Today we will look briefly at how media figures who started on applications like Vine, YouTube, TikTok, etc. began breaking into films. We will analyse why video creatives have begun to enter films. As well as how it could impact the industry’s future.

Influencers Come To Films

Films featuring well-known internet personalities have been around since at least the late 2000s. Films like Press Start: The Movie and Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure were made by YouTube creators as passion projects and extensions of their online personas. Then 2009’s Mystery Team and 2010’s Fred: The Movie became the first movies starring/directed by YouTubers to receive cinematic releases. While neither financially succeeded Fred: The Movie became the first part of a trilogy. Mystery Team marked the debut of many recognisable modern actors. Additionally, they both opened up the possibility for further movies to be released cinematically. Allowing them to capture audiences outside of their niche online fandom. 

And as the years have progressed we have seen more influencers/creators from various platforms make their film debut as stars or directors. Vine stars like Liza Koshy and TikTok stars like Addison Rae have popped up in films as varied as Boo: A Madea Halloween, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Thanksgiving. Plus films like Talk To Me and Arctic have seen directors emerge who made their start on YouTube. The generation that has grown up with video creation and social media is now becoming part of the wider filmmaking industry.

The Power of Influence

So why have influencers become more prominent in filmmaking? The first explanation is that having a well-known online creator/influencer attached to a project works well from a marketing standpoint. Allowing marketers to automatically sell the project to the creator’s/influencer’s audience. While giving exposure for the creator/influencer to wider audiences that may not have heard of their content. Thus making their involvement a cynical marketing/self-promotion ploy. 

However, it would be naive to assume that these moves are done purely for that reason. Many people have dreams of being part of the film industry and being a video creator/influencer helps to develop useful film industry skills (whether it’s screen presence, knowledge of how to use cameras, editing etc.). Essentially it allows creators to learn skills that could benefit a move to filmmaking/acting. This makes filmmaking/acting a natural progression for many influencers/creators.

And crucially as well as the above-mentioned skills these personalities have a unique relationship with their audience. Like film stars and celebrity directors, these creators/influencers use different platforms to amplify personalities/work that makes people interested to see what they do. That said, these figures can interact with fans in a more direct and personable way. They don’t have to make newspaper statements or television announcements they can just open their accounts and speak directly to their audience. Allowing them to have more of a feel of authenticity and relatability. Which makes it all the more intriguing to see what these influencers are doing. As these influencers aren’t Hollywood stars or high-profile creators, they are social media users like us. Or at least appear to be. Which can benefit marketers, the creatives and the audience’s sense of investment in a project.

The Future

With popular media sites like YouTube and video-sharing platforms like TikTok inspiring users to take up video making and content production, coupled with filmmaking institutions encouraging influencers to make films, we will likely see more figures begin to become part of mainstream filmmaking. Which could result in some much-needed variety in filmmaking and performance perspectives.

However, as I have stated previously many apps that allow influencers to gain prominence privilege certain voices over others. Limiting the possibilities for marginalised creators and showcasing eye-catching content over experimentation and sometimes overall quality. This means the potential for more diverse filmmaking and casting could be squandered for attention-grabbing headlines and self-serving self-promotion of popular figures. Will artistry trump marketing with this shift? Or is it likely to be a mixture of both?

Also Read: Behind the Name: The Origins and Reasons for Actors’ Stage Names

The post The Vine Social Media Generation Enters Film appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

In this article, we will look at how social media could nurture a new generation of filmmakers. We will also analyse the possible ways that social media videos could change short films. First though, here is a brief overview of the evolution of social media videos.

Social Media Video: In Brief

Videos were part of or incorporated into many early social media platforms like Myspace, Friendster and Facebook in the noughties. However, when Vine was released in 2013 it caused short-form videos to become a huge part of the cultural conversation. Even as Vine declined other social media sites began incorporating Vine-esque short videos into their platform. Like with Instagram and Snapchat’s stories feature.

Then TikTok began taking over the market by allowing users to upload videos up to 15 seconds. Its appeal inspired the likes of YouTube Shorts, Facebook and Instagram Reels. As TikTok continued growing it began allowing the production of longer videos. Now it allows users to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length. Additionally, Instagram now allows the release of reels that can last up to 15 minutes.

TikTok Filmmakers

With videos now a key focus of social media filmmakers have begun being factored into conversations. For example, TikTok has sponsored the Cannes Film Festival for the past two years. Establishing TikTok as a brand interested in the film world in users’ minds. They even had an award show at the festival for shorts made on their platform to get filmmakers to engage with them.

Beyond the branding many of these apps also have their own editing features and even allow for the creation of basic effects like green screening. Allowing newcomers a way to learn basic filmmaking skills without needing expensive editing and effects software. Their networking capabilities also provide ways for film workers to interact and plan future collaborations. And with many platforms offering their own video features it allows several avenues for prospective filmmakers to showcase their work.

