Jedi Council Forums - What would make you click?

Locked Topic | Read Only Topic | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - Previous | Next | Reload

Author	Topic: What would make you click?
elemental_fantasy Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 10/26/07 2:06am Subject: RE: What would make you click? - Date Edited: 10/26/07 2:09am (2 edits total) Edited By: elemental_fantasy
	The only mature thing I can truly add is make a damn good movie bro!!!! Word of mouth will spread asap!!! IMHO. Keep the post short and sweet, and show show something mouth watering!!! All in all, just look through all these threads and you'll find your what makes a good post great!!! P.S. I also agree with what dorkmanscott has posted within this thread. If you are known for good work, well, tell me why he has almost 2 million views on his rvd2 you tube vid.? thats the truth. Bottom line, to get where he and ryan are, good rep, and great vids, there a prime example imho. -----signature----- Go Fast, Turn Left, Or Perish!!!
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
durbnpoisn Title: TFN Staff Ca st & Crew Database Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 10/26/07 4:01am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	Lord_Charisma posted: I don't think I am mistaking celebrity and reputation. I would be extremely likely to click something by DV, but I have never once seen a film he has made. I admit to being slightly bitter that local fame will almost always barter more interest than anything else, but then that's a fact of life and my own fault for not having achieved it myself. It hasn't stopped me. And maybe I'd have more success if I were actually working on a fanfilm! I've got news for you, dude... You are, right now, at this very second, wrecking your reputation. I've never heard of you before (or payed much attention). But when I see someone brag about how great their film is, and then complain that others get more attention, and therefore your genius will never be fully realized...... Well, at that point, I already know I won't waste my time checking out what you release unless it is met with STELLAR reviews. And I know I am not alone in that sentiment. If I were you, I'd step off that attitude right now, and concentrate on making your project the best it can be. You've already started off on the wrong foot. Don't keep going that way. If you had just kept quiet, and your film was great, you might actually achieve that "local fame" you long for. But, now, because of your last two posts, you will never achieve the level of respect it takes to get that "local fame." -----signature----- Fan Films Database: R.I.P. Cloning in AE: http://www.durbnpoisn.com/films/cloneTut/index.asp My Star Wars Fan Films: http://www.durbnpoisn.com/films
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
ZNichols Registered: Feb '06	Date Posted: 10/26/07 4:51am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	bgii_2000 posted: Right now, the list of names I pay attention to is: (not in any particular order) Dorkman Ryan Vapes DV Fig Malte Wilka Zap BlackSheep Cramer Nate Zach Nichols Thanks Brad, I appreciate that. There have been times here where I was also dissapointed by the lack of attention my films have gotten, but then I realized that that is only due to my own faults and lack of a little common sense. For one, if a film is smarty compressed it is much more likely to get viewed. When I first came to this board with SFI it was with a 15 minute 300mb film, big mistake. I confess that I do have the same sort of list that bg does, but all it takes to win me over is a nicely composed screengrab, or trailer, or just any evidence that what you have produced is more that two teenagers bashing a few sticks together in the trees behind their house. -----signature----- a widescreen sandwich......an epic sandwich....... Formerly ktulu216: Feb '05 www.zenvfx.com
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Lord_Charisma Registered: Feb '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 5:14am Subject: RE: What would make you click? - Date Edited: 10/26/07 5:32am (4 edits total) Edited By: Lord_Charisma
	durbnpoisn posted: I've got news for you, dude... You are, right now, at this very second, wrecking your reputation. As you said, I don't really have a reputation here. I've kept quiet around here for five years. I've had enough of it. Never did I brag about how "great" my film is - I just said it has a shedload of roto. This implies nothing, good or bad - it is just an example of the level of hard work going into it. It will be liked by some, found mildly amusing by others, and hated by a few. That's fine. That's how stuff works. And I stand by my point - based purely on fame, merit, or whatever you want to call it, some posts will always be seen a hell of a lot more than others, regardless of content or structure. -----signature----- Master Mike of the Secret 7000 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvqajaBoV-I - 2009 Reel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSCMwmB0mgY - Boobyhatch: Matrix Energy
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
dragon82abg Registered: May '07	Date Posted: 10/26/07 5:57am Subject: RE: What would make you click? - Date Edited: 10/26/07 5:59am (3 edits total) Edited By: dragon82abg
	Ripley...! For traditional venues of distribution: Gave it some thought, have a fellow Kansas City film director Chris Downs, he sold his film "The Shunned" (period slasher piece) To Sliver Nitrate they bought it for 20k, he gave up all rights to it though -for 75 years, no less (persoanally that would make me hesitant). But on the up side -It did see some time on Blockbuster shelves. So thats a start, also, try Sub Rosa they will pretty much buy anything (not slamming your movie or anything, just being pragmatical). Hope that helps -----signature----- Director: "Bad Boba" & "Boba Fett and the Raiders" http://youtube.com/profile?user=irondragonfilms http://youtube.com/watch?v=YKrVHpxs1e8
