Now that we've (on a surface level) covered the social media aspect of the project, my mind has drifted towards worrying about the print component of the short film, the postcard.
As someone who is completely new to the film world, I had no clue how much of an important factor postcard play within festivals.
Coincidentally the other day, however, I stumbled upon two blogs from media students somewhere in the world that talked about postcards, their meaning, and provided some examples.
This blog by Alastair Tupling provided me with this really helpful infographic below.
The second blog, bye Kavya Maran, simply stresses the importance of including contact information within one's postcard.
After learning some basic information on postcards from these two blogs, I decided that I wanted to research more on the actual composition and the information that I will need to include on the front and back of my postcard. This is when I came across an article by The No Budget Report which goes into detail about the importance of postcards as well as the vital information film-makers should include in them.
The author, Mark Stolaroff, mentions that the front of the postcard should be simple and eyecatching, stating "You don't have to crap it up with any other information". He states that the image is likely the poster designed for the film, and if not, it should ideally be a compelling image that portrays the short.
As for the back, the author mentions that he likes to think of it as a "Pocket Press Kit" and that one should cram it with a lot of information. However, Stolaroff clarifies that filmmakers have to ensure that the information included must be clear, concise, and organized. It should be easy to read and glance over. He states that for him, he prefers to divide the back into two halves and divide the information into sections.
The first section Stolaroff mentions are the Title and that it should be bolded and easy to read. The second section is the Director's Name which is usually placed near the title of the film.
The third section Stolaroff clarifies as the Synopsis. He states that "after the graphic font, this is the second most important place to compel your audience to see the film". The next section is the billing block, which could compel people to watch your film based off of the familiarity of knowing someone in it. The author also states the billing block is also important as traditionally members of the cast and crew would also be passing out postcards it is compelling for them to say something along the lines of "That's me! I worked on this film".
Another important section to include in your postcard is the screening times, places, and ticket information. This is important as it is, according to Stolaroff "the postcard's reason for being". Things to include in this section would be the day, date, time, venue, address, and ticket links.
Stolaroff also mentions sections such as including your website, press quotes, film laurels and awards, calls to action as well as social media links, and finally the contact information which makes the postcard as much as a business card for the film but also the director.
Finally, Stolaroff also includes information such as how many postcards one should print (500+ as you can reuse them), sizing options (he usually goes for 6" x 4.25 as they fit in most pockets), and wherein LA he likes to print them.
Overall, I think I got a really good basis and understanding of what a postcard should include, and I'm excited to start designing mine once production fully begins.
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