200,000 and 400,000 views each.

That's a very particular fan-base, to be sure, but it definitely says something about how the attention span for long-form videos on Youtube has changed dramatically since 2005. Not to mention the millions of people who watch long-form Let's Play videos, which can last up to an hour or more as well.

These are also not movies: these are reviews of movies that involve a more friendly and an almost intimate style of conversation between like-minded people. It feels like you're spending time with these people and having fun riffing on scenes and characters you just experienced. So the engagement factor is much higher for longer periods than it might be if you were watching a regular film unfold over an hour or more. The dynamic is much different.

All I'm saying though, is that there are plenty of people who can and do watch really long videos. Whether or not they'll watch an amateur movie on Youtube is a different story. Cause these guys have made movies too, but I don't think they've been as successful as their review shows.

I can rebut this one pretty easily, and with personal experience on the matter.

Let's take a look at my girlfriend. She spends a lot of time on YouTube watching videos that sometime go on for about 3 hours. What are they? Well they are GameGrumps Let's Plays. But let's break down some psychology here.

Does my girlfriend like video games? Nope, she couldn't care less actually. So why would she sit around for half the day watching two guys play video games? Well she finds them personally entertaining. The actual content the video couldn't matter less to her. She just wants to hear their jokes and stories.

Strangely every fan of GameGrumps I meet (because I have a strange personal vendetta against them) I question the viewer why they watch the videos (as in my opinion.. and fact of how quickly they lose, they suck at playing video games) and 9/10 it's because they like the jokes and stories. 1/10 it's because they are playing some new Nintendo game that the person wants.

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Can this apply to your movie reviewers? Most certainly! In fact this can apply completely to your movie reviewers because they are basically the same thing! AngeryJoe for example is a guy who does nothing but critique games for their crappy mechanics. People enjoy hearing criticism for something they didn't work on. I'm also sure these guys have some funny comments from time to time.

A fact that one of the series you referenced is called "Best of the Worst" is point and case to this psychological indulgence that people like. People who don't even like movies most likely watch these people.

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We can get historical about this, Indy Mogul was HUGE! Do you think all their viewers wanted to be filmmakers? Of course not, they just liked the creators and their jokes. Same reason for around half of FilmRiot's fan base, the riffs between the two brothers and their sister is the entire point of watching for some people (most likely more than you'd think).

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Lastly to drive in this point even more. Take GameGrumps and do some searching for Best of videos, and you'll find compilations that take the best from each game walkthrough and just put all the funny parts into a 1 - 3 hour video.

To prove the point I attempted the same with RedLetterMedia and was proud to find the same results. People are in this for the jokes honestly. I'll bet only a small majority of their fanbase are actually movie buffs, the same as I've found is true majority of GameGrumps fans aren't gamers.

------------------------------------------------ TO THE POINT ALREADY SKY!

This is a different breed of content... You are in the film side of YouTube, a area that's SUPER hard to get people to watch your indie SHORTS. An even slimmer than that already extremely small viewer base is going to click on your video, a smaller number than that is going to get 30 minutes in, and the number keeps dropping every ten minutes.

Honestly, you have to be real with yourself because false expectations of this industry will crush you before you can even start.

Never rely on "going viral" cause it's not going to happen.

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Kinda off-topic / kinda not:

I think YouTube in general isn't the place for filmmakers. What do you hope to get out of it? Unless you start making weekly half-rate content that aims for making some cheap laughs, you're not going to get what you want from that market.

If you want to be a filmmaker then cater to the film market. Make a short, submit to festivals, prove yourself. Find a producer who believes in you and your feature script, one that actually has connections as well (DO NOT TAKE A PRODUCER FRESH OUT OF SOME SCHOOL), and go from there.

Hell, if you're realistic, you'll stop making shorts as a primary focus. You'll move to Atlanta and get some quick jobs, join the local union, work until your back breaks, and hopefully end up almost touching the Above-the-Line positions. If you can break through that line and into the AtL jobs, you've done it. Congrats, you actually have the connections and resources (cause fuck you're making good money) to cut yourself from the studio system and try the "actual" indie route.

I've gotten flak for trashing on the indie scene before, so I'll break that usage down real quick. Indies are what this site consists of (myself somewhat included... except I work with industry equipment and fully crewed teams), we make shorts, we hope someone watches them, we're happy.

