:EthRobe

Any filmmaker will tell you that the key to success is getting your work seen. This is easier said then done; at least before the digital revolution and the resurgence of social media. Platforms like YouTube and Genero.tv are non-exclusive ways for anyone to share their film/video art with the world. This is great news for filmmakers, right?

The same way the popularization of blogs allowed for average citizens to become writers and journalists, video-sharing social media outlets make it possible for anyone to become a filmmaker. There are definite positives to this democratization of sorts. Works by Martin Scorsese are viewed on the same site as works by no-name rookie directors. YouTube levels the playing field in some ways.

However, as with the blog metaphor, video-sharing social media sites lower the bar concerning the discipline of filmmaking. YouTube, concurring with the heightened availability of consumer digital camcorders, can be seen as making a formal film education less and less relevant. Because YouTube allows for anyone to join and upload, burgeoning filmmakers must work extra had to get their work noticed among the countess pop culture vlogs and videos of cats.

Vimeo.com is generally seen as a more serious-filmmaker-friendly sharing site; a majority of users are independent filmmakers and videographers. However, this presents a different sort of conundrum: your work is being posted literally right next to your competition. Vimeo features thousands of demo reels and short films from aspiring filmmakers, all with the same dream of getting noticed. Yet again, one must work extra hard to make one’s work stand out.

Although video-sharing social media provides some benefits for filmmakers, I am of the opinion that an aspiring cinematographer or an indie director still must labor tirelessly to get his or her work noticed. Social media does not make the process of getting discovered easier; it just calls for different tactics.

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