The blurring and blending of media continues. Author Michael Connelly turned the first chapter of his new crime novel, "Echo Park," into a ten minute film and posted it on You Tube and other video sites. According to his statement in the Los Angeles Times, it worked: "I do believe this was a tool in getting people excited," he said. "I do know that statistically the first week of sales for 'Echo Park' was the best first week of sales I've had."
The film cost about $10,000 to produce, and it has another motive--to show Hollywood that this book and others in Connelly's series featuring cop Harry Bosch would make good movies.
The Times article says that the publisher (Little, Brown and Co.) produced the video as part of an extended prmotional campaign that also used podcasts and downloadable audio clips as elements of the marketing effort.
Looking a bit more closely: on YouTube it says that it has had 9,653 viewings, which isn't exactly earth-shaking (my very primitive 'Snakes on a Plane' animation cost $4 and had over a thousand...). Also, it starts off with a big chunk of narration (bad idea) and the editing is oddly jumpy at times.
I like Connelly's writing and probably will read the book at some stage, but I don't think watching this would have made me want to get the book if I wasn't already a fan. That would work only if the story were so intriguing that a taste of it would make me anxious to see what happens next. In my opinion, Connelly's strength is characters, not plot. HIs stories are OK, but not that different from a good episode of "Law and Order."
I'm not sure that Hollywood will be impressed, either, by a film whose production values, not surprisingly, are not up to the standards of an average prime-time TV drama.
The bottom line: mixing media is an interesting concept but may not be as straightforward in its effects as it seems.