ASSIGNMENT 3 PART 2 | Documentation for Posterity

Alana

During MIYFF, one of my roles throughout the running of the film festival was to be apart of the social media team. I managed the Facebook page and events throughout the festival and have chosen to include a screenshot of the page as my artefact. Keeping on top of what top post when proved to be difficult at times (Andrew forwarding me the radio interviews was definitely a huge help). The experience came with its learning curves (promoting that there would be food and drinks pre-screening would have helped with an earlier arrival) but overall, I think I can confidently say everything went pretty well socials-wise.

Alice – Radio Interviews

During the final week leading up to our festival event, Cerise and myself were fortunate enough to be interviewed on Triple R’s morning show ‘The Breakfasters’ to promote MIYFF. I find that self-promotion can always be a tricky thing, but thinking back to how hard we all worked to bring this festival to life, you start to realise that you need all the self-promotion you can get! Being interviewed on such a well loved and well respected program really made me feel proud for how far our festival had already come, and that sharing and promoting our work with other listeners was a truly gratifying experience.

https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/breakfasters/episodes/7507-breakfasters-28-may-2019

Andrew – Earned Media / Publicity

MIYFF PROGRAM MR

MIYFF Publicity schedule

RADIO

SYN –  Wed 22 May

Alice / Sean

http://syn.org.au/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival-interview/?fbclid=IwAR1taI-B4xXbsqiri2sBQRYAvqLzwxbPwb3Fr3-_a0Bk7CFqZ3ggnAkPSAY

Radio Wyn FM – Sat 25 May

Arnel

http://emit-media-production.s3.amazonaws.com/3wyn/movie-metropolis/2019/05/25/2000/201905252000_movie-metropolis_24.m4a

Radio WBC – Sun 26 May

Ben

https://filmreviews.net.au/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival-interview-with-ben-veress/

Radio Kiss – Mon 27 May

Andy

https://www.mixcloud.com/ForumKissFM/lee-ann-joy-forum-kiss-fm-dance-music-mon-830-10-pm-guest-cipta-good-guys-nevever-win/

Radio Triple R – Tues 28 May

Cerise and Alice

https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/breakfasters/episodes/7507-breakfasters-28-may-2019

Radio Joy – Wed 29 May

Andy

https://joy.org.au/jacqanddene/2019/06/01/miyff/

Radio 3CR – Thurs 30 May

Grass

https://www.3cr.org.au/showreel/episode-201905301100/miyff-melbourne-international-youth-film-festival

Radio 3CR – Sat 1 June

Andy

https://www.3cr.org.au/onscreen

ARTICLES

CBD NEWS – News article

https://cbdnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CBD54.pdf

The 8 Percent – Feature

http://the8percent.com/miyff/?fbclid=IwAR0e9rEk3bCt8naJNBp6YSZ2Tt5w13E2vP-qb0PGSVXOjGdzFWJOkcRDtjk

The Swanston Gazette – Feature

https://www.theswanstongazette.com/entertainment/2019/5/30/what-to-do-this-weekend-the-inaugural-melbourne-international-youth-film-festival

Catalyst – Feature

http://rmitcatalyst.com/what-to-do-this-weekend-melbourne-international-youth-film-festival/

LISTINGS

Weekend Notes –

https://www.weekendnotes.com/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival/?fbclid=IwAR0HW6_7ml9gn3SGimSr-wAvioeFSnaF1ZwR6vQWI-Y3tCB8q3tgRY3vpg4

Eventfinda –  Editors Pick

https://www.eventfinda.com.au/2019/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival/melbourne/southbank

Arts News Portal – https://www.artnewsportal.com/art-news/the-melbourne-international-youth-film-festival-announces-its-inaugural-program

Evensi –

https://www.evensi.com/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival-backlot-studios/310430824

Whats On Melb –

https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Whatson/Films/FilmFestivals/Pages/5ad31ddd-af5b-4ccd-a3af-a899deb0b319.aspx

Film Ink –

https://www.filmink.com.au/public-notice/2019-melbourne-international-youth-film-festival-unveils-inaugural-program/?fbclid=IwAR3mIzCd3XCuVY4OxsRr-Rl0fcnPXkxO7E4QkXix-F2fJTYc2tA2gNC_Ons  Also shared event

