side projects | Vinod Bharathan

Anatomy of my posters

15-01-2012

Inspirations, Photography, post-prod notes, side projects

It is sunday morning and i should be at my editing desk. Since i edit my own films (as i’m poor to afford an editor) , it can be a bitch to start on a less exciting job after shouting “lights, camera and AAACTION!” So, here i am, procrastinating again, creatively. I thought it would be fun to explain my posters.

An honest filmmaker will set the mood to the film using his poster. This avoids misunderstandings and wrong expectations. A correct mood setting poster works a long way into letting the audience into the premise of the film.

Regular Jobs (2009)

Regular jobs was my graduating project from Copenhagen Media School (a.k.a Rampen, Københavns film og foto skole). This is one of the first time i relayed entirely on the plot. The setup was very ‘Reservoir dogs‘ meets ‘Collateral‘. The bank robbery, millions of dollars, American gangsters and Muscle cars were the spice of vision. A frame grab of the car toned into red, browns and blacks conveys the gritty nature of the scenario.

The Suspect (2010)

When i wrote the script to The Suspect, i had planned to make it a story happening next doors a random day. My friend had allowed me to shoot the film at her apartment. As i made a study of her apartment, it had a very ‘Gotham City‘ looks to it. Her apartment was very girly and the building was an 18th century build. I now decided to take the girly things down and splash a poster of Brooklyn in 1800 on the wall. An old dial telephone added to the timelessness of the film. I decided to give the main character a mask to create a better visual impact. But it was coincidental that i had taken a picture of street in Copenhagen a few days before that fit right into the mood of the film. I did later shoot the opening shot of the film at the place where i shot this picture, which of course ended up as the posted of the film.

designing the looks by Cecile Mindegaard

the storyboard

The Suspect - poster inspiration

The Suspect - The final poster

Karma Currency

This film is currently on the edit desk (which i should be working on right now !). The filming of Karma Currency was very hectic (10 days in INDIA) and i never managed to get a photographer as a crew member. But thankfully, Jeena Chacko, who was the script supervisor of the film is an excellent artistic photographer too. She was roaming around and taking pics of the set and i noticed that she was taking a pic of the Police Chief (Played by Rone). I saw that the Police constable (played by Ahamed Shaheen) was lurking around the scenario, and i asked him to step into the frame. And just like that, i managed to get a poster material. I played it with grunge overlays to tune it to the match the mood of the film.

See how the iPhone is very visible in this pic

The orange band covered the iPhone tragedy

Poster 2

On the third day of shoot, we were driven to this location early morning. It was a beach and was full of character. Fishing boats, fishermen and a broken down shack. This set the excellent mood of the opening shot. Jeena and i took some test shots, and i decided what would be the opening shot and the landscape poster of the film.

Testing the shots

Poster reference

final Landscape poster

On the closing note

I use the current poster of the project i’m working on, as my google splash screen as a reminder of an unfinished project.

Successful crowd funding – my mantra

By: Vinod Bharathan

10-01-2012

by the way, Inspirations, Prod notes, side projects

Yes, i have managed to raise 4000$ in 60 days using the crowd funding platform IndieGoGo. I would like to share my mantra with you. There are tons of sites teaching you how to go make a successful campaign. I’m not going to give teach you anything. I’m just going to tell you how i got about my campaign and made it work.

Research.

yes, take time to do that. See what others have done. I aimed more specifically after campaigns that looks a lot like what is was planning to do.

The Pitch

A video pitch with a pretty girl narrating will sell, but when you are selling to your friends, you better be honest. As mentioned in the crowd funding-tutorials, i made an honest pitch fronting myself in a video. I chose YOUTUBE over VIMEO, as all that HD matters only to you. Youtube plays on anything on any bandwidth.

Setting target amount

I set it at 4000$ because i felt that any amount lesser than that would look less serious. I was ready to call it a success even if i managed to just pull half the target amount. But i kept that thought to myself and sold it like the target sum mattered. A friend of mine asked me if the target amount was too ambitious, but i have learnt that ambitiousness is a brand that sells.

Setting the length of the campaign

I chose to run the campaign for 60 days knowing that it will cover two salary seasons. I chose to start the campaign in the mid of the month, so i could give me and my contributors time to ease in and out of their decisions.

The perks and promises

The perks and promises to which you sell are of very less importance unless you are handing over private autographed photos of Tom Cruise, You know what i mean? People contribute to you because they like what you do. They contribute of pure good will. People who knows you closely, tend to contribute more than the others. But remember to treat all equally, every drop counts.

Sorting your network

I divided my network into 3 sections. 1) Closest friends 2) Acquaintances 3) People with Money and willing

Making the move

Even before i opened the campaign to the public, i sent my first set of VERY PERSONAL mails, WRITTEN INDIVIDUALLY to the first bunch, the closest friends. They will now jumpstart the campaign. They pushed the slider a quarter way in just a week.

With the slider quarter full and the campaign breathing life, i publish the campaign to public on social media. The news will spread to the second bunch, the acquaintances and the ones missing out on the first bunch.

After the first “harvest“, i let the campaign lay low and rest, while occasionally updating stuff on the page for variety. And meanwhile, campaigning (keeping it alive) the PROJECT on social media.

Just in time for the second salary season, i send personal mails to all who has not funded yet and the third bunch as well. By this time (40th day), i had already surpassed the mid-target mark. The campaign is already a success as far as i am concerned.

Time to seal the deal. The final bunch of contributors are reminded, and they do what they do best – make things a success.

— Vinod Bharathan