Short Prequel Before a Feature?

I like the idea. A couple of the shorts I have written I plan on writing a feature script for. The short would be used as either backstory or as a side story. Once the feature is put on DVD/Blu-Ray, you could include the short as an extra and then, technically, make money from the short.

I think it's an excellent plan. I see no disadvantages at all.

Sounds like a sensibly good goal.


1) Identify the target market demographic for the story you WANT to write. I mean REALLY narrow the genre, double genre if you got one, and nail down "Who wants to watch this? Who has a fiscally motivated appetite for it?"
Drama. RomDram. RomCom. Crime drama. Crime romance. What? Who?
Something for the boys?
Something for the girls?



2) Identify where the top two target audience demographics hang out online. Locate two active websites for each demographic you can infiltrate.

3) Collect intel. What are the biases of the groups? What do they like & dislike? Anyone who has written knows the variables to crafting a story are sky high and wide. You can put a spin on multiple aspects to the fundamental story you want your feature to be.
This is the same common sense market research car makers and apparel designers conduct.
Make a product consumer want.

4) Begin cultivating your following, let them know you're going to make a short, have your feature's webpage or blog and facebook page already started, direct their attention to them anytime you fart or belch something related to the short as a test for the feature. Keep your feature film product on their mind.

5) Get your short or teaser-trailer made. Run it through the dog & pony show. Obtrusively request feedback just shy of promising you'll sext them back for critiques. Any input at all.

6) THEN begin the whole process over when you use that short or teaser trailer for your feature's KS/IGG crowd source/funding page that each of your online community peeps are following. And for God's sake, don't put the whole KS/IGG thing together, start the clock ticking, AND THEN begin asking your IT friends for our opinions. D'ja!!!!

Skip festivals. If you insist, maybe only a couple meaningful and credible festivals. Too many are untrustworthy.

I think you're easily smart enough to make this happen.



EDIT: I very much like what Wheat's suggesting below.
For myself, I like "character development" stories.
I don't need a whole X-Men: Origins or X-Men: First Class feature or Star Wars Episodes I II and III to explain how Darth Vader became such a effed up guy, but I do want to know "How did this interesting person get to be this way?"
Why is he so jaded?
Why is she so dysfunctional?
Where did his faith come from?
Who is she trying to replace in her heart?

Consider focusing the short on developing the back story of an interesting character that becomes a key player in the eventual feature.

whats the difference really between a short becoming a feature and a short being followed by a feature length sequel? I don't see much difference.

To sequel or not to sequel?

If the information conveyed in the short is required to understand the feature, then your going to either require the viewer to watch the short, or your going to some how incorporate that info into the feature. Inversely; if the information in the short is NOT required to understand the feature, then its not really a prequel is it? it just a story set in the same world with the same characters.

Here is another thought.

What if the feature is the PREQUEL to the short? Say you set the short AFTER the climax of the features story.

I have no idea of your story, so this is just riffing..

Your FEATURE story climax results in two couples, A and B, splitting and forming one new couple C and two angry singles...

Your short could be a dinner party set some months past this climax. A very tense dinner that ends in a big blow out that leaves the viewer wondering why are these people behaving this way, what is this "hinted at" past offenses! You of course ANSWER in the prequel\feature.

or something like that..

The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson) did that! In most theaters, they actually ran the short first too. Only one character in the main film was in the short, and it was entertaining on it's own and gives backstory to the feature. If you see the feature by itself, it's its own story and lives without the short for sure, but then when you see the short a few minor jokes make more sense haha.

The DVD I have came with both and I don't think it's a special edition or anything. You should check it out!

So yeah, I think it's a great idea.

rayw said:

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Can I get a definition of some of those terms (not the obvious ones like chick flick, but the things like tent pole or under the radar)?

rayw said:

4) Begin cultivating your following, let them know you're going to make a short, have your feature's webpage or blog and facebook page already started, direct their attention to them anytime you fart or belch something related to the short as a test for the feature. Keep your feature film product on their mind.

Click to expand...

This is great advice. I'll be launching the website in the next month or so, and have the FB page almost ready to launch, too.

rayw said:

5) Get your short or teaser-trailer made. Run it through the dog & pony show. Obtrusively request feedback just shy of promising you'll sext them back for critiques. Any input at all.

6) THEN begin the whole process over when you use that short or teaser trailer for your feature's KS/IGG crowd source/funding page that each of your online community peeps are following. And for God's sake, don't put the whole KS/IGG thing together, start the clock ticking, AND THEN begin asking your IT friends for our opinions. D'ja!!!!

