{"id":12731,"date":"2011-08-18T08:14:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T07:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=12731"},"modified":"2011-08-18T08:41:45","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T07:41:45","slug":"senna-and-social-media-twitter-facebook-youtube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/08\/18\/senna-and-social-media-twitter-facebook-youtube\/","title":{"rendered":"Senna and Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

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F1 documentary Senna<\/a><\/strong> has used the web in interesting ways as it continues to impress audiences around the world.<\/p>\n

Like many modern day organisations with something to sell, film companies have embraced websites such as Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After early doubts<\/a>, the major studios seem particularly in love with it<\/a> as the feedback on these platforms helps them build buzz and gauge feedback from audiences.<\/p>\n

Big Hollywood stars like Russell Crowe<\/a>, major producers such as Jerry Bruckheimer<\/a> and directors like Jon Favreau<\/a> regularly use and communicate via\u00a0the service.<\/p>\n

But whilst big studio releases still largely rely on traditional marketing techniques like TV advertising and outdoor posters, how can social media help out smaller releases?<\/p>\n

Senna offers a particularly interesting case study.<\/p>\n

A documentary about the life of legendary Brazilian motor-racing champion Ayrton Senna<\/a>, it faced considerable commercial challenges.<\/p>\n

After getting permission from Senna’s family, director Asif Kapadia<\/a> faced the prospect of sifting through hours and hours of archive footage.<\/p>\n

He had access to the F1 archives<\/a> but also used the biggest video library on the planet: YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Much of the film consists of TV footage of Senna’s races from broadcasters like Brazil’s Globo<\/a> or Japan’s Fuji TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obviously, the production had to eventually get official clearances from those channels, but Kapadia has admitted that the concept for the documentary came as he researched YouTube footage in pre-production.<\/p>\n

Speaking to David Poland in a recent interview<\/a> he says:<\/p>\n

“I had eight months to look at footage on YouTube and that’s when the idea came about, well, I don’t think we need to shoot talking head interviews – I don’t think we need to see them – we may well do research, we may well talk to people and hear their voices but actually it’s all there. The rushes, the dailies, are so amazing, I don’t know if there is anything I could shoot that would improve what’s already in existence”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

YouTube was not only an invaluable research tool that helped shape the aesthetic of the film, it also helped it get greenlit:<\/p>\n

“We cut a short film that came purely from YouTube material, which was 12 minutes long, to show this is how the movie could work. And that’s was how we got greenlit by Working Title and Universal”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The film benefits enormously from consisting entirely of found footage, as it makes it stand out from more conventional ‘talking head’ documentaries.<\/p>\n