FILM HOSTING SERVICES

Vimeo
YouTube
Dailymotion
Brightcove

AREAS TO REACH TARGET AUDIENCE

YouTube
Reddit
X
TikTok
Pinterest

PRESENTATION METHODS

Short film finished product - YouTube and I'll share the link on X
Mood board of the film - Reddit and Pinterest

YOUTUBE

PROS

Good for search and recommendations
Analytics - can track views, watch time etc
Can add thumbnails to grab the audience's attention

CONS

There are so many people making content so standing out can be a struggle. Also, I don't have a huge subscribe count, meaning it can be difficult for my video to be seen .

My research shows that my target audience is the third most active demographic to use YouTube at 15.7% (18-24). This means there is chance for them to see my video.

https://www.freshegg.co.uk/blog/social-media/social-media-platforms/youtube/the-pros-cons-of-hosting-your-videos-on-youtube/

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/youtube-stats/#:~:text=The%20largest%20age%20group%20using,around%2018.5%25%20of%20all%20users.

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PROS

Easy to share; a tweet can spread quickly if it gets engagement
Hashtags can help with visibility. I can use tags like #fantasy film or #short film
I can reply to tweets and engage with the audience

CONS

Short clips work better. My film is up to 10 minutes so the viewers may want few second clips. I can post the interesting bits like 30 second clip and if they enjoy it, they most likely will watch the whole thing on YouTube by clicking the link in the description. I can write "watch full video here".

https://www.unbxd.co.uk/journal/2023/10/31/benefits-and-limitations-of-advertising-on-x

https://spideraf.com/articles/twitter-advertising-pros-cons-and-what-to-know-before-getting-started

In conclusion, I think the best strategy for promoting my final film is Twitter. This is because I can post short clips and trailers that can grab people's attention to watch the full video on YouTube. YouTube is good to just post the full video.

PROS

Really good for visuals as it's a platform that focuses solely on this - aesthetics and images

CONS

Not very ideal for full videos which is why I'll post the mood board to see how many views it gets and who is interested

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PROS

There are active communities. I can post in subs like r/Fantasy film
People often comment and and give honest opinions
It's a free way of promoting my film

CONS

There are strict rules in subreddits as some don't allow self-promo without context
The moderators can delete the post if it doesn't align with the rules

In conclusion, I think the best strategy for aesthetic showcase is reddit. This is because there are many communities I can post into and find my target audience. If they like the mood board, they can watch the full video on YouTube.

Target audience

A pen portrait is a good way to understand my target audience, making a fictional person who would be interested in my product allows me to find connections between them and an actual person who may be interested. Since my target audience is 14-18 who are interested in low fantasy films. They will most likely be easiest to find on Reddit where there are categories to post into and that is where the audience may be.

Pen portrait

NAME: Anastasia

AGE: 17

LIKES:

Fantasy films + novels

Exploring and trying new things
English language
Learning about ancient history

DISLIKES:

People who are not genuine
Junk food

PERSONALITY:

Observant and emotionally intelligent
Confident and wants to be successful in life
Wants to be unique and different from other people
Has a mature mindset

Anastasia is a full time student who wants to study philosophy and university. She has a part time job working with her older sister with an online business.

LOCATION:

Netherlands

Presentation strategies

1. Short film release

When my film is in a state that I'm happy with, I'll publish it to YouTube. I'll make a shorter version of my film (around 20-30 seconds of the interesting parts or trailer) and post it on X. In the description I'll write "watch full video here" then put the link of the video. This will allow the audience to watch the short clip and see if it grabs their attention then they can watch the full video on YouTube.

2. Sending video link

Sending the video link to as many people as I can and asking for feedback is a good strategy as it gives me a broader reach, this increases the chance of the video being seen, shared and gain traction.

3. Mood board and screenshots

Mood board and screenshots. I will post some screenshots of the VFX magic particle trails on Pinterest and reddit as well as a mood board of the whole film. If the viewer like's what they see, they can click on it and it will lead them to the full video. This has a slight drawback because they may not even engage with the content at all and just see the images.

Evidence of presentation

I joined 5 communities on reddit and posted my film for people to watch. One community is r/Fantasy with 3.5million members so I'll see if my video will get noticed there.

Update

This was a good platform to promote my film because when I checked YouTube it has 50 views and 3 comments.

Prior to this, I added a thumbnail to my YouTube video to grab the attention of the potential audience. I used Canva to create this.

I posted the thumbnail to Pinterest. Hopefully this attracts potential audiences. A drawback is that the tags are not very film-related.

UPDATE

After posting this, there was only 1 outbound click meaning Pinterest was not the best platform for promoting my film as it's not a suitable platform to promote videos.

I uploaded the film on YouTube and I got a decent amount of views. I was expecting more views because I promoted the film on a few platforms but like I said, underground people are less likely to be recognised because they were not active before.

These are the comments on the video.