Component 3: Media Production

Favourite Film Genres:

• Comedy
• Action
• Rom-Com
• Sci-Fi

Marketing strategies used in films:

• “Toy Story 3” targeted college age men and women, released an old fashioned advert and placed flyers on college campuses that gave a link to screening information.
• “The Ring 2” used its own signature scare against its fans, pranksters could send in their friend’s phone numbers and were then given a link to the film
• “Inception” gave a link to a game which when completed gave a link to the trailer, they also released t shirts with QR codes which contained a link to the trailer
• “Chronicle” used human shaped remote control planes to market the film and helped it gross 10X its budget
• “Paranormal activity” was only shown in select cities so that other cities would have to “Demand” the film to be released there, in the end the petitions used got so many signatures that the film was released nation wide.
• “Cloverfield” was very secretive before its release which raised speculation
• “I’m still here” blurred the line between truth and fiction, phoenix stayed completely in character through the marketing campaign
• “The Simpsons movie” made over 7 11s all over the country into Kwik E Marts, Homer was also shown at the beginning of Jay Leno’s talk show as well as an animated version of Jay Leno
• “Ex Machina” set up a dating account for the android in the film and matched people with her
• “The Blair Witch Project” used found footage marketed as real footage, they even released missing person posters for the characters in the film which made people think it was real.

Research:

• When a film is made it has to be advertised like any other new product, to let people know it exists and to encourage them to go to the cinema and see it.
• The marketing of a film is known as film promotion or marketing, the production company is responsible for this, they distribute the films to the cinemas and distribute the promotional material around the country.
• The way in which a film is promoted can have a huge effect on whether or not it is successful. Films are expensive to make and if the public do not buy tickets at the box office to see the film, a lot of money will be lost.

What films have you seen recently? What made you want to see them?

• Pitch Perfect 3 – Seen the other films in the franchise, well known actors, well known storyline, enjoyed the other films
• John Wick 2 – Popular actor, seen the other film and enjoyed it

Targetting: Order of Priority 1-8

• Chance – 8
• Big names – 1
• Franchises – 2
• Remakes – 3
• Spin offs – 4
• Peer Pressure – 7
• Pre existing fans – 6
• Word of Mouth – 5

Planning a promotional campaign for a film –

• When the distributors agree to market a new film, they will watch it several months before its release to plan a marketing campaign, they decide what will go in the trailer, on the poster, websites and other materials that will market the film. Some important points to consider:
• Who will be most likely to see this film?
• Many films are aimed at ages between 15-24, because statistics tell us that this is the group that visits the cinema most often.

Identifying genre:

• The title of a film is what catches our attention in a film
• The title is a crucial part of the marketing campaign
• the title of a film, along with other aspects of the marketing campaign may be altered to fit cultural requirements

What does a title need to do/be if it is to attract to an audience?

• Should be short
• Easy to pronounce

What should it not do?

• Contradict what is in the film
• Be long or hard to pronounce

Titles that helped sell their film:

• IT
• Inception
• Terminator
• Interstellar
• The Hunger Games
• Mission:Impossible
• Dunkirk
• Hannibal
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Hidden Figures

Genre as Classification:

• Genre is a means of classifying that enables us to group together films according to narrative and film style. However, within each genre we can classify further into sub genres. For examples, a film may fall mainly into the classification of science fiction but may feature a relationship that means that a love story is a strong factor in the narrative.

The Rule Of Thirds

• An image can be split 3 ways
• Lead characters tend to be on the left because we read from left to right
• The upper left section is where our eyes move first

 

Similarities and differences between “Kiss of the vampire” and “Mad Max fury road” Film posters

 

• The main image is drawn or painted rather than a photograph that has been photoshopped
• It has a credit block unlike Mad Max
• Kiss of the vampire doesn’t have a tagline it only features the title
• Limited technology used
• Star billing below the title
• “In Eastman Colour” and “A Universal Release” show the quality of the film
• “Kiss” Love, seduction, romance
• No release date – Films used to stay in the cinemas longer, so word of mouth was very important, release dates weren’t necessary

• The main image is a photograph that has been edited
• Only 2 names in the star billing, featured above the title to show that they are important (More important than the film itself)
• Tagline featured to create suspense and draw the audience in
• Irony created by the tagline
• Company logos shown at the bottom
• “See it in real 3D” Kiss of the vampire’s biggest selling point is the fact that it is in colour, shows the difference in technology.
• Teaser poster so no credit block

Scary films and other similar things like rollercoasters give us a thrill or CATHARSIS.