Only Melbourne –

https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/miyff

Daily Review –

https://dailyreview.com.au/events/melbourne-international-youth-film-festival/

Armin – Trailer

This is the trailer for the face of MIYFF and somehow my face ended up being the main one behind it, which I kind of dread but also think is cool at the same time. Because of all the effort and work that was put in for this entire semester has just been mind bending and it really shows through every piece of individual work that came together to create this one big successful project. The editing of trailers was so much easier when you had a team behind you helping bounce ideas and creating a vision and aesthetic into something people can see on a screen.

Arnel – Posters

When it came to creating the posters, Tessa, Leann and myself learned the importance of simplicity and keeping things to the point. These posters were initially made with the intention of getting as much information about the MIYFF out as possible, but we were advised to – through the feedback from industry professionals Rohan Spong and Erin Rosenberg at our industry panel – place emphasis on the key information of our festival (including dates, times and slogans) as any onlookers who saw the posters would only have so much time to stop and look at its contents.

The overall visual look of our design was predicated on our logo and its colour scheme. We wanted to keep a consistency of blacks, reds and whites across all aspects of design and that was no different here. The posters felt like they should be stuck up around RMIT by the time they were done and they gave onlookers a recognised institution to draw the festival back to.

We further categorised the information (both visual and written) on the posters in a hierarchical manner. Of most significance are the images of the directors as we wanted onlookers to understand that even these directors had to start somewhere and this was them prior to large fame which is what the festival is looking at – the beginning. Next is the logo of the festival followed by the logo in expanded form and then the date, venues and social media links. We thought this would be the perfect way to order things and draw people’s attention accordingly.

Ben – Fundraiser

Held May 9th on the RMIT Premises, MIYFF screened the films “Ben & Arthur” and “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” as part of its Canned Film Screening Fundraiser. I was at the head of planning the event, speaking at it to introduce everyone to our organisation’s mission. The event was a massive undertaking as I had to reach out to various filmmakers for permission to screen their films, search the public domain for films that might be suitable and then do research on the film to ensure it is entertaining enough to maintain its cult status. In addition as well to participating in our marketing campaign for the event and venue hiring, the fundraiser was an incredibly insightful experience in managing expectations, communicating ideas and engaging an audience.

Brandon – Film Logistics

Once the programming team sorted through the submissions and compiled their vision of the final program I was tasked with sourcing and organising all the films for screening at our events. To help with this I created a spreadsheet where I could enter in the information needed and update where necessary as I proceeded.

Frequently filmmakers or their nominated point of contact for distribution were non-responsive, making it difficult to locate and download their films. Back-up plans, such as finding and messaging a representative via social media, were put in place for these instances. As films were received I would update my spreadsheet to reflect the progress in my work, providing helpful guidance on what steps I would need to take next.

Bridie – Sponsorships & Partnerships Package

This is the sponsorship package we sent to companies that we felt aligned with our values.  It was based on the the Illinois Women’s Film Festival sponsorship package, though the prices were brought down significantly.  Using this, we were able to receive sponsorship from many companies, including FilmInk, Lighthouse Rentals, Remedy Kombucha, and most excitingly, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, who has asked for a post-festival meeting to discuss our on-going relationship!

Sponsorship Packet 2019

Ekaterina – Advertising

As I have just proposed my advertising campaign last week, the timing was nothing but perfect for week 5 reading “How to Successfully Promote Your Festival”. As you probably guessed, this is exactly what I’ll be rumbling about in this blog post. Let’s go.

I have mentioned maybe a hundred times that I am very fond of marketing, advertising, branding and everything that has to do with sales and communications. I was very excited to have an opportunity to manage the advertising for MIYFF, and even more excited to receive such positive feedback from the team. I figured that it’s very important to keep every ad consistent and working towards the same goal, communicating the same values and the same idea. We want the audience to have a clear understanding of what MIYFF is about and what’s the image around it. As Rambousková says in her article:

“ Your festival needs a clear visual identity that the potential audience will easily comprehend and that will distinguish the festival from other events.”

