Social Media and Independent Cinema- Final Project

The first time the phrase "social media" was published was by Tina Sharkey (the co-founder of iVillage, former SVP of AIM and Social Media, and now the head of BabyCenter.com) in 1997. She used the term to refer to the Internet as being community driven. The term was used loosely through the late 90's and early 2000's when chatrooms and AOL were extremely popular. Then in 2004 Chris Shipley (co-founder and Global Research Director for Guidewire Group) coined the term to focus on business. Social media now referred to user-generated content or consumer-generated media. It is believed that social media utilization is a driving factor in the idea that the current period in time will be defined as the Attention Age.

Social media is broken down into three components:

1. Concept (art, information, meme)

2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal)

3. Social interface (intimate direct, community, engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print)

These components work together to create many different forms such as, concepts and slogans, electronic media sharing, media campaigns, and print media to be redistributed. By understanding the basic concepts of social media, independent filmmakers can use the knowledge to create social media campaigns to try to get their film distributed.

A film that took this knowledge really at the beginning of the social media stage was The Blair Witch Project. The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 and went on to gross over $248 million worldwide, making it the most successful independent film at the time. The first rough cut of the movie was made for only $20,000. The film premiered at The Sundance Film Festival and soon after began it's global ad campaign. The campaign was groundbreaking because they used the Internet to suggest that the film was a documentary instead of a mockumentary. By creating the idea this was real footage from the filmmakers that had died it created a huge buzz. The buzz granted the film a wide release first in the U.S. and then a global release to follow.

The Blair Witch Project really paved the way for independent filmmakers to compete with Hollywood films. July 2009 was the ten year anniversary of the film being released.Entertainment Weekly did an interview with the filmmakers about what the movie meant at the time and how it holds up now. Check it out here.

The movie Paranormal Activity has become a huge success. So far the film has grossed over $100 million and the number is growing. It followed the success of 1999's The Blair Witch Project by using an internet net campaign to secure a wide release of the film. Director Oren Peli made film for only $15,000 and used his website for the film to get noticed. Peli used Eventful.com to have people demand the movie be released in their city. Paranormal Activitywas released the film in 13 college towns in the United States, 12 out of the 13 showings sold out almost immediately. The films distributor Paramount Pictures then decided the film would get a wide release in the U.S. The film also used Twitter to help promote the movie. Their Twitter account was appropriately named "Tweet Your Scream" and they encourage people to tweet their reactions to the movie. For example:

RT @josezuniga1: Paranormal Activity is one of the most intense, creepiest, & heart-pounding movies I've ever seen!5:17 PM Nov 9th from web

The Paranormal Activity campaign really took what The Blair Witch Project started in the 90's and brought it to a new level.

The social media trends continues to grow by the day. New websites are being created for filmmakers to use media to get their work seen. One of these sites is IndieGoGo. IndieGoGo is a social media driven platform built on the idea of crowdfunding, creating a location where independent filmmakers can showcase their work, and fans can show their support through microdonations right on the site. The site was founded in 2008 because the creators wanted to address the fundraising and marketing challenges that independent filmmakers today are experiencing.

The site has also recently started a partnership with Snag Films, which allows filmmakers to have a new way to connect viewers directly with the causes they support, by giving them the ability to make their films and a difference. They believe in using social media to the fullest to mobilize their fans and what they call "DIWO" (Do-It-With-Others!).

Because of this, many of the films posted on IndieGoGo are related to social causes. One of the films that has earned over $20,000 is Tapestries of Hope; a documentary about a rape crisis in Zimbabwe due to the misunderstanding that sex with virgins cures HIV and AIDS.

So far IndieGoGo has raised $150,000 in funds to date with participation from 90 countries. The social media the site does involves widgets, social networking, real time Internet, and an online hub. IndieGoGo believes the site will help deliver important social and environmental topics that will connect with viewers emotionally, and keep lasting connections with them after the film ends.

