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Severing my own strings?

I hit a low point lately... the lowest point was the other night when I was puking and crying my eyes out apologizing to Endika for failing him with the film... claiming to "want to die" COUGH.... thankfully I'm not dead... but yeh... I sort of lost sight of myself and why I do what I do in the past month or so...  Since he and I are partners in the film I wanted to be able to write a fat check for him so I didn't feel like I wasted years of his life with my ridiculous little movies... since the check I wrote wasn't awe inspiring, with this months even smaller... I felt like I failed...

I wanted to be able to tell you all how my digital distribution plan worked great and share it with you...but $2800 profit in over a month and a half isn't like awe inspiring haha... maybe someone else can figure it out and let me know what I'm doing wrong... I even made this site for yall but up till now have been too embarrassed to share it...

I forgot that out here on the internets I'm not alone... we're all here together...and we need to work together ^_^

I do what I do because of passion... and I must never forget that... if you're able to do what you love everyday you have nothing to feel down or bad about unless you want to be a spoiled little bitch... I don't want to be a spoiled little bitch... so imma dust myself off and get back on my path...

My path wherein I create out of passion for the people out there who enjoy the things I create...

Some other notes on my last meeting with Endika before the puking and crying COUGH...

We decided to not make another feature film next... as a few of you have also recommended in the comments we're going to do an animated series...

So looks like God Lives Underwater will be on hold... I have another sci-fi feature script that has to do with aliens in a post apocalyptic future so I'll be converting that over to a series... we're thinking 10 minutes each... with the best production value I can do so it won't look crappy like Badassery or Darksided ^ ^ Shooting for October/November release for the first episode... then monthly after that.

Does 10 minutes of new strange animation a month sound good to you? Its a dark sci-fi animated series... really twisted stuff with a dope hero and creepy as fuck villain of course ^_^ And ALIENS... a few of you might know that I'm quite knowledgeable with the whole Aliens/Conspiracy stuff so I'm putting all that to use as a mythology base in the script.

Comments

  1. Yo M!

    Your movies are amazing, your work is epic and inspiring.

    It is my opinion that:

    You won't make money unless you set out to make money. That isn't what you are doing, you are setting out to make art.

    Either plan to make money or plan to make art. You can plan to do both but it is very difficult and requires sacrifices on both sides, so you will end up making not that much money and not that great of art.

    However, making great art may eventually bring you money, and making a lot of money may eventually enable you to make great art. But in general, that's not the way it goes... So I would recommend devoting a great portion your resources to securing a source of funding other than your art (it could tie in to your art), or resigning yourself to a financially bereft future, as has been the case with many of the greatest artists.

    And as I prefaced this, it is only my opinion.

    [tlr]

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    1. Good ideas! Thank you for your support - Yeh I've seemed to forgotten my purpose the past month or so- so thank you for reminding me ^ ^

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  2. Damn man, that's a shame. If there's a silver lining to your disappointment in revenue, it's that (as far as I can see) there's only been great things said about Heart String Marionette, it's a shame it hasn't found the widespread audience you wanted it too, hopefully it will appear in time.

    I suppose the episodic plan is smart in theory, I guess you wont need to go into isolation for 2-4 years a time hoping your audience will stay tuned, with 10 minute shows (I'd imagine) you'd be publishing more by monthly - assuming you're re-using assets etc..

    Have you considered some sort of pitch to a network, be it tv or internet along the lines of a Revision 3 crossed with adult swim (if such a network exists), at least you wouldn't have to worry about getting the word out there? You'd probably loose some autonomy, but having had that through two features that you can be proud of, perhaps it's worth a gamble.

    Best of luck to you, looking forward to whatever you guys decide.

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    1. I felt like I had a responsibility to share with everyone that I'm not a millionaire through this haha- Your very right- I'm my own worst enemy- in the past I had meeting requests from Cartoon Network and some other sources but I was too ignorant to know what could come out of them- I just thought "How am I going to get down to LA? Where will I stay?" 0_0 So I will be wiser in the future- I keep referring back to the tips you sent me in that email so I'll do things smarter so many thanks!