Click to expand...

I'll definitely be getting feedback on the short and the KS campaign well before it's ready to launch.

rayw said:

EDIT: I very much like what Wheat's suggesting below.
For myself, I like "character development" stories.
I don't need a whole X-Men: Origins or X-Men: First Class feature or Star Wars Episodes I II and III to explain how Darth Vader became such a effed up guy, but I do want to know "How did this interesting person get to be this way?"
Why is he so jaded?
Why is she so dysfunctional?
Where did his faith come from?
Who is she trying to replace in her heart?

Consider focusing the short on developing the back story of an interesting character that becomes a key player in the eventual feature.

Click to expand...

The short is going to be all about the character development. It's going to focus on the two main characters for the feature, though I may focus it more on the character who's not the focus on the feature.

wheatgrinder said:

If the information conveyed in the short is required to understand the feature, then your going to either require the viewer to watch the short, or your going to some how incorporate that info into the feature. Inversely; if the information in the short is NOT required to understand the feature, then its not really a prequel is it? it just a story set in the same world with the same characters.

Click to expand...

It's not required to understand the feature, but the events in the short have a direct impact on the events of the feature. It's an earlier part of the same story.

wheatgrinder said:

Here is another thought.

What if the feature is the PREQUEL to the short? Say you set the short AFTER the climax of the features story.

I have no idea of your story, so this is just riffing..

Your FEATURE story climax results in two couples, A and B, splitting and forming one new couple C and two angry singles...

Your short could be a dinner party set some months past this climax. A very tense dinner that ends in a big blow out that leaves the viewer wondering why are these people behaving this way, what is this "hinted at" past offenses! You of course ANSWER in the prequel\feature.

or something like that..

Click to expand...

I like that idea, but for this particular project it wouldn't work.

PaulGriffith said:

The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson) did that! In most theaters, they actually ran the short first too. Only one character in the main film was in the short, and it was entertaining on it's own and gives backstory to the feature. If you see the feature by itself, it's its own story and lives without the short for sure, but then when you see the short a few minor jokes make more sense haha.

The DVD I have came with both and I don't think it's a special edition or anything. You should check it out!

So yeah, I think it's a great idea.

Click to expand...

I'll have to check it out! Thanks!

Go for it. As long as you have enriched the lives of your characters with a story that must be told, I think there are more advantages than disadvantages.

You feature may come out better than the short with the experience you gain from the short.

cameronchapman said:

Can I get a definition of some of those terms (not the obvious ones like chick flick, but the things like tent pole or under the radar)?

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Tent Pole Film:
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/what_is_a_tentpole_movie.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110623193139AAwhXvq
pg. 642 http://www.people.hbs.edu/aelberse/publications/Eliashberg_Elberse_Leenders_2006.pdf

Under the Radar Film:
http://www.imdb.com/list/FMbzD8XGqog/
http://www.imdb.com/list/Sa8X99s2O1c/
http://www.moviefanfare.com/staff-notes/under-the-radar-unknown-and-underrated-films/ - Note further suggestions in the comments!

Those are just from an initial goog search.
Similar search for other "labels" should render similar results.



What kinda sorta genre/double-genre you thinkin' you have with this project?

rayw said:

What kinda sorta genre/double-genre you thinkin' you have with this project?

Click to expand...

Both the short and the feature will be RomDram. I sort of think of the feature as a cross between Hope Floats and Winter's Bone (with maybe a touch of The Family Stone thrown in for good measure)...

The storyline, on the surface, is similar to a number of romantic comedies, but it's like the "real" version of how those stories would actually turn out (ie, the guy that was a loser in high school is still a loser when he's 30).

I think it's a great idea. In fact, I plan on doing something similar, myself. What I'm thinking I'll do is a web-series of shorts (maybe 1-2 min each). Just fun little sketches. All of the shorts will revolve around one important character from the feature, but otherwise the shorts won't be connected to the story of the feature. In my mind, the purpose behind my web series would be to get people to fall in love with this character, so when he's got a feature being made, they'll just have to contribute a few bucks to the kickstarter! I hope that's how it works, anyway.

So, yeah, I think you should go forward with it. Just my two cents -- I think the "prequel" should be more of a spin-off. Like, it contains one or more of the same characters, exists in the same universe, but isn't necessarily the same story. The reason I say this is because in a sequel, appreciative audience members essentially want more of the same. But if it's a spin-off, audiences will expect them to be their own separate things.