Actual indies are making films in the 100 thousand + range up to 2 million (I think? Might be 3 million). They are selling their overseas rights, they are making profit, they pay a full crew, they have connections and resources to make full-scale connections. THAT is the indie you should want to be apart of. NOT YouTube Indie.

 

[FilmmakerJ]

I think YouTube in general isn't the place for filmmakers. What do you hope to get out of it? Unless you start making weekly half-rate content that aims for making some cheap laughs, you're not going to get what you want from that market.

If you want to be a filmmaker then cater to the film market. Make a short, submit to festivals, prove yourself. Find a producer who believes in you and your feature script, one that actually has connections as well (DO NOT TAKE A PRODUCER FRESH OUT OF SOME SCHOOL), and go from there.

Hell, if you're realistic, you'll stop making shorts as a primary focus. You'll move to Atlanta and get some quick jobs, join the local union, work until your back breaks, and hopefully end up almost touching the Above-the-Line positions. If you can break through that line and into the AtL jobs, you've done it. Congrats, you actually have the connections and resources (cause fuck you're making good money) to cut yourself from the studio system and try the "actual" indie route.

I've gotten flak for trashing on the indie scene before, so I'll break that usage down real quick. Indies are what this site consists of (myself somewhat included... except I work with industry equipment and fully crewed teams), we make shorts, we hope someone watches them, we're happy.

Actual indies are making films in the 100 thousand + range up to 2 million (I think? Might be 3 million). They are selling their overseas rights, they are making profit, they pay a full crew, they have connections and resources to make full-scale connections. THAT is the indie you should want to be apart of. NOT YouTube Indie.

No need to tell me this. Cause I get it. I might not sound like I get it. But I get it.

It's not easy to do anything despite how it looks. And you're also right. The reason long form videos work is because of the jokes and laughter. You can't get most people to sit down to anything long form unless it has a lot of humor in it and good hearty jokes. I see it. I get it.

In my life, I'm trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I'm trying to see what can happen and where I can go with my first big short film, and see if maybe I can spin that off into other things, other mediums, expanded content.

I want to get a job somewhere in Atlanta. But that's only going to happen if I can get enough cash-flow before hand to pay for rent, or until I can meet somebody to room with while I'm there. But I'll network. I'll make contacts. I'll offer my services and my skills where ever needed, cause I think I can help (and I want to help) other people as much as they could help me: especially independent filmmakers and creatives.

I'm also not the type of person to be a part of a set, I'm a post-production kind of guy at heart, cause that's where I have the most abilities, and that's where I can do the most with my brain and my hands when I'm on the lower levels of the totem pole. I want to direct, but I'd rather work up through the Editing and VFX side than the Grip/Camera Op/Assistant Director side. If the opportunity presents itself from the other side, though, then I certainly won't turn it down. I'll be looking for where ever I can fit myself in depending on my qualifications and particular skills.

In the end, I think Youtube is ultimately more shallow than it lets on. It's all about the humor and the tutorial videos than it is about the creative shorts and experimental projects. Sometimes those can break through if their short enough, clever enough, or attract the right fan-base. But the rest of the "Youtube Celebrities" make their living off of themselves and their image and their voice, not the kind of stories they can tell with images and sound. But, it can still serve it's purpose for building a fan-base, depending on how you do so, and what you do it for. Every platform and every market has it's uses, you just have to know how to use them to get the most out of them. If not for presenting films, then maybe for presenting behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, movie trailers, crowdfunding videos, etc.

 

[FreddyLongSongs]

A feature for YouTube? Too much work and you have to market like crazy. I'm doing that now for a very short film and it's a constant hustle since last night trying to get views and I'm nearing 200.

 

[scottspears]

I would shoot the feature as a webseries, releasing the episodes every week or so until you have released most or all of the episodes. Then combine the segments into a feature that you could sell or stream for a small fee on Vimeo.

One option is don't release the final two episodes with the ending and have people pay to download the entire feature version on Vimeo to get the ending. You do run the risk of alienating your audience, but $5000 doesn't grow on trees so if you want to charge them $3-4 to get the whole thing, that's a lot cheaper than a movie ticket or a DVD/Blu-Ray.

Scott