The Identity
Overview
An identity for your film events is at it's best when it is binding all the different parts of your screening efforts together and not so much when it is indistinguishable from you yourself.
Bestowing an identity with a name and a logo upon your screening events helps to engage an audience, it conveys a level of thought and organisation higher than a single person does. If a stranger asked you to come watch a film that they, Dave, was putting on you might umm and err a bit but if you see a poster for a screening of the same film presented by The River of Bees Film Club, well, how could you resist?
A Name
There are two ways you can go with the name for your film screening identity, specific or general. Specific names tend to have a more factual basis, often taking in a geographic location or a thematic idea such as:
- Portsmouth Film Club
- Yeovil Cinema Society
- Lights, Camera, Acton
- Hull Cinephiles
- The Yul Brenner Film Club
General names can take in a more abstract feeling, like band name, where it can give some inference as to the type of film that is generally screened or can denote a certain outlook that is reflected in the film choices.
- The River of Bees Film Club
- Image Flickers
- Phones Off!
- Sketchy Light
- Mirrors and Magic Lanterns
These are just examples. Yours can be much better.
If you decide on a specific name then be sure to research other film clubs and organisations in the area. Not only do you want to avoid treading on other people's toes but you also don't want to risk possible confusion with your audience. If you don't check in advance you could end up only being Grimsby's second (or third) best cinema club that screens dystopic musicals.
General names can feel more personal and denote a reference to something but will also suggest what other branding choices you can make. For instance if The River of Bees film club would seem to suggest a logo or titling that has some play on water, stripes, buzzing or dripping in some fashion.
While the name is important and hopefully will be with you through many screenings, it is worth having one eye on these latter decisions when you go through your options.
A Theme
Some film clubs have a theme, some do not. Choosing a theme for your screenings can have it's benefits and it's limitations.
A theme can help to define what it is that your screenings are all about. If you show 1970s Kung-Fu movies in Hull you will probably have the benefit of being the only club in town that does so, but does Hull have much of a captive audience for your niche genre. Perhaps dialing it back to just films containing martial arts might allow film choices that appeal to a wider audience. Or perhaps your passion for 70s Kung Fu will convert the locals to your passion. This is what you will need to consider for this type of theme.
Not having a theme can certainly be more liberating, you are free to pick a romantic comedy for this screening, an obscure Anime delight for the next one and a VHS slasher flick delight for the one after that. This is certainly easier for you as a programmer, you can pick films you are already enthused about and that enthusiasm will help sustain you through the organisation fo your screening. But it can be harder to build a consistent audience. The more diverse and eclectic your screenings the narrower your repeated target audience will be, till eventually the only person that comes to every screening is you (though, really, that will be the case anyway).
Building a repeat audience certainly helps with your screening plans and needless to say venues like to see people coming to your screenings, so seek to balance your screenings between the films that you can gget passionate about screening and those that , generally, others might like to see. There's more on building an audience in our section on The Audience.
A Logo
Every part of your screening (that you control) should either have your screening name on it or the logo for your screening name.
If you settled on a long name such as Dr Phantasmagoria's Eclectic Electric Celluloid Shutter Show then your logo is not likely to have the name in it. As such a visual link between the two is desirable so that potential audience members link the two things together, rather than thinking of them as separate entities.
If however you name is short and snappy, Rolling!, for example then, dependent on some design choices, your name and logo may end up being one and the same.
However you end up with a logo, doing it yourself, through a friend or comissioning someone to design something for you, factor in the final uses for your logo as early as possible. Of course you will want something that can go on flyers and leaflets but there are also social media profile images to consider, banners, perhaps your own website, merchandising or anything else. At worst you may end up with two or three variations on the main logo but providing they stem from the same single source and these different endpoints have been considered your branding will remain intact.
A Presence
Your presence is how people will notice your film club. There are two different arenas for this online and in the physical world.
In terms of the physical world although your film club may not have a specific home or a residency anywhere you can still draw attention to your club through the use of posters and leaflets and other marketing tools. If you are displaying at a venue find out if you can advertise beforehand at the venue. This benefits both parties because patrons of the venue will be aware of your upcoming screening meaning a return visit which is good for the proprietor and attendance at your screening which means greater exposure for you. Leaflets can be a trickier proposition than posters and require a different strategy to get them into the hands of possible attendees.
Online presence has a more focused set of homes in the form of accounts on different social networks and you may also decide to have your own website as a central point for promoting your work. The benefit of your own website means you have control over the content and do not have to be limited by character lengths or hosting restrictions. In addition if you use a CMS like Wordpress you can prepare and schedule posts and automatically share these to your network accounts with the appropriate hashtags etc.
With your social networks find ways to target people who are local to your screening who might be interested in attending. This can provide its own challenges which are covered more in our audience overview.
A Style
The style for your promotional material, in whatever format, is mostly derived from the theme of your events.
For instance, if your cinema screenings focus on noir films of the fifties think about the general environment of the time and what are the common stylistic elements used within the genre films you would like to show. Primary colours and colours feature heavily
Appraising source material in this way will alllow you to get a feel for what is appropriate and then when you, or people you work with, come to apply it to your promotional materials you will have a bedrock idea of the stylistic elements but will be free to embellish and adapt it more for your own use.
If you do not have theatrical theme to your screenings, but instead have focused on geographic location or a more nebulous theme, then you can consider developing your theme independently of stylistic considerations. The important thing to remember in this case is not to overly complicate things like your logo or colour pallet. Your logo may need to sit alongside a variety of different elements in social media posts or on posters and while a distinct theme is the aim, you want one that doesn't distract from the overall effect of your promotional material.
Summary
The identity that you create for your events ties together your screenings as part of a larger work but also helps a potential audience to set their expectations about your screening(s).
A good identity helps build credibility when you are marketing your events and encouraging people to attend. When it is tied together visually across your physical and digital presence an audience can get an immediate impression for your event before they even begin to take in any details.
Screeners
Resources
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Resource Set 2
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