Marketing a film is an important part of the film's release because the success of the film and the amount of interest generated for it is partly determined by how the distributors advertise it. Each film has its own unique distribution plan and some of the main decisions in this are when and how to market and release a film in order to improve its chances of success. To do this the distributors must have a clear understanding of their target audience, what other films are being marketed at the same time and whether they will be a threat to the realease of their own film and what their film's unique selling point will be. The obvious ways in which films are advertised, and the products we have created, are posters and trailers however, companies also use a number of other methods to create interest around their new film. These include online and mobile advertising e.g official websites which can be accessed at any time and help to build interest for a film from a very early date as they often release exclusive teaser images and sneak peaks from the film, publicity interviews with the stars of the film, advance screenings which can help to genereate word of mouth before the main release of the film, merchandising and the film's premiere which creates a 'buzz' around the film on its official release.
To accompany our teaser trailer I produced a film poster and a film magazine cover which would be used in the film's marketing plan. I believe that my teaser trailer and ancillary texts work well together. The poster has more reference to the trailer than the magazine cover but this is because in the media industry the distributor of the film doesn't have control over what is put in magazines as that would be up to the magazine company and their editors. However, promotional posters are controlled by the distributor and are a very important component in the marketing campaign of a film. This is because they are displayed in various places in order to appeal to the film's target audience for example, in bus shelters and on billboards. A film poster will also be displayed inside and outside a cinema just before and during the film's theatrical run. However, there can sometimes be a dozen or more different posters displayed in a cinema at any one time and so the distributors of each film have to work hard to make theirs effective and to make it stand out and appeal to audiences. Posters usually feature one main image that shows the stars of the film, indicators to the genre of the film, the names of the main stars, production values (director etc.) and a tagline to generate interest.
To accompany our teaser trailer I produced a film poster and a film magazine cover which would be used in the film's marketing plan. I believe that my teaser trailer and ancillary texts work well together. The poster has more reference to the trailer than the magazine cover but this is because in the media industry the distributor of the film doesn't have control over what is put in magazines as that would be up to the magazine company and their editors. However, promotional posters are controlled by the distributor and are a very important component in the marketing campaign of a film. This is because they are displayed in various places in order to appeal to the film's target audience for example, in bus shelters and on billboards. A film poster will also be displayed inside and outside a cinema just before and during the film's theatrical run. However, there can sometimes be a dozen or more different posters displayed in a cinema at any one time and so the distributors of each film have to work hard to make theirs effective and to make it stand out and appeal to audiences. Posters usually feature one main image that shows the stars of the film, indicators to the genre of the film, the names of the main stars, production values (director etc.) and a tagline to generate interest.
- The main image on my poster is an extreme close-up on the eyes of the monster/villian which links to the various close-ups and extreme close-ups that were used on her in the teaser trailer. The emphasis and attention given to this character allows the audience to understand that she plays a significant role in the film. The images in her eyes are stills taken from the trailer and show victims of the film. They look like reflections and so it appears that she is looking at them and so could suggest that she is an evil character. Therefore, the image links to the trailer and gives narrative clues to the audience.
- The colour scheme of the poster is similar to that of the trailer. It is dark and the browny/orangey colours looks like the face has been lit by candlelight. The dark colours are a typical horror convention and so give away the genre of the film. Also it again suggests that the character we can see is evil even though a young innocent child in normal light would suggest otherwise.
- The tagline 'Now she's home to celebrate' links to one of the intertitles used in the trailer '... now someone's back to celebrate'. We used these because 'celebrate' links to the title 'Happy Birthday'. The rest of the poster and the trailer anchor these because without the dark images and other typical horror conventions these statements would not seem sinister. The genre allows us to understand that there is an element of irony in the word 'celebrate' and makes things seem more tense and scary.
- The magazine cover agains shows a picture of the villian/monster and so again she can be identified as an important role in the film. The innocence of a young girl holding a teddy bear is contradicted through the dark and shadowy colour scheme. The character is looking straight at the camera and so draws the audience in by making eye contact.
When creating my ancillary products I took the conventions from existing posters and magazine covers into consideration so that I was able to create something that looked professional.
On my poster I took inspiration and formulated ideas from the posters I researched. I used an extreme close-up of a facial feature as my main image, like the 'Prom Night' poster. I also added extra images in to this image to shock and create interest in the audience. I added images of victims into the eyes of the girl which is similar to the idea used on the 'One Missed Call' poster. I included a main image, the title of the film, the main actors names, a tagline, a release date, a website and a billing block on my poster which are all things that can be found on professional posters.
On my magazine I used a mid close-up shot of our villian. I made the title of the film the main headline and placed this in a large font so that it stood out and it is obvious that it is the main article and selling point of this issue of the magazine. I also made up some smaller articles that I placed at the side of the cover. I included a barcode to make the product look more realistic.
When creating my ancillary products I took the conventions from existing posters and magazine covers into consideration so that I was able to create something that looked professional.
On my poster I took inspiration and formulated ideas from the posters I researched. I used an extreme close-up of a facial feature as my main image, like the 'Prom Night' poster. I also added extra images in to this image to shock and create interest in the audience. I added images of victims into the eyes of the girl which is similar to the idea used on the 'One Missed Call' poster. I included a main image, the title of the film, the main actors names, a tagline, a release date, a website and a billing block on my poster which are all things that can be found on professional posters.
On my magazine I used a mid close-up shot of our villian. I made the title of the film the main headline and placed this in a large font so that it stood out and it is obvious that it is the main article and selling point of this issue of the magazine. I also made up some smaller articles that I placed at the side of the cover. I included a barcode to make the product look more realistic.
what the trailer and poster say about the film
what real distributors do (booklet)
A good start - now show you understand the processes of film distribution and marketing as discussed in class.
ReplyDeleteSean