I’ve also looked at some of the other film festival’s aesthetics and noticed that they all are very similar and maintain a consistent appearance and ‘mood’. The short promo for KVIFF that we discussed in class, for example.

Another example is the design of MIFF ads, which are always colourful, bright and somewhat goofy.

#Just the beginning campaign layout

Grace – Operations & Program

These were created to assist the schedule and running of formalities of each session. It was necessary for all team members, including front of house and tech to be well informed on the run times and structure of each session. Creating these and sharing them across our online MIYFF group, as well as distributing printed versions amongst key event team members working on sessions, was necessary to ensure as a collective we had a mutual understanding of the going – ons.

The creation of the print program was a prolonged one. It began with an initial curation of the script and page layout, deciphering what information was necessary to inform readers of. After finalising what each page featured, we passed on the transcript to the design team. They then proceeded to curate the visual layout, and turn words on paper into something engaging, that aligned with our festivals branding and vision. The program was a collaborative effort between editors and designers, which involved deliberation and consistent attention to refine and edit the final product, into an artefact that could not only provide important information, but that could used as a means of promotion and held onto as a physical memento of the festival.

Melbourne International Youth Film Festival 2019 Program

Leann – Design

I had the pleasure to be handling the design aspects for the first ever MIYFF – Melbourne International Youth Film Festival alongside Tessa and Arnel. We worked together to create the logo, posters, social media posts and the program booklet. We all learned how to create simple yet eye catching designs to attract the public and get MIYFF out there. It is important to create visuals that would be eye catching and visuals that stand out as this would catch the public’s attention and make them remember.

Most of our designs revolve around the colour scheme of red, white and black, as it is to represent RMIT as well because we are RMIT students. It was challenging to create visuals that corresponded with our colours yet we manage to design all the design materials accordingly and make it eye-catching and memorable. We have made the logo with the letters I and Y sticking together because we want to reinforce that it is dedicated to international youths. We also made instagram posts with an aesthetic layout with pictures of directors when they were young and quotes from famous directors. Other than that, we created posters with different images of directors when they were young to give a variety of posters to be put up in RMIT. Lastly, the program booklet took us the longest to design as they were many different ideas that we had but we have implemented all our ideas together in the final booklet and made it look perfect.

Thanks to all the supportive and collaboration of the MIYFF team, MIYFF had been a great success and I am very proud to say that I have been a part of it. I have learnt so many things throughout this process of creating a film festival.

Madeliene – Lanyards

Attached is a photo of the staff and VIP lanyards. The lanyards and ID slips were purchased separately and I created the MIYFF Staff and VIP identifier slips that were put inside. The colour red for the lanyards was chosen as the entire festival was branded with red, white and black.

Matilda – Grants

The significance of this image is that it represents the time we knew we couldn’t really expect any financial help from the government. The City of Melbourne Quick Response arts grant is one of three grants I applied for (the others being Film Victoria Screen Culture Funding, and VicArts Grant), none of which were successful.

Megan – Catering

This is the end result of the cheese boards for the Saturday Closing night session. Doing the catering was a stressful task because you want to cater to everyone and make sure everyone gets some food, but I am really happy with the result. We ended up with four platters at the Opening night and three for the closing as well as popcorn. The response from everyone was great and it appeared that most people enjoyed the food therefore I am happy with the job I did.

Niki – Radio

On May 8th, I appeared on Love and Laugh Radio (94.1FM 3WBC) to promote MIYFF and the Canned Film Festival with my friend and host, Alvianty Sumantri.

Niki inside radio studio video

Phillip – Trailer

The trailer and the team behind it were exceptionally interesting to be a part of. Working with so many people & finding a cohesive vision was the biggest challenge that I had to overcome — however having so many dynamic thinkers in one place also helps sharpen the vision and aesthetic of the whole project.

