A2 Media Coursework Diary

Jack Stuchbury

Case study of Avatarmarketing campaign

Avatar became the highest grossing film of all time in 2009 when it registered Box Office profits in excess of two and a half billion dollars. The film made use of new market space to advertise in social media and created an interactive product that had:

• 1,300,000 fans on Facebook• 800,000 friends on MySpace • 25,000 followers on twitter. • 11,000,000 views on YouTube • 1,000,000 photo views on Flickr

The films use of social media was phenomenally successful and helped create an Avatar brand with a community created that could interact with each other about the product and feel more involved. Social media is largely used by young people which inhibits older consumers from elements of the overall product that Avatar offered however the majority of cinema-goers are in the teenage to young adult age demographic therefore Avatar succeeded in effective marketing on this front.

Case study of Avatarmarketing campaign

Avatar was dissimilar to other films released in that same year. This can be seen in Box Office figures from the year 2009 which show Avatar nearly doubled the nearest competitors overall gross profit. The films producers clearly understood consumer concerns over the levels of enjoyment a cinema experience involves and issues with interactivity with the film as a product.

The film was the first film to dedicate large amounts of money to a 3D film product with £237 million spent on creating a beautiful cinematic experience which made it one of the highest film budgets of all time. With all the colours involved in the world of Pandora, the 3D element of cinema became a marketing point. The film would offer a visual experience and interactivity that audiences had never seen before.

Case study of Avatarmarketing campaign

Avatar used an interactive website named Pandorapedea containing character bios and a fan made wiki of information.

Avatar also had an interactive trailer that had integrated links to social media along with 11 points of interactions that provides viewers with access to character information. The trailer allowed for a more exciting and fluid experience and an option to purchase tickets at the end of the trailer

Analysis of Teaser trailers

PULP FICTION- http://youtu.be/m_Arvus_5wg • Action scenes - help audience understanding of genre. (thriller)• Titles, ‘Miramax Films’. (film producer), ‘A film by Quintin Tarantino’, ‘Pulp

Fiction’ ‘Panavision, Dolby Digital, Sony Vegas + Miramax’• Fast paced music to excite audience.• Shot transitions consist of simple quick • cuts to excite audience• Shot of syringe, signifies a drugs themed plot to • the film.• Shots of more violence and sexual suggestion. • establishes themes and genre.• Actors (Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta) • used as a selling point for the film.

Rush Hour 2 -http://youtu.be/LzJEMPM08jU

• Shows relationship between two characters.• Establishing shots of the films setting (China)• Shots of action, bright lights, explosions and fighting establish the action side of the

genre to audience• Shots of relationship between the two characters aids the establishment of the

comedy side of genre to the audience.• Music used to create atmosphere• Exciting use of colour to excite audience.• Sound bridge used• Quick cuts• Titles - ‘New Line Cinema’ (production company), ‘Chris Tucker’ followed by shot of actor in cart’, ‘Jackie Chan’ followed by shot of actor kicking out, ‘Rush Hour 2’ and ‘See you this summer’ cut to link to website ‘www.rushhour2.com’

Analysis of magazine front covers

Magazine Name, Masthead

Actor used as unique selling point

Barcode with price and issue number

Screamer,attention grabbing

Coverline in box

Coverlines on film products

Coverlines mentioning features

Main Image

Analysis of magazine front coversMagazine

name, Masthead

Coverline

Main image

Screamer

Film products used as selling points in coverline

Coverlines

Barcode and Issue number

Analysis of film postersActors/ Actresses used as a unique

selling point Strapline with title of film

Tagline (slogan)

Image of Actors/ actresses

Billing block

Release date

Analysis of film postersTagline (slogan)

Image of protagonist

Danny Trejo is used as a unique selling point of film

Production company.

Strapline with title of film

Billing block

Planning for film posterFrom looking at the posters of films with a similar genre and general primary research I discovered that film posters consistently had the following:• Shot of character/ characters. Costume, props

and body language to aid identification of genre.

• A slogan• Actor’s/ Actresses used as a selling point• Film title in recognisable font to aid branding.• Billing block• Release date• Production company information

I also want to include links to a Facebook page and website.

Based on this information I designed a draft film poster that I would produce at a later date using Microsoft Publisher and a digital camera.

Planning for Magazine front coverFrom looking at magazine front covers

I discovered that they consistently had the following conventions that I would use:

• Masthead with magazine title name• One image of focus related to

strapline• A number of coverlines giving a

brief idea of stories inside• Barcode and issue number

I decided I would also have a coverline in a circular box with an additional feature to draw attention.

