Citizen with smartphone
Is there better news in this regard once there is an idea and a script that can be produced? Not if you are seriously planning to put a film online that can trend on Twitter and even make De Wereld Draait Door (it doesn't get more ambitious than that). Suppose the idea is based on a 'crazy movie made by an ordinary citizen', then immediately forget that this will be done cheaply by actually having it made by an ordinary citizen with a smartphone.
Chances are that you, the reader, have already spied on quite a few videos that looked suspiciously like videos made by ordinary citizens with smartphones, but were in fact the result of the same careful production process that is required to realize a serious TV commercial.
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Mindset
Yes, production-wise, filming can be done more efficiently and relatively cheaply. Yes, it can be done with smaller crews. Yes, the concept should actually start from a simple situation, so that you don't end up in set construction or days of expensive post-production. All true. But it is unwise to say in advance that an online film should not cost much more than about ten thousand euros. Or double that, go crazy.
Approach the making of an online film with the same mindset as saudi arabia mobile phone number list when you are about to produce a new TV commercial. An online film consists of moving images with sound and if there is music that can enhance that image, then it has to be composed specifically for it. A composer or sound engineer will not do that for less because it is 'only' an online film. A film is a film and the mechanics remain the same.
Online is a world apart
Online film can be a fantastic instrument within an integrated whole of offline and online expressions. At its very best, as a marketer you can show a whole new side of your brand, completely aligned with the high entertainment value that the online community loves so much. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the TV commercial that cost you a ton, with a few minor adjustments, can be put online and will do its job. Online is a separate world, that requires separate ideas, that have to be thought up separately and executed separately.
Online as main medium
As a medium type, all social media are still in their infancy. Marketers and agencies still have to learn how to deal with them. It is just as much a search for what works and what doesn't, as when we saw the first TV commercials in the Netherlands from REM Island. But, it is going fast and it may already be time to consider a film or commercial intended for online communication as the main medium.
And therefore also approach it in terms of briefing, budget, energy and attention. When we no longer see online films as the final item of a campaign, but as a spearhead, they have a greater chance of success in terms of impact, attention and appreciation. Spend the time and money that is needed to make something special. Then you can also expect something from it.