Of all the blogs I've visited over the last week (and trust me I've visited a lot) one of the most enthralling is Mattson Tomlin's. Mattson is a film student and filmmaker from New York, he's currently working on a film and his blog takes you behind the scenes of its production. The blog is captivating and enlightening for anyone who has an interest in filmmaking, but even if you're not into filmmaking it's still just a great blog, which is probably why it has become one of Blogger's "Blogs of Note". And the blog includes lots of incredible photography (which you'll read is one of Mattson's tips for first-timers). Thanks for the interview Mattson, and all the best with your blog and your film.
1. Why did you start your blog?
My blog started in high school, when I started working on my third feature film. I was looking for another way to spread the word in a more long-hand format. Other internet mediums didn't quite give me the platform I was hoping for, so I turned to trying to make a functioning blog that chronicled my various productions as I went along.
2. What does your blog offer that others don't?
I've actually never come across another blog like mine. The amount of film criticism blogs is wonderful and astounding, but there are very few production blogs that go week by week, or, as will be the case once I start shooting, day by day. Aside from this, I guess I just try to be as human as possible, which is sometimes something blogs miss. I let my voice be heard instead of trying to write in anonymity, and hope that it serves as a place where people can really tap in and get interested in the film work I am doing.
3. Do you promote your blog? If yes, how?
When I was first starting blogging, I would promote my blog to people I knew, via facebook, or myspace, sometimes, if I had an interesting update, on an IMDb message board. Nowadays, I've managed to get a large and growing number of people that it's a bit more organic. I've found that if a blog is interesting, the people reading will want to share it with others for you.
4. What are the positive aspects of blogging?
Connection with others is definite. It also creates a great timeline. I sometimes go back through my blog, read what I was doing in October of 2007, and am able to track progress in my work in a slightly less daunting fashion that a journal would do. It keeps my progress extremely visual and linear.
5. What are the negative aspects of blogging?
Some of them look really, really awful. Ad's on blogs look awful. Sometimes the colors. I'm very visual, and if the visuals are bad, if the structure is in disarray, the colors out of whack, it's very difficult for me to get into what might, content wise, be an extremely well crafted piece.
6. What are your future plans for your blog?
I'll be, for the next 10 months, chronicling the production of my next two films, which are being shot back to back. I'm getting extremely in depth in my day to day activities with other creative people. The ones who are interested might come and blog about the work they are doing instead of having me blog about the work they are doing. In any event, I'm much more willing to show what goes behind the scenes (the downs as well as the ups) than many filmmakers.
7. What advice can you give to first time bloggers?
Pictures! Lots and lots of pictures! If you go to the beginning of my blog, there are no pictures, and thus, no comments. As I matured as a blogger, I realized. People don't like to read. They like to watch. They like to look. Pictures help people connect the dots from paragraph to paragraph. So photographs often! Other than that, always respond to people when they comment. Strike up conversations, and visit the blogs of those visiting you. Every blog is different, and many of them are great.
Thanks again Mattson, and for everyone else here's a link to his blog:
and his website:
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