A Movie Marketing Takeaway from David F. Sandberg’s Latest YouTube Video
Director David F. Sandberg made his feature film debut with the 2016 American supernatural horror movie ‘Lights Out‘. I enjoyed the film immensely. When I discovered that it’s based on a short film of the same name created by David and his wife Lotta Losten, I immediately went to YouTube to watch the original short on the director’s channel ‘ponysmasher‘. At that moment, I learned that the couple had been making and uploading no-budget short horror films to their YouTube channel for some time. All of their short films, shot in one or more rooms of their apartment, with Lotta taking the lead in acting, are interesting, concise and well-executed. As a fan of horror movies, I decided to recommend David‘s and Lotta‘s horror short films to fellow enthusiasts by writing a blog post titled ‘7 Other David F. Sandberg Short Films That Could Make It To Big Screen‘. As a follow-up, I published another blog titled ‘2 (More) David F. Sandberg Short Films That Could Make It To Big Screen‘.
After becoming busy with his film commitments, he occasionally uploads videos, which I always make sure to catch up on. One of my college buddies developed an interest in making short films. I suggested that he watch David’s and Lotta’s video titled ‘Good Enough – Making ‘Shadowed’‘ to learn how to naturally incorporate lighting into night sequences. So, my connection with their YouTube channel goes beyond that of a fan; I truly appreciate their work.
Great Filmmaking: The Servant (1963)…
About a week ago, I received a push notification for a new video titled ‘Great Filmmaking: The Servant (1963)‘ published to the YouTube Channel ‘ponysmasher‘. I started watching it immediately. In the video, David‘s voice-over explains the impressive cinematography and direction of specific scenes in the 1963 movie ‘The Servant‘, which features several long takes (Also known as continuous take/ continuous shot/ oner) and how much he loves the type of filmmaking. While watching, I came across an interesting piece of information about movie marketing. This discovery coincided with my recent commitment to blogging more regularly about movie marketing. As a result, I’ve decided to write this blog post.
Movie Marketing Takeaway…
Toward the video’s end, David poses the question, “If you love this type of filmmaking so much, how come your movies don’t look like that?“. This question resonated with me as well while watching the video. David highlights that movies these days tend to have sequences like this here and there. He then shares some inside information about the film industry that the filmmakers are expected to have an option for editing while shooting long takes. If a studio wants a filmmaker to speed up a scene because the test audience is getting bored, the filmmaker may only have a long take to work with. This situation can lead to significant trouble for the filmmaker. So, this is the movie marketing takeaway I gathered from the video. In this scenario, the test audience plays a crucial role in shaping a movie. In marketing, test audiences consist of the real audience who are not involved in the film’s creation. They are invited to participate in a test screening, where they watch a rough cut of the movie and provide feedback. For decades, both studios and independent filmmakers have utilised test screenings as a valuable tool for refining their films.
Recently, filmmakers and producers in Tamil Cinema have been marketing their movies by highlighting the inclusion of long take sequences. Of late, I came across a random post on X about the necessity of long takes. Various users shared their opinion on the topic. The video from David, which provides firsthand insights, explains the exceptional filmmaking technique involving long takes. It also highlights the challenges this style faces in today’s film industry from the context of marketing.
Check out the video below…
