doing some research now for some kinda of promotional ideas for the animated film...
for no budget, facebook and youtube seems to be the places to promote the trailers and posters. Plus CG talk and cg websites.
From http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/19/090119fa_fact_friend?printable=true
"Modern campaigns have three acts: a year or more before the film débuts, you introduce it with ninety-second teaser trailers and viral Internet “leaks” of gossip or early footage, in preparation for the main trailer, which appears four months before the release; five weeks before the film opens, you start saturating with a “flight” of thirty-second TV spots; and, at the end, you remind with fifteen-second spots, newspaper ads, and billboards. Studios typically spend about ten million dollars on the “basics” (cutting trailers and designing posters, conducting market research, flying the film’s talent to the junket and the première, and the première itself) and thirty million on the media buy. The hope is that a potential viewer will be prodded just enough to make him decide to see what all the fuss is about. It’s the “belt and suspenders and corset and parachute harness” approach."
“We have to yell loud and long enough to perfectly inflate the balloon on the day of release—and yet not so loud that we pop it.”
So even if got no money, the idea of using the 3 act ideas can be applied to the animated short.
Interestingly, there have been many recent Hollywood promotions of the web that haven't initially mentioned the name of the film ("Cloverfield" and the recent efforts behind "Quarantine" come to mind). Doesn't calling attention to the movie to early hurt the chance for the promo to go viral? Could it still work with a slate at the end for the film's website?
I will sound out my stratgey in a later post.
for now some links...
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-marketing2.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/filmmakingguidemarketing
http://mag.awn.com/?article_no=671<ype=Special%20Features
http://www.moviemarketingmadness.com/blog/