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Laszlo Registered: Nov '06	Date Posted: 10/26/07 6:19am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	FSFilms posted: And sure, the argument can easily be made that if something like a little bad press could tank their movie maybe they weren't that dedicated to begin with. But the counterargument can just as easily be made, as an online filmmaking community, shouldn't our primary goal be to motivate and cultivate first time filmmakers who we were presumably not so unlike once upon a time? That’s two completely separate issues. 1) The first is not putting your hopes up on ‘net reaction. Imagine this scenario: You spent all summer writing a screenplay and slowly collecting props and tools off eBay & garage sales and as your birthday comes and goes and you find yourself with a new camera or editing suite. You’ve been bugging your friend and co-workers to join in and have roped in about 20 or so folks to help out, with pleanty of backups in case someone has to step down. It’s now mid-October and you’re two weeks away form your first proper shoot date so you post a little thing on TFN or FXHome or what feedback you get is negative and because of that you give up on the project. I’m sorry but in this case you are the @$$hole here; your crew was counting on you and now you’ve let them down. When you get positive comments that feels nice, sure, but don’t let it go to your head; this isn’t kindergarten for cripes sake. It’s far too easy to let that can’t-do-no-wrong rush carry you across resulting in something sloppy. If you get negative comments, well first break those down and separate the valid critiques of your peers from troll spam. Rather then bury the project like some primadonna take a moment to look at your proposal from the outside and re-evaluate your motivations and goals, ask yourself what is the point of the story after all. A film as a popularity grab is not ignoble and if that’s the case don’t lie to yourself and your crew about some greater merit. And don’t toss away that spam just yet because sometimes negative commentary helps fuel your desire to ‘prove them wrong’. For a lack of commentary there’s no cure. Because you know maybe your project is just plain boring. But even a boring project is ok if you’re having fun and pushing yourself creatively. You can’t expect to make a kick ass film on pure spirit alone. Skills need to be honed and part of that deal is marketing skills, film is ultimately communication, after all. 2) It was Durb or Dorkman… someone with a D… that posted a thread a year or so back to the effect of ‘Don’t eat the n00bs’ where is was noticed that new guys who would come in got enthusiastically shot down after their first pitch, often jeered on by folks who hadn’t released any film of their own. Since then that’s waned a bit and I think a philosophy of ‘if you have nothing good to say, say nothing’ has prevailed and for the most part I’ve few complaints. You ask what out ‘primary goal’ is and, you know, far as I remember I never swore any oath when I signed up on these forums. Maybe I should re-read the terms of service. … sarcasm aside I agree with you that having a community of peers to cross-critique work would be nice but you have to appreciate the fact that writing up a proper critique is work. Just look at the last few Lightsaber Choreo threads where X number of judges sign up but months after there are few organized reviews and no judgements save the public ones. It’s not my job to make you feel better about yourself as a film maker. I will critique a film or give feedback on a screenplay for the purely selfish benefits of A) I’m bored and would like my free entertainment to be the best possible and B) in critiquing other’s work I can better perfect my own. -----signature----- Tactical Film Maker http://www.key-pixel.com
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
FSFilms Registered: Apr '05	Date Posted: 10/26/07 8:14am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	M.Scott posted: As far as your own project, it's true that certain members, myself among them, have a tendency to get more attention than other members. It's unfair, you're right, but there it is. Doesn't that start the slippery slope to circle-jerking (eeewww. Bad leadup word choice)? Or is the suggestion that its going to happen no matter what measures you take to stop it? Cause you're probably right, its a valid point. Laszlo posted: words My communication error, 'bad press' was definitely the wrong phrase to use. Bad press is great because its press. I meant to ask about people who get no reaction whatsoever, rather than people who get critiqued all to hell. Though you're right, if you've assembled everything you need to go into production or are in production, and something this small is going to stop you, you're the one with the problem, not the board. As to oath swearing and terms of service, this isn't an issue about the board, its an issue of decency as filmmakers. If you come into a community like this, or any other, one dealing with filmmaking, you gotta assume you're there to either make or watch movies. If you say you have no obligation to motivate people and that belief is shared, then don't you end up with a board full of...oh, look at that. A bunch of release threads with no second posts. -----signature----- http://www.fsfilms.ca Come make our lives worth filming.
