What the heck is going on here? 1.6 million views and climbing. It's insane. What are we to make of this?
In this entry, I grapple with my bewilderment, in hopes it will help you make sense of yours.
Why did it work?
- Firstly, I happen to think it's a good film. You'd be surprised how many machinimators (including myself on past works) find their own work less than satisfactory even as they release it. The "it could be better" syndrome, a by-product of a perfectionism that can drive good content generation. I managed, through some good fortune and also through exertion of will, to avoid that with this film. I am completely at peace with everything about it, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. There is nothing I would change if I had it to do over again. It is exactly the film I intended to make. This seems so rudimentary, but it's sometimes alarming how many films you see where it's apparent that even the author doesn't feel that way about their own product. So, the foremost ingredient is just this: decide to be satisfied with nothing less than what you set out to achieve.
- Not marketed as machinima... just as a film. This was merely an acknowledgement of the fact that the vast majority of potential audience outside the machinima community do not care how a film was made. Was it entertaining? Was it worth my time spent to watch it? That is the barometer, period. As such, I deliberately submitted this film at YouTube in the category of Comedy, not Animation. I categorized it based on its content, not based on its creation method. I really think this ended up being important. Not that machinima or animation are dirty words... no, of course not. But I wasn't making this film to WOW people with graphics or animation; I wanted laughs. And people going to the Comedy category are looking for just that.
- No gaming background required. This ties in with the above. NONE of the content of the film required any understanding of a particular game to find it enjoyable. I'd made that mistake before, I wasn't about to do so again. (I learned from the best.) Nothing wrong with game-humor vids, they have their place and will always be valued by that game's fans. It just didn't serve my goal to limit things in that way this time around.
- Don't underestimate your potential audience. I went into this convinced, largely on my wife's reaction during her pre-screening, that men were likely to be the primary appreciators of this kind of humor. And to a large degree, I was probably correct. But I have been really pleasantly surprised at the response from the ladies who have watched the film; most of them found it hysterical. Kind of a voyeur effect, I think. I lost count of how many times the phrase "I'm glad I'm not a guy" appeared in the comment thread alongside "LOL". Men were definitely the first to digg this video, but it turns out many women are really liking it too.
What can we learn from M.R.E.'s reception? Besides the apparent fact that toilet humor is far from dead. ;)
- YouTube viewers DO appreciate quality. It's sometimes easy to think they don't because sometimes the more glorified pieces there seem like thrown-together garbage. But hundreds of people have thanked me for submitting something of quality. They are hungry for it, folks. Give it to them!
- YouTube vs. Daily Motion? No contest. I mean, not even close. (As if there was really any question). True, there were other factors at play which influenced the YouTube rise. But even factoring those out, YouTube as a site and a community kicked DM's butt.
- Machinima CAN be viral. Doc Nemesis and I were pondering whether it was possible back in January of 2006, others have before that I'm sure. We now know it IS possible, if "The Internet is for P0rn" left you with any doubts there.
- Machinima can do very well up against other types of content. Some don't like thinking about it, but it's a fact: online entertainment is a fiercely competitive business. People only have so much time (the currency) to spend, and there are innumerable options. The fact that ANY machinima can hang in there in such a fashion is very good news indeed. Good news for all of us. Don't make the mistake of writing this off as a fluke. This is something much more than that: it is a PROOF OF CONCEPT. It's not about me or my film; it is a scientific demonstration of what IS possible. Be encouraged.
In closing, someone asked me recently, "What is a good machinima?" My answer, which may get published elsewhere too, was this: A good machinima is a film which is not intricately wrapped up in it's own "machinima-ness"... I believe the best thing machinima can do for itself is forget that it is machinima and remember that it is film.
Comments
Couldn't agree with you more, particularly the comment about not marketing your film as machinima. When compared to the Great Interweb, the machinima community is tiny. I know we all want to hear the opinions (and, hopefully, praise) of our peers, friends and fellow creatives, but if you make a film that's even slightly sucessful, the entire machinima community could boycott it and you wouldn't even notice the drop in download figures.
