A2 Advanced Portfolio
A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following of the three options:
- a website homepage for the film
- a film magazine front cover, featuring the film
- a poster for the film
My coursework will consist of research, planning and evaluation.
Together with my group I will be creating a teaser trailer. For the individual tasks I will be creating a film magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.
Saturday 8 May 2010
Critical Analysis
Audience feedback
Trailer Feedback
To obtain some qualitative data I asked a group 15 A Level students about the trailer. I have looked at their feedback and I also provided a brief analysis.
Question 1: Does the trailer give you a sense of the story?
The majority of the feedback indicated that the trailer was clear in portraying the narrative we intended. Most said it was easy to understand, the participants said they got a clear sense of story. This would be because; the carefully planned voiceover and dialogue integrate well to help give a sense of narrative, without giving away the film too much.
Question 2: Would it be the kind of film that you would pay money to go and watch?
The overall participants said yes, they would pay good money to go and see this kind of film. This suggests that we have chosen our target demographic correctly.
Question 3: Is there anything different you thought didn’t make sense?
The majority of the participants said they had trouble, telling apart the subordinate character from the final girl. This is due to the fact that both the characters have very similar characteristics, their hairstyles and hair colour, as well as height and body structure. If I had the chance to do things differently I would make sure the subordinate character was portrayed differently so not cause any confusion about the two characters.
Question 4: Can you reference this trailer to other films within the slasher genre?
The majority of the group of students said they could easily reference the trailer to the film Halloween. They said it helped them to understand the trailer more, in terms of story and what was going on. One of the students said they didn’t think it was a good idea to have reference from other films as this doesn’t make the film original. From this I come to understand that intertextuality helps the audience in understanding the narrative. The participants were able to understand the film in terms of Halloween, and the key references such as the theme tune helped them to do this. This is intertextuality at its best.
Magazine Front Cover Feedback
To obtain some qualitative data I asked a group 15 A Level students about the Magazine Front Cover. I have looked at their feedback and I also provided a brief analysis.
Question 1: Would you pick up this edition of the magazine and purchase it?
Most of the students said yes they would as they thought the cover was professional and eye catching. They said the cover helped to give them a sense of what the film was about. This means the character and images have been portrayed and position correctly to give a sense of narrative within the magazine cover.
Question 2: Do the Buzzwords help to catch your eye?
The majority of the participants said yes they though it did. They felt that if they were in a shop this magazine would catch their eye, as it is bold and looks very 3-d. this goes to prove that this advertising technique of using buzz words actually works, in attracting the appeal of potential consumers.
Question 3: Can you relate this magazine to any other magazine?
The overall population stated that they could reference the magazine to Empire magazine. This further helped their understanding of the magazine cover. This example of intertextuality of referencing my magazine to Empire magazine helped the students understanding of my magazine.
Film Poster Feedback
To obtain some qualitative data I asked a group 15 A Level students about the Film Poster. I have looked at their feedback and I also provided a brief analysis.
Question 1: Would this film poster encourage you to go and see the film?
The majority of the students said yes because the poster does well in helping to give a sense of the film it is portraying.
Question 2: What features in the poster helped you to understand what the film is about?
Most of the students said they noticed how all the knives were pointing in one direction, a house. They also noticed how the house was in a spotlight, and how the font was like as it was bleeding. From this they said they could interpret that it’s about a killer on the loose in a house killing people. This goes to show that the Mis-en-Scene of the poster has helped the audience understanding of the film. I purposely chose to objectify the house in a spotlight effect to; portray the idea that it was main feature of the film.
Question 3: Do the buzzwords on the poster “THE BEST SLASHER SINCE HALLOWEEN... Empireonline.com” affect your appeal towards the film?
The overall participants stated that, convincing comments like this that back this film from big names such as Empire help to give an incentive to go and watch this film. They said it increases their appeal towards the film. This shows that backing from big names such as Empire help to market the film more conveniently, as it makes increase the appeal of the film.
Construction & Institutional Context Study
Construction
Filming
During filming we faced quite a few problems. The main problem was the time of year the filming was taking place. Near the winter it got dark really early, so that meant we had limited shooting time when in the woods as the only source of light was the natural light. We knew which location we would use such as the woods, however we didn’t know what every bit of the woods would look like. That is why when we started filming we found loads of different parts of the woods where we could change the storyboard slightly and improvise scenes.
A lot of the filming was carried out while the camera was on the tripod. This helps to get a much more stable shot. However some of the filming was done free hand, for example when the camera follows Carly as she runs through the woods. The very low budget meant that we could not use a high quality profession filming camera.
Editing
Due to the lack of budget, well no budget at all it meant editing was very difficult. Professional editing suites such as ‘Final Cut’ were not available for us. Consequently we had to use windows movie maker very basic film editing software specific for homemade videos not films. However this meant that we had to be more creative than those who would be using professional editing suites, as we had to make the most of what windows movie maker had to offer. I had taken a look at existing trailers and the special effects they have included; I really wanted to add special effects to our trailer however windows movie maker doesn’t support this feature. The first time we tried to put a paper edit together, we realised the subordinate characters bedroom soon went completely wrong. This resulted in us having to do that shoot all over again and make a few adjustments to the story board.
