Perhaps more importantly, the marketers used the website to lay the groundwork for this “true storyâ€.
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT 1999 FULL MOVIE FREE MOVIE
While pretty much every movie released today has a website or at least a web page, back in the late 90s that wasn’t really the case. But the marketers behind The Blair Witch Project saw the web as a great opportunity.Īt the core of their marketing campaign was one website (Which has unfortunately shut down since then). It Used the Web Like Never BeforeĪt the time of its release, online marketing wasn’t the thing it is today.
So what made the marketing for The Blair Witch Project so unique? Here are a few things…  1. and $248 million worldwide. The movie (and this scene in particular) became a pop culture touchpoint.ģ Ways the Marketing for “The Blair Witch Project” Blew People’s Minds Spurred by unique marketing and strong word of mouth, it grossed $140 million in the U.S. Upon release, The Blair Witch Project quickly became a phenomenon. It was bought by Artisan for $1 million and released in theaters in the summer of 1999. The Blair Witch Project created buzz at the 1999 Sundance film festival, where it screened as a midnight movie. Do You Remember “The Blair Witch Project”?įor those of you who either forgot or just don’t know, The Blair Witch Project was a micro-budget movie made with a few actors and handheld cameras that popularized the concept of “found footage†films (an approach that has been used in movies many times since). With a sequel, Blair Witch, recently hitting theaters with a thud (the film has grossed just $16 million after two weeks of release), it’s a good time to revisit the unique marketing phenomenon of The Blair Witch Project.
There was also time when movies mostly didn’t have websites.Įnter the The Blair Witch Project, a little indie horror flick that changed the game for both movie marketing and online marketing way back in 1999. By shooting in a chill season, by dampening the color palette, the movie makes the woods look unfriendly and desolate nature is seen as a hiding place for dread secrets.It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when marketing efforts didn’t go viral every week… or every day… or every hour. But the visuals are not just a technique. Much has been said about the realistic cinematography-how every shot looks like it was taken by a hand-held camera in the woods (as it was). These crude objects are scarier than more elaborate effects they look like they were created by a being who haunts the woods, not by someone playing a practical joke. Nature itself begins to seem oppressive and dead. Once they get into the woods, the situation gradually turns ominous. But the movie wisely doesn't present this information as if it can be trusted it's gossip, legend and lore, passed along half-jokingly by local people, and Heather, Josh and Mike view it as good footage, not a warning. Many have vaguely heard of the Blair Witch and other ominous legends one says, "I think I saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel or something." We hear that children have been killed in the woods, that bodies have disappeared, that strange things happened at Coffin Rock. Heather and her crew arrive in the small town of Burkittsville ("formerly Blair") and interview locals. The buried structure of the film, which was written and directed by Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, is insidious in the way it introduces information without seeming to. All three carry backpacks, and are prepared for two or three nights of sleeping in tents in the woods.
black and white camera, operated by the cameraman, Josh ( Joshua Leonard). All of the footage in the film was shot by two cameras-a color video camcorder operated by the director, Heather ( Heather Donahue), and a 16-mm. The characters have the same names as the actors. We learn from the opening titles that in 1994 three young filmmakers went into a wooded area in search of a legendary witch: "A year later, their footage was found." The film's style and even its production strategy enhance the illusion that it's a real documentary. It's presented in the form of a documentary. The movie is like a celebration of rock-bottom production values-of how it doesn't take bells and whistles to scare us.
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