HOLIDAY WORK : Film Industry essay

I have studied the film industry and will be talking about how distributors engage different audiences using a variety of platforms, including film websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, trailers, film posters. 

Distributors will often advertise on social media as it will help reach a wide audience and help to get a larger social following and gain the attention of the media, meaning that the film will get more sales as the public understand what the movie is about. It is common for films marketed towards children and young adults to be marketed in this way as the majority of the target audience have access to social media and online websites. This also means that they can engage with the audience and they can get feedback on what the public wants out of this film so they can maximise revenue from the film, and create more interest online prior to release.

A prime example of this is the Captain Marvel campaign. It was hugely successful and was able to gain a following of over one million, by showing clips of the film, interviews with actress' and actors and also a countdown to the film's release. They also had a clear target market with people who like superhero films. Unusually the studio also tried to make the campaign appeal mostly to the female market, with a film about a superhero who is a girl. Another promotional technique was fan engagement, this can be illustrated by the massive feedback and huge fan following that it got.

I watch the Marvel films upon release and follow their marketing campaigns, therefore my experiences with the marketing campaign are that it is quite relentless, often bombarding you with posts relating to the movie so you can almost never escape the film. It is often successful as I see the films upon release, but it can feel quite cramped as your social media is often flooded with content relating to the film and it can sometimes put you off as you become alienated by the constant advertising of the film.

Captain Marvel's campaign was heavily reliant of showing off their well-known cast and the film is the first of the Marvel films starring a female lead, meaning they can use it as a forefront of their campaign and get people to watch the film. The cast includes Samuel L Jackson, Brie Larson and Jude Law, who all are accomplished actors and actress' who will get the public's attention due to their fame and successful acting careers to date.

It is also worth noting that Captain Marvel released two websites; one to showcase the film and to update of film developments and the second a retro-style website with the theme of the '90s. It features twist's on classic games such as pinball in addition to showing retro-style posters as well. This is a good way to engage audience and get them interested and involved with the upcoming film.

Roma was a film distributed by Netflix through their streaming service, However, it had a short theatrical run, which is odd for a film created by a streaming service. It was revealed that it was shot on a widescreen camera, meaning that the resolution was best seen on a cinema screen, meaning that they put the film on a short theatrical run. Roma used social media (mainly Facebook and Twitter) to advertise, but it also used their own website to advertise as well. 

Marketing is also achieved through reviews for the film, but can also be deceptive when the marketing department for a film twist word and reviews to their advantage. An example of this would be in the poster for Legend in where a two-star review was spun to make it seem like a four-star review and was labelled 'marketing gold'.

RESEARCH : My Audience Profile

My Audience Profile

I needed to plan how to reach my target audience, which means I needed to know who they are. Factors that may be relevant include age, gender, ethnicity, social class, what their media needs are. I need to research how to meet my target audience needs to ensure I can produce a product that they will want. I need to ensure I know how to reach them and this in turn will inform how I market my film. I will show how my research has influenced my planning. 

From this research I learned that my target audience will have to be older, and more mature, as to not cause the more 'active' viewers to incorporate the violent aspects of the story and minimize risk to immature viewers. However by limiting the age to 15 we will remove the immature viewers and will instead only get viewers who will enjoy the film, but not try to replicate anything they see in the film.

CASE STUDY : Rogue One, A Star Wars story

Rogue One Questions
Kathleen Kennedy, and Allison Shearmur

• Who directed the film?  Gareth Edwards

• What other films have they directed? 
Monsters, Godzilla

• What was the budget? $265 million (gross) $219.5 million (net)

• Who stars in it? Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker

• What other films have they been in? The Theory of Everything, Black Panther, Inferno

• What technology has been used to make the film? (What cameras did they use? How was the film edited? What CGI was involved?) The film employed usage of CGI to help build the image of outer space and create the planets that the story would be set on, Alexa 65, which is Arri’s top of the line digital cinema camera. It shoots in 6K resolution.

• How was the film marketed? Which different marketing tools were used? It was primarily marketed through posters, trailers, and interviews with the cast. This meant that it would reach a wide range of audiences quickly and efficiently.

• What examples of synergy with other products/merchandise can you find? T-shirts, Figurines, books, graphic novels,lego products etc.

• What examples of cross media convergence can you find?Duracell, Nissan, Gillette, Verizon, General Mills, Uber

• What examples of technological convergence can you find? Snapchat filters which allowed pictures to be taken with members of the cast in the background

• Where and when was this film released (nationwide, worldwide) and in what cinemas? The film was released worldwide and in all cinema's as to maximise profits 

• Who produced the film?  Kathleen Kennedy, and Allison Shearmur