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Laszlo Registered: Nov '06	Date Posted: 10/26/07 8:37am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	Now I have the urge to put on a Sith robe and say "Good, good. Let the apathy consume you". There's a fan film idea right there. :-P -----signature----- Tactical Film Maker http://www.key-pixel.com
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
DorkmanScott Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 11:16am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	FSFilms posted: M.Scott posted: As far as your own project, it's true that certain members, myself among them, have a tendency to get more attention than other members. It's unfair, you're right, but there it is. Doesn't that start the slippery slope to circle-jerking (eeewww. Bad leadup word choice)? Or is the suggestion that its going to happen no matter what measures you take to stop it? Cause you're probably right, its a valid point. I'm curious what measures you think I should take to stop it, because I don't think that's possible. I can't regulate people's opinions or their reputation. As far as I can see, all I can do, personally, is set a good example, since people are paying attention to what I say and the way I post. As Laszlo said, I posted a thread about a year ago about proper thread etiquette -- not so much a manifesto or a commandment as a list of reasoned suggestions. And as he said, things have improved on the whole since then. The more regular posters here may notice there's been a shift in my own attitudes over the last year or so to that same effect, because I need to practice what I preach. I can't change the fact -- and frankly, I don't see a good reason to apologize for the fact -- that I made a couple of things that people like, and so if I make something else they're more likely to watch and comment than a first-time poster's film. If any thing, the only thing that signifies to me is the extra pressure of having the responsibility of trying to make sure it's always something worth watching. And even then, it's frankly a crapshoot and depends on the project. RvD2 has had probably over a thousand posts devoted to it across the announcement and subsequent release threads. The abandoned RvD 1.5 (the "Huh" thread) had over 600 posts just from a screenshot of a Premiere timeline. I'm at the top of the list of people who think the amount of attention 1.5 got was absurd, but what can I do about that? Yet I posted our teaser trailer for Descendants -- a teaser trailer produced by Dark Horse and starring Ray Park for pete's sake -- and it got less than 50 responses before sinking into oblivion. Even after I posted YouTube and Stage6 links. Frankly, even though I like to think that as filmmakers the community's tastes are expanding beyond fan films, as film WATCHERS it seems that Star Wars -- and lightsabers particularly -- still push the most buttons. If you're not getting the response you're after here, try another site. There's nothing to say you have to post exclusively at one or the other. Incidentally, this "local celebrity" thing isn't intrinsic to TFN. I post sometimes at DVXuser, where nobody knows "who I am", and there are certain members there that get preferential attention. That's just the way it is. -----signature----- http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.com
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
DVeditor Title: Fan Films Evil Overlord (manager) Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 12:30pm Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	As mentioned several times, I think a lot of what makes this community tick has to do with how well people know you and how well they know your material. Part of that is how you post in other topics as well as your own. Posting style (attention to punctuation, spelling, etc.) goes a long way. You may be a new filmmaker with an awesome movie, but presentation can make or break your release. At least...until people see the film and spread the word. Can you say viral networking? It always helps to have the "RvD" pull behind your posts, but in the end I feel it's how you present your film to the community. I know I'm much less likely to click on a "mynewfilmz!" thread than I am a nicely formatted title and post with a screenshot/poster or two. Get your message out, do it cleanly, and bump if necessary. And like Dorkman said, cross-promotion on other sites is key in trying to capture today's interweb audience. //two cents P.S. I -----signature----- CK Hicks http://www.ckhicks.com http://dveditor.deviantart.com TFN on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2202937735
