The new Smalltimore trailer is on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlFY04tmnLY
Showing posts with label trailer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trailer. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tally-Ho!
That would be me, being a 'ho for the tally. Views for the new Smalltimore trailer have sailed passed the 1,000 hit mark and even past 1,100! This does make me happy (especially because "individual users" have about leveled out with actual views, meaning that my cast and I have finally become bored with watching the trailer over and over), though in checking the stats on YouTube several times a day, I have inadvertently become addicted to funny cat videos. This has given me the idea to now include tags including, "kittens, cats, cute, funny, video, youtube" on all future videos and blog posts to increase traffic. Six figures, here we come!!!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Big in Japan
Well, maybe not BIG in Japan, but at least VIEWED in Japan. I have a fantastic idea about how to teach Americans about a subject at which we generally suck: geography. Teachers should have their students post a video on YouTube and then track the viewings! They have a great little stats counter ("Insight") that shows you the number of views you have and all your demographics, including countries of the entire world. I seriously have learned more geography in the last couple weeks than I ever did in 12 years of Catholic school. Though my trailer hasn't been seen in any of them, I've learned (or at least read) the names of a lot of countries I'd never even heard of. Presumably some of them don't have internet yet, which might have something to do with that.
I am happy to say my trailer has been seen in five continents, 19 countries, and 37 of the 50 United States of America. So far, it hasn't had a blip in Africa, and Antarctica is not on the YouTube map. It has been seen in Canada (Hi Bentley!), Australia (Hey Dan!), Brazil, China, Japan, Indonesia, Ireland, UK (Hi Matthew!), Netherlands, France (Allo Jerome and Arnaud!), Italy, Greece, Germany (Hi John & Anja!), Slovakia, Hungary (Hi, Jonathan!), Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia.
It is easier to list the States that it HASN't been seen in, and I am on a mission to make sure it is seen in all 50 States. Just one of those things, being able to say you did it, like going to Prom (check) or jumping out of an airplane (which I will never do on purpose, unless the plane is on fire, and I can live with that). So if you have friends in these States, please ask them to view the trailer! I'll be checking back on them until this feat is accomplished.
Those States are as follows: On the Eastern seaboard, the only folks not on task are in New Hampshire and Rhode Island; also South Carolina. Furthest west, we have no views in Alaska (though we do in Hawaii!). The problem area is a strip right through the middle of the country, and a few sparsely populated Western states: Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota (Canada, a.k.a. North North Dakota, is with us), Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Idaho.
So help me out, people! Get your friends in these states to watch the trailer for Smalltimore. And for your own educational purposes, see if you can locate Kyrgyzstan on a map. And if you know anyone there, get them to watch my video!
I am happy to say my trailer has been seen in five continents, 19 countries, and 37 of the 50 United States of America. So far, it hasn't had a blip in Africa, and Antarctica is not on the YouTube map. It has been seen in Canada (Hi Bentley!), Australia (Hey Dan!), Brazil, China, Japan, Indonesia, Ireland, UK (Hi Matthew!), Netherlands, France (Allo Jerome and Arnaud!), Italy, Greece, Germany (Hi John & Anja!), Slovakia, Hungary (Hi, Jonathan!), Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia.
It is easier to list the States that it HASN't been seen in, and I am on a mission to make sure it is seen in all 50 States. Just one of those things, being able to say you did it, like going to Prom (check) or jumping out of an airplane (which I will never do on purpose, unless the plane is on fire, and I can live with that). So if you have friends in these States, please ask them to view the trailer! I'll be checking back on them until this feat is accomplished.
Those States are as follows: On the Eastern seaboard, the only folks not on task are in New Hampshire and Rhode Island; also South Carolina. Furthest west, we have no views in Alaska (though we do in Hawaii!). The problem area is a strip right through the middle of the country, and a few sparsely populated Western states: Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota (Canada, a.k.a. North North Dakota, is with us), Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Idaho.
So help me out, people! Get your friends in these states to watch the trailer for Smalltimore. And for your own educational purposes, see if you can locate Kyrgyzstan on a map. And if you know anyone there, get them to watch my video!
