Due to an affection for stationery, letters, scrapbooks and whatnot, i notice such items when viewing moving pictures. As such, i am often inclined to capture screenshots for my memory. Sometimes, oddly enough, these are printed and put into scrapbooks in a sorta meta-remix. Either way, to keep these tidbits close at hand, assorted specimen are collected within.
Postcards sent Dec. 2017created by/purchased from Stick No Bills – creators of fine artisan postcards from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) – Vol. 3 (of 6), feat. cinema promotional art
As often mentioned, i love postcards – both the writing / sending and the buying / collecting. When i find excellent postcards, i am indeed tempted to keep em stashed in a dossier or shoebox for my own amusement, however such action does not allow the humble postcard to fulfil its apparent destiny. As such, as per usual routine, i gather the finest cards, write sentiments (albeit in semi-legible scrawl) upon the back, squeeze in an address, flourish with inky stamps, complete with requisite postal stamps and send send on their way via the magical wormhole of postboxes. However, before sending on their journey, i take snapshots of the front / arty side for art and documentation purposes (sometimes the backs too for personal audit and memory).
This batch comes via a stay in Galle, Sri Lanka where, in the historical Fort Galle (previously Portuguese, Dutch and British), i bought basically everything Stick No Bills had on offer – postcard-wise that is, they also sell posters which aren’t handy for traveling though i have a mighty stack in a storage locker faraway.
Each card rung up with unique UPC barcode resulting in a receipt approx a metre/yard long with 92 entries. I mentioned this dedications to them and they offered me a poster t say “thanks” but alas i split before taking them up on the kindness.
Most notable about Stick No Bills is:
Anyhow, mine are shared here for historical record (and modified with my personal stamps to prevent unauthorized reproductions) and your support/purchases is/are encouraged/recommended either by mailorder or even better, stopping into their lovely shop in Fort Galle, Sri Lanka.Tell em Uncle Weed sent ya (they won’t know what you mean but i’ll be amused).
Participation
Activities
Tip: Really social media like hosting a party without the cleanup. To play a good host, you should provide a comfortable environment, interesting topics to discuss and make sure
Benefits
Conversations
Evangelists
Identified audience
A note about Google-juice
Results
Festivals, distributors
Buzz – bring your own audience
Planning
Like any successful endeavor, your promotional campaign will be more enjoyable to execute with more success with some planning.
Start with analyzing objectives – each project varies somewhat, but, in general your production promotional campaign is designed to:
Producing Promo Content
Tip: Look for shooting days with lots of action and visual interest, i.e.: choose stunt scenes, action sequences, or lots of extras rather than dialog-heavy scenes
Tip: Purchase a couple of FlipHD camera (less than $200) for casual video blogging by cast/crew – let them have fun with it
Outreach
Once the videos, photo, articles and news are live, it’s time to let people know and invite them to engage.
For starters:
Here are a few more tactics:
Optimizing Content
Stills – Standard promotional stills are good but also candid behind-the-scenes shots of cast and crew at work and conceptual art are fantastic
Tip: Be sure to take the time to label with images with a specific title and a detailed description – this is nice to people and great for search engines
Video – Both casual, unedited video blogs and/or more polished featurettes are both highly desired for movie fans & archival use – find unusual stories and unlikely characters
Tip: Set up a space on set where cast/crew can sit down for a comfortable 5 minute conversation when they have time between shots – find unusual stories and unlikely characters.
Blog – Think of the blog as a production journal or scrapbook – blog articles use text narrative to
provide story context to stills and videos
Tips:
Links – Point fans to other resources about your movie like IMDB, Wikipedia, studio, production company, distributors, cast personal blogs … it’s up to you
Tip: Acknowledge bloggers who promote your movie with a link back from links or in a blog post – build enthusiasm to evangelize
Resources
Notes for Cinema Enthusiasts blog – Miscellania about using social media to promote movies and culture
IndieAGoGo – Raise money and find collaborators
Without a Box – Submit to festivals
MovieSet.com – Free promotional Sitelet (like indie, optimized EPK storage)
Toolbox
Glossary