I REALLY NEED ADVICE. (or at least some opinions...)

T

thebman

I recently finished a 25 minute short... it's a comedy shot with NO budget (ok well maybe like a $100 bucks MAX)... it was shot on a $600 Canon HV40 (obviously not exactly "top of the line" camera wise), the lighting varies somewhere between amateur, and occasionally decent (used a real basic lighting kit, but I'M NO LIGHTING SPECIALIST) and the audio is overall decent, but still on the amateur side ... so put it bluntly, it has a definitely has a budget-less look to it.

When I originally was in the writing phase, I always had pictured doing a festival quality short, but as production began (and my wallet cease to exist), and I began seeing dailies/editing I realized making a festival quality short (by which I mean technical quality, not necessarily substance quality) was pretty much out of the question. I like to think I don't suffer from too many delusions of grandeur, so for the remainder of the production and post production I mentally put the film into the "for fun, for practice, to learn" category, and just sorta figured I'd throw it on VIMEO or YOUTUBE and share with my friends etc...

This is where things start getting fuzzy and confusing for me...

So after I finish the film, I decide to hold off posting it online until I show some close friends/all the people that helped make it (this was to make SURE that I wasn't gonna embarrass myself by pushing a really bad movie on the world without realizing it lol)...obviously close friends (and the people involved in making it) will be a bit more bias then a total stranger, however after viewing it, based on the very strong "laughing with the jokes" they did, they all seemed to genuinely LOVE it! Again, although these opinions were a bit bias, it still made me feel REEEAALLLLY good inside! So shortly after I started showing it to 2nd tier friends/co-workers/ anyone that might be into comedy etc etc...

I started trying to push it on people NOT telling them I had made it (to try and gauge a genuine reaction from them)... before i knew it most of the people I was showing it to liked it a lot. now I have friends and acquaintances left and right telling me I should 100% totally enter it into film festivals blah blah blah...

So after weeks of debating what the hell I should do with this thing, I'm totally lost in my own head... so after that overly long introduction I'll make my questions as "bullet to the point" as possible.


1. Do I post it online for all to see AND send it into festivals? (I always thought if you were gonna try the festival circuit you're never supposed to post it for the whole world to see until after the festival run, but again, I'm an absent minded creative type, not the business type...)

2. Do I just throw the short online for anyone to see, risking the wrong kind of exposure (and possibly getting my material ripped off)?

3. Do I avoid posting it online altogether and only try and put it in festivals (which all seem to be a full year away at this point) on the off chance I actually did produce a zero budget gem?

4. Do I use zero strategy and just whore it out to anyone with eyes ears and 25 minutes to spare?

I know many will approach assuming its probably not as good as I hope or think it is, or as good as many say it is... but just imagine for a second that it IS in fact a halfway decent short that just lacks some technical polish.

What would you do? What do you think I should do? I've spent countless eye bleeding hours searching through these forums and the internet in general for some advice to no avail... I'm so burnt out on the project now, but still want it to get its due (weather that be 200 friends on facebook, or 2 billion people around the world)... I just don't know what to do with the damn thing anymore. ANY opinions or advice would be SUPER AMAZING right about now... thanks in advance...
 
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Make it a private/passcoded vimeo or youtube video.
PM a few of the regulars here the passcode.
They will let you know how much bias your friends have.

Specifically, what festivals were you entertaining submitting this to and their 2013 submission deadlines?
 
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thebman said:
4. Do I use zero strategy and just whore it out to anyone with eyes ears and 25 minutes to spare?
Click to expand...

Slow down, take a breath... and do not do this.

Have you even started to research appropriate film festivals that might be suitable for your film?

I'm so burnt out on the project now
Click to expand...

It may be time to take a break from it, and return refreshed. Forcing it will often hurt things in the long run.

Relax, dude. :cool:
 
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Whatever you do, just say no to online.

And yes to the suggestion that the film get reviewed by people you don't know -- especially those who will be blunt.

I'll be blunt right now and tell you that 25 minute run time is going to hurt at festivals unless it truly is Sundance caliber as is.

Good luck!
 
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25 minutes is a pain in the butt for festivals to program. Can you cut it shorter?

Definitely have people who will be blunt with you see it and review it.