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    2. its waves its all part of the creative cycle you can do it man people believe in you bro

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  3. Sometimes these things happen, difficult things. Hardware problems, software problems, (financial problems), but it's something you have to fight through, and I promise I M Dot Stran-Jay will fight through it! - MdotStrange, 2006

    I believed in you then and I believe in you now. The lightbulb/every other achievement of creation went through tons of failures before becoming a success. You don't know how to market yourself the best yes? WEll you've just got to use that knowledge of where you went WRONG to figure out how to go RIGHT next time! Don't give up. You must live on, Go win it, Agent!

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  4. and for a personal opinion, my biggest dissapointment with HSM was some of it's marketing, like the first trailer you released. The problem was, it was goofy and sarcastic and all, you had fun though, thats good, but meanwhile you betrayed the soul of your film in a way..

    The trailers that were released later did a much better job and would have sold it a lot better if they were first me thinks.

    Even back with your first teaser, it was amazing then at the end it went into self promotion. Nothing wrong with self promotion I guess..but maybe that should had been a seperate video? I understand why you did it, but it distracted a bit from the awe that the teaser had just put a person through.

    and like the end of this post, super twisted creepy stuff. Maybe that is just marketing words, but I don't think you need to go out of the way to make it creepy and dark and all that. IF that's what's true to your vision then the work will speak for itself in that aspect. Just be true to yourself and your film, the words should describe the film, not the film describe the words if you get what I mean.

    All in all Never Give Up, work your hardest, learn from mistakes and keep moving forward. You'll make it , I have no doubt.

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    1. Thanks for sticking with me ^ ^ Yeh you know since the film dragged on for so long from my perspective... was over a year past deadline I had kinda become sick of it... I actually came to despise it a little as it was holding me back... so by the time it came to advertise I just sorta threw it away- I know its really stupid and immature but I'm not perfect 0_0 I know for next time

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  5. I believe in you but it's really painful to watch you work so hard and not being able to help you much. Sometimes I fantasise about how David Lynch or someone of his ilk discovers you by accident and starts publicly talking about you through whatever means.
    But I'm also convinced this ridiculous underexposure is temporary. That however many years from now they'll be selling rare signed copies of your first films on ebay for a lot of money. And you'll be even more eccentric with long purple hair living in the woods and refuse to come out or accept any of your profits unless it involves making another film. And all the overpaid assholes that have no original ideas of their own will be begging you and ring your self made wooden phone day and night. That's what I think is likely going to happen, Mdot.

    And yes, the animated series sounds like a dope idea.
    Much love.

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    1. Sorry that my obscurity causes you so much pain ^ ^ Yall c00 peopleS have stuck with me for so long I must be doing something right so I should keep doing it- and getting smarter at it... cause feeling hard fail suX- Thanks for having faith in my work- I'll keep making strange stuff for yall ^ ^

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  6. Hey M dot! 1) *hugs* We all love you and think you're super hella awesome. ^_^ HSM is helping me personally at a time when I've really needed it, and for that I can't thank you enough. 2) It sucks to hear that HSM isn't spreading like wildfire yet, but give it some time, it will. There's no way something that magically original can not end up becoming at least a word-of-mouth classic. Until then I've been personally sharing it with friends, watching the film with them, and discussing it with them afterwards to share our different interpretations of certain things in the film. I think I've turned a few of my friends into hardcore 'Strangers' this past month and a half (excuse me if 'Strangers' sounds cheesy, I'm just trying to think of an interesting name for your fanbase). ^_^ I'm not that good at marketing things to people I don't know, but I know my friends enough to know how to draw them in. I'm just doing my part, however small it may be considered. 3) By the way, AWESOME idea for the animated series. I know you'll probably put it on YouTube and maybe Vimeo, but also put it on Newgrounds definitely. They've got a sizable fanbase that would probably be into your signature brand of animated craziness. 4) I'm sure Endika is a really cool guy, and I'm sure that he's still willing to work with you because he believes in you, but just in case, you could always come to us 'Strangers' who make music to work together and make tracks for your series/movies (let me know if you ever need any crazy electropunk tracks). So even if the worst case scenario were to come to pass, we'd still have your back. ^_^ 5) Sorry I say so much all the time on here, I just have too much to say about everything. Thanks for reading this whole thing dude. 6) Don't forget to dance brother.