Reels of Change?

So if the social media landscape attracts filmmakers how could this affect short films? With content length on each platform varying, there is great potential for variety. Although short-form content is what platforms like TikTok are known for, it’s likely we will see a major focus on extremely short films. This would act as a great way to showcase the value of economic storytelling, with filmmakers needing to really consider what they need to do to make such a short story work. Also as many of these platforms’ algorithms guide users toward similar content it makes for great opportunities for audience interaction. Which could help open filmmakers to other viewpoints that could help produce a more inclusive and open industry.

There are also potential downsides. Many social media/video platforms have been known to filter out content from marginalised creators. As well as give content that is already popular a huge push. It therefore can still really limit how many creators interact with the community. Additionally, if proper balances are not implemented it does offer a potentially bigger platform for hateful content. And with such a huge number of users looking to get eyes on their work, it does run the risk of funnelling artists towards creating sensationalised content. Rather than encouraging creative experimentation.

It essentially runs the risk of reproducing many industry problems (in social and creative media). Whether it yields anything positive we will have to see.

Also Read: Five Stunning Short Films You Wouldn’t Believe Were Shot On An iPhone 11

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I recently turned 27, an age at which dying is now cool (at least for the next 365 days) and also when Hollywood thinks you start to age. No longer a prodigy, nor an ingénue so you have to wait until old age and become a legend in terms of status. Yet now, it feels like more than ever we’re seeing young stars promoted to the pantheons of stardom and they’re younger and younger. From someone like Justin Bieber, found at age 12 from videos he posted to YouTube, to the twin girls that Ellen DeGeneres used to parade around her supposedly toxic sets, we see everyone from young kids to teenagers get recording deals, starring roles, and even producing movies. It makes me wonder, do we value youth more than we ever have? I suppose the answer is yes and no. 

About a week ago, Variety reported that Addison Rae Easterling, a 19-year-old Tik Tok star, had been cast in a gender-swapped remake of She’s All That. The 90s original, itself an updating of George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, starred Freddie Prinze Jr. (a.k.a. another childhood crush of mine and I know it might seem if you read these columns regularly, that I have crushes on a lot of men and the answer is yes, I’m thirsty…) as a hot jock offers to makeover an unpopular girl as part of a bet only for the two to fall in love. Easterling, who already has 60 million followers on the app was reported to be one of the highest-earning Tik Tok stars with over $5 million in endorsement deals, will take on the Prinze Jr. role. 

As Tik Tok has grown in popularity, I’ve been very much in the Dolly Alderton camp, who observed that millennials joining Tik Tok is like boomers joining Instagram; ‘very ungroovy’. So when this news broke last week, apart from making me think/google pictures of Freddie Prinze Jr. (I told you, thirsty), I was mostly struck by Easterling’s age. The idea of being 19, having over $5million, and being cast in major films once would have seemed like the dream, but now it gives me anxiety. Still, in the original movie, both leads were in their mid-twenties playing high schoolers, and I can’t help but wonder if there is a vast difference between 19 and 23? I would try and use myself as an example to answer this question, but I was a mess at both ages. 

To try and understand further, I looked up a compilation of her videos online (under the user Addison Rae) and, I have to admit, the whole concept of Tik Tok goes over my head in a way that makes me feel old. I remember the obsessions of my youth (The Jonas Brothers, Pokémon cards, and those weird liquid-filled balls on a string that were banned after someone supposedly choked themselves with one)  and how my Dad didn’t get them. At some point in the past five years, I crossed over from that place of youthful knowing, into aged misunderstanding. 

All that said, there is a value to youth that is often discounted. This is not the value set by those who crave to return to it, but rather it’s the value of perspective. There’s a myth that you have to wait and earn your right to speak on a public stage, pay your dues, and kiss the ring of those that came before. The institutions that have to power to grant you opportunities see youth as a disadvantage, as a lack of experience so when some do breakthrough early, like Xavier Dolan at 19, Zadie Smith at 22, Sally Rooney at 27, or Damian Chazelle at 29, it’s treated as gifted prodigies defying a system of the faux meritocracy because there is little value given to the youthful perspective. Visually and aesthetically, Hollywood and the industry in general, value youth, but when it comes to entrusting or giving power to the young, then it gets complicated. 

I’m not sure if I’m realising this now because I’m of an age where people have started paying for my voice? As such, writing for this publication and various others is markedly different from everything I did for free at University. Or whether this introspection is a long-winded way of trying to understand the nerve-wrecking nature of seeing 19-year olds with $5 million while I, at 27, am just trying to make it work? I’m not sure I have an answer this time. 

Also Read: How Film Changed Me: On Sofia Coppola

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