Sights such as IndieGoGo and SnagFilms aren't the only ones pushing the social media trend. The author of book Socialnomics, Erik Qualman wants everyone to know social media is not just a fad. Qualman made a video that he posted on YouTube called Social Media Revolution. The video (see below) is 4 minutes of incredible facts about how social media is prevalent in every aspect of our lives. The video really brings this point across through statistics to anyone who had doubts about the livelihood of social media. Besides his book and video, Qualman also has a Socialnomics blog that covers various topics in the field. In an interview on his blog he was asked why he created the social media revolution on YouTube, here was his answer:

"That was designed to get people thinking about social media. The term Socialnomics is introdcued, but I primarily wanted to give a tool to every marketer and every individual who has been struggling with all the hype about social media. Is it a fad or is it the next revolution? The video is designed to show it's not a fad and here are some hardcore statistics that show that it's actually the biggest thing since the industrial revolution."

And people are listening. Besides the films I mentioned earlier, bigger organizations, such as film festivals, are taking notice too. Last summer I interned as the public relations and media intern at the Traverse City Film Festival. I helped bring a social media campaign to the festival by implementing important social media tools, such as Twitter, a Facebook fan page, and a more interactive website where festival goers could connect. On the TCFF Twitter page we tweet about events during the festival as well as about filmmakers doing panels during the festival. Here are some tweets from during the fesitval:

Looking forward to a 9 p.m. movie, "Goonies" at the Open Space, and "Humpday" and Sneak Peak with Jeff Garlin at Midnight.

5:33 PM Jul 31st from web

Congratulations to 2009 Michigan Filmmaker award winner RIch Brauer, and welcome to the 5th Annual TCFF!

6:38 PM Jul 28th from web

Wrapping up the festival with a 9:00 film, then closing night party and after-party at Firefly Cafe.

6:04 PM Aug 2nd from web

We also ask people to follow our filmmakers Twitter accounts, such as the Winnebago Man Twitter account. On the TCFF Facebook page festival goers as well as filmmakers can post on the wall. A filmmakers from one of the festival's best received films Herb and Dorothy recently posted on the page to express her gratitude to the festival for helping support the film.

Megumi Sasaki Dear fellow documentary film makers and friends, Thank you very much for your support for our documentary HERB & DOROTHY, an incredible true story of legendary art collector couple in NYC, Herb, a postal worker, and Dorothy, a librarian who built a world-class collection. We have a great news! HERB & DOROTHY is now available on DVD! One of the most loved and talked about documentary film on art with 4 audience award and 1 best documentary award is a PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT for your friends and family who love art and docs! Pre-order now.http://www.herbanddorothy.com

November 25 at 10:58am

Finally, on the TCFF official website, allows for festival goers to have a ticket exchange with each other online. Films sell out extremely quick so, ticket holders can get on the exchange site and see if anyone is offering to trade tickets to different films. Simple forms like this create a sense of community for festival goers and allows them to create buzz about films being show. A great way of free advertising for the filmmakers.

Through the different advertising campaigns of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, the websites IndieGoGo and Snag Films, and Erik Qualman's Socialnomics, I think it's clear to see how social media and independent cinema can go hand and hand. Social media is a new and highly effective way to get your name, and your film out there...so grab your camera and get to work!

Works Cited:

Allen, Carolyn. "EMERGING PICTURES: The Future of Independent Film is Now." Movie Industry Marketing. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .

O'Brien, Harvey. "The Blair Witch Project." Eircom. 1999. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .

Reiss, Jon. "Social Networking to Increase Your Independent Film’s Exposure (well, duh)." Jon Reiss News. 14 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .

"Social Media Policies." Social Media.biz. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. .

"Social Media." Wikipedia. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. .

"Social Networking as Film Distribution Super-Promotion." Ciao Enrico. 8 Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .

Video File #12: American Teen (2008)

American Teen is a documentary directed by Nanette Burstein in 2008. The tagline of the film is "Remember High School? It's gotten worse." The film follows five seniors at Warsaw High Schoool in Indiana through their final year of high school. Each student fits a "Breakfast Club" sterotype. The jock, the rebel, queen bee, the heartthrob, and the nerd. It was shot on 35mm on a reported budget of $5 million, but only grossed $1,130,270 in revenue. The film got picked up by Paramount Vintage but was only distributed on a very limited release after it hit the film festival circuit. Some critics of the film have said the Burstein gave the film too much of a sensationalized feel, which is why it didn't fair well revenue wise.

I rented the film last winter and loved it however. I thought it was short smartly and made you either connect with the students are feel the hatred of high school through them. I think growing up at Midwest high school definitely helped me connect with the documentary, but I would definitely recommend it, for a humorous, but yet touching doc.

