Okay, let’s wrap this up. Here is the section on the blog’s content.
The instructions for the final paper in the capstone course were:
Submit a two- to three-page paper providing a brief rationale of the following components used in the creation and development of your Blog:
Purpose (part 1)
Purpose (part 2)
Design
Content
Audience (part 1)
Audience (part 2)
This post wraps up the paper with a discussion of content, the conclusion and the references for the paper. The paper in its entirety can be found here.
Content
The advantage of a blog based on a movie in production is an abundance of content. Location photos, the film’s thesis, raw footage, audio clips and correspondence from interview subjects are all fair game for blog content. The availability of content relates to Anderson’s Long Tail model of the new economy, which focuses on abundance and the implications of that abundance on the behavior of consumers. The Long Tail model of web relevance characterizes search engines as time-agnostic, so over time, what comes to the top of search engine lists is not the newest, but the best, based on the number of links and traffic to a particular page (Anderson, 2008, pp. 142-144). Using the Long Tail model, the content from the blog, if it is relevant, can enjoy a longer life on the web, which feeds into the marketing goals of the blog and the movie.
Abundance of content dovetails with the Rowse and Garrett’s opinion on granular posts since not only can I serialize long posts, I can enhance each post with examples from any of the documentary media related to the subject. In revisiting the Nat Turner topic, I can use transmedia input such as Google Maps to show TQ’s route from Tidewater to Southampton County, footage from TQ’s interview, newspaper pictures and articles on the Easter liturgy. Augmenting the narrative and visual content of the posts and video/graphics, additional content will relate to Calvin Thomas, the person, with running lists, such as “Guilty Pleasures,” where I will list some of my “toys,” along with a short commentary about them. “Blast from the Past,” another sub-section of the blog, will feature pictures and short stories chronicling how I got to where I am. Lists that are more topical will be “Cal’s To-Do” list, an accountability tool showing scans of “to-do” lists I used to finish certain aspects of production.
Conclusion
The individual elements of design, content and audience ultimately must support the primary purpose of the blog. The milestone goals of the blog, tied to the milestones of production, will evolve over the course of the documentary, but point to the overarching goal of attracting supporters for the documentary and calling them to action. Central to getting others to spread the word about TQ is connecting the individual stories in each parish, of each person, to the rest of the lives TQ touched. While the connectivity of the internet and blogs are not a single solution, trading on the strength of the web to make the connections makes the work easier.
Works Cited
Anderson, C. (2008). The Long Tail - Longer - why the future of business is selling less of more. Ney York City: Hyperion.Biskupic, J. (2009). American Original The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia . New York city: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Bosko, M. S. (2003). The Complete Independent Movie Marketing Handbook - promote, distribute & sell your film or video. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions.
Faidman, D., & Levelle, T. (2008). Producing With Passion. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions.
Garfield, S. (2010). Get Seen - online video secrets to building your business. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Reiss, J. (2010). Think Outside The Box Office - the ultimate guide to film distribution in the digital era. Hybrid Cinema Publishing.
Rowse, D., & Garrett, C. (2008). Pro blogger - secrets for blogging your way to a a six-figure income. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Ruehlmann, B. (2009, March 22). Controversial Priest's Papers Enter Eclectic Collection. The Virginian Pilot .
Next: Prodigal Altar Boy blog as an analogy for my life.
