By: Keaton Marcus

PREFACE:

There are so many things to consider in terms of planning to make a post. Whether you're a film account just starting out or relatively experienced, it can be hard to decipher how to create appealing content. Whether it's the balance of style and substance, the quality over quantity paradox, the decision to put text over images and how to do so, find high-quality pictures in the first place, and the right font for the cover slide. For even myself, it's a bit tricky to find the perfect equilibrium between all the aspects that work in tandem to create what we call a good post. Agree or disagree with me. Call me unfit to write such an essay. I'm just here to voice my sole perspective on the matter.

DIFFERENT TYPES TO MAKE:

I wanted to start by listing the types of posts available that one can make, and there are several for sure. In terms of my process, I always think it depends on the movie. If it's known for its colors, cinematography, or spectacle in general, it may be the right idea to appreciate various stills from the film. Filmstigram dubs this a "cinematography post", and for some reason, it carries a negative connotation with it even though it takes work a lot of the time. Posting a singular frame may not be the most challenging thing, but color-coding collages of beautiful stills can be challenging to complete. If the film is known for its deep themes and serious subject matter, it may be time to analyze if you are up to the job. Keep in mind that these aren't exactly a walk in the park to make if you want a detailed post, and it may require several re-watches for a film. If that doesn't sound like the correct choice for you, then a simple review would suffice. What if you don't want to cover a singular movie? Maybe an entire topic on cinema? As an analysis somehow, but a little more informal depending on the subject, a topic essay could be the choice. Once again, it takes a lot of determination and practice to perfect, which I strive to achieve, so I do not feel forced.

STYLE AND SUBSTANCE:

I will admit, this is more or less similar to when I was writing about making cinematography posts, but I promise to add a little more to the topic here. When designing or writing a post, it can be a lot of pressure to decide whether you want to make it more stylish and visually appealing or the most detailed, extended, and well-structured analysis this app has ever seen. Which is better is one question, but the one that goes through all our minds every time we think of an idea, unfortunately, is which type will get more recognition? It seems impossible, but you have to get that out of your head immediately. Popularity is temporary fulfillment, and posting stills of iconic films will get you more clout than analyzing a French New Wave movie, but isn't that the epitome of style over substance? Once again, I'm not saying that cinematography posts cannot be hard to make because it can take hours, especially if it's videos instead of images. Still, it's disappointing that posting a frame can get you more likes than an analysis that someone put their blood and sweat into making. I would conclude to do whatever you think is suitable for the topic or film covered in the post, but a good balance can never hurt.

WHAT APP TO USE?

Another tricky aspect to pole vault over in the journey of posting is finding which app to use. If you're an editor looking for some advice, then apologies, I don't edit frequently enough to give you a concrete recommendation, but iMovie or Premiere Pro isn't bad. Otherwise, for a post, my main rec would have to be Canva. The Pro version of the app has improvements for sure, but the basic one isn't too far off. For free, there are hundreds of different fonts to try out, plenty of templates if you don't know where to start (although it's best to find your own), filters for images without Instagram's help, effects for text (to make it pop out more), measurings for the size and width of the design, and more like those. It's easy to use, convenient to download and save to your camera roll, and faces only minimal technical difficulties that I only rarely have. I know this sounds like some glorified advertisement, but try it out because some other accounts struggling with finding a consistent app to use switched to Canva and enjoyed it.

TEXT ON IMAGERY?

Ugh. This one can be a real pain in the ass to complete successfully, so I hope this helps. Text on imagery is a hell of a thing to pull off if you're doing an extended essay or analysis. It can be incredibly hard or impossible to read if the color of the text doesn't contrast nicely with the background image. It can be easy to give up and write your paragraphs in the post's caption, which is an entirely valid and convenient choice, but people may or may not notice it! I always use white text, so finding darker images with palettes of blue, black, grey, etc., is usually the priority for essays. It took me a while, and I'm still working on perfecting writing on stark, stunning images, but my posts are usually readable these days. You do not want to throw white text on a bright still with a palette of yellow, white, or neon (depends on the back). However, this could vary depending on your preference for the color of the text. Black will work on white and yellow; white will not. If all goes wrong and you can't hit the mark consistently enough with contrast, then throw it in the caption and collage the gorgeous stills without worrying about readability.

BEST QUALITY IMAGES:

But wait, how do you find 4k or 1080p imagery from films to place on your slides? Invariably I wouldn't say I like stills from movies below that quality range and strive to make my posts as stunning as possible even though it comes with ignoring a few costs. Alright, time to stop babbling and get to the point. Google images is always a solid place to start. Still, to find the best stills, I usually look up something like "Blade Runner 2049 cinematography" or "One Perfect Shot: Dunkirk" to see the coolest ones. However, Google gives you a more or less limited arrangement of screengrabs from the movie, and when I cannot find the one I'm looking for, I go to the IMDb photo gallery for the respective film. It's not infinite, but it has a more unique, rare selection of the best-looking cinema. I know, here we go again with me sounding like an annoying ad, but I can't lie, IMDb is where it's at, ok?. If those two choices do not fit your needs, then there's always Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter which usually has images under the hashtags of the movie.

THE COVER:

Now how to make your post pop from the rest? How to grab viewers looking at their feed to check out that post? Unless it's a black and white film, make your cover slide colorful, poppy, and slick in terms of text choice and imagery. In this particular slide, you should not be worried about substance or detail, so go full style and give it that bubble gum feeling that yanks the viewer over to your post. The same rules apply to text contrast, but it can be a little easier considering it's essential to use a more prominent and bolder style of text here, which gives the ideal color palette a bit more variation. There are still restrictions, however. Filmstigram commonly oversaturates one particular still, and it pops up in practically every account's feed. For example, the radiation shot of K walking in 2049 is beautiful but overused as hell, so find something different, something one hasn't quite seen in focus before. Just anything that catches attention without being repetitive. Oh, and also, as a tip, don't use the same frame twice for your covers!!

CONCLUSION:

This post may or may not have been as helpful as I thought it would be. To recap, I listed tips for what type of post to make, the lean-to style or substance, the best app to use, how to design text on imagery, find high-quality images, and make the cover stand out from the crowd. Don't force yourself to make the most significant post of all time on your first try. Maybe attempt to make a pretty, if shallow post at first before diversifying your content.