View the Trailer here

Video File #11: Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Rachel Getting Married is a film directed by Jonathan Demme starring Anne Hathway. The basic over of the plot is the main character Kym (Hathway) who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years is coming home for the weekend to be in her sister Rachel's wedding. Throughout the family drama elements of tragedy are revealed and we learn why Kym can't stay out of rehab. The story also illuminates the unique love story and wedding of Rachel and her fiancé. The screenplay was written by Jenny Lumet and filming only took 33 days. The film was distributed by Sony Picture Classics, but only received limited release. It grossed a little over $16 million, but was highly critically acclaimed. It appeared first on main critics top ten lists for films of the year including the New York Times. The role of Kym got Hathway nominated for an Academy Award.

This is one of the most honest but yet oddly endearing films I have seen in a long time. Since I bought it last winter, I have probably watched the film over a dozen times. Each time I see it evokes new emotions from me and I find critical elements in the film that I find intriguing. Rachel Getting Married is a great new take on the "dysfunctional family" and I highly recommend it.

Theatrical Trailer

Weinberg #4 Must See TV

Continuing on Weinberg #4 I thought it was interesting what Tom wrote about what used to be "Must See TV" on NBC. Growing up every Thursday I made sure I was home to watch Must See TV on Thursday on NBC, and TGIF (on Fridays) ABC. I would have plans with either family or friends to watch that nights line-up together every week. Things have definitely changed since then as Tom notes. Now there is only one or two shows that I make sure I am home to see live. Instead of making plans with friends to watch TV live, we make dates to watch shows online together.

I'm interested in knowing what the future is going to bring for ratings, as the number of shows that are available to view online increases. In January, Hulu announced that they will being charging a few to view their once free selection of free videos. The President of Hulu said they will have some sort of membership fee, like instant Netflix. I wonder how that will affect network ratings as well, and if people will stay with Hulu now that the site will no longer be free. I think Chris Anderson's book that Tom mentioned sounds very interesting, especially to learn more about how sites like Amazon make their money.

Video File #10: (500) Days of Summer (2009)

(500) Days of Summer was written and directed by Marc Weber in 2009. The tagline of the film is "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl doesn't." The film is an unconventional romantic comedy. The first scene has a voiceover which tells the background of the boy (Tom Hansen) and the girl (Summer Finn) and ends with the quote "This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know up front, this is not a love story". The movie was made on a budget of $7 million and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film where it was picked up by Fox Searchlight. It was then distributed on limited release in the US and Canada in July 2009 and then because of high numbers was granted wide release in August. To date the film has grossed over $46 million globally.

I saw this film over Thanksgiving break and I really enjoyed it. It had a non traditional writing style, the story is told in nonlinear narrative style. Each scene is introduced with a title card showing which of the 500 days it is. It also has a non classical hollywood relationship structure. Summer is the one who doesn't believe in love or relationships, where as Tom is a hopeless romantic. The roles are completely reversed from classical hollywood cinema, which is one of the main reasons I loved the film.

Weinberg #4- It's a Social Media Revolution

In Weinberg #4, Tom discusses how the society has gone from a "television society" to a "YouTube Area". It was interesting to learn how YouTube started, I did not know it grew faster than any other content site on the Internet, nor did I know that it's daily views (a billion) far exceed the total usage of the Internet in 2000. This article has been my favorite so far in the Weinberg "Video Out of the Box" series, because I'm highly interested in social media, especially in the film and television industry. As Tom talks about new media is making it possible for videos to be watched, uploaded, and discussed 24/7. The media world never stops.

When I was researching for my final project on social media I found the video "Social Media Revolution", which was made by Erik Qualman the author of the book Socialnomics. The video services to prove that social media is not just a fad and is here to stay. The video gives some hard facts, just as Weinberg does in the reading about online video viewing, as well as YouTube. In an interview about why he made the video:

"That was designed to get people thinking about social media. The term Socialnomics is introdcued, but I primarily wanted to give a tool to every marketer and every individual who has been struggling with all the hype about social media. Is it a fad or is it the next revolution? The video is designed to show it's not a fad and here are some hardcore statistics that show that it's actually the biggest thing since the industrial revolution."