Primary research

My primary research survey will consist of the questions to establish the following demographics:

AgePreference of film genreSimilar products consumedPreference to action/ comedy genreGenderIn education or not.British Citizen or notIncomeCine-literacy

Primary research resultsThe following slides are a display of my primary research results using pie charts. They will convey the answers given to me by a group of 14 people chosen at random to help establish what the target audience for my action-comedy product should be.

Age

15-1718-2122-2526-3031-3536-40

The average person that I interviewed was under between the age of 18-25. I believe this will be the best target audience to aim for.

Primary research resultsGender

MaleFemale

Occupation

In educationWorkingBothUnemployed

8 of my participants were male and 6 were female. Therefore I believe my product should be predominately aimed at males.

9 of my participants are in education while another 5 were in education and had employment. 2 participants were in full time work and none were unemployed. From this I can take that my product should be aimed at the lower end of the jicnar scale and mostly at students as this group also proved favourable to the action-comedy genre.

Primary research resultsIncome

NoneLittleAdequateComfortable

British Citizen

YesNo

5 of my participants had no income and another 5 had little income. 4 participants had and adequate income and the other 2 had a comfortable income. Therefore I can deduce that my audience will be on levels C1, C2, D and E of the Jicnar scale

All 14 participants in my primary research classed themselves as British Citizens. Therefore I can deduce that my target audience will be British citizens.

Primary Research resultsFavourabilty to Action-

Comedy GenreFavourablePassiveUnfavourable

Cine-literate

YesNo

9 of my participants were favourable to the action-comedy genre while another 4 were passive and had no opinion of the genre. Only 1 participant did not like the action-comedy genre. The ones that were unfavourable or passive were older participants thus I deduce my product should be aimed at 18-25 year olds

12 of my participants considered themselves cine-literate while only 2 did not think that they were cine-literate. Thus I can deduce that my target audience will be cini-literate.

Primary Research resultsThis chart shows the number of participants that had seen a number of action-comedy genre films. I picked Zombieland and Pineapple Express as they are less well known. I wished to prove that the action-comedy genre was popular among the age brackets of 18-25 and the results have proved that. The only anomalies were largely those of older participants. This justifies picking the action-comedy genre as it is well known among people of the 18-25 year age group that will give me feedback at a later stage in this project.

Participants0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Sean of the DeadPineapple ExpressHot FuzzZombielandCharlie's Angels

Secondary Research

This chart taken from the UK Film Council research into audiences illustrates that Action and comedy genres are very popular so would definitely make the action-comedy genre a good choice to get feedback on as my audience will most likely be aware of the conventions of the genre.

Secondary Research

• This chart from UK Film Council research into audiences displays the fact that comedy genres are very popular among males and females however action films are more popular among men. I believe this means I should target my film at a male audience due to the conventions of the action genre I plan to use in my trailer

Target AudienceI examined existing films of similar genre such as ‘Pineapple Express’ and

‘Men Who stare at Goats’ to get an idea for what my target audience would be as well as combining this with my primary and secondary research.

I decided that my hypothetical audience member would have the following demographics:

• Male• 18-25• Educated/ in education• Jicnar scale of betwenn C1 and E.• British• Cini-literate

Prop list

• I will use a multipack of crisps for comic effect in my teaser trailer with the protagonists addiction to crisps key to the narrative.

• I will use a replica gun. This will help the audience understand the narrative in the trailer in which the protagonist chases someone down and shoots them. This prop will also contribute to the audience’s understanding of the genre and deciding whether or not they would like to see the film.

• I will use a mobile phone to illustrate the importance of a phone call in trailer to the narrative previously discussed.

• I will use a car to help establish the genre and help the audience understand the character.

• A number of objects will be punched in the trailer which are purely part of the trailers narrative.

Location Scout• There is a disused railway path that I explored has plenty of varied locations for

different shots.• There is a bridge that offers a great deal of opportunity for camera movement for a shot

of the protagonist of my trailer to run across. Underneath this bridge there is a brick wall covered in graffiti that I can get a more intimate shot of my protagonist on the phone. The location fits in with the action/ comedy genre and traits of my character.

•There is an alleyway a short distance away that presents the opportunity to film a montage of punches that also contains much graffiti which will aid the trailer for the same reasons. This is near a risen platform that offers an opportunity to film another part of this montage.•A shot of the protagonist in bed with a number of props key to the narrative of the trailer can be filmed in my bedroom. •I have an issue in that I do not drive and need a car in my trailer however this can be resolved by using the road parallel to the college to film a car and applying a sound effect and speeding up the clip to create the correct effect.

