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Post HSM release notes +

Thanks to everyone who has purchased the film! I put together a group of people comments/mini reviews that you can read here- I removed the names but I'm sure some of you will see your wordS there ^_^

You can head over and rate/review the film on imdb here. Having more ratings and reviews should help future viewers/potential buyers...

If you bought the film and want it to try and get it accepted at a film festival/event of your choice you can burn the film to DVD or whatever and submit the film yourself... just say you're an associate producer or something ^ ^ If it gets accepted contact me for an exhibition copy...

I sent press releases to twelve or so major animation/film/cg/pop culture/sites/blogs and two replied... one to tell me that they have a new program where people submitting "news" items pay to have them published on the site... and another replied to tell me my animation didn't fit in with their "animation" site...

I'll keep sending them out/editing them to try to make them better... but it seems as usual its about who you know....

I started a thread for the release of HSM in the "General Discussion" area of Cgsociety where there are a few active indie film release threads... but the thread got moved to the deserted "finished animation" section with no reason given ... one of the old moderators that is still there banned me in 2006 for talking shit to one of those talentless brothers who directed the horrendous "Alien vs. Predator 2" and the recent shitfest "Skyline"... He tried to insult me for being a pitiful After Effects user and I told him to "Kneel before Zodd!" but yeh the moderator banned me to help his friend out and I bet the poor sap is still holding a grudge because I won't die... and neither will my films.. I'll keep making them better and better ^_^

But yeh whatever... I'll keep doing my best to promote the film however I can but I also realize since my stuff is actually new and unlike anything else out there its going to take a long time for it to reach its real potential... it might take another 10 - 15 years of me making films every two years...

Now is the time where you really get stretched thin as a one man army filmmaker and you have to make a choice... spend the next year+  promoting your current film or get to work on the next one... Now if HSM hadn't gone a year over schedule I would feel more like promoting it BUT since the release was long overdue I really want to get started on something new... I can use my same computers so I don't need to buy anything new... just need to erase all the hard drives...

So yeh its awesome to know after all this hard work lots of you think HSM is a "masterpiece" and this great thing ^_^ Yet I know most people will only see it as random nonsense or as one Ray William Johnson fan commented on youtube "nonsense hallucinations"... So do I spend time and energy trying to convince people that it is not nonsense and worth their time/money? Or do I just keep walking down the deserted strange path making films?

So should I stop and promote? Or keep moving and make another film? Or maybe both? Work on the new film full time but spend 1 hour each today doing something to promote HSM? Let me know what you think I should do!

438 people have bought HSM as of right now so there's not enough money to make DVD's/Blu-ray unless some miracle happens... I burned a test Blu-ray today and tested it on a Ps3 hooked up to a plasma tv and it looked AWESOME was so clean... but would have to sell around 3,500 more downloads to pay for a DVD/Blu-ray release so that might never happen...

If you have any thoughts/ideas on all this stuff please post them in the comments!






Comments

  1. http://www.animecons.com/events/

    most have submissions for fan made animated films (of any kind)

    a lot of the summer cons may be past submission date .. but fall into winter you should be good.

    Although I still think this should be a division focus of some kind of Mdot Street team. Imagine this could be one branch focused on promoting at cons., whilst another is trolling forums for like-minded people with monies... all the while a completely different team is contacting local (sometimes privately owned theaters and drive-ins) to try and get a late night screening ....yes i live near a real life drive-in.

    also Your movie was the fucking BOMB!
    GAWD!

    later yo
    The Mad Reagent

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think its funny since those two douchebag brother directors from AVP2 are from my town, yet NOBODY in this town knows of them or CARES to know them! How ironic? lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you need to hire a publicist or marketer - maybe even get someone who is up and coming and might join the team just because. Look up who Ryan Holiday is - that guy would have some strategy for you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This seriously depresses me that this movie isn't getting more attention. I HOPE it isn't affecting your morale or anything because hsm means so much to those who HAVE experienced it. I know my life will never be the same and am eternally grateful. I can't remember being so obsessed over something and thinking of it constantly.. last time was maybe Spirited Away?!? Hopefully after getting A_book in the mail tomorrow, I can go back to living a normal life ^_^;

    Has youtube changed so much since WATS that great content can no longer get out there and be heard over all the stupidity and noise? I already knew the answer but I was HOPING this would be an exception..

