We all have a hard time getting people on board with our films and projects. I have a really difficult time communicating a vision for my project. Writing out an email and trying to get across the full version of a film idea is hard.
Trying to verbalize it to a buddy over the phone is even more difficult for me. I’m a visual guy. I communicate with sight and sound much better than just ‘words.’ That’s why I got into film.
That’s why I want to talk to you about getting to a place where you can communicate your full vision to other people. And BONUS… having them get excited about it too.
What if you could do all this using a medium which you have experience in?
That medium is video. You need to start using videos to get people excited about your video.
Trailers are a version of this that Hollywood uses. By putting out little 2 minute trailers – they can communicate the film to get potential viewers excited.
I’m talking about doing the same thing to get potential help involved early on.
By using a video you can really hone in and communicate what your film is going to look like, sound like, and feel like.
So what exactly is a video proposal? I’m going to cover a few variations.
1.) Visual Treatment for your Film
This is a visual / audio representation of your film. You can do this using reference footage, reference audio, and even sample footage you’ve shot on your own.
By doing this you can capture the vibe of your film without actually picking up a camera. People can start to get a glimpse of the tone and narrative depending on how much detail you put into this visual treatment. Some people create entire trailers just using ‘reference footage.’
Here is a real example:
2.) The Pitch
This is a straight pitch of your film. A lot of people do this on kickstarter. You mix an interview describing the film to potential help. You can throw reference footage over top of your pitch to really drive home points that you discuss.
Here is an example:
3.) Shoot a Sample
If you want to really hone in on the specific vision you have for your project this is the route to take. You can select a portion of your film that’s key / important and shoot it. By capturing a specific scene or portion of your story – you can show potential help the style and give them a taste of the story.
Here is an example:
WHIPLASH.
I’ve even implemented all 3 of the above ideas to help pitch my project and get buy in from folks before I even start shooting.
Here’s an example of a “Pitch Video” I recently put together:
SONS OF THUNDER – Pitch Video from Chris A. Neal on Vimeo.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just good enough to create buy in for who you want buy in. Recruiting production talent vs recruiting investors is different. I use this technique for both!
Challenge: Create a pitch video for your next project. Send it to people to get buy in. And send me a link. Pitch me.
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