Friday, January 2, 2009
In the Catbird Seat
Happy New Year, everyone!
I have lots of reasons to be happy, and to look forward to this year, but at the moment I am happiest about one thing: I actually SLEPT last night! What a relief. I have not been able to do that properly (i.e., without the assistance of cold medicine or a few drinks) for almost a month now, and it was making me a bit crazy, and probably a bit cranky also. Hopefully I am back on track now.
Another thing making me happy, or at least, it was, is that the trailer for Smalltimore is nearing 1,000 hits on YouTube. It has been up for 3 weeks today, so I thought that was good, considering the initial trailer has been up for almost a year and has had a little over 1,200 hits. But then today I got on YouTube to check the stats, and one of the videos that popped up when I signed on had a "talking cat", so I checked it out. Just a cat curled up in a sink and some lady holding the camera and screaming at the cat, "Buster! Say hi, Buster! Buster! Look at me, Buster! Say hi to Lydia, Buster! Buster! BUSTER!!!" You get the idea. And so did SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND people who have watched it.
Looking at the sidebar with "related videos", there are dozens tagged "talking cat", and I didn't see any with less than 6-digit number of views. Really? Talking cats? None of whom (that I saw) actually talk. As in, English.
I also Googled some of the tags I had put on the video just to see where (and if) it came up. In addition to some friends and actors who have embedded it on their Facebook and MySpace pages (and if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?), I found it on some really weird websites that had scores of seemingly unrelated videos. One of them had mostly sex videos on it, and then mine. I think perhaps because of the tags "Steel, Corset" for Steel Corset Productions. Cheryl Scungio (who plays the lead, Gracie) first pointed this out to me, that on YouTube, when you watch the Smalltimore trailer, the related videos are almost always all fetish related. So mine must show up sometimes as a related video when people are surfing for smut! What a lovely surprise, and a brilliant marketing tactic that I will certainly implement (on purpose) in the future.
Anyway... I am still feeling a bit run-down, decompressing from all the pressure leading up to the screening, and the holidays, and not sleeping or eating right. All of my out-of-town friends who have been visiting are gone now, and I need to simmer down and get back to work. I have a boatload of music to listen to, CDs from local bands and artists who want to be involved on the soundtrack, then I need to watch the movie a few more times and figure out which song goes where, shuffle a few scenes around, make some more cuts, color correct, etc... My brain has been subconsciously processing a lot of information in this week since the screening, so I have some of my attack plan sketched out in my head.
I knew that screening a rough cut was a little risky, I didn't want anyone to be disappointed or to think that this was the final version, so I took a few minutes before the screening to really emphasize that. At the reception afterwards, and in emails and phone calls since, a lot of people have given me their two cents on what they think I should change. Kellie said, "You need longer pauses! People were laughing over the lines and missing things!" Drew said, "You can cut out 5 minutes just by shortening the pauses! But don't cut any dialogue!" Sean says, "There is too much expositional dialogue! Cut it out!" Michelle says, "You need to cut together some more B-roll and establishing shots between scenes so the transition isn't too quick!" and Eric says, "I think you can cut out a lot of the establishing shots. They took up too much time."
This actually sounds more confusing then it is. They are all right, I just need to pick and choose where to apply their suggestions. Some pauses are too long. Some are too short. Some dialogue definitely needs to go. Most of it doesn't, and some of the expositional stuff is mixed in with stuff I need to keep, so that's the really tough part. Some transitions happen too quickly. Other locations are well-established and I don't need to spend so much time showing exterior shots every time the scene changes location.
I'm not worried, though. I trust my own instincts, and based on the feedback I received for the rough cut, I am that much more excited to bring people the final version as soon as possible. It is important to have a thick skin and be able to evaluate each piece of criticism, and not to immediately dismiss it. Not always easy, to consider all these conflicting opinions. For my own work flow, that is why these pauses in (perceived) productivity are important, to let my brain sift through it all while I am busy with other things. My brain gets back with me when it is ready to go, and it is about ready. Moving on!