Look at your festival options and create a plan of attack - what festivals would you love to be in? What festivals will you accept being in?
Look at the festival's submission criteria. Many of the higher profile festivals will not accept films that are freely available on Vimeo or YouTube. Others will. Check it out and base your decision on that.
I'm sure eventually your film will make it online, but the critical point is when. Do you put it online now and send off to festivals that will accept movies that are also online? Do you apply for a few festivals, run it at a couple and then put it online?
 
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As the others said, if you are strongly considering submitting it to a festival, I would refrain from posting it on Youtube for the world to see just yet. As far as the 25 min. run time, you can cut some stuff if you think it can be cut, however, I have never worked for festival, but I would assume that if it fits into their length requirements, I don't see why it would be such a problem.
 
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thanks for the advice guys... allow me to elaborate a bit further on the film, festivals, and my feelings on the whole thing (I apologize for how lengthy this might get, but please stay with me...). Ideally I'd love to see it in some festivals. What festivals? No clue...I'll 100% admit this thing is NOT making it to sundance lol... Honestly speaking, after researching the whole festival thing I'm still totally confused as to what might be a good fit, if any...

Here's the thing I may have left out intentionally to avoid eye rolls... The short is, in fact, a pretty low brow humor affair...I know certain brands of humor carry stigmas (especially in the indie film world)...and low-brow seems to be criticized pretty hard for its seeming lack of intelligence (i.e. poo poo fart tampon gags) ...so I'm fairly sure that alone SERIOUSLY effects the festival outlets that would even consider it, again if any... and thats all AFTER the whole lack of technical polish...

As far as the length, yes I knew going into the whole thing that 20-25 minute range was way ridiculous right off the bat, as far as the proven attention span of the average viewer is concerned...but I've tackled some shorter material in the past, and I really just wanted to challenge the hell out myself here, and see if I could string together a longer intertwining story, structured more like a TV pilot then a "movie" per say... and honestly, before the idea of festivals, before the idea of a well structured release plan, there was only 2 things that I ever really cared about...

1. Can I make a functional, fluidly progressing story, that involves multiple intertwining stories, defined characters, where everything that happens, happens for a particular reason (in other words, not long for the sake of long, but rather to tell a story that happens to take that long to tell)... my assumption was sort of "If I can pull that off with a zero budget shoe string approach, and still make something relativity entertaining, then maybe I'd finally be closer to feeling confident enough to start making larger investments (and investors) as far as budgets for future projects go." ...it was originally supposed to be a self taught lesson, with hopes of boosting my own confidence in my own abilities, while gaining and practicing new ones... which I honestly do feel great about. I mean weather its horrible or great, I DID IT.

2. Can I make, at the very least, all of my friends legitimately laugh out loud... with no signs of pity laughs...again, to sort of gauge the abilities I have in myself... (clearly I don't struggle with inner personal confidence issues... ... ...HA.)

I've searched for the "right kind of festival" and haven't really found anything that I think would fit... maybe you guys could make a few suggestions...honestly I'm cool with absolutely any level festival at this point...I realize this isn't the festival board, but it all kinda ties to how I should "market and distribute" (please don't shut me down here admins!)

SORRY for the ridiculously lengthy response that I'm sure 92% of you won't get through fully (making me appreciate those who do even more (hopefully my art won't be imitating life in that aspect lol), but this is stuff that goes through my head 24/7, and I don't really have ANY film friends to chat with about it or seek advice from, and I sorta just had to get it off my chest.... thanks in advance to anyone who made it this far...

Please shoot me an email at Brendonphillips@Gmail.com if you're interested in viewing and reviewing this thing for me.

thanks guys -
 
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You can PM me the link, if you want. I'll watch it tomorrow & give you my very honest opinion. :)

The problem with a 25 minute short is that it's difficult for festivals to fit in. If they show your one short, that is potentially gonna not leave room for 3 or 4 other equally as good shorts - and it's great to have a variety.

I haven't done any research on film festivals recently, but you can set up an account at Without A Box for free and start getting familiar with a huge variety of choices. There are a few pay-for-play ones to avoid (basically, any of the ones that hit you up for extra fees for transfers, or fixing it, or reformatting, or whatever) but with a quick bit of savvy internet search you can avoid those.

There is, without a doubt, a film festival for your film. Lowbrow as it may be. It'll come together :cool:
 
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