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
dragon82abg Registered: May '07	Date Posted: 10/26/07 12:36pm Subject: RE: What would make you click? - Date Edited: 10/26/07 12:39pm (1 edits total) Edited By: dragon82abg
	In regards to Dorkmans latest post. I think he hits the nail on the head. The filmmakers attitude really should be a sort of.... What did I learn from making this fan film and what can I use (of what I learned) to make my next film better? Dont get me wrong a few kudos from the list help immensely however keeping focused on what you got out of it, might even be better. At the risk of sounding like some fevered Jedi guru... Film-making is a continual journey of learning, nobody, except those few masters (and even then most will admit they were lucky in areas) gets it ever quite right. Whats important is that you learn and try (...no do) to improve your craft. ...So much for my soapboxing :P -----signature----- Director: "Bad Boba" & "Boba Fett and the Raiders" http://youtube.com/profile?user=irondragonfilms http://youtube.com/watch?v=YKrVHpxs1e8
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
-Spiff- Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 10/26/07 2:23pm Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	DorkmanScott posted: Yet I posted our teaser trailer for Descendants -- a teaser trailer produced by Dark Horse and starring Ray Park for pete's sake -- and it got less than 50 responses before sinking into oblivion. Even after I posted YouTube and Stage6 links. The thing people have to keep in mind about posters and trailers is that we are perpetually bombarded with highly professional, superbly crafted advertising, often costing hundreds of times what we would spend on a whole film... and have learned to ignore it. Only when a trailer is truly memorable (Sin City and 300 come to my mind) does that tend to really make one build up anticipation. One of the reasons that RvD2 was more easier to hype than Descendants is that Ryan and Dorkman in RvD context are iconic - just like Ray Park as Darth Maul is iconic. Ray Park as Toad, for example, doesn't really spur the enthusiasm, nor is Descendants a comic I'm familiar with. When/if it does get made, I will likely see it out of curiousity because it was made by someone I 'know' from the interwebs. -Spiff -----signature----- Eclipse SE now available: http://boards.theforce.net/fan_films/b10015/28647876/p1/?26 Spiff(x, \|x-Phi\|<small) = twitterpated FREE THE QUARKS!!!
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
JMaster Luke Registered: May '00	Date Posted: 10/26/07 2:47pm Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	This is a great topic. I seem to have problems getting that mass respond with my fan films. I understand how Ryan vs Dorkman get all those clicks. Their movies are awsome, and of course after the first RVD ppl couldn't wait for the 2nd. I think there is nothing wrong with getting you name known throughout the forums. Face it, if everyone had the status of Ryan in these forums then they'd be happy. So we can't kick them down for having it even though we dont. Like some have said once you get a few good clips out there people will start to notice that your stuff are worth checking out. But as far as length of movie, its pretty much a given people would rather watch something short and cool. Again example of RVD. The movie starts out and they fight, awsome special effects, sweet fight, and great music. Now if they made a feature file that was over an hour i bet not even the half the amount that saw RVD2 would see an hour RVD movie. The movie would still be great, and they could have an awsome story, but people 'overall' prefer shorter clips. A quick example is i had release like a year ago my Lost fan film on youtube. It was divided into like 8 sections on e(1 hour long movie). Only the first part of the movie got over 5,000 clicks. The 2nd clip and the rest only have in the 400 clicks each. BUT... months after that i had put a short dragon ball z type fight between myself and a friend. The clip is shorter then 10min and that has over 60,000 CLICKS! MAN i wish my Lost movie and my new action figure movie Generations could get that many clicks. So people for the most part like short, well known (star wars/Dragon ball z), movies. -----signature----- SW:Generations Trailer.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiA0Ya1AgbM STAR WARS GENERATIONS: Part 1 http://www.vimeo.com/4081734 STAR WARS GENERATIONS: Part 2 http://www.vimeo.com/4082386 STAR WARS GENERATIONS: Part 3 http://www.vimeo.com/4188076
