Ways People Find Out About a Film and Why They Choose To Go and Watch It

There are several ways in which people find out about up coming films; TV, magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc.

 
The main reason is from viewing the trailer, however there are also other reasons that contribute: 

• Poster
• TV Advertisement
• Reviews
• Radio Advertisement
• Radio Reviews
• Magazines Advertisements
• Magazines News Reviews
• Online Advertisement, eg on facebook, youtube.
• Online Interviews, Reviews and Features
• Outdoor Advertisement, eg. Billboards, Bus Stops, London Underground, etc.
• 'Word Of Mouth'

The majority of people will go watch a film because they think the trailer looks good, however there are also a great deal of other reasons. People will go watch a film because they like the actor staring, some people will watch every film directed by a certain director, they like the genre or the reviews might be really good.  

Exit Polls

 
The UK Film Council requires Exit Poll surveys to be carried out on films supported by the Prints and Advertising Fund. Routinely used for Hollywood or mass release films but much less so for smaller or independent films that typically go out into fewer cinemas with smaller release budgets, exit polls are carried out by professional research companies and take the form of in-depth questionnaires in at least two cinemas over the film's opening weekend.  

They are used to find out about the audience for the film, who they are and what motivated them to come and see it with the results helping distributors to refine their marketing and publicity campaign for the film and inform distribution strategies for future releases.

Here is a link to the uk film council website - http://filmcounciluk.com/ 

Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMsgVsChSU

Film Production

1) The Idea - the writer/director/producer comes up with an idea for a film

2) Development Finance - The person who came up with the idea then goes to a group of film investors and pitches their idea to them. If the group like the idea, they will give the writer some development money to further develop their idea.

3) Script Development- A script writer is then asked to write a script for the film, and a sales treatment which will be used to sell the film to investors.

4) Packaging Moment- Merchandise is produced for the film, in order to make some money before the film is produced and released. The genre of the film is also decided, in order to determine the audience for the film. A storyboard is also created with the cast listing.

5) Financing- Investors, Pre-sales, Insurance. Completion Bond – if the film doesn’t get finished the completion bond will insure the investors don’t’ lose all of their money.

6) Storyboarding, Casting, Equipment, Special Effects, Set Design.

7) The Shoot – the film is made

8) Post Production- editing of the film, sound, editing rough cuts and endings

Short Film

Unfortunately we could not find a way to upload our short film onto youtube therefore it cannot be uploaded to my blog.

 The filming was quite successful, we filmed my friend Conor sitting down an alley with his guitar, as if he was homeless. We asked our other friend to walk by him and give him some money as if he was a passer-by. We took a shot of him from across the road, looking around as if he was alone in the world. However we did not have a variety of shots, therefore we are going to rectify this when we start our real coursework trailer.  

Audience Feedback

In one of our media lessons, we formed a focus group in which we discussed ideas for the short film we have to produce as part of our coursework. We all came up with ideas for the potential title of our film, setting, props and plot. It was useful to know what other people’s ideas were as it helped us come up with the plot for our film.

Pitch

Potential title for our short film – Homeless

Genre – Drama

Setting – Park bench/alley way

Props – Guitar, Cigarette, hat for money

Plot – Main character is a young homeless boy, living on the streets with nothing but a guitar and a hat for some money. The film will consist of long shots of the boy standing on a path way by a busy road all by himself, holding his guitar. There will also be close ups of him sitting on a wall down an alley way busking for money.

Target Audience – 15-30 year olds

A Single Man Case Study

Genre – Drama




Storyline – Based on a novel

Director – Tom Ford


Script writer – Tom Ford and David Scearce


Production Company - The Weinstein Company


Cast – Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Holt

Setting – America in the 60’s


Budget - $7,000,000


Gross - $9,166,863


Tom Ford is an artistic man. He is a fashion designer as well as a director; therefore the film was pitched to a production company that cares more about the art than the profit. The film was put into production because it was based on a well-known novel; it has the genre of ‘drama’ which is always popular with the public. It is set in the 60’s in America with famous actors such a Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Nicholas Holt which is a definite selling point.  

The trailer starts off a being quite fast, there is no music just the sound of a ticking clock. The narrative of the story is not clear from watching the trailer. The trailer shows clips of a university and an expensive looking house or flat. There are titles throughout the trailer showing magazine and newspaper quotes, finishing with the main actors names.

Fight Club Case Study

Genre - Drama

Storyline – Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Director - David Fincher, previously directed Seven and Alien 3

Script writer - Jim Uhls

Production Company - 20th Century Fox

Cast – Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter

Budget - $63,000,000

Opening Weekend - $11,035,485

Wold wide Gross - $71,000,000

This film was made as it has the genre of 'drama' which is a popular genre with the public and it is based on a novel. The director had previously directed very successful films and has famous and popular actors such a Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter.

The trailer has a medium pace, with a voice over. The trailer shows scenes of an office, a basement and a run-down house. From watching the trailer we can tell that the film is about a man who has insomnia, he meets a man with whom he starts an underground boxing club called ‘Fight Club’. There are scenes that show, a building blowing up, a plane crash, and guns and fighting, this shows the film contains violence. The background sound to the trailer is a sort of drum beat, towards the end the soundtrack is played which is Where Is My Mind by Pixies; this is a clever song choice as the film is about a man who is schizophrenic. There are not many titles apart from at the beginning where it shows the directors previous work and at the end where the names of the main actors are shown. This trailer fits nearly all the conventions of a film trailer, including the one liner at the end before the last credits are shown.

Trailers - The Theory

Trailers: The theory

What is a marketing campaign and why is it needed

·        25% of budgeting goes on marketing

·        The producer will employ a sales agent

·        The sales agent will then sell the film to the distributer

·        Marketing team run a pre-screening to see what people think of the film

·        Above the line advertising has to be paid for

·        Below the line advertising is free –

Facebook links
Media coverage on the news at premiers is free
Film reviews – magazines, newspapers

·        Symbiotic relationship is one that benefits both the magazine and the reviewer

Example – Empire magazine and Mark Kemode

Why is the trailer important?

·        Expectation from the audience

·        Shows the actual film

Conveying genre in the trailer

·        Title

·        Pace

·        Lighting

·        Acting/themes

·        Props

·        Music

·        Location

·        Script

Conventions of Film Trailers

1.      Voiceovers are used to tell the story and give credit information

2.      The stars of the film are showcased

3.      Key points are sometimes conveyed through titles

4.      Conversations between characters often consist of one-liners

5.      Dramatic camera angles may be chosen to show events or characters

6.      Action is interspersed with actor or director credits on screen

7.      Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere

8.      The film’s title may not appear until the end

9.      The trailer builds to a climax, where it ends

10. Montage (a series of shots from different points in the film, edited together) is often used to highlight the most dramatic, humorous or fast-paced aspects of the film

The Brief

Our coursework task is:

 Main and Ancillary Tasks

·        Produce a film trailer – 40 Marks

·        A magazine cover that features the film – 10 Marks

·        A film poster – 10 Marks

20 marks will be for research and planning

20 marks will be for evaluation

The evaluation questions are:

1.      In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge the form and conventions of real media product?
2.      How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3.      What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4.      How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?