That's Right, I'm Talking About Lady Gaga's Video... And Why You Should Care

How many of you have seen the long version of Lady Gaga's music video for "Telephone"? You know, the ten minute version? I'll find it on Youtube and embed it below, in case you haven't. I have to say, I like the video. It has a grindhouse feel to it, plus a lot of skin and there's a lot of weird shit going on in it. I've watched it a few times, so it's safe to say that it keeps my attention. I know it's not horror, so why am I bringing it up? Well, because this site is as much about the indie horror industry as it is about indie horror... Actually, I'd say it's more so about the indie horror industry, but whatever. Anyhow, what's interesting about the video is that it's really just a short film. In fact, a lot of the short films that I see are shorter than this video. Now, this video, as of two days ago, has over 28 Million views on Youtube, been watched on MTV.com nearly 500,000 times and shared on Facebook and tweeted directly from the pop star's site some 150,000 times. That, my friends, is a lot of views... not only that, she got paid to make the video. No, not like because she's Lady Gaga and her label paid her, but through advertising. Watch the video, there's around ten different advertisers in it. From Miracle Whip to Virgin Mobile to the dating site, PlentyofFish.com. You think they're happy with the how the video has caught on? You're damn straight. So, she's made a shit load of money from all the advertisers, the short film has been watched millions of times and it didn't need TV, a cable company, a theater or a DVD player to do it... it was simply uploaded. And everyone involved is happier than a pig in shit. So, what can we take away from this?

Check out this article on Adage called "Why Long-Form Ads Are the Wave of the Future". It starts out by using this Lady Gaga example, but it gets into other 'long-form ads' and has links to some other examples, which are worth checking out. By the way, that's what they're calling this, a long-form ad, and let's not get too crazy here, it's really just a short film with advertising. Some of these long-form ads originate from the marketer/advertiser level, but some of them come from artists who attract advertisers to get involved. So, how would you get advertisers? Easy, well... easy to explain - get an audience. I'll be honest, if you can get an audience, you can get advertisers. Trust me, I work in advertising. So, are you putting this together yet? Short films, which have always been seen as the stuff of film schools and the little brother to feature films, have come in to their own AND could end up opening a lot of doors for a lot of filmmakers.

Okay, so most of our short horror films aren't going to get millions of views and turn into the next viral hit. However, as long as advertisers, big stars and big products get involved with short films... sorry, long-form ads, the market for short films will continue to develop and grow. Personally, I think the writing's on the wall, short films are going to explode - audiences are into them, the web is perfect for distributing them, advertisers are getting involved with them... How, when and where they explode, I have no idea, but I know it's going to be a good place to be. So, start coming up with your ten minute film ideas and figure out how to wrangle an audience. Until then, check out the Lady Gaga video...