Sound
We always had an idea for the sound, and we knew we would use John Carpenters Halloween theme tune. The reason being, that theme tune works well with the pace of our trailer. Before we created sound for our trailer we had to finish our editing, during the editing process to keep on track with the sound we decided to use the Halloween theme. After editing had finished we took the trailer down to the sound studio, and put together different sounds. We realised how well the Halloween theme goes with our trailer, however we are not allowed to use this sound as it is copyright and we would be breaking the law by making use of it. We then decided we would use the Halloween theme as a basis and make a theme tune very similar with the piano, but at a different tempo and order. Near the end of the trailer the subordinate character screams, her scream just wasn’t good enough so we had to take the scream out of the sound completely, and replace it with another edited scream. However even though this scream was edited into the trailer it still remains diegetic sound as it belongs to the world within that trailer.
During the editing process we did create a montage sequence, however we realised it did lack a little in pace, which misses the whole point of a fast montage sequence. We decided that the sound would have to make up for some of the slower footage, and help it pace up in tempo. We introduced a drum sound and interpreted the idea of heartbeats to increase the pace of the sequence.
We also had deep cello screeches at the end of every shot in the montage sequence, this influence comes from psycho. When during the killing scene, while the character is being murdered this screeching sound marks each stab, we interpreted this into our trailer as an intertextual reference.
Institutional Contextual Study
To have our film presented to the nation or the globe, many aspects have to be addressed. First and foremost is the production of the film. To have our film ‘The House’ go through production, we would have to consider factors such as: possible funds, advertising, marketing, costs, and distribution methods. All these factors will have to be carefully analysed and well planned to ensure our film makes a good entry into the film industry and also the current competitive film market.
A low budget film is a motion picture that is filmed on a limited or a low budget. Extremely low budget films usually have a budget less than five million pounds. It isn’t easy to get funding from anywhere, especially if you are starting out new or you need a massive break into the market. This is why “Young or unknown directors often make low-budget films due to a lack of funding from studios, which are not willing to invest in a film which appears unlikely to become successful [Wikipedia]”. If you look at low budget film history, you will notice that the majority of successful low budget films belong to the horror genre. This is because the horror genre, specifically the slasher genre fits very well within the cinema landscape. Why a young/unknown director would chose horror to be the genre of his first film, is a question that can be answered in many ways.
The Horror genre is a genre in film that goes back a long time ago to the time when, silent shorts created by film pioneers such as Georges Méliès in the late 1890s, the most notable being his 1896 Le Manoir du diable aka "The House of the Devil" which was actually credited for being the first ever horror film. These films were low budget and easy to make. Most of the times these films are self funded, or funded by small time investors. The reason being that the horror genre already holds an existing market that has been established many years ago therefore, producing a horror film is a lot easier as there are so many codes and conventions that can be used and followed.
The availability of existing codes and conventions of slasher films helps a great deal in the film making process, marketing and advertising. Our film was created on the basis of codes and conventions of successful slasher films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. Many of our targets demographic would have seen these movies, therefore the intertextuality allows the demographic to reference understanding from one slasher film to another. Iconic settings play a big role that is why we have used the woods and a derelict house. Halloween (1978) consisted of an abandoned house and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre consisted of a lot of woods. The target demographic will be able to make intertextual references having seen these slasher films, to help them understand and relate to our film.
Our film ‘The House’ belongs to a sub-genre called slasher. Slasher films are relatively cheaper to produce than other sub genres of Horror, because it is easier to achieve verisimilitude for the wider audience due to the existing codes and conventions. The slasher genre has been around for a long time, meaning audiences have an existing ideology about slasher themes and films. To make this verisimilitude acceptable isn’t very hard either, because the props, costumes, locations are cheaper than other genres; special effects are rarely needed for slasher films minimising costs by a large amount. It makes sense to make a film that is commercially viable which is why it is easier to make horror films.
Low budget films have to consider a range of possible funding. The film may be funded by self funding, private investment, part government funding, bank funding and studio backing.
Self funding means the individual would have to make personal arrangements of the funding. If I had to use this method of funding, I would borrow money, pitching my idea to the bank. If the bank thinks the idea is worth investment, they would offer me a loan to make up for some or most of the budget.
One means of possible funding is the UK Film Council (UKFC). The UKFC is a non-departmental public body, and is funded through sources including the National Lottery. Their objective is “To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK”. The UKFC funds a range of different activities, including: Filmmaking, Distribution & Exhibition, and Education & Training and Regional & National Film activity. This is one source of funding we would heavily rely on for our slasher film. You can see that the aim of the UKFC is to boost the UK film industry and help British films become more prominent in society. One reason as to why this body was founded in 2000 is due to American cultural imperialism. The majority of films shown in cinemas today are mainstream American films, which portray the ideology of America. However many countries have found a way to tackle this issue of cultural imperialism.
France had quickly become aware of how American culture and cinema was taking over French people’s film tastes. They were worried of people not taking enough notice of French talent, and also losing a sense of their French culture. To overcome this issue France installed a film import quota of 1:7, which simply means, for every seven foreign films imported to France, one French film was to be produced and shown in French cinemas. This is an effective way of boosting the French film industry as well as maintaining their ideologies and attitudes.
