Still Nauseous After All these Years: Blair Witch Turns 10

This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the release of the Blair Witch Project, the ground-breaking, nausea-inducing, most successful indie film of all time. Blair is widely considered the first film to use the Internet to drive its marketing campaign -- something I'm lucky to have firsthand knowledge of. In 1999 I worked at Artisan Entertainment as the Director of Online Services and was in charge of producing the film's Web site and the online media outreach -- not a bad gig for a 24-year-old. Had I had a second to breathe and understand what was going on around me -- of the frenzy that was Blair Witch -- I probably would have developed (in no particular order) shingles, a drinking problem and a facial tic. Luckily, I was blissfully unaware of the maelstrom.

In the ten years since a lot has changed (yes, I have frames and javascript enabled) but a lot of the core principles that made blairwitch.com and its online marketing campaign wildly successful remain true today. Here then are five observations that hold the same weight in 2009 as they did in 1999.

1. Flashier isn't necessarily better. Companies spend millions of dollars designing their Web sites and online campaigns. Guess what? You don't need to. Blairwitch.com wasn't even designed by a graphic designer (Lions Gate has actually re-launched the original site for the anniversary, click here to see it. In general, content matters to users much more than design. Craigslist and MySpace are just a few examples of hugely successful sites that aren't great on the eyes. When designing a new Web site or campaign, think content first and design second.
2. Enthusiasts drive numbers. Catering to a niche audience is a fantastic way to generate early buzz for your site or product. For Blair Witch we targeted the same fans that were into comics, sci-fi and fantasy and it paid off in a big way. Enthusiasts took the time to start fan sites and talk up the movie in forums way before it hit theaters, generating valuable *real* buzz that got picked up by mainstream publications and users. Need more proof? Look at the increase in attendance at Comic Con over the last ten years.
3. Online, reality is better than fiction. I know what you're thinking, and you're right, Blair Witch wasn't real. It did however, give the illusion of being real while at the same time being more interesting, mysterious and in-depth than typical reality content. The Internet is a uniquely democratic medium where people are not only tolerant of handmade looking content, they often expect it. So, even if you're creating something fictional, make it look real.
4. Target teens. Just like enthusiasts, teens drive early adoption and often define what's hot on the Internet. Usually, everyone else follows. For Blair Witch, we heavily targeted college campuses with fliers that drove them to the Web site. Teens and college students have a lot more time on their hands than us working folk and they like to talk, text and post pretty much all the time. Get your stuff on a lot of teens' radars, make it cool, and watch it explode virally with more bang than you could ever buy.
5. Keep it fresh. Content is getting consumed at ridiculous rates these days. Once you've captured your audience's attention it's your job to keep it. That means updating your content daily if not hourly. Back in 1999 we got away with updating blairwitch.com weekly, telegraphing to users in advance what they could expect to see next week. If I was managing the same site now I would probably be updating it hourly with coordinating tweets and Facebook status updates.

One final thought. Sometimes you have to go against your better judgment and trust that your younger co-workers have better ideas than you do. In 1999 a lot of twenty-somethings were trusted with Internet strategy because it was so new. In 2009, we have Mark Zuckerberg (24) running Facebook and Morgan Stanley proudly citing 15-year-old interns in their analyst reports. Ahh, to be young, carefree and connected!

Follow Jessica Rovello on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArkadiumGames

Comments

[MikeDu]

The split in opinion on the film here might be divided into two groups. The ones who walked into the film cold and got a surprise, and the ones who were later pulled in by the hype and sat with arms folded saying "Okay, so impress me." I've got to admit over-promotion has killed more than one film experience for me.

No high-end big box office slasher film will EVER approach the horror generated in 1973 when "The Exorcist" opened. People literally ran screaming from the theater. A close second might be David Lynch's indescribable 'Eraserhead', which genuinely freaked people out.

[toochie]

That movie could have been much better than it turned out. The end was a real wet noodle. That is why it isn't considered a horror classic.

[verbalvoodoo]

She says that if she were to do the same ad over today she'd be doing HOURLY tweets and Facebook updates? She demonstrates the same fundemental misunderstanding of media that most others do....more doesn't equal better. What good are HOURLY Twitter posts if you have nothing INETERESTING to say? If you did hourly Twitter updates and daily facebooks updates 30 days before a movie we'd all be sick of the movie before it even came out. Part of what worked with Blair Witch in terms of advertising is that it DIDN'T tell us exactly what was going on all the time and slowly built over time. Over exposure is a huge problem. Too many tweets from a normal person is both boring and annoying. Too many tweets from a movie actually lowers interesting instead of raising it.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for a very interesting account of how to con then-about $5 out of people for the quintessential bait-and-switch movie of all time. Like thousands of others, I forked out cash to see THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT opening weekend, and like most of them I came out saying "Wha -- ?" Imagine a whole movie building up to a revelation that never comes, that has no ending, that has no point. Was I scared by it? No. Was I nauseated by it? No. Did I become more familiar with the leading lady's left nostril than I ever wanted to be? Yes. (The only suspense in the film was "Will she sneeze on us?") Did I want my money and my 90 minutes of life back Yup. Still do.

