Short Films 2.0: Getting Noticed in the YouTube Age

SHORT FILMS 2.0

Getting Noticed in the YouTube Age

Mikel J. Wisler

www.mikelwisler.com/shortfilms20

Short Films 2.0: Getting Noticed in the YouTube Age

Copyright © 2015 Mikel J. Wisler All rights reserved.

Published by The Filmmaker's MBA, an imprint of DoxaNous Media, LLC

803 N. Western Avenue

Marion, Indiana 46952 www.doxanousmedia.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Copy Editors: Béckie Rankin, Eric Bumpus

Cover Photography and Graphic Design: Mikel J. Wisler

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1-7325307-0-6 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-1-952375-09-5 (ebk)

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For information about the author, visit: www.mikelwisler.com First Digital Edition: May 2016

First Print Edition: June 2016

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Praise for Mikel J. Wisler’ s Short Films:

Parallel is a beautiful cinematic tone poem that fiercely champions the idea of everlasting love. It’s a stunning achievement in romantic sci-fi.

- Philip Smolen's review of Parallel

Rogue Cinema

Parallel has a feature film’s worth of story it tells in 11 minutes. That may make it sound convoluted, but it’s a very clear-eyed story, with emotional journeys experienced that would normally take two hours, but here are followed, easily and un-rushed, in minutes. … it’s quite an experience on not just its main character, but the viewer, as well.

- Brian Skutle's review of Parallel

Sonic-Cinema.com

Wisler and company deliver a thinking person's short film that taps into some pretty primitive areas, including what it means to exist in the field of time, what it means to live, to love and lose and finally to die. It's serious, it's smart, it’s even a bit of a tear jerker.

- Nicholas La Salla's review of Parallel

Forest City Short Film Review

[Playing with Ice] is a wonderful and satisfying short that speaks volumes about what we hold inside and the damage it causes. Wisler has made a life-affirming and nifty pseudo sci-fi movie all at the same time. Bravo!

- Philip Smolen's review of Playing with Ice

Rogue Cinema

... the execution is flawless... do yourself a favor, watch the thing twice, back to back—only the second time will show how spot-on the performances really are!

- Mike Haberfelner’s review of Intrigue

[(re)Search my Trash]

Also written by Mikel J. Wisler

One year ago, a boy mysteriously went missing after claiming to have been abducted by extraterrestrial beings multiple times. No trace of him has ever been found.

Now, Boston-based Special Agent for the FBI, Nicole Mitchell, is brought back from administrative leave when a girl in the same New Hampshire town also claims to have been abducted. The girl's story bears eerie similarities to the case of the missing boy Mitchell investigated the year before.

Certain that someone is using the powerful suggestion of UFOs and the alien abduction scenario to kidnap these kids, Mitchell enlists the help of paranormal debunking psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Evans. But, who among the locals knows the truth? Is it the girl’s parents? The peculiar new pastor in town? The local police? As the case unfolds, Mitchell and Evans are confronted with a much darker and far more sinister reality than they ever expected. Nothing could have prepared them for what they are about to encounter.

Unidentified is full of spookiness and reversals and surprises and fun. I can't wait for the movie.

- Dave Schmelzer (Editor-in-chief: hellohoratio.com)

FOR ANDREW GILBERT

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION: Risk and Catharsis

SECT ION ONE : UNDERSTANDING SHORT FILM S IN THE DIGITAL AGE

CHAPTER ONE: What’s Poetry Got to Do with It?

BREVITY, Focus, and DISCIPLINE

Go SHORTER

Go VISUAL

CHAPTER TWO: First Revolution, then Evolution

The Digital Revolution

Shorts Got Shorter

Film Festivals & YouTube

CHAPTER THREE: The Unique Challenges Short Films Face

Quality is a Foregone Conclusion

The Experiential Challenge

SE CTION TW O: MAKING SHORT FILMS IN THE DI GITAL AGE

CHAPTER FOUR: Rising to the Challenge

Watch Short Films

Read Short Stories and Poetry

Embrace Brevity

Embrace Writing… and Rewriting… and Rewriting

Embrace a Limited Budget

Embrace the Shot List

Embrace High Standards

Embrace Good Casting

Embrace Substance

CHAPTER FIVE: Thinking like a Seasoned Producer

Valuing People

Building a Team

Finding Locations

Setting Deadlines

Closing Thoughts

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Books

APPENDIX B: Applications

APPENDIX C: Great Websites for New Filmmakers

APPENDIX D: Magazines

APPENDIX E: Short Screenplay: Intrigue

APPENDIX F: Short Screenplay: Parallel

APPENDIX G: Bonus Material

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

I have been making short films for years and as a result there are so many people that should be thanked for their help and influence in my development as a filmmaker and storyteller. Every cast and crew I’ve worked with has taught me so much! Thank you to all of these people, though I dare not name everyone here as the list would be a book all its own.