Good luck!

cameronchapman said:

Both the short and the feature will be RomDram. I sort of think of the feature as a cross between Hope Floats and Winter's Bone (with maybe a touch of The Family Stone thrown in for good measure)...

The storyline, on the surface, is similar to a number of romantic comedies, but it's like the "real" version of how those stories would actually turn out (ie, the guy that was a loser in high school is still a loser when he's 30).

Click to expand...

Fantastic.
Right smack dab in the middle of "Girl World":
- Females just under the age of 25,
- Females just over the age of 25,
- Nothing much for teenies and mature audiences.
A pseudo date movie about the discovery of what idiots we are, WTH were we thinking, love + forgiveness for stupid transgressions conquers all.

I just watched Happythankyoumoreplease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happythankyoumoreplease
I bet there's some of that in there, too.


Great!
Where do these people hang out at online?
I'm middle aged. I don't know sh!t about WTH you 20somethings do with your day other than watch netflix and scroll through pinterest all day.
College students. Not lust in the dust serial novel consumers.
Where are they?

rayw said:

Fantastic.
Right smack dab in the middle of "Girl World":
- Females just under the age of 25,
- Females just over the age of 25,
- Nothing much for teenies and mature audiences.
A pseudo date movie about the discovery of what idiots we are, WTH were we thinking, love + forgiveness for stupid transgressions conquers all.

I just watched Happythankyoumoreplease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happythankyoumoreplease
I bet there's some of that in there, too.


Great!
Where do these people hang out at online?
I'm middle aged. I don't know sh!t about WTH you 20somethings do with your day other than watch netflix and scroll through pinterest all day.
College students. Not lust in the dust serial novel consumers.
Where are they?

Click to expand...

Pinterest is definitely on my list. Have a board all set up for things related to the feature and have already started posting on it. Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are big. I'm already active on all those, so it's just a matter of extending my reach, and getting the word out about the feature.

Here's a question: what kind of stuff should I be posting on social media to start building a following. Obviously updates about the actual production and progress, but what other kinds of things? I have some ideas, but I'd like to get ideas from others, too!

cameronchapman said:

Here's a question: what kind of stuff should I be posting on social media to start building a following. Obviously updates about the actual production and progress, but what other kinds of things? I have some ideas, but I'd like to get ideas from others, too!

Click to expand...

Just talk to people.
Not your family and close friends.
Strangers. Extended friends.

All of us here at IT share a common interest of filmMAKING, not just film WATCHING or film APPRECIATION.
So, you gotta find facebook pages where your college 20somethings are checking in and BSin' about whatever it is people BS about.

What are three aspects key to your PRELIMINARY short?

• Parents?
• Sophomore year at college?
• Alcoholism?
• Religious extremism?
• Pregnancy?
• Abortion?
• Single moms?
• Long distance relationships?
• Finding a job in a sh!t economy?

What?

What three things can you find two facebook sites with active and engaging members?
YOU don't have to be interested in the subject.
Your CHARACTERS have to be interested in the same topic your future KS/IGG DONORS are interested in.

You are a non-profit organization prospecting for donors.
If you run an animal shelter you go find dog and cat people to chat with then hit up for donations to your shelter.
If you operate a child advocacy organization you find foster parents and adoptive family people to chat with.
If you organize mission groups to go build schools for children and teach HIV education to adults in Ethiopia then you shake down all the do-gooders and guilty feeling rich people you can.
If you're making a film about a guy and two girls that got really drunk and did something really stupid then you gotta find TWO facebook pages + a forum group focused on out of control guys and TWO facebook pages + a forum group focused on bisexual females and TWO facebook pages + a forum group focused on the families of manslaughter victims and offenders.

Be a real forum member to them.
Not some pump and dump bastard with a driveby request for donations.
"Give us money, b!tches!!!!!!"


Find out information for your story by becoming an active member yourself of all nine groups.
At some magical point you're no longer writing a story for you.
You start writing a story for these people.
And you let them know exactly that.
Your short is inspired by the failures, experiences, and achievements they've shared with each other.
Let them know how your own film development is coming as they share with you their personal development.

Yeah, it's somewhat like journalism.
There will likely be some moral and ethical crossroads you'll have to negotiate.
Put some skin in the game, Cam.


Cultivate a following for film, because...

Frankly, I wish I would have done it your way. It's good to build your team BEFORE doing a feature! Great idea!