    A proud StrangeR,
    Andy Ginseng.

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    1. Makes me happy that the film helped you ^ ^ THATS what I do all this for! I just got caught up on the wrong track for a but now I'm backtracking and remembering who I am and what I do thanks to your words and everyone else's- and your also right about me forgetting to dance 0_0 Maybe I need to watch the film again haha

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  7. I wont comment on the puking and crying cause obviously that was more about you feeling sorry about not being able to give endika more money for his hard work. But I think isn't it a bit too early to give up on selling hsm and move on to the series?

    1. You sold the movie for only 5 bucks.. that means even if ONE THOUSAND people bought it(which is a lot) you would only get 5000 dollars split with Endika 2500 each(THAT AINT SHIT). For the people who would have bought it for more there is NO way to do so. Core fans would have bought it easily for 15 or 20 bucks. If you wanted to give endika more money there should be a special edition where people can download it for more money. Just selling a different version for even 10 bucks is a LOT more money.

    2. For such a fucking amazing movie there didn't feel like there was a lot of PUSH to sell the movie like in WATS. In WATS you made a shit ton of videos of you talking about how pumped you were making the movie and about people seeing the movie. I think this energy rubbed off on a lot of people to talk about and spread the movie. There was none of this for HSM.

    From an audience perspective it feels like you just put up a few trailers and called it a day. You often say that being just a dude rather than a big company is a great thing but if people cant see and connect with the dude talking about and being pumped for the movie, whats the point?

    Even as a fan I was wondering why there weren't more videos related to hsm? Why the silence and disconnection from fans? I was at least expecting one video like ITS FINALLY DONE MOTHERFUCKERS BUY IT HERE. A week after the movie trailers were released it felt almost a dead silence from the mdot channel. I thought perhaps you gave up on making money and don't care about sales. But now I read that it is bothering you A LOT


    3. Your tutorials get shit tons of views. You should make new ones but advertize the shit out of HSM. It could be a two hour fucking commercial for hsm but this time the movies out and people can buy that shit -> INSTANT FUCKING MONEY


    Alright I hope I didnt sound like a dick but if mdot is sad than I am fucking sad too. I just feel that even as a hardcore fan I feel rather disconnected and that there has been a weird silence. DONT GIVE UP ON HSM, THERE IS MORE YOU CAN DO. LESS ENERGY SPENT CRYING MORE ENERGY ON GETTING PEOPLE PUMPED

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    1. Your right d00d! %100 right! What can I expect when I've done nothing for it?! Thank you for your honesty!

      I WILL stop feeling sorry for myself and whining like a lil bitch and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! ^ ^

      I'll return to my youtube channel and do my thing- for some reason I got like ashamed to post on youtube since I kept delaying the film- I didn't want to show my face and make excuses anymore- so I'm over it now.

      Thanks so much d00d I feel re-inspired! ^ ^

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    2. hehe hopefully the level 3 passion has been restored!

      You have done so much for all of us that we all want to give back. I try to do small things like the jap subs/spread the word to the few peeps I know. I wish I could do more :( but I know us fans spreading the word only goes so far. We need the hero mdot to step up to the plate again :D

      eagerly awaiting the triumphant return to youtube ^_^



      p.s. got my mom to buy the movie hahaha

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    3. fuck yeah ty for givin m dot a slap in the face he needed it :D im excited for new vids :D :D :D :D :D :D

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    4. hi hi hi.
      I think that even though you thought it was a negative experience, the film festival route
      for we are the strange gave super great publicity. as well as youtubing, i mean it's got over a million
      views which is no where near what it would have experienced on a normal home video release.
      so maybe touring with it would be a good idea. you spend one half the time making the art and the other half showing it. I've been sending it around to a couple english animation festivals hoping for the best too.
      keep at it pal,really. it's an insane honour to be able to talk directly with a film maker as an equal whilst everything is happening and i think you should exaggerate that. but i'm not sure how.thankyoupal for fantastic films.