Thank you to my wife, Danae, who has supported my crazy endeavors for a very long time! I must thank my early short filmmaking partners: Andrew Gilbert, Scott Peercy, Jeremiah Hawn, Ben Bowers, Chris Evans, and Andrew Shaw with whom I made so many fun and early projects along with a lot of mistakes and missteps that taught me so much. Thank you to the Los Angeles Film Studies Center for the invaluable lessons and hands- on experience.

Thank you to Stories by the River and Kristina and Dominic Stone Kaiser for engaging directly in the act of making short films and seeing their value as a medium for exploring life’s meaning. My many thanks to Trevor Duke, who gave feedback on an early draft of this manuscript, and for being a fantastic partner in short filmmaking. Thanks to Eric Bumpus for his continued encouragement and enthusiasm for this particular book as well as my short films and for helping significantly with the editing process. Thank you to Béckie Rankin for the insightful editing and feedback on this manuscript and for furthering the dialogue about short filmmaking by inviting me to speak to her high school students.

I must specifically thank Randy Zella Varaguas. This whole book first started out as a very simple outline for a short talk she

asked me to give at an event she organized at the Hull Film Office. After giving that talk, I got to thinking that the information I covered might be of value to a lot more people than I initially thought.

Finally, even though he’s no longer with us, I sincerely must thank my grandpa, Bob Wisler, for allowing the very young and energetic kid I was so many years ago to constantly borrow his video camera and run off into the woods or down the road or into the creek to try my hand at creating something resembling motion pictures. In the process I took my first early and shaky steps in visual storytelling.

We live in an extremely fast-paced and media-saturated world. So, how can new and aspiring filmmakers stand out? Over the last decade of making short films, I have asked myself this question often. It has been an amazing time to make shorts for many reasons. In particular, my work making short films coincided with the first ten years of YouTube, which has proven to be a unique period of time for new filmmakers. The world of short filmmaking and distribution has been under rapid change for several years. Trying to make sense of all these changes and how to take advantage of new opportunities can be challenging. In preparing to give a talk a while back at the Hull Film Office about making short films, I outlined what I felt has happened in recent years to the medium and how new filmmakers can make the most of these changes. As I looked around at various books after the presentation, I realized that there seems to be little material covering the recent evolution of short films in a comprehensive way. So, if you’re ready to dive into making a short film in this new age of online media, grab a coffee and let’s get busy exploring how you can set yourself up for success by embracing change and dispelling some outdated ideas!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, though, I think it might be helpful to stop and ask a bigger question first: Why make short films?

In the world of movies, feature-length films dominate the cultural focus and the financial viability of creating a film that can be sold for a profit to a distributor remains exclusive to feature films. As I write this, I am in development for my first feature film, but long before I decided to take on a feature film, I made and continue to make short films. Why?

One clear argument often made for why aspiring filmmakers should value starting off their career by making short films is that they will learn through experience and become far more prepared for the task of making a feature film. This is quite true. In the words of Michael Rabiger, short films still require their makers to conquer the full range of production, authorship, and stylistic problems—but in a small compass and small cost.¹ I’ve seen— even worked with—filmmakers whose first feature films faced many challenges due to the inexperience of the director. I am convinced that many such issues could have been avoided had they taken the time to make a few short films first.

However, there is so much more to short films than just learning the filmmaking craft! For a while I felt I was done with short films and that my time would be better spent focusing exclusively on how to get a feature film funded. One major development in my life changed all of that.

The following story is probably rather odd-sounding, but please hear me out. In 2010, I got involved with a small and unconventional start-up church. I know. It’s true. I’m one of

¹ Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics by Michael Rabiger, 1997, Focal Press. Page 6.

those goofballs that actually goes to church (and rather likes it, no less). But you see, this church is not quite like any other place I’ve been. The River Church, in Quincy, Massachusetts, is a rather unique place. There, for the first time in my life, rather than feeling like my passion for the arts pitted me against my faith community, I find it to be embraced and sought out. For example, I began running The River Film Forum, a monthly event designed around watching movies with people from all walks of life and engaging in meaningful conversations about what such stories have to offer us in terms of examining life. Here is a community of people genuinely interested in hearing diverse stories and various perspectives as each of us journeys through life together.

In fact, movies became such an important part of what we do as a faith community, that even as part of our Sunday morning worship service we started occasionally using short films as the central piece of the day’s talk. By focusing on the shared experience of a brief story, we discovered something unique and amazing: short films can allow us to dive right into some of the deepest and darkest areas of the human heart