Blog Salad Friday on Rock-tober 19, 2007

Internet Marketing for Novel Writers (or Filmmakers)
TK Kenyon has written a guest post over at Read/Write Web for indie novelists, but movie makers can benefit from it also. Kenyon states: "To sell your book, (1) inform people that you and the novel exist, (2) interest readers enough to buy your book, and (3) build a relationship to keep them coming back for more." There is no reason we can't replace the word "book" with "film", and run with it. So read, and start running!

The Future of Independent Digital Distribution
Alex Afterman (co-founder of indie DVD label Heretic) has written a great article for The Workbook Project concerning the potential of digital downloading and its relationship to smaller-time filmmakers. He makes the excellent point that retail space for indies is shrinking as studios lower their prices to edge the little guy out. The internet is the great equalizer, of course, and Alex intuits that he could charge $5 per movie download and still do very well, as there is no overhead. It doesn't matter what the studios do, it's completely up to you.

Why You Should Consider an Episodal Strategy
Usertainment Watch reemphasizes a common theme found here at Film Flap: the webisode model. Here is just more evidence that the thing can work if done right (and in conjunction with marketing). UW refers to a New York Times article that covers the guys who created the "Chad Vader" series on YouTube, and how we can learn from their success. It's very exciting to see how far others have gone with this, and can inspire to do the same thing yourself.

Even Cheaper and Cooler DIY Lighting
Recently discovered filmmaker tech video blog Creativity to Spare is out with episode ten, which covers inexpensive lighting setups. Most of this is already common knowledge (foam core reflectors, Graff lights), but there is a neat bit about $12 LED lighting you can get at Costco. Not only is it affordable, but matches the light temperature of daylight, and can be used as fill in a natural light situation. Good stuff.

MobMov Harvests Field of Screens
Variety has an article from CinemaTech's Scott Kirsner that shares a new type of underground distribution that could appeal not only those who love to make films, but miss or missed the drive-in experience. MobMov is basically the organization of those who are willing to go watch an indie film projected against an outside wall somewhere. The soundtrack is transmitted over an FM frequency, and viewers can come park their car, tune in the sound and watch the movie. A complete list of cities where this is going on are listed, and if not, full instructions are provided on how to get your own outlet going. I like this idea, and wish there was one in Salt Lake City. Now if I just had a projector...

Some Bloody Links for the Horror Minded
There's always a bit of a surge this time of year for some creepy and gory effects knowledge. A couple have popped up recently that I hadn't seen before, that might get some use from you Flappers out there. First up is an alternative to the blood-squirting knife trick that is done with a chemical reaction instead of the traditional way. Nasty and neat (be sure to watch the video example--ewww!). The second is a how-to on creating a charred corpse. Every movie needs at least one of those, right?