There are a few films that have been funded by public sectors, ‘This is England’ is a prime example of what government/public funding can help achieve. ‘This Is England’ was funded by ‘Film4’. The film ‘atonement’ is a case in point of how the society of Britain is portrayed in a sensationalised way. The ‘atonement’ is a British film produced by Universal Pictures a mainstream film company; therefore the film contains heavily the American views and ideology of British culture, which are big mansions, posh accents and posh clothes. However this doesn’t portray the British culture in the right way. ‘This is England’ does however, as it portrays British social realism. As it is not sensationalising British culture showing big houses, posh accents, and rich upper class people. Shane Meadows’ ‘This is England’ exhibits social realism, by portraying the issues the British society are facing issues such as poverty, racism, politics, and lack of opportunity. The atonement is a general American escapism view of British culture/society, sensationalising and glamorising the British culture and society. For this reason the government has introduced bodies such as the UK film council to help encourage film makers of today to reflect on British culture and society.
Private investment is another source of possible funding that should be considered. The advantage of this is that the investor doesn’t need a professional level of understanding of filmmaking. Another form of funding is studio backing, where a film studio invests in the making of a film. However the problem with these forms of private investment is the issue of profit and loss. Private investment is commercial backing, and these investors are business men, aiming to put money in to make a profit out of the final product. The problem with the investors is that they are most likely to have a profit making incentive; therefore they would want to make adjustments to the film in ways to make it more profitable.
Production is now covered; the next stage is post production which includes distribution, marketing promotion and advertising. Film festivals are essential for the films appeal to potential distributors and distributing companies.
The progression of time has definitely seen the evolution of advertising and marketing. Technology has developed, people have become more interactive therefore to reach out to people these days, distribution companies have worked out a very clever method. This new and effective method is called viral advertising. Viral advertising refers to marketing techniques that use pre existing social networks to increase the awareness of a certain brand, in this case a film. Before the internet, viral marketing would have been known as more simply being ‘word-of-mouth’. The internet is a platform to host a range of media. The most recent buzz on the internet is social networking. Millions and millions of people use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as well as sites such as YouTube where anyone can post anything. YouTube and social networking sites can work together well to help the advertising of a product, an individual see’s the trailer/introduction of our film on YouTube, they like what they see so they decide to send the link around to their friends on facebook, then these other individuals see the video and pass it on, this whole process is just as good as word-of-mouth. Today, it is the most effective way of promoting a product (film). The first step I would take towards viral advertising would be to post a lot of videos on YouTube to create a buzz around the film, then create an official page for the film on facebook and use both to help market our film.
Films such as ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’ have proven that low budget films can become successful. This is mainly due to viral advertising. The capability of viral advertising is in the hands of anyone in the public. Viral advertising has had an effect on the traditional Marxist structure of media production and distribution which is owned by a few that work to reinforce the dominant ideology. The freedom available to use co-ordinating marketing campaign, is from a theoretical point of view, seen as the demise of the traditional Marxist structure of media production and distribution. The fact that anyone can do viral advertising means the Marxist structure is under threat, because in this structure the very few own the media. This freedom has been created by the internet, traditionally the film industry would follow the Marxist structure, which meant there would be a product created for many but produced by only a few, and those few being people that had power and control over production and distribution in the media. This means that low budget films have the ability to reach a larger audience because the ability to access a range of audience using these free and effective techniques of marketing.
Examples of successful internet viral marketing are present with ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and Oren Peli’s debut feature ‘Paranormal Activity’. ‘Paranormal Activity’ had a very low production budget, $15,000. With a smart marketing campaign using viral advertising the film had become really popular. It was made on a very low budget however, word-of-mouth helped the public become more aware of the film as on November 2009, the films total gross was $192,735,402 a very successful figure. The Blair witch project did this by setting up an internet website. On this site they explained how a group of teenagers went looking for the Blair witch and died, they also said how the footage they had created was found and was being edited to be shown in a film. They frequently updated the website to keep the audience informed; this helped to create a thrill about the film, aiding it to become a very high grossing film.
The internet has had a democratising effect on information and entertainment in the media. Entertainment is a form of escapism, helping us divert from dullness of our everyday lives and enter a world of hyper reality, where things are surreal however accepted as the dominant ideology by the majority.
Our film could still become very successful worldwide regardless of whether it has an extremely low budget or not. The fact that our chosen genre has an existing market will stand us in good stead, to appealing to a range of audience. It would only be wise for us to take our film to a film festival to be able to find potential distributors who would purchase the distribution rights. I would take our film to the fright fest film festival, as this is a film festival specific for horror films. Our best chance would be to use viral advertising to our advantage. To do this I would set up a website for the film which would include exclusive interviews and trailers, I would also have a forum to make the website more interactive and have people discuss about the film. I would also consider advertising on mobile internet as this is the latest craze hopefully these techniques would create a general buzz around the film.
Filming
During filming we faced quite a few problems. The main problem was the time of year the filming was taking place. Near the winter it got dark really early, so that meant we had limited shooting time when in the woods as the only source of light was the natural light. We knew which location we would use such as the woods, however we didn’t know what every bit of the woods would look like. That is why when we started filming we found loads of different parts of the woods where we could change the storyboard slightly and improvise scenes.
A lot of the filming was carried out while the camera was on the tripod. This helps to get a much more stable shot. However some of the filming was done free hand, for example when the camera follows Carly as she runs through the woods. The very low budget meant that we could not use a high quality profession filming camera.