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  8. Hello @Nyko and I believe in you

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  9. You have made an EPIC FEATURE FILM by yourself. You have achieved something that no one else could. Your gona be in the fecking history books.
    Thanks for sharing your feelings but I agree with everyone else. Your gonna pull through. You will make it.

    I agree with Azel you could of pushed hard with the selling the HSM online. Eg. $5 HSM and $10 with HSM and sound track and $50 HSM, soundtrack, behind the scenes etc. I bought the film twice coz I thought I was ripping you off. But never mind, you learn from your mistakes.

    I know your planning on making a 2 disc Dvd for hsm. But you could get a 1 disc DVD going with JUST hsm, and sell that for the first few months. And after 6 to 10 months then sell the special edition 2 disc DVD with Uberectors cut. I would buy both! Lend the 1 disc dvd of hsm to friends etc. And keep the 2 disc dvd collector edition on my mantle piece which I would prey to every sunday to gain strength to make my feature film. Also I want to contribute by actually getting professional actors together and making a Welsh dub. And Im sure your other hardcore fans would want to help out with the other languages etc.
    But here's my MAIN suggestion.


    An idea is to make one youtube channel with just your ART N MOVIES and another youtube channel with your RANTS, updates N behind the scenes, music mess around etc.
    If you look at all of the other popular youtube channels E.G. Cyriak, weebl etc. They just serve the cake and let the fans eat it. The new youtuber clicks on the funny vid, they look at the other vids next to it. And they scroll easily through their youtube channel finding nothing but more other funny vids = Fan, subscribed, no problem. More fans, money from ads etc.
    E.G. Freddiew, he has one channel with all his movies, and another channel with behind the scenes etc. E.g Hotdiggedydemon, one channel with all his movies, and another channel with anything he feels like.

    An average normal youtube person clicks on one of your cool ART videos. They try to view your other art vids but in the related clips its other behind the scenes, rants updates- like you said ' you dont put any major time or effort into making them '. For this average normal youtube person it can put them off.

    For any of your hardcore fans, we dont care; you upload anything and we'll watch it. BUT for a majority of people that have a short attention span and you need to grab and keep them, punch them in the face repeatedly.
    Ive seen amazing short films made on youtube in the past by other people but they clutter their related videos with crap like them playing video games, crappy rants. So I don't bother subscribing and I forget them.

    I can remember finding WATS for the first time with related vids of quick rants and updates, put me off you first of all. But because you made an animated feature film THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!!!!!! I kept coming back and if it wasn't for those rants and updates I wouldn't of became such a hardcore fan. You're the only youtuber I have purchased merchandise from. The updates/rants etc are your biggest advantage and your worst enemy!

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    1. Your right about all that stuff.... I should have asked yall here about the pricing etc before I did it 0_o

      But I'll take the time to make the separate channels and upload the related stuff- so the one I have now should be animation+films stuff then I should make a new one for ranting and the like or vice versa? \

      Thanks for taking the time to help out ^ ^

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    2. Cool, its what to decide.
      The only problem here is that your youtube/mdotstrange is your main youtube channel which you have spent alot of time making 535 videos.
      So you would have to hide/set to private the MAJORITY of the update/rant vids etc. And depending on how you organised your videos (and if you wanted to) it would take you 1 day to a week (maybe more) to reupload the OLD updates and videos to another channel. Let's say youtube/mysteriousdollfilm.

      Or you could just not reupload all the old updates and rants and just put all the NEW following updates on the youtube/mysteriousdollfilm.
      I know you can keep all the other vids set to private and just add a link on a page on blogger, titled old rants, old music, old updates etc for your hardcore fans to still view them when they want.(Coz some of them are still random & funny).

      But attach links to both youtube channels.

