Production, Distribution, and Exhibition of my Film Project:
Production of this film project would likely boil down to a small-scale indie-production that's financed independently. As for why I'd enjoy making this movie at the small-scale size, I like the creative liberty it gives and the forced innovation that operating on a low-budget brings. This is an opportunity less to make a foray into the actual film industry in profit, and more just hone my general filmmaking skills. As for who I'd like to star in my film, I believe I'm going to limit it to just me, with some friends filling smaller roles if need be. I want to be able to narrate the film, and likely voice any spoken dialogue, mostly for the sake of practicality and personal enjoyment. I've always loved indie films and individual-projects, and it's that more intimate creative vision that it creates that has me excited to produce in the small-scale. Working on a budget of zero dollars, utilizing only what I have, is also exciting to me as it gives me the opportunity to innovate as an amateur filmmaker. I've consumed film content all my life, and to finally try my hand at actually producing a small project myself is an exciting opportunity.
Distribution of my film project would be limited to a small YouTube release, but hypothetically, if I had the resources I'd want to look into film festivals, and releasing this project on streaming platforms if it were to succeed. However, realistically, I would be the only one releasing and distributing my film through YouTube, promoting my film through my Instagram, reaching just my small following of close friends. I'd want a release devoid of any prior content like trailers or teasers, purely because I take joy in experiencing films blind, the mystery that comes with that, has always been an effective tension- and intrigue-creating device. In all honesty, I'd likely not make a single penny off this project as it will be using copyrighted music, and if I somehow did, a large chunk of that revenue would go to YouTube. I find distributing my film on such an individual-focused platform such as YouTube would be liberating in a way. I could even feel sentimental about it if I'd set it on unlisted and shared it only amongst my close friends and family. The small-scale nature of YouTube as a platform just overall appeals to me less as a platform, and more as a digital scrapbook of my past projects. Overall, a small-scale distribution on YouTube would best suit this small-scale production.
Exhibition of my film project, and the actual viewing of the film by consumers would be putting my film up to the audience's interpretation, and as I'm going for a more abstract narrative, this has multiple implications. First of all, as the creator of the film, I'd want the neo-noir genre to be well-represented in a a surreal-toned film that lends itself to darker themes. I'd want the overall tone of the movie to feel pessimistic, but the message of it to be optimistic. This would encourage the viewer to dig deeper into the film's meaning and promote its longevity in the world of film critics. This is what I'd hope the success of my release is based on, a revitalization of the neo-noir genre in the small-scale short film world. The overarching cash flow of my project would likely be minimal, but if any, most of the pre-exhibition money would go to YouTube, whilst the post-exhibition money would likely build up to make me a decent profit in the long-term. However unlikely this is, I'd expect no other avenues of revenue to be viable. Merchandising for such a small film isn't reasonable and the opportunities for this are extremely slim at this level. Overall, I'd hope more to make an emotional impact on my audience through a deep story, rather than profit off a film with virtually zero budget.