Editing
Due to the lack of budget, well no budget at all it meant editing was very difficult. Professional editing suites such as ‘Final Cut’ were not available for us. Consequently we had to use windows movie maker very basic film editing software specific for homemade videos not films. However this meant that we had to be more creative than those who would be using professional editing suites, as we had to make the most of what windows movie maker had to offer. I had taken a look at existing trailers and the special effects they have included; I really wanted to add special effects to our trailer however windows movie maker doesn’t support this feature. The first time we tried to put a paper edit together, we realised the subordinate characters bedroom soon went completely wrong. This resulted in us having to do that shoot all over again and make a few adjustments to the story board.
Sound
We always had an idea for the sound, and we knew we would use John Carpenters Halloween theme tune. The reason being, that theme tune works well with the pace of our trailer. Before we created sound for our trailer we had to finish our editing, during the editing process to keep on track with the sound we decided to use the Halloween theme. After editing had finished we took the trailer down to the sound studio, and put together different sounds. We realised how well the Halloween theme goes with our trailer, however we are not allowed to use this sound as it is copyright and we would be breaking the law by making use of it. We then decided we would use the Halloween theme as a basis and make a theme tune very similar with the piano, but at a different tempo and order. Near the end of the trailer the subordinate character screams, her scream just wasn’t good enough so we had to take the scream out of the sound completely, and replace it with another edited scream. However even though this scream was edited into the trailer it still remains diegetic sound as it belongs to the world within that trailer.
During the editing process we did create a montage sequence, however we realised it did lack a little in pace, which misses the whole point of a fast montage sequence. We decided that the sound would have to make up for some of the slower footage, and help it pace up in tempo. We introduced a drum sound and interpreted the idea of heartbeats to increase the pace of the sequence.
We also had deep cello screeches at the end of every shot in the montage sequence, this influence comes from psycho. When during the killing scene, while the character is being murdered this screeching sound marks each stab, we interpreted this into our trailer as an intertextual reference.
Institutional Contextual Study
To have our film presented to the nation or the globe, many aspects have to be addressed. First and foremost is the production of the film. To have our film ‘The House’ go through production, we would have to consider factors such as: possible funds, advertising, marketing, costs, and distribution methods. All these factors will have to be carefully analysed and well planned to ensure our film makes a good entry into the film industry and also the current competitive film market.
A low budget film is a motion picture that is filmed on a limited or a low budget. Extremely low budget films usually have a budget less than five million pounds. It isn’t easy to get funding from anywhere, especially if you are starting out new or you need a massive break into the market. This is why “Young or unknown directors often make low-budget films due to a lack of funding from studios, which are not willing to invest in a film which appears unlikely to become successful [Wikipedia]”. If you look at low budget film history, you will notice that the majority of successful low budget films belong to the horror genre. This is because the horror genre, specifically the slasher genre fits very well within the cinema landscape. Why a young/unknown director would chose horror to be the genre of his first film, is a question that can be answered in many ways.
The Horror genre is a genre in film that goes back a long time ago to the time when, silent shorts created by film pioneers such as Georges Méliès in the late 1890s, the most notable being his 1896 Le Manoir du diable aka "The House of the Devil" which was actually credited for being the first ever horror film. These films were low budget and easy to make. Most of the times these films are self funded, or funded by small time investors. The reason being that the horror genre already holds an existing market that has been established many years ago therefore, producing a horror film is a lot easier as there are so many codes and conventions that can be used and followed.
The availability of existing codes and conventions of slasher films helps a great deal in the film making process, marketing and advertising. Our film was created on the basis of codes and conventions of successful slasher films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. Many of our targets demographic would have seen these movies, therefore the intertextuality allows the demographic to reference understanding from one slasher film to another. Iconic settings play a big role that is why we have used the woods and a derelict house. Halloween (1978) consisted of an abandoned house and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre consisted of a lot of woods. The target demographic will be able to make intertextual references having seen these slasher films, to help them understand and relate to our film.
Our film ‘The House’ belongs to a sub-genre called slasher. Slasher films are relatively cheaper to produce than other sub genres of Horror, because it is easier to achieve verisimilitude for the wider audience due to the existing codes and conventions. The slasher genre has been around for a long time, meaning audiences have an existing ideology about slasher themes and films. To make this verisimilitude acceptable isn’t very hard either, because the props, costumes, locations are cheaper than other genres; special effects are rarely needed for slasher films minimising costs by a large amount. It makes sense to make a film that is commercially viable which is why it is easier to make horror films.
Low budget films have to consider a range of possible funding. The film may be funded by self funding, private investment, part government funding, bank funding and studio backing.
Self funding means the individual would have to make personal arrangements of the funding. If I had to use this method of funding, I would borrow money, pitching my idea to the bank. If the bank thinks the idea is worth investment, they would offer me a loan to make up for some or most of the budget.
One means of possible funding is the UK Film Council (UKFC). The UKFC is a non-departmental public body, and is funded through sources including the National Lottery. Their objective is “To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK”. The UKFC funds a range of different activities, including: Filmmaking, Distribution & Exhibition, and Education & Training and Regional & National Film activity. This is one source of funding we would heavily rely on for our slasher film. You can see that the aim of the UKFC is to boost the UK film industry and help British films become more prominent in society. One reason as to why this body was founded in 2000 is due to American cultural imperialism. The majority of films shown in cinemas today are mainstream American films, which portray the ideology of America. However many countries have found a way to tackle this issue of cultural imperialism.