Differences between teaser posters and theatrical posters

• Teaser posters
• Lack of information – No title, stars (Suspense/enigma, creates buzz), no release date etc.
• Released around 6 months before the film depending on the budget
• Theatrical posters
• More info – credit, release date, stars, company logos etc.

ancillary distribution – Final stage of distributing a film (DVD, Netflix etc)

1960s film marketing:

• The 1960s audience for this advert could be assumed to be familiar with the codes and conventions of monster movies and their posters such as it composition, fonts and representations of “the monster” and its , usually female, victims
• Capitalised San Sarif font of the title connotes the vampire which is linked to the genre and its “wooden” styling referencing the vampire’s coffin or the stake needed to kill him.
• The use of the painted main image is very conventional of films from this period and links to the poster for Christopher Lee’s Dracula, the fact that “In Eastman colour” is on the poster connotes that this is a modern telling of an older story.
• The gloomy grey, black and brown colour palette reinforces the film’s dark subject matter while the red draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood, which are all key signifiers of the genre.
• Suspense is created through the enigma codes surrounding the connoted relationship between the male and female vampires (Emphasised by the “Kiss” in the title) and the fate of the 2 victims (Barthes’ hermeneutic Code)
• Barthes’ Semantic/connotations code could be applied to images of the bats and their conventional association with vampirism and the horror genre in general.
• The Symbolic/action codes of horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male victim’s “Submissive sacrifice” gesture code.

 

+The 2 main characters are in the centre of the poster which makes them the focus.

• The main character is in the left hand third of the poster making him the first thing the audience sees this is because he is more important to the marketing of the film.
• The background colour is red, this has connotations to blood, danger and injury which could give us a clue as to what genre of film this is.
• Red also has connotations to love and passion which could suggest that there is a love interest in the film.
• The posture of the characters on the poster makes them seem powerful and important, they are standing very tall which suggests strength and pride which could be suggestive of their characters in the film.
• The hashtag for the movie has also been included in the top left hand corner of the poster, this helps the studio market the film and appeal to modern audiences who use digital media a lot.
• Direct address has been used through the character on the left looking directly into the camera, the character on the right is not looking at the camera though which could suggest a difference between the characters or a conflict.
• The lack of title and release date also creates suspense about the film which creates buzz and anticipation amongst the audience.

 

• The main image on this poster includes all of the most important characters in the film, there is a lot of action in the image which makes it clear to the audience what the genre of the film is.
• The well-known actors names are at the very top of the poster which makes it seem as if it is the most important thing on the poster, more important than the film itself.
• The actors’ pictures like Michael Caine’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s are actually smaller than the less known actor’s which suggests that they are less important to the narrative of the film.
• Colin Firth is the largest character on the poster, he is also in the centre which makes him the focus of the poster, this suggests that he is most important, not only to the narrative, but to the marketing of the film, his name also appears first in the star billing at the top making it the first we see and therefore the most important.
• “From the director of X-Men First Class” is used as the film’s mark of quality as well as the studio logos at the bottom, it is written above the title of the film which suggests that this information is more important than the film itself. This information may attract a wider audience who were a fan of the X-Men film, because they may therefore think that this film would be successful.

• The main image on this DVD is the same as that on the theatrical poster for this film which makes it recognisable to the audience.
• The main character is the focus of the cover, this makes it seem as he is the most important thing in the film, the actor’s name is above the title of the film which makes it seem as if he is at the top of the hierarchy of importance in the film, it also attracts a wider audience who already liked the actor.
• The studio logo is on the spine of the DVD acting as its mark of quality, it is a well-known studio which releases predominantly large films, this appeal to the audience because it therefore seems as if the film they had bought would be good.
• the rating of the film is featured at the bottom of the cover and on the back where the rating is explained, this lets the audience know what to expect from the film and what gave the film its rating, this also dictates the audience of the film which the studio would want as large as possible.
• Special features unique to the DVD are shown on the back of the cover, this also appeals to the audience who may want to see things about the film that they wouldnt otherwise have access to.