I have lots of reasons to be happy, and to look forward to this year, but at the moment I am happiest about one thing: I actually SLEPT last night! What a relief. I have not been able to do that properly (i.e., without the assistance of cold medicine or a few drinks) for almost a month now, and it was making me a bit crazy, and probably a bit cranky also. Hopefully I am back on track now.
Another thing making me happy, or at least, it was, is that the trailer for Smalltimore is nearing 1,000 hits on YouTube. It has been up for 3 weeks today, so I thought that was good, considering the initial trailer has been up for almost a year and has had a little over 1,200 hits. But then today I got on YouTube to check the stats, and one of the videos that popped up when I signed on had a "talking cat", so I checked it out. Just a cat curled up in a sink and some lady holding the camera and screaming at the cat, "Buster! Say hi, Buster! Buster! Look at me, Buster! Say hi to Lydia, Buster! Buster! BUSTER!!!" You get the idea. And so did SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND people who have watched it.
Looking at the sidebar with "related videos", there are dozens tagged "talking cat", and I didn't see any with less than 6-digit number of views. Really? Talking cats? None of whom (that I saw) actually talk. As in, English.
I also Googled some of the tags I had put on the video just to see where (and if) it came up. In addition to some friends and actors who have embedded it on their Facebook and MySpace pages (and if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?), I found it on some really weird websites that had scores of seemingly unrelated videos. One of them had mostly sex videos on it, and then mine. I think perhaps because of the tags "Steel, Corset" for Steel Corset Productions. Cheryl Scungio (who plays the lead, Gracie) first pointed this out to me, that on YouTube, when you watch the Smalltimore trailer, the related videos are almost always all fetish related. So mine must show up sometimes as a related video when people are surfing for smut! What a lovely surprise, and a brilliant marketing tactic that I will certainly implement (on purpose) in the future.
Anyway... I am still feeling a bit run-down, decompressing from all the pressure leading up to the screening, and the holidays, and not sleeping or eating right. All of my out-of-town friends who have been visiting are gone now, and I need to simmer down and get back to work. I have a boatload of music to listen to, CDs from local bands and artists who want to be involved on the soundtrack, then I need to watch the movie a few more times and figure out which song goes where, shuffle a few scenes around, make some more cuts, color correct, etc... My brain has been subconsciously processing a lot of information in this week since the screening, so I have some of my attack plan sketched out in my head.
I knew that screening a rough cut was a little risky, I didn't want anyone to be disappointed or to think that this was the final version, so I took a few minutes before the screening to really emphasize that. At the reception afterwards, and in emails and phone calls since, a lot of people have given me their two cents on what they think I should change. Kellie said, "You need longer pauses! People were laughing over the lines and missing things!" Drew said, "You can cut out 5 minutes just by shortening the pauses! But don't cut any dialogue!" Sean says, "There is too much expositional dialogue! Cut it out!" Michelle says, "You need to cut together some more B-roll and establishing shots between scenes so the transition isn't too quick!" and Eric says, "I think you can cut out a lot of the establishing shots. They took up too much time."
This actually sounds more confusing then it is. They are all right, I just need to pick and choose where to apply their suggestions. Some pauses are too long. Some are too short. Some dialogue definitely needs to go. Most of it doesn't, and some of the expositional stuff is mixed in with stuff I need to keep, so that's the really tough part. Some transitions happen too quickly. Other locations are well-established and I don't need to spend so much time showing exterior shots every time the scene changes location.
I'm not worried, though. I trust my own instincts, and based on the feedback I received for the rough cut, I am that much more excited to bring people the final version as soon as possible. It is important to have a thick skin and be able to evaluate each piece of criticism, and not to immediately dismiss it. Not always easy, to consider all these conflicting opinions. For my own work flow, that is why these pauses in (perceived) productivity are important, to let my brain sift through it all while I am busy with other things. My brain gets back with me when it is ready to go, and it is about ready. Moving on!
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