Online Film School Blog

Click here to learn more about The Complete Music Video Production Package.

www.musicvideotrainingcenter.com/freefilmschool.html

Don’t read this …

unless you’d like to become a successful music video director.

A few days ago I posted about how doing music videos was a great way to break into filmmaking. There are musicians everywhere who’ll pay you to make short, creative films to promote their careers. You can get paid to have fun while you gain experience and build your portfolio.

Since then I’ve met a very nice young man who HAS become a successful music video director. His name is Jag Johnson and he’s put together a very awesome training package that will teach you just about everything you need to know to break into directing music videos. He’s even offering a significant price break to anyone who orders it through freefilmschool.org.

I you think you might have ANY interest in shooting music videos then click on the link below on my blog, or go to the link you see in this video, and check it out.

I recommend this product.

So get the course, then go make a music video.

Click here to learn more about The Complete Music Video Production Package.

www.musicvideotrainingcenter.com/freefilmschool.html

So get the course, then go make a music video.

Tags: entertainment business, film directing, film marketing, filmmaking tips by Jerry the Prof
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I just got an email from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) inviting me to post one of my films on their site for viewing. What’s this all about? Should I feel honored?

Several things are involved.

First of all IMDB recently bought WithoutABox. WithoutABox.com is, of course, the wonderful service for indie filmmakers where you can submit your film to just about any film festival in the world with just a few clicks. After you’ve entered all the important data about your film including an electronic press kit you only have to select the festivals you want and enter your credit card. WithoutABox does the rest.

The IMDB always seemed to be more about big studio films. With the purchase of WithoutABox it is suddenly interested in all the indie films out there. It was always possible, if not easy, to get your indie film listed on IMDB if it had been selected for showing in a recognized competitive film festival. (Since I have a film that qualifies I went to the hassle of filling in all the forms and providing the proof necessary to get it listed.)

Now the IMDB is suddenly very interested in my short film, as well as all the others they list. Why? Profit, of course. All these films are valuable content for IMDB - if the owners are willing to put them on the site. Suddenly IMDB has a lot of interesting content which brings in viewers who will click on ads and make money for the IMDB.

MDB never had much of a monetization scheme since it began as a volunteer effort. The income has come from advertising and fees charged to post headshots and film posters. IMDB must have seen the success of the various video site, such as YouTube, and decided to get their share.

So if you qualify to have your film put on IMDB, do you want to?

If you haven’t found any other way to sell your film you might as well. It’s worth some publicity value at the least. But if you are still exploring options for selling your precious film you probably don’t. As an option you can just post a trailer for your film. That sounds like a no-brainer to me.

What do you think?

Tags: film marketing by Jerry the Prof
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One of the elements of successful film distribution that is often overlooked by independent filmmakers is the publicity photos. If you want to sell your film you need a complete set of high-quality photos that can be used in publicity such as “stills” and posters.

In the time and money constraints of very low budget filmmaking no one takes the time to get out a good digital camera and get all those shots. Still frames from DV or other standard definition video is just too low quality to blow up into publicity stills.

HD is another matter. Individual frames are up to 2 megapixels and may be high quality enough to serve as publicity stills if they are well lit and sharp. Don’t forget to get some still shots with a quality camera but if you don’t have everything you need run through your footage in your editor and export the best and most dramatic frames as still JPGs to supplement your quality stills.

Check out this article for typical film publicity photo requirements.

Tags: film marketing by Jerry the Prof
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