France had quickly become aware of how American culture and cinema was taking over French people’s film tastes. They were worried of people not taking enough notice of French talent, and also losing a sense of their French culture. To overcome this issue France installed a film import quota of 1:7, which simply means, for every seven foreign films imported to France, one French film was to be produced and shown in French cinemas. This is an effective way of boosting the French film industry as well as maintaining their ideologies and attitudes.
There are a few films that have been funded by public sectors, ‘This is England’ is a prime example of what government/public funding can help achieve. ‘This Is England’ was funded by ‘Film4’. The film ‘atonement’ is a case in point of how the society of Britain is portrayed in a sensationalised way. The ‘atonement’ is a British film produced by Universal Pictures a mainstream film company; therefore the film contains heavily the American views and ideology of British culture, which are big mansions, posh accents and posh clothes. However this doesn’t portray the British culture in the right way. ‘This is England’ does however, as it portrays British social realism. As it is not sensationalising British culture showing big houses, posh accents, and rich upper class people. Shane Meadows’ ‘This is England’ exhibits social realism, by portraying the issues the British society are facing issues such as poverty, racism, politics, and lack of opportunity. The atonement is a general American escapism view of British culture/society, sensationalising and glamorising the British culture and society. For this reason the government has introduced bodies such as the UK film council to help encourage film makers of today to reflect on British culture and society.
Private investment is another source of possible funding that should be considered. The advantage of this is that the investor doesn’t need a professional level of understanding of filmmaking. Another form of funding is studio backing, where a film studio invests in the making of a film. However the problem with these forms of private investment is the issue of profit and loss. Private investment is commercial backing, and these investors are business men, aiming to put money in to make a profit out of the final product. The problem with the investors is that they are most likely to have a profit making incentive; therefore they would want to make adjustments to the film in ways to make it more profitable.
Production is now covered; the next stage is post production which includes distribution, marketing promotion and advertising. Film festivals are essential for the films appeal to potential distributors and distributing companies.
The progression of time has definitely seen the evolution of advertising and marketing. Technology has developed, people have become more interactive therefore to reach out to people these days, distribution companies have worked out a very clever method. This new and effective method is called viral advertising. Viral advertising refers to marketing techniques that use pre existing social networks to increase the awareness of a certain brand, in this case a film. Before the internet, viral marketing would have been known as more simply being ‘word-of-mouth’. The internet is a platform to host a range of media. The most recent buzz on the internet is social networking. Millions and millions of people use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as well as sites such as YouTube where anyone can post anything. YouTube and social networking sites can work together well to help the advertising of a product, an individual see’s the trailer/introduction of our film on YouTube, they like what they see so they decide to send the link around to their friends on facebook, then these other individuals see the video and pass it on, this whole process is just as good as word-of-mouth. Today, it is the most effective way of promoting a product (film). The first step I would take towards viral advertising would be to post a lot of videos on YouTube to create a buzz around the film, then create an official page for the film on facebook and use both to help market our film.
Films such as ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’ have proven that low budget films can become successful. This is mainly due to viral advertising. The capability of viral advertising is in the hands of anyone in the public. Viral advertising has had an effect on the traditional Marxist structure of media production and distribution which is owned by a few that work to reinforce the dominant ideology. The freedom available to use co-ordinating marketing campaign, is from a theoretical point of view, seen as the demise of the traditional Marxist structure of media production and distribution. The fact that anyone can do viral advertising means the Marxist structure is under threat, because in this structure the very few own the media. This freedom has been created by the internet, traditionally the film industry would follow the Marxist structure, which meant there would be a product created for many but produced by only a few, and those few being people that had power and control over production and distribution in the media. This means that low budget films have the ability to reach a larger audience because the ability to access a range of audience using these free and effective techniques of marketing.
Examples of successful internet viral marketing are present with ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and Oren Peli’s debut feature ‘Paranormal Activity’. ‘Paranormal Activity’ had a very low production budget, $15,000. With a smart marketing campaign using viral advertising the film had become really popular. It was made on a very low budget however, word-of-mouth helped the public become more aware of the film as on November 2009, the films total gross was $192,735,402 a very successful figure. The Blair witch project did this by setting up an internet website. On this site they explained how a group of teenagers went looking for the Blair witch and died, they also said how the footage they had created was found and was being edited to be shown in a film. They frequently updated the website to keep the audience informed; this helped to create a thrill about the film, aiding it to become a very high grossing film.
The internet has had a democratising effect on information and entertainment in the media. Entertainment is a form of escapism, helping us divert from dullness of our everyday lives and enter a world of hyper reality, where things are surreal however accepted as the dominant ideology by the majority.
Our film could still become very successful worldwide regardless of whether it has an extremely low budget or not. The fact that our chosen genre has an existing market will stand us in good stead, to appealing to a range of audience. It would only be wise for us to take our film to a film festival to be able to find potential distributors who would purchase the distribution rights. I would take our film to the fright fest film festival, as this is a film festival specific for horror films. Our best chance would be to use viral advertising to our advantage. To do this I would set up a website for the film which would include exclusive interviews and trailers, I would also have a forum to make the website more interactive and have people discuss about the film. I would also consider advertising on mobile internet as this is the latest craze hopefully these techniques would create a general buzz around the film.