    As a viewer I would love to see you start work on the next movie but I'm sure you will do whats best for you. GOOD LUCK


    p.s. please more podcasts and youtube videos with you talking and sutff, I miss those! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did you ever think of creating a more serious animated series? Something with the polish and mood along the lines of HSM, but like 20 minute episodes or so? People could by a season pass for 5 bucks along with the first episode, or just buy single episodes for one dollar. It would be a bit of work upfront, but you would be able to churn out episodes quickly after that and see some revenue coming in while you're still working on new episodes.
    If you put your thoughts into a good story arc over a season you could create something just as deep as a movie experience and have a faster turnaround time for your stuff. I'd say both your fans and you might be ending up winning this way.

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  6. You could get some of the people you made music videos for, like Rabbit Junk and Mindless Self Indulgence, to do a shout out for your new movie on their main channels.
    Each of their built in audiences are massive alone.

    As you had some of them do voices, it should not be a problem.

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  7. I'm trying to spread it around to everyone I know, even writing "youwilldieinside.com" in random places where ever I go. I want as many people to see it as possible, but I've also come to the realization that your stuff is WAY ahead of its time. If nothing else, HSM will be one of those well-known cult classics in about 10-20 years. Still though, if I have to, I will use my own money to buy some copies for my friends who are reluctant to pay $5 for it. And as for working on the next one / promoting HSM, I think it's a good idea to keep working on the next one, but to take an hour or two a day to do promo stuff. Just give us some ideas and we'll do what we can. ^_^ By the way, have you thought about HSM t-shirts?

    ReplyDelete
  8. You won't convince the usual Animation Blogs/Sites of your film. But i dont think that your target audience is there either.

    Why not try:

    Game Bloggers
    Manga and Anime Forums/Blogs/Sites
    Independent Film Sites (nobudgetfilmschool.com or something like this)
    Puppetry Forums/Blogs etc.
    Asian Sites, Forums and Blogs

    Facebook Sites are also great! There are a lot of cool open Animation Fan Sites there where everyone can post something on the wall. You should try that too.

    As for the Blue Ray/DVD Release: Ever thought about Kickstarter? Comic Guys sometimes use it to finance their first independent print run.

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  9. I think another area you can try is to get us who love and/or admire your work, organized and running.

    If we can compile a list of sites as listed and we email them in numbers.
    For example I like Cartoonbrew and Channelfrederator. If enough people mail Cartoonbrew.com about this story of a guy in his room making full animated films then maybe they can get it going. I mean that is just an example.
    But if you have 100 of us guys email these sites then they'll have to look into it.

    Also Cgtalk is a minor place to get your film seen. Sorry they banished it to the depths of CGtalk. I was able to post your work on Cgtalk main page but it was like 10 pages into the post. My original post was moving people to see Archon Defender.
    I pissed a few people off at the beginning with the title but in the end over 12,000 people visited the post. You got to get those elitist at that site rolling on something then others chime in on page 2 with something more useful. Funny thing is I tried "normal" nice posts to help promote folks work and those got 500 views tops. I post "Move over Disney and Pixar-something about Uberector" and 12,000 people show up. So have to be creative in the title. When I'm finished my film in September I'm goint to post on Cgtalk " I'm the Avatar - You gotta deal with it, why I can do it and you can't" Piss people off casually and kindly so as not to get banned attracting negative attention that then turns positive. It is so funny that a site about CG does not support indie creators, it almost hates them and discourages folks to make films. No support for the film you made, disgust when you are thinking of trying it yourself, and usually met with negative "you can't do it" garbage.

    But if we can organize and find 1000 sites between us all and post and write about it I think we can get the buzz going. I think you have more than a hundred fans who are willing to help. I'm in.

    Here are the sites I'm going to write and post on at this time.

    www.digitalwebbing.com
    www.zbrushcentral.com
    www.i09.com
    www.toplessrobot.com
    www.twitchfilm.com
    www.cgtalk.com
    www.wired.com
    www.awn.com
    www.cartoonbrew.com
    www.indiewire.com
    www.aintitcool.com
    www.3dworldmagazine.com
    www.3dtotal.com
    www.cgarena.com
    www.newgrounds.com
    www.machinima.com
    www.gametrailers.com
    etc.

