TASK: Research the marketing of one contemporary (last 10 year) film, and present your findings. You are aiming to show the wide range of ways in which a film is marketed and promoted, and will move on to create a cross-media marketing campaign yourself.
This includes: trailers (including teasers: YouTube ads, TV spots, cinema ads, via social media, exclusives at fan conventions); appearances by stars/director (TV chat shows, fan conventions); film premiere (the red carpet); posters/billboards (in magazines, cinemas, sides of buses, telephone booths...); social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram especially); website (can include games, competitions, downloadable content, blog, behind-the-scenes production videos...); OST CD + music videos; tie-ins (where a company creates a promotion based around the movie, eg McDonalds' toys) and even product launches (LG launched a new mobile phone linked to the release of Avatar); DVD/Blu-Ray editions; video game ... You could also consider UGC (user-generated content) or fan-made videos and other content - not created by the film companies but mostly welcomed by them as helping to promote the film and make it better known (viral media).
I have blogged on many examples of film marketing on my film blog, for example on Avatar, Paul, Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee and more in this post. Retro website-based video games were used to film some of these...
I'll use the example of a Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides, from 2011. In the following searches I changed one keyword each time:
This is a simple example of the sort of feature that
can add an edge to your website, make it a richer experience. I've not
looked for any examples at this point, I'm not claiming it as a
convention, merely an option.
There are lots of apps and web-based tools that will generate a game for you. I've used the Family Fortunes game builder, for example, to test on some British Cinema terminology knowledge (try it here).
Taking the example of a website for a music artist, you could do a quiz based on song lyrics; video screenshots; track titles (name the tracks from album x)...
If you have any suggestions/examples, please leave a brief description and URL as a comment.
Options from the free web-based Family Fortunes game builder
These students will be returning to make some revisions to these, but this gives you an idea of what you will ultimately be producing. Note, however, that the quality of your research and initial analysis, including a clear consideration (building on Assignment One's focus on Media Language and Audience) on Representation, is just as important as your construction.
Adam has done well with font selection, the layout of the 'billing block', the technical and company logos, release date, the inclusion of a URL ... It is important to incorporate ORIGINAL photography in your poster though, and social media should be considered. Ratings/quotes from reviews (picking the source well is crucial), rearranging the stars' billing, an age rating could also be added.
What would you change on Evie's poster?
Yes, there's a typo, but Ismini crafted the main image herself - it is NOT a googled image!
