Question 2- How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?

When carrying out my research, it become apparent that film distributers used a number of tactics to advertise their film in order to make sure it will be a success.  They are responsible for the marketing, advertisement and overall, communicating with the film’s target audience and projecting an impression.  It is important for film distributers to allow their audience to have a clear understanding of what genre of film there is as well as the general feel of the idea.

Film distributers use techniques such as; Advertising billboard, advertising on TV and other devices, cinema adds as well as using social media and websites.  Marketing differs depending on the product being sold.  An example of this is the difference between a film company producing a horror film in contrast to a musical.  Horror films commonly use dark colours, distorted pictures and sharp text whereas musicals tend to use bright colours, happy pictures and lyric quotes.

It is incredibly important that film distributors do a great amount of research on their target audience to ensure they have an in-depth understanding of them.  They need to know what their target audience is attracted to as this will determine whether they will attract them or not.  Carrying out research on a target audience is easy because the film distributors will already have some idea of the type of people they would like to attract, it is just a matter of them learning more about them in order to gain a strong understanding.

Recently, there has been a very good movie campaign around the latest Star Wars film- The Force Awakens.  They were supported by a very large company (Disney) which marketed their film immensely.  They used the power of social media, television trailers, cinema trailers, merchandise being sold before the film was also released and much, much more.  I believe this was a successful campaign as the film followed a string of successful hits which had already Star Wars lovers dying to see the film.  Their marketing encouraged new fans as well as playing on their old fans by highlighting similar aspects from previous films to ensure it will be to the same standard. The merchandise and use of advertisement used the same ‘Star Wars’ logo that the company had been using for decades which meant people recognised it.  This lead to a brand being established that had a returning custom as people could recognise it instantly.

When creating the idea of my film, it was essential to know what classification to give my film.  I came to the conclusion that I would rate my film a 15.  I wanted it to be aimed at late teenagers however, I didn’t feel it needed to be rated as an 18 as it wouldn’t have the content to justify it.  By giving a film an 18, you could put an audience off as they may feel it to be too scary however, rating it a 12 may come across as childish.  I believe at the age of 15, a person would understand the story line of Red Balloons and would enjoy it, without being too vulnerable to the content.

When creating the poster to promote the film and stand beside the trailer in order to create an excited atmosphere about the film, I found it important to keep them similar as well as contrasting.
Similarly, I wanted them both to use low key lighting, dark colours to present a dark atmosphere.  On the poster, the main colour is black, with the background taking up a lot of space which is why, by adding the darkened boarder to the trailer, theses link very well.  Throughout the trailer, the audience saw a lot of the main girl which is why I didn’t feel the need to have her on my poster.  On the other hand, the ‘villain’ was only seen briefly which is why I decided that he would be the main character in my poster.  This ensured that the audience got an attraction to all characters evenly which would stop them from only focusing on a character, and instead, focus on the overall film.  When creating the titles of our trailer, I found it important to ensure they were simplistic to carry on with the theme of the poster.  The trailer itself isn’t very simplistic as the location is very detailed, the characters have a lot of dialogue which makes it come across as complex.  The trailer and poster contrast in this way which works well as it appealing to a wider audience as well as the audience wanting to know more from the poster which will lead them to looking for the trailer and then the film itself.  Although this contrast is purposely there, I also found it important to demonstrate some consistency to establish a brand which is why the simplistic theme continued through the intertitles and main title.

When releasing a film, it is important to get as much media coverage around the film as possible in order to get an audience to want to watch the film.  This is why it is important for film distributors to be on the cover of magazines.  Although not everyone will buy the magazine, they are always displayed on shop shelves which mean even those who do not buy the magazine, are also be exposed to the advertisement.  When researching magazine, I found that there is commonly the ‘bad guy’ on the magazine cover however, throughout the marketing of my film, I decided to keep his identity, somewhat, hidden in order to create suspense and excitement which is why I placed him in the background of the magazine cover. I then knew that my image needed a main focus so placed my final girl on there.  I wanted to do this as I was inspired by the release of ‘The Woman in Back’ as they used a famous leading man to promote their film which is the aim of my magazine cover.  I wanted to use her as a focus to entice her, already existing fan, to this film.  I made her look directly at the camera so that audience felt she was addressing them.

Overall, I believe that my three media products do work very well together.  Together, they present a strong campaign as they have similar features that are available via different forms of multimedia.  I believe that my target audience would look at all of my products and then want to watch the movie.  Saying this, the campaign would be successful as the aim of it would be met.