Vine - an App for the iPhone That Has Only Been Around for a Few Months - Is Already Impacting Film Marketing




In an IndieWire post dated April 11th, 2013, Jon Fougner examines how Vine, a new app that allows users to easily record and post 6 seconds of film to social media, is already having an impact on how films are being marketed.

Billed by its owners (and by that I mean Twitter, who bought Vine shortly before it launched) as the video version of Instagram, Vine has been embraced by a growing number of filmmakers - showing that the app might have more potential than simply sending images of you making your lunch to your friends.

For example, according to Jon Fougner "[o]n February 19, Oscilloscope announced that it would break new ground by releasing Todd Berger's comedy "It's a Disaster" on Vine."   While film distribution on Vine is probably more of a marketing stunt than a viable platform... I am fascinated by the way that some marketers have seized upon Vine to share short samples of films (I believe the video above is a Fox authorized Wolverine trailer that showed up on Vine a few days ago).

Will Vine become a powerful tool for indie filmmakers to share their work?

For those of you who remain unconvinced, check out how interactive marketing agency Glass Eye and editing shop Tokyo have leapt in ro demonstrate the marketing power of Vine, see the clip below. As Jon Fougner notes, the work being done by Glass Eye and Tokyo  - making fun six second versions of classic films - demonstrates Vine's potential as a marketing tool. Click the image below to check out a 144-frame version of Pulp Fiction.



UPDATE: APRIL 14TH, 2013

It isn't only motion picture producers who are thinking about how to use Vine to market their projects.

The growing popularity of Vine has not gone unnoticed by Broadway producers. According to an April 11th, 2013 post to MediaShift:  "there are already a sizable number of videos tagged with #broadway and #musical on Vine, including ones from popular shows such as "Wicked," "The Book of Mormon," "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," as well as more recent musicals such as "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "Hands on a Hardbody." From the harmless shots of Playbills and smiling faces before a show to blatant video of sets and scenes -- some clear, some fuzzy -- it can all be found within the confines of Vine."

One question the MediaShift article raises is whether 6 second films are a good thing - or whether they might actually harm the experience of going to a live Broadway show - from disturbing others in the audience when a fan uses a cellphone to record moments for a Vine film during a performance - to ruining a visual joke or the surprise for others who have already seen 6 key seconds online. The consensus from Broadway insiders seems to be that any cellphone use during a performance is not a good thing. But as Scott Kane, chief marketing officer at the Shorenstein Hays Nederlander theaters, says the spread of authorized and un-authorized images from a show via social media (thanks to Vine and other similar apps) may be the new normal: "What is actually captured, whether it's a photo or video, can only generate more awareness for the show via sharing. And at some point, shows are going to realize that what is captured and shared in the theater is more impactful than the shows' multimillion-dollar print campaigns."

Finally, the Vine fad has not gone unnoticed in Film Festival circles as well (where marketing directors are always eager for a little more attention).  For example, the Tribeca Film Festival has a new competition, #6SECFILMS, for Vine films. (Sorry the April 7th, 2013 deadline for submissions has already passed).  Winners in each #6SECFILMS category (#GENRE, #AUTEUR, #ANIMATE and #SERIES) will receive $600 - which translates to a hundred bucks for each second - that's indie feature money is you can string together enough 6 second winners....

No comments:

Randy Finch's Film Blog:

Thoughts from a film producer about making and distributing films.