I think this fits in well with the McLuhan quote that Weinberg cited "The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village". This YouTube era as Weinberg calls it is going to create a whole new scene of community with society allowing people to connect globally in completely new ways than before. Also allowing news to spread much faster than ever before.

Video File #9 Camp (2003)

Camp is a film written and directed by Todd Graff about a New York performing arts summer camp. The film follows the campers through the audition process and rehearsal and performance of the musical. I saw this film in high school and then rewatched it this weekend for my research project on film musicals. One of the articles I read in my research called Camp one of the most successful independent films to bring an original musical score to the screen. The film was called a "touching yet hilarious look at teen egos and hormones clashing at a performing arts summer camp exploded with wit and talent", and won rave reviews across the country. The film goes beyond the normal summer camp themes and brings to light issues such as different types of sexuality such as: bisexuality, homosexuality, and being transgendered. Camp was distributed by IFC Films and grossed close to two million dollars in the US.

Research Project Links

1. A book about the history of MGM and how the golden era came about. Found at Cudhay Library.

2. This website is a mecca for the history of musicals through film. The site goes through each decade with an article on what was happening both in film and society.

3. Although it's wikipedia this gives an extensive look at how music videos began.

4. The museum of broadcast and communication look of music on television.

5. A critique of Across the Universe, which is one of the modern movie musicals I'm going to focus on.

Video File #8- Anvil! The Story of Anvil! (2008)

Anvil! The Story of Anvil! (which by the way is possibly one of my favorite film titles ever) is a documentary about a Canadian rock metal band called Anvil. The tagline of the film is "At fourteen they made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it." The film follows the story of the band and the struggles they've had to get famous. The film was directed by Sacha Gervasi in 2008 and had a small release into international film festivals. The idea for the doc came about like this "Gervasi first met Anvil on September 21, 1982, after a gig at The Marquee Club in London, where he introduced himself to the band as "England's number-one Anvil fan." He subsequently became a roadie for the band on their '82, '84 and '85 tours, and was given the nickname "Teabag" by the band. He reunited with Anvil after a break of 20 years, and started shooting a documentary about them in November 2005." (wikipedia). The film never received wide release but has been shown on VH1 classics a few times since 2008. It grossed $853,363 in it's limited release. I saw this film in 2008 at a film festival, and since then have tried to watch it the few times it has been on VH1. I’m not a fan of heavy metal music at all but I found myself immediately in awe of these musicians. By the end of the film I found myself rooting for them to get their break they rightful deserved and wanting to continue to follow their story. The movie has recently been released on DVD and I urge anywho is interested in the music industry to rent it.

Weinberg #3- Television and Identity

Revisiting Weinberg's third article, the second half of the article focuses on identity. Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign believed that the more television exposure she got, the more voters would turn out for her. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The more Clinton was on the air the more her poll numbers went down. Because Clinton was not comfortable on television her identity/personality came off as cold and rigid. Weinberg goes on to discuss how identity can work against actors. He uses the example of Mary Tyler Moore being one of the most beloved TV characters for over a decade. Because the public identified her solely as her character on the show it was hard for her to have an identity outside of the character. This sparked me to think of other actors that have had problems losing a character identity.

The popular 90's family television show Full House ran for 8 seasons. The show was known for it's family values and lessons that each episode taught or instilled. Actor Bob Saget played the uptight, clean freak father on the show named Danny Tanner. After almost 200 episodes of playing this character America saw Saget as his character. It was difficult for him to get more hard hitting roles after the show as much as he tried to distance himself from the role. As possibly an act to gain his own identity back, Saget became an stand up concept known for trying to push the limits on blue-collar standup. As Weinberg says however it's not just celebrities that have a problem with identity. With technology we never know when a camera will be around or what may end up on the Internet.

Video file #7- Every Little Step (2008)

Every Little Step is a documentary that follows the audition process of the revival of the classic broadway musical A Chorus Line. The film not only mirrors the audition process, which takes place in the musical, but also shows how the original musical was brought about. The film plays the original audio tape of the seven hour conversation of dancers that the musical was created around. The film was directed by Adam Del Deo and James Stern in 2008. It distributed by the company Endgame Entertainment and made its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2008. After the film received good reception from the festival it was distributed in Japan under the title Broadway Broadway. It was then shown at three more film festivals around the world and because of continued success Endgame decided to give it limited release in the US. I watched this film for research for my research project and ended up falling in love with this little documentary. I like how simple and direct the footage is, it lets you feel the emotions of the actors auditioning and you quickly become attached to them. Rolling Stone magazine said in a review "a thrilling combinations of documentary and musical dazzlers; and a heartbreaker".