Sean – Website

Throughout the festival I had the pleasure of designing, creating and then maintaining the Melbourne International Youth Film Festival official website. I took on this task as I wanted to gain further experience in areas of website design, search engine optimisation and email client management. After consulting with other team members, I decided on an interface that would be easy to follow, manage and ultimately be able to convert ticket sales. I split the website pages into About/Home, 2019 Program, Tickets, Blog and Contact. Email client management was facilitated through Gmail and worked fairly seamlessly with minimum bounce rates. The website was hosted on an Australia domain provider with secure https. The website received over 800 visits in the 10 days prior to the festival (21st May – 1st June). The bounce rate of the website for the period of May-June was 54.32% with 1.97 average page views and an average of 02:05 mins spent on the website per session. (See image below)

As of the 6th June, 2019 the website was listed at the top of Google organic search. This is attributed to the development of website content, backend SEO optimisation, backlinks created within social media and earned media sources. The website generated 90% of ticket sales with 10% of sales made through the Eventbrite platform (and linked event partners eg. facebook).

The website can be viewed at the link below.

www.miyff.com.au

Tessa – Event Photography & Facebook Design / SMM

If we were to start this festival from scratch and aim to get a full audience within 12 weeks, fueling our social media was a key priority for us. With Facebook and Instagram as two of the most popular social media platforms, we had to ensure that our online profiles were constantly active and constantly reaching out to as many people as we can to bring awareness to this festival and to get those tickets sold. Facebook acted primarily as our main source of information, particularly publishing official events, articles and interviews that some of our teammates appear on, and promotional information on some of the short films that will be premiering at the festival.

Instagram, on the other hand, functioned slightly differently to our Facebook posts. We didn’t want our Instagram activity to completely mimic our Facebook behaviour and the social media and design team understood that capturing followers through Instagram is more likely done with a strong visual aesthetic. So, utilizing the colours of our logo, red, black and white, we posted a mix of archival black and white photos of famous directors, chequered with memorable quotes within the first couple of months. Then, when the final short films were chosen for the festival screenings, we started posting stills from a selection of our short films, still maintaining a strong visual tonality.

In this day and age of new social media, maintaining an online presence is vital to any event business. We worked hard to design the posts and keep to a schedule of actively publishing content daily, and we managed to do this with all the collaborative effort from the people in the marketing team, the PR team, the design team, essentially everyone because our online presence is a reflection of us and our hard work creating this festival.

 

https://www.instagram.com/miyff19/

 

https://www.facebook.com/MIYFF19/

Tristan – Programming & Submissions

When it came to programming and selecting the order of the films we honestly thought it was going to be so difficult, however we had watched these films so many times and we knew them so well so it was actually fairly simple and somewhat rewarding. There were a few different debates we had about what should go where and what should play on specific nights, however at the end of it we were really pleased with our placement of each specific film and we felt each film really complimented another or set up the overall feel for our program.

Xinyi – Chinese Trailer & WeChat Advertising

I had the pleasure to be handling the Chinese trailer aspects for the first ever MIYFF – Melbourne International Youth Film Festival alongside Amy and Poppy.  We worked together to brainstorm, shooting, lighting, and editing them. We all learned how to create simple yet eye catching shooting to attract the public and get MIYFF out there. It is important to catch audience’s eyes so that making them remember our Chinese trailer.

The original intention of our Chinese trailer was to attract more Chinese students to participate in our film festival.  And our idea is to make things that we create easy to understand and compelling. The actor chose our friend because I wanted to avoid some of the flaws in the shooting and get better editing results.

Then I want to discuss the idea about cake. Because I have had internship experience in a Chinese crew, when every show or event is done, people usually prepare a cake to celebrate, which seems to be a tradition. At the same time, this is our first film festival, I want to celebrate its birth, just like everybody’s birthday has the custom of eating cake.

Thanks to all the support and cooperation of the MIYFF team, MIYFF has achieved great success and I am proud to say that I am involved. I learned a lot during the film festival.

Xinyue – Chinese Trailer & Advertising

The screenshoot of the social app is an advertisement for film festival, which include where to buy the tickets.In the trailer producing photo, I’m the one who holding the light and in charge of the camera, because the natural light was not strong so the scene was not clear. The result was great, and I’m happy for the final video effect.

Yating – Chinese Trailer Editing

The screenshot in the document is the moment I edited the trailer for China. Although it wasn’t my first video clip, the movie trailer was my first contact. Meeting the needs of the entire team at the same time is the biggest challenge, but I have to overcome it. There may be many shortcomings, but it’s my first attempt. And also I uploaded it to YouTube for publicity.