Costume designMy protagonist will wear casual clothes in keeping with the comedy side of the genre. The on screen action will aid the audiences understanding of the action that takes place in the trailer. Sean will wear a striped cardigan with a plain top underneath and jeans. He will wear a flat peaked baseball cap synonymous with gang culture so the audience realise the connections he may have with that culture although on the hat are the words ‘X-MEN’ which was a comic book series to show a childlike vulnerability the character.In the photo for the film poster Sean will wear a full suit for promotional purposes with sunglasses and a cheesy facial expression. A smart look is essential when promoting a product and so it is necessary to smarten up for the photo. The cheesy grin counteracts the smart attire.I will wear a flat cap and plain top for the magazine front cover while smoking a cigarrete and drinking port and pointing. This is to give the look of a bossy arty type of character as my character is that of both and actor and director. The body language in the shot should invoke some curiosity when mixed with the accompanying headline

Casting

My brother Sean will aid me in terms of actors. He is of the age of the protagonist I created for my teaser trailer. The character will aid audience appeal to the trailer through the way that young audiences relate to characters of similar ages. He has experience of performance from studying drama which makes him ideal. I plan to take photos of him that I can use for my film poster. I will pose for the magazine front as actor/ director of the film.

Risk Assessment

• A shot that will take place next to the road parallel to the college will mean that I have to be aware of passers by and endangering them as well as myself and the equipment in light of the busy traffic.

• The shots filmed around the disused railway path will mean that I have to be careful of the uneven terrain in possession of the equipment. I must also look out for dangers to pedestrians who use the area as a result of my filming process.

Storyboard

Audience Feedback

Genre of teaser trailer

Action ComedyComedyDramaHorrorRomanceAdventureFantasy

My class spent a lesson watching the trailers that we produced and then completed and audience feedback sheet to determine information about the trailer. The following slides document the results of this primary research. 13 people took part in my research..

92% of the participants in my audience feedback understood that the intended genre was action comedy. The remaining 8% believed it was a comedy. I deem the conventions used in a trailer a success as the audience was able to successfully identify the genre of my trailer.

Audience Feedback

Action Comedy genre

Favourable

Unfavourable

92% of the participants in my audience feedback were favorable towards the action comedy genre thus having a good knowledge of what to expect from the genre and only 8% were not. This shows further success of the establishment of genre within the trailer as the majority of the audience recognised the intended genre and the majority understood the conventions of that genre well.

Audience Feedback

Enjoyment of trailer

YesNo

100% of my participants enjoyed the trailer. I take this as a success. The trailer made the audience laugh as expected and I believe a large factor in this particular result was the success of the of props and sound effects fulfilling the forms and conventions .

Audience Feedback

Was the trailer funny?

YesNo

100% of my participants found the trailer amusing therefore I presume that it fulfilled the conventions of an action/ comedy trailer.

Audience Feedback

Memorable

YesNo

Would you watch the film?

YesNo

100% of my feedback participants said that they would remember the film if they had seen the trailer which I deem to be a success of the trailer.

100% of my feedback participants also said that they would watch the full film after seeing the trailer which also shows the success of the trailer in exciting the audience and inspiring curiosity in the product.

Audience Feedback

Levels of excitement

SixSevenEightNineTen

I asked my participants about their levels of excitement while watching the trailer. Higher scores represented excitement and low scores represented boredom. All participants gave a score of 6 or above with 84% giving the trailer a score of 8 or above which I deem to be a success. I managed to excite my audience which fulfills expectations of an action/ comedy film trailer.

Audience Feedback

Level of understanding

SixSevenEightNineTen

My participants again gave me positive results for their level of understanding while watching my trailer. I asked them to give me a rating out of ten with low scores representing low levels of understanding and high scores representing high levels of understanding. 61% of participants gave the trailer a rating of eight or below. This means that 39% gave the trailer a score of seven or below which could do with improving. To ammend this I may target my titles more effectively by changing the text.

Evaluation

• Question 1 – http://youtu.be/9kaoz5I6NdQ

• Question 2 – http://youtu.be/1UfmXfFj26I

• Question 3 – http://youtu.be/dTCG0b6tSXk

• Question 4 – http://youtu.be/umK4IQhLBCI

Link to final teaser trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jcQUTuZfEk

Final film posterAmusing

Tagline congruous

to narrative

Protagonist of trailer. Costume and prop show genre

Strapline

Release date

Production company

Billing block

Final Magazine Front Cover

Screamer

Main Coverline

Coverlines

BarcodeCoverline

Screamer in box

Masthead with date and Issue

Main Image