Candidate Films, Biographical

Types of Candidate Films

There are distinct differences among candidate films depending on what type of race it is being used for. At the presidential level, there are films made for the general election and films made for the primary campaign. General election candidate films, often called “presidential campaign films,” are broadcast to a national TV audience during the Democratic and Republican national conventions, usually right before the presidential nominee's acceptance speech. This type of candidate film focuses mostly on biography and promoting pleasant images of the presidential nominee.

Candidate films that are used during the primaries, called “primary campaign videos” or “meet the candidate videos,” are put on videocassette or DVD and mailed to party faithful and potential donors during the early months of the primary campaign season. Also, the videos typically are shown to small groups of supporters who gather in living rooms at the thousands of house parties that are conducted during the primaries. Journalists also receive the videos in an attempt to spur positive coverage.

Candidate videos at the primary level concentrate far more on specific issues of the day to move potential voters to the polls. The reason for the different approach is that primary candidates deal with voters who are, on average, more involved in the political process and are more interested in complex issue discussion. Also, because primary campaigns are intraparty contests, playing up issue differences helps voters differentiate between a host of candidates who at first might not seem that different from each other. Because candidate videos are usually the first advertising run by a campaign during the primaries, the appeals found within lend insight into how candidates choose to shape the image that they first present to the public.

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