1. PR6 - The Hollywood Blockbuster
When releasing a new film it is vital that it is marketed effectively in order to
encourage the audience to go and watch the movie and as a result increasing
the films commercial success, therefore the greater the marketing campaign
the greater the commercial success. Without a clear understanding of the
films target audience it is impossible to market a film effectively, therefore
production companies will ensure that they identify exactly who their audience
is by categorizing the films overall audience using demographics in order to
create a variety of niche audiences, therefore enabling them to determine
exactly how to approach the intended audience successfully. Audiences can
be targeted by film producers through a number of marketing methods
promoting the film such as posters, through web 2.0, TV and numerous other
methods, all of which will be constructed in a way which anchors the films
target audience therefore encouraging them to contribute to the commercial
success of the movie by going and watching it.
Cinderella (2015)
Cinderella is an up-coming new film release within the fantasy genre, the film
itself focuses on the ancient fairytale Cinderella in which after the death of her
mother and father a young girl is left to live with her cruel step mother and
step siblings slaving after their every need,. After the king insists that the
prince finds a bride, a ball is arranged with every maiden in the land. With
Cinderella's step mother refusing to let her attend the ball, before insisting the
cruel step sisters rip her dress up; Cinderella is left devastated before being
introduced to her fairy god mother who grants Cinderella's wish to go to the
ball on the terms that she returns before 12, at the ball both Cinderella and
the prince fall in love before she has to run off, leaving her glass slipper
behind. As a result the prince arranges a search for the woman stating that
who ever foot the glass slipper fits will be his bride, after finding Cinderella
they both get married therefore becoming king and queen.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Cinderella fits into the fantasy genre and has a
target audience of predominately young girls, especially those under the age
of around 10 years old due to the fat that it is the typical fairytale which young
girls dream of and features all the typical codes and conventions which attract
young girls such as the big dresses, romance and the magic throughout. The
marketing campaign will also attract parents due to the fact that they will be
the ones who will accompany their children to go and watch Cinderella. This
particular movie may also attract young female adults due to them more than
likely growing up hearing the story of Cinderella they may be eager to see a
contemporary film which brings the fairytale to life. The year of production for
this particular film was between 2013-2014, the production company is Walt
Disney Pictures and it is distributed by Walt Disney Studios and Motion
Pictures with a budget of $95million. The UK release date for Cinderella is the
27th March.
There are many marketing methods in which Cinderella is currently being
marketed in regards to its up coming release all of which anchor the target
2. audience, also due to it being a Walt Disney film, the marketing campaign is
rather huge. Firstly we have one of the most effective marketing technique
TV, by airing the Cinderella trailer on TV Thousands of people will be reached
at one time, due to the target audience being predominately children the
marketing campaign will anchor this, for example the Cinderella trailer will be
aired a lot more on TV channels which have a target audience of children
under the age of 12 such as CBBC, Nickelodeon any of the Disney Channels.
The Cinderella trailer will also be aired on TV channels such as ITV which
claims to be aimed at the full family, however trailers aired on these channels
will be aired before the watershed when families generally sit down and watch
TV together, due to the fact that the trailer will reach out to the children,
making them eager to watch the movie who will then try and convince their
parents to take them to go and see Cinderella. Another way in which the
movie trailer is distributed is through the cinema, in Cinderella's case this
marketing method will anchor the audience due to the fact that Cinderella is
rated PG, therefore the trailer will be aired before films which also have this
rating, therefore automatically reaching the intended target audience also due
to PG meaning that children must be accompanied by an adult, airing the
trailer before a PG movie in the cinema will not only reach the children but
also the parents.
Another marketing method which applies to the marketing of Cinderella is
Web 2.0, social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter play a major role
in effectively marketing a film. Cinderella has both a twitter account which the
audience are able to follow and a Facebook page, both of which are regularly
updated, constantly promoting the film through posting various posters, videos
and information regarding the release of Cinderella whilst also cleverly posting
numerous quizzes relating to the film, therefore interacting with the audience,
and as a result encouraging them to actually go and watch Cinderella. Web
2.0 also enables millions of people to share things such as their opinions on
the movie as well as Cinderella posters and videos therefore again constantly
promoting the film.
https://www.facebook.com/Cinderella
https://twitter.com/cinderellamovie
3. YouTube also plays a major role in marketing this particular film due to the
fact that their are numerous Cinderella film trailers available to watch on
YouTube as well as featurettes in which the cast talk about their characters
giving the audience a much deeper insight into the characters throughout the
film Cinderella and allowing them to connect with the characters, therefore
encouraging them to go and watch the movie.
