(This page is one section of the Professional Log. To view the full Professional Log, click here)
Accomplishments as an Intern
Throughout my time with Tideturner Films, I was able to accomplish many goals and tasks while learning valuable skills and experience as a media and marketing assistant. Within this section, I will discuss what I completed with Tideturner Films in more detail and how my experiences can help me in the future.
As previously stated, the main task for my internship role was to create content for social media posts, specifically posts for the documentary film I am Belmaya. These social media posts that were created consisted of photos, posters, video clips, and inspirational quote posts, all in theme with the film. Below are examples of posts that I made for social media (view portfolio for more):
As seen above, the content varied for specific purposes, such as a post for Instagram or Facebook, and Twitter, or sometimes all three (here is a link to a video post on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hAj9kg6WT/). Included in some of the content were hashtags and inspirational quotes that encouraged interaction and engagement from followers and anyone who was able to see these posts. This allowed for better awareness of the film, I am Belmaya, and this meant having a better chance of being accepted into local and international film festivals—the ultimate goal of the film campaign.
In these social media posts, the most important goal for me was to visually capture the attention of followers or potential audience, while maintaining the thematic core (Corner 2003) of I am Belmaya. This creativity allowed for experimentation of phrases, quotes, and hashtags that could be applied to social media posts. Being a part of the social media marketing team, I was also given the task of researching which hashtags may be the most optimal into gaining interaction for the posts for each social media platform (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter). Below is a spreadsheet of the information I was able to research and record. In the spreadsheet, the amount of search results for each hashtag are displayed for Instagram. For Facebook and Twitter, no numerical amounts are available in the platform’s search results, so hashtags results are viewed and given a “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe” if they match the content or theme of the I am Belmaya film. The category of “Maybe”meant that the results found were both positive and negative in comparison to the film’s themes and the final decision for use of the hashtag was up to Carpenter.
Displayed above is the information I gathered about which hashtags would be best to use for the social media posts being made. Along with these hashtags, more specific hashtags were used on important days during the calendar year that matched with the theme of the film. These specific hashtags included “International Women’s Day”, and “Happy Mother’s Day.” Overall the use of these hashtags were important in engaging the right followers for the social media accounts, and this engagement will be analyzed later on.
To continue to follow the thematic trend of women equality for the social media posts, research was conducted focusing on women in film. These statistics were then used within captions for certain posts that were in-theme with the film’s campaign. Statistics about women in film were found through the website, https://womenandhollywood.com, which compiles research from institutions and organizations about diversity within the filmmaking community, focusing on women. For example, a statistic presented within the website states that of the top 100 grossing films from 2019, only 12% were directed by women (Lauzen 2020) even though women make up 51% of the moviegoers population (MPAA 2018). Statistics like these are used in captions for social media posts in order to spark conversation and engagement from followers, which can hopefully lead to more followers in the future.
One of the most important tasks that I completed during my time in this internship was organizing the calendar schedule for all social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The details of scheduling a social media post included setting up the platform that would be used, along with the time, day, and how many times a week posts would be made. In addition to those main details, special days for post were scheduled, such as International Women’s Day, Earth Day, and Mother’s Day. The website used to create these schedules was Later.com. This website allowed for scheduling posts up to a month in advance, which allowed for me to discuss with the rest of the Tideturner Films team to find out when and where to make specific posts for the future. Below is a screenshot of how posts were scheduled and organized on the Later application:
One of the most fascinating and exciting tasks I was able to partake in was updating the logo for Tideturner Films, this was a subject that I had no previous experience in (logo design), but I suggested the idea to Sue Carpenter, and she agreed, asking me to bring in any ideas I could think of that were new interpretations of the previous logo (click here to view all company logo concepts). Ultimately, we decided to go with a Tideturner logo similar to the one below for the I am Belmaya film.
The advantage of being an intern in a creative industry is that I had the ability to use my artistic expression on tasks that I had no previous experience in. By having the opportunity to design a logo, I was able to learn about new techniques and skills that I can then use in the future, and use for myself, and for any other company I work for.