A Cinematic Breakfast Snack of Some Kind

Title Link Here

So, I did it. Yes, I saw the movie that "is going to redefine cinema as we know it".

NB: The link above (no, not Homestarrunner) is PG-13 in content. Hilarious, but PG-13.

How was it? Well, suffice to say that Matt Diamond's pre-release review is much better, and the entire reason I bothered to sit through the flick at all. The cinematography was actually quite good. The violence incredibly gross (as if the filmmakers sat down and thought about the worst places people could possibly be bitten, and then said, "That'll do"). The story is weak as it could be with a ridiculous group of characters. All in all, I had fun. Think "AVP" meets "Air Force One" with a dose of gruesome deaths and some nudity just because. I actually enjoyed it because I knew I was sitting down to watch an incredibly terrible movie.

So what does this teach us about filmmaking?

First, it tells me that people will watch just about anything. There is a market for your movie, assuming that it has a little production value (and sometimes even when it doesn't) and some semblance of a story.

Second, it shows that with good marketing people will happily watch, buy, do anything... even if it is horrible. Note: Not only will they do it, but they will gladly do it. Sure, the "Snakes on a Plane" trailer did nothing for me. Nor did the posters. But the above article made me watch the movie and enjoy it. That's the power of good marketing that isn't official marketing. Had someone written that up for real to try to sell tickets and we had known about it, it wouldn't have worked. Well, not as likely.

That's all I got for now. Hope it was enlightening. If you get nothing else from this post: Don't bother watching "Snakes on a Plane".

~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor