That is such a great video, DiB!
Great job, DiB. Is that your voice Odi? You sound lovely.
Nope, not mine Kate — a friend of DiB’s! :)
LINK to our IndieGoGo page. Note our latest promo video (posted the other day)! :)
All right guys, what are some websites similar to /film in the fact that they are popular but still open to suggestions? I don’t think if I gave EmpireOnline our link they would give a shit, but I might still try. I just need to know some good websites to send the links to so I can do that today.
I’m going to be totally honest, because I really want to see us reach our goal. The video is vastly improved from where it started, but I still think it needs work and this is why we haven’t raised more money. I’ve been looking at the promo videos for successful campaigns on indiegogo and kickstarter and they all seem to have a few things in common that our video is lacking at the moment. Feel totally free to dismiss my suggestions. I know everyone is busy, so it may not be possible to make these corrections. But I’m just going to throw them out there.
1) They have talking heads — people who are involved in the project directly addressing the camera. I think this is key because it helps humanize the campaign and build excitement. We’ve already gone part of the way there with the lovely new voice over, but I think we need to go all the way. It’s also important that these people sound excited and maybe a little bit desperate (heh). While the new voice over is beautiful, she doesn’t sound especially excited. I think it would be great if we could get Odi, Santropez and maybe one other filmmaker to submit videos of themselves describing what they’re doing and making their plea. Even better if they could film themselves outside with an eye-catching background that shows off where they live. Like, here I am in LA or Brazil, etc.
2) I don’t think adding separate videos of different filmmakers is the answer. Most people are just going to watch the promo, so that’s the place to make our case.
3) They tell a story about how the project came into being. Like it just started as an idea tossed around between a couple of people on this internet forum and grew into…etc.
4) Note of desperation about why we need your money.
5) They give a simple, clear explanation of how the project works. Right now I think our explanation is a bit muddled, not just in the narration but also the imagery. I find myself tuning out a bit when the connected dots thing that looks like a powerpoint slide comes up. I think we can find better imagery to illustrate our concept.
OK, that’s it.
If people are able to submit these new parts I could try editing them together.
Really good suggestions Kate and I agree with them all. I think DiB was intending to update these videos as we go, but yeah, we need to make that impression count, a LOT, right off the bat.
I’ll see what I can do toward contributing a video, as I remember very clearly how this project started, and I have some good reasons why I think it is worth funding, in line with its origins and original purpose.
What I’ll do is run it by you first though and then you tell me what I should or shouldn’t do to make it better.
Anyone else? Let’s all pitch in here, that promo video needs to be REALLY compelling, and it needs to hit people personally.
As for locations, hmmm… tall palms in my area get the story across that I’m in L.A., but I’ll have to figure out how to angle that so they can be seen and I don’t look like Goliath or something, lol! :)
Great! Part of the reason I want you to contribute a video of yourself is because you come off as assured and enthusiastic. I just realized I meant to say Dandara rather than Santropez but Santropez is more than welcome to submit one as well. I just saw a video of Dandara somewhere and remember being impressed by her presence. Also she is in a cool looking location. It would be great if you could contact her Odi and ask her to make a short clip.
I will give you suggestions as you go. Happy to help!
Yes, we met Dandara on tinychat for the very first time and she is wonderful! I will email her and ask her if she’d like to help.
Enthusiastic I can be, assured is the way I feel about this project — i.e. I very much want to see it come alive! :)
Thanks so much for being honest Kate, and for offering to edit — all of this plus the help we are already receiving from you on this project is VERY valued.
Ok, I have written Dandara an email… :)
Should I make a video as well?
Try it, why not? :)
You can follow us on Twitter now! @ergodicfilm
Thank you Mubians! You guys are wonderful! (O:
I think I might.
Edit: I can’t seem to find the twitter page.
YAY! Great work, Santropez!
Dylan, check my follows and you’ll find it (if you haven’t already by now, that is)…
Hey, I heard from Dandara – she won’t be able to do a promo video.
So… I’ll try my best, and anyone else who wants to try, please do!
I’ll probably do one too. (:
Odi: It’s done.
I’ll probably start preparations on a promo tomorrow. Anything that needs to be in it? (i.e. status report? Or just a video to promote it in general? If that’s the case, I’ll need to brush up on my research on the project as some of the concepts behind it are a little fuzzy for me.)
Yay, Santropez!
Dylan — Talk about how you got interested in the project, and why you think it deserves to be funded. I think that’s a start.
How are the videos coming guys?
Dylan — Odi has some good suggestions. Also describe what your film is about.
Going to start working on video etc. Tonight.
@Dylan — Any way you cold film it outside and have a friend frame it for you?
What do you mean? I don’t follow.
if you could have your friend film you outside. I think it helps when someone else shoots it, so you don’t have to frame yourself. And the outdoor backdrop would be nice. Just suggestions.
Ah. I figured.
That sounds good. I think I’ll try by myself and having a friend help. Just to see how they both do.
I just sent a message to Collider.com about featuring our IndieGoGo page on their site. Hopefully they respond soon. Also, I have no idea how to contact /film. Their contact link doesn’t bring me anywhere and I’m confused by what it says their email account is, so if anyone could help out with reading that that would be nice. Any other sites I could ask?
We haven’t recieved any contributions to our indiegogo in more than 30 hours, we’ve got to get this going right now if we want to obtain enough money to make our segments.
Right now I’m looking for independent film blogs and sites that would be willing to give us some distribution by posting an article about our project. Hope this works and gets us more money.
Santropez — do you think the fact, at least in the U.S., that we posted right before a holiday weekend may be contributing to the quiet? Perhaps this week it will pick up… just a thought… and all the more reason to get busier than ever promoting THIS WEEK.
Odi, I hate to harp on this but I really, really think it’s the video. Right now it’s not on par with the successful videos on the crowdfunding sites. The good promo videos are like little short films. We need to put the same amount of care into ours if we want to get noticed. Here are some random examples of videos by successful campaigns:
I’m not saying these videos are great but they do grab attention:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/basicspacek/waterloo-sunset?ref=card
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1193651771/boys-will-be-boys-the-film?ref=card
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1669858314/the-loop-a-short-film-by-ian-wood?ref=card
Personally I think we should take a couple of days to regroup and totally focus on making a kickass video and then get back to promoting. Again, I’m happy to edit together whatever you guys send me.
odilonvert
OOH — FANTASTIC, DiB! It is just BEAUTIFUL!
And thank you SOOO much, Tommy, for spreading the word! We very much appreciate it!