Another marketing method is that Cinderella has its own interactive website
http://movies.disney.com/cinderella/home/ which not only provides the
audience with all the information relating to the films release but also allows
them to look at various galleries, videos, downloads and character profiles,
therefore encouraging people to go and watch it due to them already having a
clear understanding of the film. The website also provides the audience with a
Cinderella game, this directly reaches out to and anchors the young audience
due to the fact that they will enjoy playing the game and as a result want to go
and watch the movie. The website features an enchanted soundtrack along
with various moving images which put an emphasis on the fairytale
conventions such as the magic and princess dresses, therefore again
anchoring the young female audience who are infatuated with princess
fairytales, again resulting in them wanting to go and see the film.
Billboards and posters are another marketing method used within the
Cinderella marketing campaign, numerous posters are in places which are
more likely to attract our attention including, busses, bus stops and shopping
centres. Newspapers and Magazines are also marketing techniques, events
such as the Cinderella premier as well as any other news relating to behind
the scenes will be published in numerous magazines and news papers, all of
which will predominately attract the attention of adults, a prime example being
http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/celebrity/2013/09/24/cinderella-
kenneth-branagh-lily-james,however this still effectively promotes the film due
to the fact that if the person reading it has children it may encourage them to
take their children to go and see the film.
Children's magazines will also feature published articles and interviews
relating to the up coming release of Cinderella, therefore again instantly
anchoring the target audience. Word of mouth is also an effective marketing
4. method for Cinderella due to the fact that if someone watches the film trailer
and likes it, they will therefore share the information with someone else and
so on.
Anchorage simply refers to how a film producer will hook and draw in their
target audience, therefore ensuring that they go and watch the movie and as
contribute to the overall commercial success of the movie, a prime example
being one of the most effective ways in which the producers of Cinderella
have anchored their target audience is by producing a seven minute short film
based on the Disney phenomenon Frozen, which will be aired in theatres
before the film Cinderella. After being released in 2013, Frozen smashed the
box office taking in over $1billion and became a huge hit with children all over
the world becoming infatuated with the film and considering the animated
characters to be icons. By choosing to produce a short film and airing it before
Cinderella automatically anchors the target audience due to the fact that
children are so obsessed with Frozen that they would want to go and see the
movie Cinderella just so that they could see the seven minute short film which
will be aired before it.
Throughout the next bit I will deconstruct a poster for Cinderella, identifying
and explaining how this particular marketing method anchors the target
audience.
in terms of the media text itself this is a poster therefore it will be stuck on
numerous walls in areas such as shopping centres and cinemas, as well as
on busses and bus stops, therefore automatically drawing the attention of a
5. wide variety of audiences. Taking up both the weak fallow and terminal area
we have the title and the release date, both of which are placed here
specifically due to the fact that this is where the audience will look last,
therefore as a result this important information is what they will remember.
The title itself is gold and stands out against the dark background and as a
result grabs the audiences attention, the title will anchor the target audience
due to the fact that almost everyone is familiar with the fairytale Cinderella,
especially younger demographics who will be eager to watch the fairytale
brought to life in the cinema. Also the producers chose specifically to use the
colour gold for the title, which has the connotation of wealth and royalty and
emphasizes the overall atmosphere associated with fairytales, therefore
anchoring the young female audience who often dream of living the fairytale
lifestyle. Also in this area we have the Disney logo, this instantly anchors the
target audience particularly young children and families with Disney being one
of the largest global media conglomerates, when seeing this logo we are
instantly reminded of Disney's previous fantasy films all of which have been
proven to be a huge success therefore it attracts the audiences attention,
especially that of children who will then be eager to go and watch Cinderella
just because it is a Disney.
Also within the weak fallow area and the terminal area we have a prime
example of star theory, having the names of the stars featuring within the
movie such as Lily James, Helen Bonham Carter and Richard Madden it
instantly anchors the audiences of an older demographic, by having these
stars names printed on the poster it may encourage adults who are fans of
these particular actors/actresses to actually go and take their kids to watch
Cinderella.
When taking into consideration the imagery of within this particular poster it
almost seems as though intertextuality has been used with the producers
choosing to construct the poster in a way which the protagonist resembles the
animated princess Elsa from Frozen due to Cinderella's striking blue dress
and blonde hair which is the same
as Elsa's, along with the way
Cinderella is posing and the wind
which is blowing her dress which is
very similar to the way in which Elsa
is portrayed within the posters for
Frozen as you can see from the
image to the left. By having
Cinderella resembling Elsa it
cleverly anchors the audience, due
to the fact that Elsa is one of the most popular Disney princesses since the
release of Frozen in 2013, with millions of young girls seeing her as an icon,
therefore when young girls look at the poster for Cinderella they will instantly
recognise the blue dress and blonde hair, associating it with Elsa and as a
result encouraging their interest in watching the film Cinderella.