Weinberg #3- Overnight stardom

Fifteen minutes of fame. With the invention of reality television and YouTube almost anyone can be a celebrity, at least until the next person comes along. In Weinberg's third article he lists the three conclusions media burn came to after beginning to film people with a handheld camera:

1. the more they saw, the more that people wanted to see themselves.

2. they had remarkably few inhibitions

3. if they became regulars on TV, they had to confront tough new personal realities; celebrities are not the same as you and me.

In class we talked about how YouTube has really proved this conclusions. We also talked about what happened after the 15 minutes of fame was over. In the documentary Winnebago Man we see this concept played out with Jack Rebney. Rebney was an actor hired to make an infomercial for Winnebagos in the 80's. Rebney had quite a temper and when the 16 day shoot was not going well, the camera crew recorded all of Rebney's outtakes. The tape went viral, although there was no YouTube to post it on friends were passing around VHS tapes of the outtakes and Rebney quickly became a celebrity for his explosive temper. (View the video here) The film follows what happened after his fame died down. Rebney became reclusive and moved to the mountains in California to live alone with his dog and few friends. He never wanted his 15 minutes of fame and did not handle being exposed well. It's a very raw look at how overnight popularity can change a person.

It was interesting to watch some of the media burn footage of the first time recording average people who had never seen themselves on film before. Looking at it in a historical perspective, reality TV got it's start from home video footage like what media burn captured.

Video File #6: Outrage- 2009

Outrage is a documentary directed by Kirby Dick about closeted politicians who lobby for anti-gay legislation in the United States. With the tagline "Don't Ask. Don't Tell." Dick probes into the lives of different politicians who continue to lobby and pass anti-gay legislation while leading a double life in their personal life. The film was distributed by Magnolia Pictures on a very small limited release. I saw this film this summer and was shocked by the information that was presented in the doc. I really hope this film can eventually gain a bigger release because I think it has a subject that needs to be brought to the general public. The interviews in this film are incredible and Dick talks to both Republicans and Democrats showing a wide range of politicians. I would definitely recommended this film to everyone, especially people who are interested in politics.

View the Outrage trailer here

Media bias

Going back to Weinberg's article "The Video Outside the Box" I wanted to take a look at media bias. Weinberg says one of the myths is "Commercial media unquestionably provides the highest quality journalism possible..." It's very hard to find a news station that can be seen has unbiased and is even more difficult to find a news station that does not attempt to advertise to the viewer (impossible probably). Tying in with this myth was Weinberg's next myth stating "News media in the United States today has a left-wing bias." I find today that conservative news programs are most prevalent in on network and cable television than liberal news media. When talking about conservative media of course I have to start with Fox news. Let's start with their taglines: "Fair and Balanced", "We report. You decided." and "The most powerful name in the news". Now if any of these taglines were remotely true it would be a different story but Fox news has made a name for itself with false reporting. Just recently I had a friend post a video on his blog of a news report that Fox did about an elementary school teaching children to sing songs of praise for Obama. The news story ended up being untrue, but Fox never issued an apology statement for the false information. I suppose this argument could go both ways and someone could agree their are liberal media stations that do the same, but I find it interesting that many people still believe that media is most liberal based.

Video File #5: Rocket Science- 2007

Rocket Science is a film directed and written by Jeffrey Blitz about a high school boy with a heavy speech impediment who gets convinced to join the speech team. The film follows the main character Hal through the trials of High School while he searches for answers to life's "big questions". The movie is an endearing comedy/drama, which is held together by the lead actor Reece Thompson. The film had a rather large budget of $4,500,000 but a gross revenue of $755,774. Blitz shot the film over a short 30 days The film was distributed by Picture House and HBO films in 2007. In article Blitz said that he wanted the cinematography to "tell a story that was equal parts deadpan and suggestive of [the TV show] the Real World". I saw this film when it came out in 2007 and immediately fell in love with how real but yet endearing it was. It has since become one of my favorite films and I recommend to anyone who enjoys movies will smart and quick dialogue as well as a real life aspect.