Any chance you'll see to refunding my money now, ten years on?

Did ANYONE ever watch it a second time?

As it was a triumph of hype-over-content, an article celebrating its tenth anniversary that teaches the hype and ignores the content is overwhelmingly appropriate.

[daemos1]

I watched it a second time and loved it
Would you like some cheese with your whine?

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

So YOU were the one who saw it twice. Well, I suppose there had to be one.

And thank you, but BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was all the cheese I could want in one sitting.

I'll bet you think you saw the Emperor's new clothes too.

And let me be clear; I am not criticizing this article. I found the article very interesting and practical. I am however pointing out that movies need a beginning, a middle and an end. BLAIR WITCH went two-for-three. I'm glad for you that you enjoyed it. The Easily-Amused Society is always signing up new members.

[becky16]

Correct as always Ms. Morehead. (Well mostly)

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Let's say 85% of the time.

[aftershock]

"Any chance you'll see to refunding my money now, ten years on?"

You should've done like I did and demanded a voucher for a free movie when you left. I did and got one, along with several others. I couldn't even sit through the majority of the movie. I went opening weekend too, sat in the front row because we got there late, and had to leave several times or I would've yacked all over the floor. I kept going back because I was sure SOMETHING had to happen in this movie to have everyone so excited about it, my sister had been terrified by the movie. Instead the movie ends with one of the campers being put in timeout in the corner... SHOCKING!!

[unfettered]

You're really just showing your age, not anything else.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Ageism has nothing to do with it. You're just showing your immaturity with such a remark.

I've earned my years, and the wisdom that comes with experience is actually a good thing, not a bad one. Just as thinking you are smarter than someone older and wiser just because you're younger is a very deluded thing. If you're lucky enough, you'll outgrow it someday.

[sws3030]

The film was made in a wooded area about 15 minutes from where we lived at the time. I used to cringe every time someone said..."wo­w, thats where they made Blair Witch". I was afraid they were going to blame me and riffle through my wallrt for their money back.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Very funny. You should put up a sing: "DON'T BLAME ME!"

[Milash]

I sat through that entire movie waiting to be scared. I never was. I am a total wimp when it comes to scary movies too.

[getoffthecross]

We went with a group and most everyone was confused by the end. Then, on the car ride home, someone said, "Why was that guy just standing there?" and I said, "He was forced to stand in the corner, like the children they talked about at the beginning.­" And everyone else in the car went, "OOOHHHH!" And THAT's when the women started to get weirded out.

Haters can say what they like, but it was unique and fresh for the times, and successful by most standards. Kudos to everyone involved in the "Project," especially ten years later when people STILL want to complain.

"Art -- an expression of a chosen medium that induces an emotional reaction." Even if that reaction is disdain, it's still functioning as art. Just sayin'.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Being "art" in and of itself is not a defense of bad art.

And it was never unique nor fresh. It reused implication fright techniques pioneered by Val Lewton, Jacques Tourner, and Robert Wise all the way back in the 1940s, only they did it well.

[Suzianna]

I did not get nauseous. I did not get scared. Believe me, I wanted to. Ten years later the strongest memory I still have is disappointment.

[monsteratomic]

I remember my first viewing of The Blair Witch Project. I was living in Portland Oregon at the time and it was months before the movie actually premiered in the theaters. I was selected off the streets to watch this "documentary" with little to no other information. The prescreening was small and some people were seated on the floor. I just remember watching the movie with everyone huddled, tense and breathless trying to comprehend if what they were watching was real or fake. Despite the shaky cinematography, you could feel the palpable release of tension in the room once the film was over. They told us they were doing another midnight screening so I immediately called my friends to come check out the screening which they immediately did.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Do you think you would have reacted differently if you had known going in that it was actors and a fiction film, as most of America did by the time they saw it? I'm not asking to be snarky. Your comment suggests that what you reacted to was based to a large degree on believing that it might have been a true documentary. If you'd gone in knowing it wasn't, do you really believe you'd have had the same reaction? I'm genuinely curious.

[Kenny Rosenblatt]

Excellent read! Love the "frames and javascript enabled" reference. Brings back memories. Keep 'em coming!