As you hinted in your post, Phil, there's also little point in classifying a machinima film as "animation". First of all, it's not. It's much closer to puppetry, as several high-profile machinimators have already observed. Secondly, traditional and mainstream animation fans will be put off by the rough-and-ready (read: ugly) visual nature of the vast majority of machinima.
Above all, as MRE clearly demonstrates, quality shines.
Congrats on the sucess of MRE, by the way Phil. I get the impression you're riding the wave with a shocked expression, but it's still your wave :-)
Thanks for publishing your thoughts on the phenomenal success of MRE. Your points are very well made and interesting to think about. Here are a couple thoughts of my own:
-that the film represents what you intended it to is a given since your quality standards are very high. I think the problem with machinima filmmakers not being fully satisfied with their works comes from the fact that many of us have to work full time and end up only have a couple hours a day to devote to the project. Recent WoW project I did left us with big crunch time at the end which led to small mistakes. So, it's often a matter of planning and time management that create frustration. You are just better at this than all of us put together.
-I had no idea you listed this as a "comedy" on youtube. I don't spend a lot of time on the youtube site and rarely check the categories. It makes sense that you'd list it as a comedy, but does that mean that it's a disadvantage to list it as an animation? The 3d animation market is exploding right now (Monster House, etc). Would listing MRE as animation really limit the audience to 3d professionals sneering at the low tech of machinima? Your reason was that you didn't want to list it by medium, but by content makes sense. But it makes me wonder if "machinima" as a term is becoming obsolete or a liability?
Personally, I think it's open to debate whether machinima filmmakers need to consider "marketing" in the release of their films. Obviously, every filmmaker makes their own decisions, but it seems to me that some people make machinima and simply post it at a lot of places in order to get people to see it. I believe your film would have been as successful listed as "animation" simply because its so well made and very, very funny.
In any event, I'm very glad your film has been so successful regardless of the market nitch. After giving so much to the machinima community, I'm very happy you are getting the praise and notice you deserve.
-not underestimating audience and noting that youtube viewers want quality are encouraging observations. Especially after reading so many stupid comments on the film. I'm glad that there are many there who would like to see good comedy...uh..machinimedy..uh.... you know what I mean.
-I really like you idea that we need think of our machinima as "films" and not just machinima. I agree with you 100% that our film form can be competitive in the marketplace (if the filmmaker chooses this direction) and be art at the same time. And I do believe your film (along with a handful of other machinima) is a work of art. Something I plan on demonstrating soon in an essay/profile.
-your point that you don't need to know about the game to appreciate the film is something we need to write in 10 foot high letters on every machinima forum available. One of the main issues that keeps machinima from becoming more popular.
Hey, guys, thanks for the comments. Just to clarify, by "marketing" above, I refer merely to how it was put out there. I did not send out any press releases or deliberately try to stir up the blogosphere. I merely put it out there in the usual places and told a few friends. So the "marketing" in this case was merely a matter of classification and description, and in both those areas I emphasized the comedy / satire over the animation / machinima, because I thought that was the stronger suit.
"Marketing" probably wasn't the right term, because it connotes a much more active promotional effort than I applied here.
got it, phil. Sorry for my long-winded post! :-)
Congrats on getting your film out there- it says a lot about the accessibility of machinima to the general public. I think there are many, including myself, who are unsure about it's 'marketability' to audiences- other than the usual fellow game players and machinima directors. The growth of machinima as a viable entertainment medium will hopefully happen with small steps (and once in a while big ones like this) but heck, I'll take it anyway I can.
On a side note, there were some obnoxious comments by people on YouTube. Some people need to get a sense of humor.
Yeah, some of the YouTube comments were a bit jagged. But on a volume basis, very positive. (Yes, I'm reading them ALL! lol)
As for accessibility... I really think a key is the production of more films like you make, Decorgal. Real, relatable subject matter, believable characters... the stuff of good film in general. Things are heading in the right direction, and your own work is a fine example.