The poster, magazine and trailer work together to form a final product in a strategic marketing campaign. Each of them helps one another to increase the appeal of the overall product. The 3 advertisements help to create a general buzz about the film, making it more of a social experience. This will help with viral advertising as social networking website will boost the marketing campaign in expanding the buzz around the film. The magazine, poster and template work together, this is a form of synergy, as they are interacting together and the consistent brand identity, means that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Viewing Pattern's Research & Analysis
Viewing Patterns Research Analysis
81% of teenagers said yes they do like horror films. There could be various reasons for this result, one main factor to consider are the ideological contexts of these sorts of films. They are fun, thrilling and exciting. 31% of teenagers said they watch 18 certificate films at the cinema however jus over a quarter of teenagers said they download these 18 certificate films and watch them. To download the movie they would have to download it off the internet. The main thing to take into account is how easy it is for individuals under the age of 18 to access these 18 rated films. Now the internet has caused several problems with censorship and regulation as there really isn’t a way to perform these acts. Just like any other form of media that came out, it is a technological advancement that the government is having trouble with keeping up with it.
However when you are thinking about promotion then this may also be an upside for a production company. As the internet is a very easy way to advertise and promote a product i.e. film. New marketing techniques such as viral advertising, where promotion of a product is achieved through social networking, such as facebook, MySpace and twitter can help promotion quite a lot. To promote the film on websites where the majority of the population will use at least once a week, will have a big impact on the audience.
65% of teenagers go out to and watch horror films with their friends; this indicates the social value of horror films. Therefore promoters would have to advertise the film in a way that it would make a nice night out with a couple of friends.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
Friday 23 April 2010
Genre & Narrative Research
Vladimir Propps theories of narrative functions are seen widely in almost all movies. I will be using the example of star wars. Luke Skywalker lives with his aunt and uncle. Here his mainly his uncle gives him many chores to do around the house. This makes him feel distressed as he feels this is stopping him achieving his dream of doing bigger things. The first point of Propps’ narrative functions ‘a member of the family leaves home i.e. the hero is introduced, here we see one of Propps’ narrative functions happen right before us. This happens in many movies, harry potter leaves to become a wizard, Frodo Baggins leaves to destroy the ring and money other movies. Another one of Propps’ narrative function works in this film, which is the appearance of the helper. The helper is conventionally older and much more wise, however unable to carry problem themselves usually due to age, this can be seen in many movies, in harry potter Harry has Dumbledore, in Lord of The Rings Frodo has Gandalf, in the Matrix Neil has Morpheus. This narrative function also appears in star wars; Luke Skywalker goes to find the old Obi Wan Kenobi to help him on his quest. One very common narrative function Propps states is, ‘ the hero is given some kind of weapon of power’, in harry potter he is given the wand, in the matrix he is given the pill, in the Lord of The Rings he is given the ring and in Star Wars Luke Skywalker is given the light sabre. One of Propps’ narrative functions also states that a member(s) of the heroes’ family will be injured or killed. This happens in star wars when Luke Skywalker goes home to find his house burning, his aunty and uncle both dead.
Vladimir Propp developed a flow diagram to represent narrative functions:
Equilibrium Disruption Resolution Restored Order New Equilibrium
For example in star wars we see Luke Skywalker leading a normal average life this is the base equilibrium. He goes on to becoming a fighter pilot, in defense against the death star, disruption is always in the form of a monster in this case Darth Vader, who we know is a monster, he is masked. The next step is resolution; resolution is usually achieved by the death or capture of the monster, in the case of star wars the retreat of the ‘disruptor of peace’, Darth Vader. Due to the retreat of the monster order is restored. A new a equilibrium is attained which is similar to the base equilibrium but different in many ways, considering nothing can be the same anymore, as loved ones have perished along the way and/or been affected badly in the process of getting to the new equilibrium. However in sequel movies like star wars we are given a false sense of equilibrium, as peace is achieved in that particular sequel but the main source of the problem has not been dealt with, so the monster is going to come back.
Levi-Strauss, a French Anthropologist, considered how story telling is used as a means on coping with the fundamental contradictions and irresolvable difficulties of a society. Each culture therefore produces, its myths; a story which is not true, but something which is repeated so many times it becomes part of a cultures reality or ‘common sense’. This theory can be seen suggested in almost all movies. The hero almost always leaves home. This proves Levi-Strauss’ point of a story repeated becomes part of a cultures reality or common sense. The hero is shown to leave home, but after leaving home he encounter many difficult obstacles, this reinforces the ideology of few in the western culture. Teenagers go off to university or employment; they are fully adults at 18 and make a big step in life. The function of showing that in film reinforces this ideology of independence.
Levi-Strauss said that story elements which give meaning will usually appear in pairs. For example a story will typically be organised into binary opposites. For instance in star wars we see hero vs. villain, Luke vs. Darth Vader, yet another binary opposite would be good vs. evil.