Before a film goes into production a producer will conduct thorough research
regarding the intended target audience for the film they are about to produce,
therefore using a combination of both primary and secondary research in
6. order to gain a variety of qualitative and quantitative data in order to not only
to find out who the target audience for the film will be but to also ensure that
the film they are going to produce meets the needs of the intended target
audience. Primary research will include a survey featuring a number of
questions relating to a number of aspects of the film they are about to
produce such as asking peoples opinions on the genre, narrative and actors,
which will then be distributed to a range of different people therefore allowing
the producers to gain a better understanding of what appeals to different
audiences. Secondary research will include looking at previously released
films of the same genre, taking into consideration the commercial success
they received as well as reviews from a range of different audience's therefore
again enabling the producers to see exactly what appeals to certain
audiences, therefore allowing them to use this information when producing
their film.
Chappie (2015)
Chappie is an up-coming new film release within the science fiction genre, the
film is set in the future when crime is patrolled by a oppressive mechanic
police force, after one of the police droids, Chappie is stolen and is
reconstructed in a way which gives him the ability to think and feel like a
human being, with destructive forces seeing him as a threat they will stop at
nothing to ensure that he is destroyed.
The film is directed by Neill Blomkamp with the year of production being 2013
- 2014. The production company was Media Rights Capital and it is distributed
by Columbia Pictures with a budget of $49million. The UK's release date is
March 6th 2015 and stars Shalto Copley, Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman. The
intended target audience for this particular film will be predominately males,
aged between 15-45 who enjoy watching films within the science fiction
genre.
There are many marketing methods in which Chappie has been marketed in
regards to its release, all of which anchor the intended target audience. Firstly
we have TV therefore reaching thousands of people at one time, due to the
fact that this particular film has an intended target audience of an older
demographic that the previous film I looked at (Cinderella) the trailers will be
aired on TV channels which anchor this particular target audience such as
ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, all of which have a target audience which the
producers of Chappie are trying to reach out to, also due to the older target
audience this particular movie will be advertised both before and after the
watershed. Another way in which this movie trailer is distributed is through the
cinema, In Chappie's case this particular marketing method will anchor the
intended target audience due to the fact that it has a rating of 15 therefore the
trailer will be aired before films which also have a rating of 15 or over and as a
result directly reaching the intended target audience.
Another marketing method which applies to the marketing of Chappie is Web
2.0, social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter play a major role in
effectively marketing a film. Chappie has both a twitter account which the
7. audience are able to follow and a Facebook page, both of which are regularly
updated, constantly promoting the film through posting various posters, videos
and information regarding the release therefore encouraging them to go and
watch the film. Web 2.0 also enables millions of people to share things such
as their opinions on the movie as well as Chappie posters and videos
therefore again constantly promoting the film. In contrast to the social
networking pages which promoted Cinderella, the pages relating to the
release of Chappie are a lot more simple and bland in regards to the colours
used, therefore again anchoring the more mature audience that this film is
trying to attract.
Again YouTube plays an effective role in marketing this particular film due to
the fact that the trailer is available to watch as well as enabling the public to
comment and share their opinions in regards to the movie.
Another marketing method is that Chappie has its own direct website
http://www.chappie-movie.com/, providing the audience with all the
information relating to the films release. The website automatically anchors
the target audience for Chappie, the dark colours used throughout appeals to
the predominate male target audience, in contrast to the Cinderella website
which was full of bright, vibrant colours. Also in contrast to the Cinderella
website, the website fore Chappie is a lot more simple and has a more mature
look and feel to it. Billboards and posters are another marketing method used
within the Cinderella marketing campaign, numerous posters are in places
8. which are more likely to attract our attention including, busses, bus stops and
shopping centres.
Newspapers and magazines are also marketing techniques, any information
relating to the production of the film, behind the scenes and cast interviews
and posters will be published in news papers and magazines therefore
encouraging people to go and watch Chappie. This marketing method will
anchor the intended target audience due to the fact that in contrast to
Cinderella, anything relating to Chappie wont be published in magazines
which have a target audience aged under 15 and in fact will be published in
magazines which have an audience aged between 15-45.
Anchorage simply refers to how a film producer will hook and draw in their
target audience, therefore ensuring that they go and watch the movie and as
contribute to the overall commercial success of the movie. A prime example of
this would be star theory, this film features a number of stars including Dev
Patel and Hugh Jackman who appeal to the older generation, which is
constantly reinforced throughout the marketing campaign for Chappie
therefore encouraging fans of the stars to watch the movie.
Throughout the next bit I will deconstruct a poster for Chappie, identifying and
explaining how this particular marketing method anchors the target audience.
Within the weak fallow area and the terminal area of the poster we have both
the title and the release date which has been placed there specifically due to
the fact that this is the last place that a person will look when looking at the
poster, therefore this information is what they will remember. Here it also
informs us that Chappie is directed by the same director as District 9, a
science fiction film which had huge commercial success back in 2009,
therefore this anchors the intended target audience due to the fact that
Chappie is not only the same genre as District 9 but also has the same target
audience, therefore when seeing the poster it will encourage fans of District 9
9. to go and watch Chappie. The colours throughout this poster are bland in
contrast to the Cinderella poster I previously looked at, with the title of
Chappie being in white, therefore again anchoring the more mature and
predominately male target audience.