      Also what do you think about actually making dubs for hsm? Its something that can be achieved because no liplynch essentially needed. Ask your hardcore fans in who would want to take part? I would help create the Welsh dub, I got the editing equipment I wouldn't mind going out of my way of getting actors and try to match them up as close as possible to HSM characters. (I have worked with lots of actors before who worked on films for free, and I can see tons of actors queing up to be a part of a FEATURE FILM). Wales is very small country but they will go mad for anything Welsh related - so a lot of publicity, (should be the same for other countries).
      I could give you a one minute sample of actors I have found.

      Check this out-
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90Xy9eIU8E&feature=channel&list=UL

      But it is essential you need to ask other hardcore fans if they want to take part in dubbing other languages. E.G. 'HSM presented subtitled in 15 different languages, and just dubbed in 1 other language- Welsh.' Not good. Meh.

      Also I was trying to suggest making 1 disc Dvd of hsm, to sell in the mean time. Coz if people are up for it. It may take a few months to get all the languages. Suggestions?

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    3. Ok I made all the update/rant videos private and made a new channel called imdotstrange to correspond to this blog- I left the tutorial videos up on mdotstrange but I should move those over too right? So my mdotstrange channel will only be films and animations so for the how-to/making-of/rant stuff I use my new channel yeah?

      Fer sure I've wanted to do that dubbing thing for awhile-just make the stuff available and see what people do ^ ^ So people would need- Script pdf, film video file, and audio that contains only music and sound fx right? Anything else?

      Thanks!

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    4. Your full out OCD in making films which is amazing! Now you've become a ONE MAN ARMY at animation you should go OCD crazy in organising what goes on your channels.

      1- youtube/mdotstrange - NOTHING but ART vids, or vids that you took your time in creating. (Keep the first teaser trailer up you made for HSM, with you explaining about the A + B book, and the other vid with you explaining what an Uberector is(Those are amazing, they are real professional and give a bit of insight). Its ok to have updates every once and again on the mdotstrange as long as they are professional n shyte
      Divine Instrument is more of a youtubepoop so you could put that in a different channel.

      2 - ANOTHER youtube channel- For random/ whatever/quick/nonsense stuff - Like the quick random updates, you bashing away at music software etc. Stuff for fun, that you don't put any thought into. We shouldn't mix this with tutorials because tutorials have such a great repetitive value.

      3 - Another youtube channel with JUST with tutorials. This guy makes amazing tuts for Blender, the pacing, the timing, the structure and layout is fantastic. http://www.youtube.com/cgboorman
      So take your time planning out future vids, think about the structure n shizz. If you wanted - You could even make a catchy 10 sec musicly intro with a cool picture, at the beginning of each tut. Also a bit of written info explaining what the following tut is going to show and what the following tut series is going to teach you. So if someone clicks on the vid they can pause it, & view it easily. Make the channel list as short n tite as possible.
      E.G. With the 'Puppet Tool Tutorial' hide part 2, and make an annotation link to it in the beginning n end of 'Puppet Tool Tut part one'. Or cut and edit them together.

      4 - Not right now but later. PERHAPS, make a channel with just your music with a picture (If you make a music video put it on youtube). But update the channel slowly, one music vid every two weeks. Coz David Firth made a music video on youtube and put all his music up in one go, its got hardly any veiws. If only updated it a bit at a time he could of got a better response.

      If you organise these well, hopefully get more views you can become a youtubepartner make a bit more advertisement from money.
      Use anotations in future vids http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbv2l-wCQHg

      Bestest

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    5. I thought more about the recreating a dub. I got a few more ideas, DOOD, this is gona benefit you. But before you rush out with the dubs really think and plan what is going to happen and how people are going to do this. Give it a few days and ask for more suggestions from fans etc.
      Coz with the subs you said to your fans, here is the transcript now translate. Few different people were working on one language. They were fighting over it or got disappointed and got left out because someone else was doing it. With the dub try to get everyone involved. All your fans would love to really contribute & the smaller parts for everyone, the quicker and easier for everyone.