Roland Barthes another theorist developed five generic codes which he proposed are linked together in production of all kinds of stories. Therefore he suggested that all stories use the same five codes and that all genre signifiers can be grouped under them to create narrative. After looking at Barthes’ theory questions would arise such as ‘if all films are the same, why do we separate them in terms of genre?’. The answer is films use these five codes but how the use them is altered. Genre can be specified using for example Barthes’ 4th code the referential code. Here mis-en-scene is a referential code. There for the way of using mis-en-scene helps us specify to what genre a movie fits in with.
Vladimir Propp developed a flow diagram to represent narrative functions:
Equilibrium Disruption Resolution Restored Order New Equilibrium
For example in star wars we see Luke Skywalker leading a normal average life this is the base equilibrium. He goes on to becoming a fighter pilot, in defense against the death star, disruption is always in the form of a monster in this case Darth Vader, who we know is a monster, he is masked. The next step is resolution; resolution is usually achieved by the death or capture of the monster, in the case of star wars the retreat of the ‘disruptor of peace’, Darth Vader. Due to the retreat of the monster order is restored. A new a equilibrium is attained which is similar to the base equilibrium but different in many ways, considering nothing can be the same anymore, as loved ones have perished along the way and/or been affected badly in the process of getting to the new equilibrium. However in sequel movies like star wars we are given a false sense of equilibrium, as peace is achieved in that particular sequel but the main source of the problem has not been dealt with, so the monster is going to come back.
Levi-Strauss, a French Anthropologist, considered how story telling is used as a means on coping with the fundamental contradictions and irresolvable difficulties of a society. Each culture therefore produces, its myths; a story which is not true, but something which is repeated so many times it becomes part of a cultures reality or ‘common sense’. This theory can be seen suggested in almost all movies. The hero almost always leaves home. This proves Levi-Strauss’ point of a story repeated becomes part of a cultures reality or common sense. The hero is shown to leave home, but after leaving home he encounter many difficult obstacles, this reinforces the ideology of few in the western culture. Teenagers go off to university or employment; they are fully adults at 18 and make a big step in life. The function of showing that in film reinforces this ideology of independence.
Levi-Strauss said that story elements which give meaning will usually appear in pairs. For example a story will typically be organised into binary opposites. For instance in star wars we see hero vs. villain, Luke vs. Darth Vader, yet another binary opposite would be good vs. evil.
Roland Barthes another theorist developed five generic codes which he proposed are linked together in production of all kinds of stories. Therefore he suggested that all stories use the same five codes and that all genre signifiers can be grouped under them to create narrative. After looking at Barthes’ theory questions would arise such as ‘if all films are the same, why do we separate them in terms of genre?’. The answer is films use these five codes but how the use them is altered. Genre can be specified using for example Barthes’ 4th code the referential code. Here mis-en-scene is a referential code. There for the way of using mis-en-scene helps us specify to what genre a movie fits in with.
Synopsis
Hanford College once again sees off successful and deserving graduates while welcoming a group of hopeful freshman’s. Amongst the freshmen, stands Holly Brookes. Holly Brookes is a college student, who is just about to start her freshman year. She is a trouble girl who, has tried her luck in 4 different cities. She’s not been able to settle anywhere, due to the bullying and the unacceptance she receives, by reason of her mother being dead and her dad becoming an alcoholic as a result.
She tries Hanford College at last where she now lives in a nice little house that is away from everything else, somewhere where she feels at home. Everything seems to be going well for the first time in here life she makes friends, and she is accepted by them for who she is. She feels complete, she even doesn’t mind coming home to see her father drunk anymore either. Instead she talks to him about her improved life and her new friends, this seems to cure him in some way and he relies less and less on alcohol. But the question is, is it just all too good to be true? Is this all for better or for worse?
Holly is invited to a house party, the first party she would have gone to in her life. Her friends Sarah, Michelle and Lucy are also invited. So they meet up as both Lucy and Michelle’s boyfriends pick them up, Holly and Sarah hitch a ride too. The party is wild there bongs all over the place, alcohol everywhere people smoking cigarettes. Holly had been dressed up by her friend who made her were make up and a really short dress, she started to get a lot of male attention. Her friends then convince her to drink some alcohol as she tries to resist, she gives into the pressure to ‘fit in’. The alcohol is the start of a wild night! Everyone is having a ball dancing, singing, shouting doing what drunken teenagers normally do. Lucy her boyfriend Jack along side Michelle and her boyfriend John decide to go for a midnight stroll, they pull Holly and Sarah along with then.
They’re just walking endlessly singing and laughing, when Holly realises they’re just getting closer to her lonely house, she decides to tell them to just find a space to ‘hang out’. They find a nice spot under a deserted tree next to a lake where they sit. Lucy and Jack wonder off as it cuts to scene where they have sex. Lucy decides to run away from jack for him to give chase. After shouting her name for ages Jack goes back to ‘camp’ thinking he’d been fooled. He soon finds out no one else had seen her either. They all here footsteps and turn around when suddenly Lucy falls from a tree with a noose hung around her neck as she swings hanging by the neck. This turns out to be a real ‘hang out’.
A Masked figure then jumps out behind the tree with a butcher’s knife and starts to slaughter Michelle in front of everyone. Everyone takes off; they all follow Holly who runs for her house. However they now decide to make stops to see if they can see the killer. Sweat pouring down their faces, heavy panting and aching limbs they sought to give up but that is not good enough. One by one Holly’s friends are killed off like pigs in an abattoir.