Watch the Rocket Science trailer here

Media Matters

While reading Weinberg's article "Video Outside of the Box" a few things struck me. Already being very aware the five big companies and what the own didn't surprise me (especially the Walt Disney Company, because I am a Disney cast member :) ) I was taken back by some of the media myths later in the article. Starting with the first myth "media does not matter that much-- they merely reflect reality rather than shape it"being the most shocking. It's hard to realize that today people still do not realize how media shapes society and our culture. Just recently I was writing a a sociology paper on how media shapes and determines society's view on gender roles. For example, the website theKnot.com allows viewers to watch videos of “real weddings” to inspire future couples. In these videos there is no emphasize on the couple; what is solely important is what the bride will look on her big day (no mention of the groom, of course) and how having the perfect wedding will make their marriage perfect as well. It's often overlooked how even media such as websites can be used to shape our views on things such as gender. For example let's take a look at the cover of one the Knot's magazines. "10 Stunning Real Weddings", "the most glamorous cakes ever", and "stylish reception ideas" the cover reads. No mention of anything to do with the couple or the groom. Even in the picture we can see hegemony played out. The bride is standing front and center of the photography smiling, skinny, and beautiful as the [supposed] groom is in the foreground looking at her.

I think if more people were aware of media shaping us not just showing reality, we as a society would be better equip for change.

Video File #4: Once-2006

(Marekta Irglova and Glen Hansard)

Once is an Irish film written and directed by John Carney in 2006. The film is a modern day music about a Guy and a Girl (the two are never named during the entire film) who have a chance meeting and over a week write and record songs telling their love stories. The film stars real life musicians Glen Hansard (former of the Frames) and Marekta Irglova. Once was filmed over a short 16 days and was shot for only $160,000. The film eventually got picked up and distributed by Fox Searchlight in America. The song "Falling Slowly" from the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. This is my favorite film of all time. I saw it for the first time at in 2006 at the Traverse City Film Festival and immediately fell in love. I enjoy the movie so much because it is such an unconventional and bittersweet love story, completely un-Hollywood. I think anyone who enjoys and appreciates music would like this film.

Visit the Once website

Buy and listen to the Once soundtrack

the medium is the message

I heard McLuhan's "medium is the message" in my communication and technology class last semester. However McLuhan for Beginners presents the idea in a whole new way that was much easier to understand. The idea of the medium being "any extension of our bodies, minds, or beings". Secondly redefining the message as "any change in scale, pace, or pattern that a medium causes in societies or cultures". By understanding this idea it opens the forms of media to be able to change society and cultures. McLuhan also has very specific and unique ideas about how to classify media. He classifies all media as high or low medium. High medium is defined as "well-defined, sharp, solid, detailed, in reference to anything visual". For examples words, numbers, maps, and photos. Low definition is when the eye needs to scan the image to make it complete. For example cartoons and sketches. More simply high definition is lots of information and leaves little to do for the brain and low definition gives little information and makes the brain work harder. I thought it was interesting that McLuhan defined movies as high but television as low definition. I would guess because movies or films are usually a more completely story where as television is stories in pieces.

medium cool/the graduate

(Nichlos cuts from the scene with Ben and Mrs. Robinson straight to Ben in the pool)

While I was watching Medium Cool, I did not really think about the context of when this movie was made. After reading the Ebert review I realized that in 1969 when the film was made it was a new concept for to organize a plot of a film. Medium Cool does not follow tradition Hollywood plot segmentation by any means. As Ebert says Hollywood movies would go from A to B and not even make it to point C. I have seen The Graduate probably at least 20 times and never thought of how it was one of the first major films to experiment with not going through all the traditional steps and using editing to skip point B and go straight to C. Medium Cool definitely did the same. by mixing documentary footage in with the plot of the film there was no clear line between what was real and what wasn't. I think during any film your watching to remember the context in which it was made.

Video File #3: Harmony and Me-2009

(Justin Rice stars as Harmony in the film)

Harmony and Me is a hilarious physical comedy about a guy named Harmony is who is struggled to get over his recent breakup. This film was written and directed by Austin, TX based filmmaker Bob Byington. I saw the film this summer at the Traverse City Film Festival (as usual, ha). The tagline of the film sums up the film in one sentence "a physical comedy about yearning". Mr. Byington as well as the film's title star Justin Rice attended the festival. The film was funded by a small independent film company called "Film Science". I enjoyed this comedy because it was extremely different than any traditional Hollywood comedy because its very dark and physical humor. View the Harmony and Me trailer!