      For me, what I was thinking was sending out lots of messages around to colleges, Uni's, acting/dramaclass, film groups. Well.. send them out where ever possible, shops, centers etc. Because non actors might just pick up on it what it is about and view it. Make emails, forums and posters (Ask fans to put posters on city centers etc) looking for talented actors to do the voice over for a animated feature film. Something like this would blow their mind away, having the opportunity to be a part of the film, this would be fantastic for their career and I can see actors queuing up to do this. Attach a link to your website, with the trailers etc and a video explaining 'You don't have to watch the film, but it would be highly appreciated, as your helping out an independent filmmaker' coax them into buying it. We should not give out the whole script. Just send a script with a scene of your which is best for each character. (Because that script can still be sold).


      Ask hardcore fans to restrain themselves from doing the voices of the main characters. These auditions will get you tons of publicity. We need to get as many actors from each different country as possible because their local journalists should pick up on it. Let's just say you have one hardcore spanish fan who you are good friends with, and their voice fits perfectly to one of the roles. Sneakily still audition for that character for the publicity etc. Also try to get one person to do each character, even the minor characters -AGAIN more actors the better....

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    6. ORGANISING WHO DOES WHAT

      If you have a GROUP of people wanting to audition and filter out the best voice actors for a specific language. We could get one person to sort out each character'. E.G. so one fan would make hsm_spanish_samhainetsuke@gmail.com and filter through the best voice actor etc. & another to do hsm_french_siouxsiesilen@gmail.com etc. Even better Instead of using gmail we could use facebook, so we can see actors origin and AGAIN they spread the word to their friends on facebook etc. Or they'll send a link to us on our facebook hsm language page, friends might get nosy and they would view it.

      Before we do this, find out who wants to take part, and which people want to do what character. If you can do another blogger website or forum so people can easily scroll back and forth and chat to one another. Have a page with each character.


      Remember what you did with WATS, you put it on youtube with all the different languages. You could officially present HSM on youtube when all the languages are done. (It's a good dam thing that you didn't put it on youtube for free).
      It's just like WATS, - you first took it to Film festivals, a majority of norm didn't like it. You were told it wasnt going anywhere. You got depressed. But made a few fans. Then you went on to make Subs with those fans. After that you essentially officially released it on YouTube, in which you made a whole bunch of fans, publicity and money to make the next one.
      So with HSM... this is your slump before your great rise.

      You can say it was your plan all along. This is your marketing strategy, HSM torrent online for $5 was your ''subtle release' for ppl to watch, to make a tiny bit of money and hardcore fans to make subs and dubs. Then you will make an official release for HSM on youtube with all subs and dubs. (Hopefully by then you'll be a youtube partner and can make money from adsense). So AGAIN get rid of that 'try before you buy' dam it! Us fans purchased the $5 download no probs, but if you give the choice of $5 or free to the actors/ or upcoming people to view it, that don't know your stuff that well ---- they will choose the free option. Your putting yourself down so easily, you can defo persuade people to buy it. Get rid of try before you buy (and the gain $1 to help me sell it thing) and put it on youtube for free when all the subs n hopefully dubs is finished.
      Once this is all completed I would defo listen to the others about putting it in film festivals. I know we all hate them but if you get it in and review newspapers & journalists will pick up on it defo. We could even mention this in the advertising to the actors that the film will be released in big film festivals (More persuasion for them getting involved).

      At the moment dont worry about the sfx and music at this moment. Just a part of a pdf script with a scene that best shows each character. Could allocate a group of people to sort out auditioning and group of people to edit the voice over's etc.