Holly Decides to make one last run to her house without looking back over her shoulder in fear to what she mite see chasing her. She gave one glance over her shoulder and saw nothing there she ran even faster. She reached her door she opened the door and jumped into her dads arm. She felt safe again. Holly tilts her face upwards to see the mask…
She tries Hanford College at last where she now lives in a nice little house that is away from everything else, somewhere where she feels at home. Everything seems to be going well for the first time in here life she makes friends, and she is accepted by them for who she is. She feels complete, she even doesn’t mind coming home to see her father drunk anymore either. Instead she talks to him about her improved life and her new friends, this seems to cure him in some way and he relies less and less on alcohol. But the question is, is it just all too good to be true? Is this all for better or for worse?
Holly is invited to a house party, the first party she would have gone to in her life. Her friends Sarah, Michelle and Lucy are also invited. So they meet up as both Lucy and Michelle’s boyfriends pick them up, Holly and Sarah hitch a ride too. The party is wild there bongs all over the place, alcohol everywhere people smoking cigarettes. Holly had been dressed up by her friend who made her were make up and a really short dress, she started to get a lot of male attention. Her friends then convince her to drink some alcohol as she tries to resist, she gives into the pressure to ‘fit in’. The alcohol is the start of a wild night! Everyone is having a ball dancing, singing, shouting doing what drunken teenagers normally do. Lucy her boyfriend Jack along side Michelle and her boyfriend John decide to go for a midnight stroll, they pull Holly and Sarah along with then.
They’re just walking endlessly singing and laughing, when Holly realises they’re just getting closer to her lonely house, she decides to tell them to just find a space to ‘hang out’. They find a nice spot under a deserted tree next to a lake where they sit. Lucy and Jack wonder off as it cuts to scene where they have sex. Lucy decides to run away from jack for him to give chase. After shouting her name for ages Jack goes back to ‘camp’ thinking he’d been fooled. He soon finds out no one else had seen her either. They all here footsteps and turn around when suddenly Lucy falls from a tree with a noose hung around her neck as she swings hanging by the neck. This turns out to be a real ‘hang out’.
A Masked figure then jumps out behind the tree with a butcher’s knife and starts to slaughter Michelle in front of everyone. Everyone takes off; they all follow Holly who runs for her house. However they now decide to make stops to see if they can see the killer. Sweat pouring down their faces, heavy panting and aching limbs they sought to give up but that is not good enough. One by one Holly’s friends are killed off like pigs in an abattoir.
Holly Decides to make one last run to her house without looking back over her shoulder in fear to what she mite see chasing her. She gave one glance over her shoulder and saw nothing there she ran even faster. She reached her door she opened the door and jumped into her dads arm. She felt safe again. Holly tilts her face upwards to see the mask…
Movie Poster Analysis
If you look closely at Friday the 13th part poster on the left, you can see that it is a painting. Around the time this movie came out, all movie posters were painted. Then there is the poster of the Friday the 13th remake, on the right. Immediately you can see a difference in design, detail and quality. Due to the technological advancements today, this poster looks completely different from the original. It has been edited on the computer using hi tech image editing software.
Looking at the two posters, you can see straight away the use of the colour red. Red is a sophisticated colour with many connotations such as love, charm, anger, pain, death and blood. However it is certain connotations such as anger, pain, death and blood that make the colour suitable for the specific genre of the film, slasher. The use of moonlight is similar, if not, identical in both posters. You can make out a full moon in the background. Full moon has a few connotations such as, romance, danger, death. If you look at the remake poster you can see how he covers the moon, usually on a full moon, in some movies people turn into a werewolf. So this poster is trading audience understanding of other films to understand this one, as it indicates how dangerous Jason is. The knife that Jason is holding gets significantly bigger from the original. This indicates that generic expectations are getting bigger and brasher, so the need to meet demands is very high.
In the most recent poster of the film you can see at the very top “Welcome to Crystal Lake”. If this was to be written on the original movie, it would spark confusion as no one would know what Crystal Lake is. Therefore this is an example of intertextuality, as it is trading on the audience knowledge and understanding of the two films.
One thing you notice completely different about the two posters is the text, and the amount of it. On the original poster you can see “They were warned…They are doomed…And on Friday the 13th no one will save them” and “A 24 hour nightmare of terror”. This is used to market the film; it offers a minute insight of the film by making it sound so exclusive, which in turn gives potential viewers an incentive to watch the film. Whereas, if you take a look at the remake you will straight away notice the difference in the amount of text compared to the original. The reason behind this is simply the popularity of the films. If you consider the success of the original Friday the 13th then its not hard to imagine what large fan base it would have, having all that information on the remake would be unnecessary, so techniques of intertextuality are being used instead. The text on the remake such as welcome to Crystal Lake refers to the original; people will know immediately what it is because of the original.
On the original poster you can see the logo of Paramount Pictures Corporation, which is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company. This means the movie is supported by a very big film company, which gives an incentive to watch the film as it indicated little can go wrong with the film. On both posters there is age rating logo of “R” which stands for restricted, this means special restrictions apply to this film. On the remake poster you can see the release date “February 13”, the colour of the text is in red and it stands out. The distribution company would have decided to have the release date on February 13 2009 as this is a Friday, this helps reference the date to the film, which makes the experience a whole lot scarier.
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