Social Media Research

Hi blog! Today we researched social media pages for inspiration on our own, since we are required to make our own for our project. I chose to study Instagram, since I am in charge of our social media on the project, and I am the most comfortable
with that one over others!

Media text: The TELL-TALE HEART– @Changwang.pictures

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: Postings of when it is uploaded on YouTube and keeping a count of hour many views it has on their Instagram page. Posting small clips to build up anticipation for the release date. There are also posts of the creator talking about what camera they used. This may have been because of a partnership, but it was a great thing to include. There is a slideshow post that includes several shots that promote the branding but also draw in the viewer to understand the tone of the
short film so they want to watch it. The caption includes these release date and where it is being distributed. One post has a simple question in the caption to make the viewer ponder something related to the short film. There is also many hashtags such as “#visualstorytelling”, “#creativity”, “#changwantpictures. Including not only posts but also reels promotes the account’s popularity, as people are more likely to view the account from the reels than the posts.

Description of how branding is developed (or not):
Posting shots as individual photos to match the tone of the short film to the Instagram page. This short film specifically leans into the black-and-white aesthetic and very eerie visuals. The row of dark images stands out to promote the account, since it is so different from the other posts, which signifies that the branding would stand out amongst others. However, I do wish that there was a highlight related to stories specifically about the short film or maybe even BTS of the making of the Tell Tale Heart. Also, to go with the creator’s consistent color palate of having yellow lettering on their own posts, prior to the short film promotion, they put a yellow heart at the end of every caption, just after mentioning the link in their bio to access the short film.  The account also has branded highlights that have yellow emojis that tie into the creator’s personal color palate as well.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: We will use the idea of posting what equipment we used so that we can connect with other potential filmmakers and come off as a relatable account. The posts of singular shots that were in the short film also helped develop a color palate, and we will do the same so that the colors in our feed are the same as our short film. We want to also take inspiration from the bio of the account, providing a link to the short film, as well as consistent plugs to the production in the captions of the posts and reels.

 

 

Media text: The Writer - @popvisualz

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: This account makes creative reels, such as “if you like these movies: Sin City, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, you might like mine”. This is great because it instantly guarantees that the target audience will be reached, since only the fans of those films or overall film lovers will stick around. The reel then was followed by clips of the making of his own short film, The Writer. This account posted a photo of the official key art of the short film, as well as what film festivals it will be shown at, in this case, “Are You Afraid of Fantasia 2025”. The post with the key art also included a screenshot of the showing information of where the film festival is, what day, and what time, to promote people to attend and watch the production on the big screen. This was especially important since it was not being uploaded to YouTube. There was another reel that showed the reference from another movie to the result in their own short film, which gives credit to other directors for inspiring modern filmmakers, and gets to relate one’s short film to others. There could have been more posts especially highlighting the production rather than the director but given that the short film did not have its own page, it made sense.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): The brand was somewhat developed, the tone that was conveyed in the key art was not developed throughout the feed, making it seem somewhat messy and incoherent. The captions were all simple and did not contain many words besides hashtags, which may have been the goal for the branding, but compared to the messy layout, it was very confusing. There were well-done reels, but they did not directly tie into the themes or color palate of the production, which did make the whole account seem less appealing. The key art of The Writer has lettering that resembles street art, and
this ties into the creator’s aesthetic quite well, but was not developed throughout the rest of the post that it was included in. The artist did pin the main post promoting the film festival, but they should have made the key art the cover photo. There are multiple reels that have the same cover, which does not match the palate of the production. making the feed look repetitive and busy.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: This account gave us a lot of ideas for reels, as well as some good reference for how to plug a film festival. The creator’s face is also very present in the account, which we liked. The hashtags were useful, and the branding was good in some respects, but we will be taking more inspiration from the content than the branding.

 

  

Media text: We Were Art Thieves @iphilgood

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: There is several clips included of the short film that highlight moments that leave viewers wanting to watch the whole thing themselves. The caption says, “Our first short film is out now”, and does not state what the title of the short film is, which is not a very strong choice. However, the caption does keep viewers engaged, by mentioning that they plan to do a Q&A soon, which will keep anticipation high for the future content to come. The creator’s vision is clearly established, as they like to appear more professional than relatable, as they compare cameras as a plug for their short film. They also made a very creative reel that says “My favorite cinematic clips from my short film” which leans into the stunning cinematography, which is most certainly the thing that makes this production stand out the most among other short films. I do think that this page could do a better job of posting about the films themselves, as a lot of
the content feels repetitive, and a bit disconnected. But you do get a strong sense of the creator’s style from their page alone.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): Looking at their page, and just the cover photos on each post, it does seem cohesive overall. The cinematography is clearly showcased, and the palate is consistent, which is a great sign for the branding. However, the captions are not the most well-correlated to one another. The highlights are also not very easy to understand, as many of them are not related to film at all, and the title is simply emojis, which is not the best idea, considering when people go to the social media page, it should be clear what each highlight’s purpose is. I think overall, the page just lacks purpose as a whole and a lot of the content was not intentional. Although it was very pleasing to the eye, the branding could have been better established than just pretty covers.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: We want to take inspiration from some of the reel ideas, and the amount that the content is shown on the feed, however there was very little behind the scenes, which we noted and will make sure we don’t make that mistake I our own social media page.