    Let us all compile a master list and start "casually" emailing them in numbers, especially sites we frequent and are known. Make it look natural and word it in a way to get attention.

    Also have you thought of doing a re-release of WATS at portals like Newgrounds.com and sites like it? You know cut WATS into sections and have it delivered weekly with a trailer of your new movie at the end or beginning of the episode.

    Do it in increments of 3 mins with a 30 second trailer at the end. That gets you 30 episodes of WATS, plus you also have your crazy animations of Sooperman. I miss those by the way. 30 episodes + 8 episodes of Sooperman + those crazy other videos and the average views is 500-1000 people and that is about 19,000 to 38,000 impressions and that is the low end, hit the front page and that is 20,000 minimum to 200,000. It is a numbers game. My stupid Dragonball Z Vs Marvel got 32,000 views by itself. My lowest amount of views was 3,000+ so then the math goes up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ever tried KickStarter?
    You create a "project" for a "HSM DVD/Blu-Ray Release" in which people of the site, and all your adoring fans and their friends and eventually a big katamari ball of people become informed of your project.
    The projects are like big ass fundraisers that you can modify almost completely. In return for thousands of people's donations you give them "rewards".... usually something like a copy of the film, t shirts, scripts.. etc.
    Dude you should seriously check it out if you havent.
    heres a sexy link for you. http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#WhatIsKick

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is just an observation. It may or may not be accurate but it bothers me enough that I will go out of my way and leave a comment.

    I think if the fans wrote reviews on the actual movie - not just "its a good movie, I just died inside" - Heart String Marionette would gain more attention.

    I watched it earlier this week. I immediately wrote a review and I'm looking for other reviews because I want to know what people thought of the film. I've only come across three that actually discussed the movie itself instead of how the movie made someone feel.

    Your fans have social media accounts and websites. But so far the majority of them are not writing about the movie itself. They say, "its good" but they don't give details on what its actually about... They quote from the film but they don't give context to the quote.

    And that worries me.
    Maybe 1984 came true and people have lost the ability to use words to describe things.

    Or maybe people are sharing their thoughts but its in a format that doesn't get picked up by search engines

    Or if you just totally pushed cinematic storytelling into a brand spanking new territory and most of the fans have no idea what to make of it.

    But for some reason its like the majority of our tongues are tied and there's this weird silence online.

    I suspect it will be the discussion of Heart String Marionette amongst US, the fans, that will get the curiosity of the world. The problem is... WE. AREN'T. TALKING.

    Even if you get the interests of major sites they still may not know what to make of it. Often these sites base their reviews on the general opinions that are present online. But what happens if there are hardly any opinions online?

    So if you are reading this and you have seen the movie, write about this freakin amazing movie! Write about it on tumblr, on livejournal, on whatever you use. Just write because your words get picked up in searches and when these major sites google the movie they will be searching for a fan base so that their bloggers/reporters can figure out why people like Heart String Marionette - before they actually sit down and watch the film

    So give an opinion, a perspective, even if you're scared you might be wrong. Write why people should see it. Just use your voice and write!

    You have the power to translate the nature of the movie for your friends, your family, and anyone else who may come across your post online and like your style.
    So write!

    I want people to watch this movie just as badly as you guys. Heart String Marionette seriously changed my life and made me examine what it means to be a storyteller.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What do you think of the WATS incremental release off Newgrounds?
    The badassery releases off of Newgrounds with trailer?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think Shawn made the best points. Let your Strange Crew do most of the lifting on promotion. Move on to your next film. Promoting a film is soul-killing work for an artist. Besides, I can tell you are itching to get to something new.

    BTW, I've submitted the film to 3D World already. Stay away from machinima.com as you have to sign the rights away if they accept your work (plus HSM is not machinima).

    All it takes is one popular culture figure to take an interest in HSM to get all the lemmings to line up and praise it in print/forums/blogs.

    Let's help m dot out and really push this film for him!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think it's kinda cool to be declared persona non grata at cgtalk

    ReplyDelete

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