Harmony and Me website

Video File #2: Winnebago Man- 2009

(Winnebago Man- Jack Rebney)

Winnebago Man was produced and directed by Ben Steinbauer. I saw this documentary this summer at the Traverse City Film Festival, and Michael Moore called it the funniest documentary he had seen all year. The film is a follow up to a viral video sensation about out-takes to a Winnebago promotional video filmed in the 80's. (View the original video here) Ben Steinbauer had been fascinated with the Winnebago Man, Jack Rebney, who was impossible to locate after the video became famous. The documentary follows Ben's obsession to find Mr. Rebney and what happens when he does. The film is humorous, as well as gives touching light into what happens to what we now call "youtube" stars after their 15 minutes of fame. Technically, the footage of Jack Rebney was all outtakes that the camera men on the shoot decided to put together and leak. Since it was the 1980's people used to pass the video around on a VHS, pre sending each other youtube links of viral videos. I think this movie is a must see for anyone who enjoys documentaries, especially if you are interested in internet phenomenon's. Currently the film doesn't have a distributor, but hopefully the filmmakers will make DVDs available on their website.

Winnebago Man Website

Video file #1: Entre Nos- 2009

(Co-director, co-writer, and star of the film Paolo Mendoza is seen in this still from "Entre Nos")

This summer I interned at the Traverse City Film Festival where I was lucky enough to get to see a lot of amazing independent films. One of my favorite films was a Spanish film titled "Entre Nos" (translated in english to "between us"). Watch the trailer here. In short, the film is about a woman, Mariana, who has immigrates to New York from Colombia with her husband and her two children. Her husband decides to leave her and the children and move to Miami. Now on her own with no job, Mariana fights to keep her family alive in New York. Two woman directed this film, Gloria La Morte (co-director, co-writer, editor) and Paola Mendoza (co-director, co-writer) who also starred in the film. I was extremely fortunate in being able to meet and talk with these amazing women filmmakers about how their film came to production. One of the most amazing facts about this film is that the story is based heavily around Mendoza's mothers experience immigrating to America. Once La Morte and Mendoza decided that was the story they wanted to write, they took two years to write the screenplay before entering it in Independent Film Week's Emerging Narrative section and won the Grand Prize, which granted them a full panasonic camera package, which their crew used to for the film. They also took out a loan to cover product costs. In talking with both of these amazing women, they stressed one thing if you believe in yourself you can definitely make a film. It was remarkable that La Morte and Mendoza were able to create this stunning film with such a small budget and just a small indie film distributor. After viewing this incredible film, I was definitely inspired to keep working towards my career goals towards the entertainment business.

annie hall

I read a lot of reviews online for Annie Hall, and on most they talked about how Woody Allen's role of Alvy set up the template for a lot of Allen's future roles/characters in his movies. I thought this was interesting because I'm currently reading "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto" by Chuck Klosterman. In his first chapter "This is Emo", Klosterman is writing about his past relationships with women. He discusses how Woody Allen made it possible for him and other nerdy men like him to sleep with women who he sees as out of his league. He goes on to say how probably most of these women have never seen a Woody Allen film, and if asked they would never classify Allen as sexy, or desired, or say that they wanted to sleep with him. "But this is how media devolution works: It creates an archetype that eventually dwarfs its origin. By now, the "Woody Allen Personality Type" has far greater cultural importance than the man himself" writes Klosterman. I think thats an interesting idea, that media has created archetypes for different kinds of relationships, which the public therefore tries to conform to. For example, how often do you here people describe their relationship as a "Ross and Rachel" type relationship? Fairly often, and when you think about it Ross and Rachel are the perfect example of how Allen has manifested his character archetypes into the media today. Ross is much like Alvy, nerdy, goofy and full of neuroses. Rachel on the other hand is the beautiful woman who seems out of his league. Throughout 10 seasons the couple goes through an on again off again relationship, much as Annie and Alvy did. I think it's safe to say that Allen created a new prototype of character that is still prevalent in media culture today.

Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. New York City: Scribner, 2003. Print.