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
MasterZap Registered: Aug '02	Date Posted: 10/27/07 1:20am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	And to reiterate above... however harsh it may sound... the QUICKEST way to NOT get clicked is to hype your own stuff. And I do mean "hype", as in "my stuff ROXX0RZ". Not "Here is my stuff". I dunno, I don't think I ever claimed anything I ever posted was actually good (and if I ever did, it was most likely in jest). I just posted it matter of factly, as in "here is a test I did", or whatnot. I dunno, but on forums such as this, that attitude tends to get your "further" than saying "look at my supercool movie" not acknoweledging it's faults. For example, Ripley, you keep going on about how much "work" was put into the alien suit of yours, and how you "preffer models over CGI", yet it is quite obvious that your "alien suit" isn't exactly up to a terribly high standard, and that the model work I've seen is... well.... obviously model work Basically, internet thread repliers wants to disagree with the original poster. So if you post "Here's my movie, it kinda sucks, and I know the effect on frame 39 is pretty bad" you get "No it doesn't suck, and I LIKED the effect on frame 39". But if you post the same film with "here is my feature film which I put a ton of work into and so many dollar and yada yada and energy and whine whine so you better like it", the response will be "meh, sucked" or "the effect on frame 39 SUCKED". /Z -----signature----- mental ray Tips blog - http://www.mentalraytips.com ZapTroNic Visuals - http://www.ZapTroNic.com Oldschool Homepage - http://www.Master-Zap.com FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER - http://twitter.com/masterzap
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
DorkmanScott Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 10/27/07 1:37am Subject: RE: What would make you click?
	MasterZap posted: And to reiterate above... however harsh it may sound... the QUICKEST way to NOT get clicked is to hype your own stuff. And I do mean "hype", as in "my stuff ROXX0RZ". Not "Here is my stuff". I dunno, I don't think I ever claimed anything I ever posted was actually good (and if I ever did, it was most likely in jest). I just posted it matter of factly, as in "here is a test I did", or whatnot. I dunno, but on forums such as this, that attitude tends to get your "further" than saying "look at my supercool movie" not acknoweledging it's faults. For example, Ripley, you keep going on about how much "work" was put into the alien suit of yours, and how you "preffer models over CGI", yet it is quite obvious that your "alien suit" isn't exactly up to a terribly high standard, and that the model work I've seen is... well.... obviously model work I agree with Zap completely ( ) UNTIL his next point: MasterZap posted: Basically, internet thread repliers wants to disagree with the original poster. So if you post "Here's my movie, it kinda sucks, and I know the effect on frame 39 is pretty bad" you get "No it doesn't suck, and I LIKED the effect on frame 39". The self-deprecating false humility thing doesn't work for me. If I get someone telling me something "kinda sucks" and part of it is "pretty bad", that's a one-way ticket to the "BACK" button on my browser. If YOU'RE not proud of something, don't waste MY time. At the same time, I still agree with Zap. Don't hype your crap. If you're proud of something, that's good. I hope you are. Bring your best to the table. But I don't want to hear how you're not happy with it, and I don't want to hear how you put "so much work" into it as though a guilt trip will raise the quality of your film in the eyes of the viewers. I just want you to give me enough to know what I'm getting into, and we can talk about the rest later. Personally, what I like to do, like Zap, is preface the things I post as little as possible. I like the work to stand on its own merits. Once (and/or if) a discussion occurs, then I'll talk about "Yeah, you're right, I was never happy with that, but we couldn't get it right and we had to move on" or "Man, I'm glad you liked that, we spent SO MUCH TIME getting that shot." If you brag about whatever it is, well, people are going to either be sick of hearing about it, or jump in with an eye toward tearing you down. If you put your stuff down, people may not bother. If YOU aren't happy about it, why should they be? -----signature----- http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.com
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - Previous | Next | Reload