      Hope everything goes well.. Suggestions. Mdot.

      gaurāṅga

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  10. seriously take Azel's advice, i really wanted to pay 15 for your movie but didn't have a way to do so, try looking at what radiohead did with their album in rainbows(i don't listen to their music so i don't know if its any good or not).

    a great quote "great designers seldom make great advertizing men, becuase they get overcome by the beauty of the picture and forget that merchendize must be sold"

    as annoying as it is, ya gotta advertize. just let people know, your youtube audience is probably bigger and wider than your blogger one. let them know how stuff related to HSM are going. share your embarressing numbers with 'em some of 'em might go omg and try to sell it for you.

    you also have an army of people who want to help in others ways too, don't know if you've ever heard of hamachi logmein in but its a virtual server (render farm possibilities) and being another 3d artist i could easily help you with stuff like asset creation and things like that which can easily speed up your already quick work flow

    do definately do the series thing, its a slightly different format with nice possibilities for tellign larger stories.

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    1. Yeh I sorta messed up the pricing thing 0_0

      And yeh I will advertise- I actually like doing it as its fun I just kinda fell into a hole waiting to finish HSM and am just getting out of it now-

      Thanks for your continued support and yeh I hope we can work together in the future some how ^ ^

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  11. M dot ive been feeling for you over the past few months now. Was so stoked when i heard HSM was coming out. Stayed up all night waiting for it to download. Found a way to watch it on my tv and just tuned everything else out. Im not here to praise your movie though. Ive tried and ive tried to countless people and just cant get it across how magnificent this movie is.

    It kind of reminds me of sundance. Seeing that video of you right after the first screening and seeing how dejected you were. I hadnt even seen WATS yet but i had been following you so long and could sense the passion in you so strongly that i felt for you. Almost as if it was myself. I think you attract fellow artist in what ever field they choose and are kind of a beacon to us. Some one who has done it. Some one who does it solely as an artist. Ive never really understood rolemodles or how you could look to some one one else for inspiration in that regard. Up until i realised myself the past few weeks just talking about your movies to every one. Noticing how i myself go back to my own projects and re evaluate them based on how i see your work. What im saying M dot is that It pains me to see you like this. because, in a completly none stalker creepy way, you meen a lot to me.

    your one of the few artist in any field that i try to support full on.

    I want to see you succeed by your own standards i do, but i want you to consider somthing. Youve already done somthing i thought was impossible. You madea piece of art. HSM is art. there is no doubt about that. ive been doing classes for art for years and years and years and never once in all my life had i ever encountered anything like HSM. Ive seen the vadican in rome and the academia in flourence but nothing was art to me. Nothing but Heart String Marionette. Ive spent much of my time in recent years trying to figure out what it takes to create art. Yet here you are creating it on this massive scale. Screaming it out there with perfect timing.

    About a week after my first screening of HSM i was invited to this local art group. A bunch of people from town wanting to some how get their art and them selves noteroiety. I didnt see harm in checking it out but much to my surprise (sarcasm) they werent very good. None of it was art, much less skillfully made. maybe i was still on the high from HSM but needless to say when it came time to leave i was dissipointed. I was hoping to find it in a form i could relate to. One of the memebers of the group wanted to talk to me and see my opinions on the group afterwards. We ended up talking for 4 or so hours about art and how it jsut doesnt exist. Well except for my one exception. HSM. I brought that up constantly.

    Look M dot you make amazing work. Your amazingly talented and an astoundingly hard worker with passion bleeding out of every pore on your body. Its just a matter of time becfore your a household name and i can say "hey i knew about this guy before he ruled the world."

    ReplyDelete
  12. P.s. Just to prove to you that you have a fanboy out there.

    http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/20120721231041.jpg/

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yo mdot, time to re-read 'war of art' If you're not making films for yourself first, then you're going to fail... I've never made a pile of money off my films... it could happen one day but I'm realistically skeptical about this... I was wondering the exact same thing lately, having been resoundly OFFICALLY REJECTED from every film festical I've donated gourmet coffee money to recently... But fuck it, I'm going ahead with the next film with stubborn conviction that it's going to be the best thing ever... the world can catch up to me later ;P

    Besides, you haven't hit rock bottom yet, go work in a call center for a month or less, and then you'll know real misery ):F ... then get on with making more films.

    ReplyDelete
  14. why dont u guys just go show hsm at film festivals and stuff? thats how we are the strange got so popular...........

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have to say that was very sad to hear but the game is not over.
    I think you have just got some hiccups along the way.

