Reading through the past two Festival Experience studio websites, it’s clear that a lot of love was poured into both projects. Documentation of both the Melbourne Overlooked Film Festival (2021) and the Séance International Film Festival (2022) are interesting points of reference for how students contributed to the making of an online-held festival followed by an in-person festival.
As a member of the DIFF copywriting team, I figured I’d be best looking at written artefacts from previous studios to further develop my writing in a festival context. MOFF copywriter Stefanie uploaded a press release she sent out before the event, which will be a great template for reference while writing up a press release of our own. The placement of the title, important dates and venues and effective use of succinct language were key takeaways from this piece and will be important to consider when drafting our own media release. Unfortunately, MOFF’s Opening Night could no longer take place at The Capitol as the press release announced due to Melbourne’s lockdown and MOFF had to shift to streaming platforms Twitch and YouTube, as Laura of the production team made note of in her blogpost (2021).
Documentation of SIFF (2022) reveals a lively and fun festival run by a hardworking team, and to their advantage, were able to take place in-person compared to the previous year’s festival. In brainstorming our own festival, we shared out thoughts on SIFF and considered possibly putting on a second edition, noting their brilliant use of graphic design and the ease in which the horror genre can be marketed. Having active filmmakers on the team allowed SIFF to create a teaser trailer and a final festival trailer, hinting at the themes the festival would explore in their programme. As videographer for SIFF, Ricky was able to market the brand by “shoot[ing] a MEETING,” playing into the festival title Séance and the horror genre too (2022). I’m not sure how DIFF would approach creating a trailer, and it might be too late to outsource videographers, being in the final stages of festival production. It’s interesting to think about though – maybe a series of first times or moments symbolic of youth could be re-enacted for a festival trailer, as our primary audience is young people. Ultimately, having active filmmakers on the team opens marketing opportunities, as it did for SIFF, and it might be worth pitching these ideas to filmmakers on the team for future projects.
References
Melbourne Overlooked Film Festival (2021) The Festival Experience, RMIT, Melbourne.
Séance International Film Festival (2022) The Festival Experience, RMIT, Melbourne.