Can Viral Video Hint at How to Make Better Feature Films?

If success in this crazy business depends on identifying what makes a successful movie, I suppose it’s worth some time thinking about what makes a movie successful.

Two Kinds of Short Films

There are two kinds of short films: those that are too long and those that are way too long.  At least that’s what my brother tells me they say in Hollywood, wherever that is.  Well, this insight proves true in the vast collection of viral videos spawned by the YouTube revolution.  We live in a viral age – where straight uni-directional advertising through conventional media are less effective.  We Tivo away the commercials.  We tune out radio ads.  We ignore billboards.  But we listen to our friends and we share links on Facebook, Twitter and email.  Thus, “viral” promotion is definitely the proverbial wave of the future.

If you’re not familiar with Nalts, you’re missing out on a funny, thoughtful, and often delightfully immature guy.

Nalts, Nalts, it’s Not His Fault That He’s a Funny Guy

When I lived in Italy a couple years ago, I spent a long, Italian Easter lunch overlooking Lago Albano with a group of friends.  One of the friends was Father Nalty, a priest in the Vatican.  He happened to mention that his brother is something of an internet celebrity.  No way?!  You mean, Nalts?  The guy that did the farting-in-the-library video?  And the Google Butt Crack video?? Sure enough, his brother is Kevin Nalty, also known as Nalts on Youtube.  I remember excitedly sending Kevin Nalty an email.  He never responded. But that’s not really the story…

I discovered in reading more of Nalty’s stuff, that viral videos share many characteristics.  And I couldn’t help wondering if these culture-shaping YouTube videos could also give some clues as to what makes a compelling feature film.  Does what works in miniature work on a bigger scale?  I think a photo of an aunt carrying a large leaf is appropriate here.

good work little guy

Some things that struck me:

• The ending is very important; it should be unexpected.
• Keep the length short.
• What you leave out could be the most important you do to the video.

Anyway, here is the excerpt from Nalty’s free ebook.

Short,  Fast  and  Big  Finish
There  are  no  hard  rules  of  online  video,  but  popular  videos  tend  to  be  short,  fast-paced and offer a big  finish.  People  generally  want  two  or  three  minutes, and 90  seconds  is  maybe  ideal.  That  said,  the  historically  most  popular  video  ever  on  YouTube,  (Evolution  of  Dance)  is  six  minutes  long.
It  takes  me  much  longer  to  edit  a  video  into  30-90  seconds,  but  it’s  almost  always  better  that  way.  When  you?re  editing,  you  sometimes  can?t  resist  keeping  some  of  your  favorite  moments.  But  when  I  return  to  the  video  weeks  later,  I  become  infuriated  by  my  undisciplined  editing.  Trust  me,  the  viewers  will  never  miss  the  gag  that  took  a  video  from  3  to  5  minutes,  and  you’ll  find  your  views  are  inversely  related  to  the  length  of  your  video.  If  you  must  tell  the  story  in  more  than  3-5  minutes,  consider  breaking  it  into  a  3-part  series.
I  sometimes  forget  about  the  power  of  the  “big  finish,” but  it’s  the  magical  moment.  Certainly  it’s  as  important  as  captivating  them  in  the  first  20  seconds.  If  people  lose  interest,  they  won?t  forward  the  video  on.  However,  if  there’s  a  great  ending  we’ll  forgive  some  of  the  dips  in  the  middle.  We’ll  also  rate  it  higher  and  share  it  with  others.  Surprise  us  at  the  end,  or  at  least  return  to  a  previous  gag  so  the  story  doesn?t  taper  away.  Google  Butt  Crack  is  an  example.  I  try  to  close  my  videos  with  my  URL,  then  return  to  one  final  gag.
There’s  nothing  I  enjoy  more  about  video  production  than  finalizing  the  editing,  and  adding  music.  It  also  helps  to  have  someone  watch  your  video  with  you,  and  note  when  they  look  bored.  I’ve  chopped  my  videos  down  by  watching  my  wife’s  blank  stare  when  I  make  her  watch  them.  You’ll  get  a  quick  sense  of  what  you  can  lose.  Sometimes  the  best  part  of  the  video  is  what  you  decide  to  leave  out. (bold emphasis is mine)

So, what can be applied to feature-length films for their “viral” success? I’m no Robert McKee, but are three essential ingredients that I’ve identified from watching some of Youtube’s most popular videos.

1. It has to be an original concept for people to share it and make it “go viral.”
2. It has to be consistently well-executed.  One weak moment can break the spell and spoil the movie.
3. It must have an unexpected ending.

In a similar vein, this must be why high-concept movies are more popular – it’s easy to share in a sentence or two what the essential story is.  And since endings are so, so important, I’ll let the Viral Video Genius himself put the period on this post.

Up in the Air Movie Musings

Why it’s Reitman’s most personal film so far and why he changed so much from the book.

“Up in the Air” stars George Clooney  (Clooney stalker site here) and is directed by Jason Reitman, a director that I like more every day for some reason.  Yesterday I re-watched one of his first short films, In God We Trust, and it just reinforced my man-crush.  Speaking of which, Jason, would you please upload a cleaner, better resolution version to the interweb?  I know you’re busy making movies and Twittering and stuff, but it’s just a well executed short film that should be seen in better quality.  Anyway…

I finally watched this interview that Peter Sciretta did with Jason Reitman on the gondola ride in Telluride, CO this past September.  Sciretta has Reitman trapped for 15 minutes and he asks some great questions.

At the world premiere, I asked Reitman why he chose to change so much from the novel.  (Immediately after my question, which I thought was quite appropriate and interesting, an 11 year old upstaged me by asking Mr. Reitman: “What’s your philosophy… on life?”  After an awkward start, Jason fielded that question pretty well – and later encouraged the little girl to keep asking those kinds of questions.  Once you get around to seeing this film, which I highly recommend, this is the best interview I’ve found on the web.  Here, I see that Reitman answers in more detail than he did to me at that first screening.

Soon after seeing the premiere, I wrote this review of Up in the Air.

Also, for some good movie reviews, check out IllWatchAnything.com

Agora: Epic Mediocrity

I preface this post with a SPOILER ALERT in case the film ever makes it to a theater near you.

I recently gained access to screen the unreleased film AGORA, an English-language historical drama from lauded Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar.  The producers are currently shopping the film for North American distribution after its tepid reception at Cannes in May.  Even spectacular production value, beautiful costumes and visceral violence couldn’t carry its general bulk.

The story picks up in AD 369 Alexandria, as we learn from the first of several lengthy title cards, and attempts to give an historical account of the bloody rise of Christianity in the city.  The film slightly overshoots the the mark of requisite carnage for its genre, chronicling the slaughter of Christians by the pagans (mostly swords), then the pagans by the Christians (mostly pitchforks), then the Christians by the Jews (mostly stones), then the Jews by the Christians (a cocktail of torture, rape and burning)… but the main characters remain unscathed to finish the story.

Our focus (for some reason) is on the voice-of-reason historical figure of Hypatia of Alexandria (played satisfactorily by Rachel Weisz).  She is a beloved teacher, restless philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and wise atheist.  She is also the center of a love triangle that is completed by city’s political head, Orestes Jr., and her former slave, Davus.  Unfortunately her scientific breakthroughs don’t quite carry the impact we hope for (planetary orbits are not perfect circles), and the love triangle is uninvolving (which is just as well in the end).  The atheist Hypatia must ultimately die for her faith, a very ironic heroine.

I predict that Agora will have a short domestic run in “select theaters” before lying to rest with its banished brethren, Alexander and Kingdom of Heaven.  Watch the trailer.