    I think once you change a few things marketing wise it will go a lot better.

    First I was not big on the whole "download only" I don't think consumers are at the download a whole movie as a purchase yet. Personally I either look to stream it or have a dvd. In fact the pirates I know usually have loaded their movies onto a dvd.

    The whole download thing felt kind of "ghetto" to me. I'd love to stream it or have it on a physical disk.

    Also making a movie is half the battle. I think when WATS came out you built an audience and after WATS the audience kind of trickled down to us wannabe film makers versus the general audience. I think you need to build a new audience and you do that by showing off your stuff in increments. I think the whole episodic series would help you build a larger audience.

    Someone mentioned putting it on Newgrounds and I think that is a great idea. There is a ton of fan boy types on Newgrounds who would love your stuff and follow everything you do. In fact I think you should re-release WATS on Newgrounds and as many animation portals as possible. 500 on youtube, 500 on revver, 500 on newgrounds, 500 on whatever other video hubs there is and I can see a new audience growing. But instead of just one slam bam thank you mam film they have a whole series to keep up with and build on. Re-release WATS in 3 1/2 increments or whatever good scene you have to stop at and then put a trailer at the end for HSM.

    And dare I say a bad word....facebook...I know it is evil but has become a marketing power. IT serves a purpose if you use it right. It can be a waste of time if you make it a waste of time but in the right hands can be a powerful tool.

    I still wish we could have all done the blitz attack to the SAME spots and people to get you on other media sites.

    I wish you the best and cannot wait for your series premiere.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi, I think you will succeed BUT you need to change some of your perspective about filmmaking (as making film for a living).
    There is what you make for art, for your soul to breathe, and there is what you make for money, for you to make a decent living, to have a family, etc, etc.
    A feature film is a product first (despite whatever we think). Because of the time we put in it, because of the heavy labor it demands from us, because of the sacrifices involved in making it (less friends, less time with family, depression, and slowly damaging your health), this film MUST MAKE MONEY. Period. Lot of people may argue about that but at the end of the day, only a few people really know how hard it is to make a feature film all by yourself. Seriously, if it doesnt improve your life, at least, it's not even worth it.
    We're not immortal, we growing old. Before the age of 30, you can play with experimenting stuff but when you go beyond 30, the game change. You want a job that you love but you also want your life to settle, you want to have a family, a decent living standard, your body starts to fail you slowly too. I mean : wrist starts to show you how much it hates you forcing it to handle a mouse all day long, your back and knees starts to alert you about how much they dislike the stationnary position of being on a chair all day long, your sight may also alert you that it was not designed to get stucked before a screen 14h per day, and your sleep cycle may have been so damaged (like most of cg artists over a certain age) that your body start to slowly refuse to make sleepless nights anymore and also start to make you fall asleep even if you're standing up.
    Those are stuffs we dont share with our fans but it's a very real consequence of the career we have choosen.
    So, here's my advice : Do like a lot of directors do. Make one feature for art, and one for money. One "personal" movie (like critics like to say) then one "commercial" movie. This way, your soul will be satisfied, your bank account too, and your fans too, not even speaking about all the new fans you'll make. The audience you generate for the commercial movie will start checking your personal movie, and soon enough, all what you will do will be able to generate money, even if it's very personal.
    Second advice : We all love mature and adult animation. BUT, the buying power belong to kids... That sucks, but this is the reality. So, going "commercial", going for something good for general audience, is the golden path to make sales and to be sure you can live from what you love. Dont let ONE genre define you, because you have the power to turn everything you touch into gold. You just have to do some compromises then reach out.
    I wish you the best.

    ReplyDelete
  17. A few things you could have done better:

    * Be more clear as to what people are buying and when. When the "buy now" button appeared, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pay now, get the movie in a few weeks, or pay now, download instantly.

    * Write guest posts on popular indie film sites. I told NoFilmSchool about your initial marketing material (the youtube videos you posted a week before release) and asked them to ask you for a guest post. That would have helped.

    ReplyDelete

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