Paranormal Activity- marketing campaign

 Paranormal Activity was founded by Paramount in the 2008 film festival slamdance. The film had a low budget of just $15,000 with marketing. DreamWorks, a production company owned by Speilberg saw the film and wanted to remake the Paranormal and also make it have bigger budget, however this didn't happen. Even though the film was a low budget, the money they received from the box office was a astonishing $193,355,800! The most interesting fact about the whole film was that the original director never intended what he produced to be anything big or spectacular, it was just a calling card showing what he was capable of doing something good on a low budget hand held camera, he never expected it to be such a phenomenon!

The company started of by having 12 screenings at universities and colleges, its been said  the university graduates got so scared many had to exit the auditorium.  Also, to create interest around the movie and to get more people to watch at the end of the trailer you notice 'demand it' using e-media the internet to vote whether you wanted it to be screened in your nearest cinema; also the voting on eventful.com help made them more popular. They certainly met their goal as Paramount earned $1 million.

The institution used social media to help promote the fillm. They created a video game 'the search for Katie' capturing more peoples attention to want to see the film, gathering a wider audience. Twitter being such a large and diverse social network had a hash tag #tweetyourscream where you simply recorded you screaming and upload it onto your twitter page.

With the film being such a big hit, they have released 4 and they are coming up to releasing a 5th. When Paranormal was 1st released, 10 years after the Blair Project it was compared to being like that. Both films send enigma codes to make you think has this really happened, is this real footage/ based on real footage. The realism really gets to you. Blair started off these 'real' footage films, and where Paranormal have took over 10 years after it was something new, even though we saw the same format 10 years ago it hadn't been used since. However, with so many Paranormals' being made, the audience now know what to expect and they are becoming boring. I don't think they are as effective in the current media landscape.

Paranormal Activity Trailer, codes and conventions

Paranormal Activity

The language involved in the trailer summaries a conventional horror genre. The technical codes of the flickering lights, the night vision and overall darkness of the trailer represents the mystery behind the film representing the genre. Perhaps the darkness reveals the supernatural activity happens at night. The use of symbolic codes, the headlines and subheadings anchors the trailer to give it meaning, persuading the viewers to want to watch it. The sound is quick, fast and catchy, diegetic/ non-diegetic. The sound links to the jumpy reactions of the audience. The target audience has the demographic 15. The audience would be to those who appeal to horror and indulge in the frightening shocks of the supernatural torment. Depending on psychographics peoples views and beliefs on the 'supernatural' would vary, some would reinforce whilst others would challenge. The conventional couple appeal to this target audience. Also the screening displays the target audience being young, the 'on demand' at the end would appeal more to younger generation as they are more up to date with technology.

The representations of the people (couple) in the film are clear. The woman in the trailer seems to be the protagonist as the supernatural occurrences are happening to her. Maybe its portraying the ideology that women are the weaker sex. The whole film makes you think it can happen to anyone, even you. The verisimilitude gives you a vivid sense of this. Also, with the supernatural activity happening in the house/ in the couples room is almost like a invasion of your privacy, it sends enigma codes to the audience, like why them? Why at home? Lastly the institutions Paramount a American company 1st screened in Hollywood. Even though Paramount is a large company the budget was very small (hand held cameras etc), perhaps it reveals that even a big company is capable of having a huge hit even with a small budget.

'A films success depends on the budget'

‘A films success depends on the budget’ to what extent do you agree with this statement?

I don’t think a film’s success necessarily depends on its budget, only to some extent do I agree with this statement. Some low budget films make a considerable impact in the media; nonetheless it depends how you, the audience see ‘success’.

This is England and Avatar are two contrasting movies, their budgets couldn’t be more different. A staggering $150 million was spent on Avatar whereas only £1.2 million was spent on this is England. The directors had their own specific aims for their films, successfully their intentions were fulfilled.

This is England’s main aim was to attract a British audience, the directors specifically elected British actors to star in the film; this was to show the audience that it was an Independent British film. Also, Optimum a British company distributed the film. Evidently, This is England’s audience wasn’t far spread, perhaps with a low budget attracting a smaller audience was Shane meadows intentions. In comparison to Avatar, James Carmon’s desired to have a world-wide audience. Both directors met their objective.

This is England had a low budget there was no sets built, no famous actors, no star marketing and no high tech equipment but this didn’t stop them to creating a satisfying film, displaying England’s rural areas. In production if they had used high-tech cameras, the newest technology etc like what Avatar did to the extreme, it wouldn’t be the message that Shane Meadows wanted to give, he didn’t set out to make the area look favourable or magical like Avatar, he wanted England to get an insight of Nottingham, which I think he did exceptionally well. I don’t think the budget affected Shane Meadows, he didn’t need to create anything spectacular or mythical as it is just Nottingham, not a composed magical land like Avatar, where Cameron relied on the new technology to create it.

James Cameron needed the substantial budget to create the fantasy world of Avatar. If Cameron didn’t have a big budget, Avatar wouldn’t/couldn’t be created.    3D, new technologies and etc, played a massive part in the film. Some could argue that that’s proof you need a high budget to make such a diverse and ingenious film, but that’s only one way of looking at success. Avatar did hit 503 cinemas in the first week and 485 in the second, leading to higher box office sales (and a larger profit), benefitting the institution. Also releasing in a total of 3,457 theatres in the US, of which 2,032 theatres ran it in 3-D. In total 90% of all advance ticket sales for Avatar were for 3-D screenings showing that audiences were seeing the film for the 'experience'. It had an absolute raging success, the success that Cameron intended to get. Cameron’s intentions was to get that buzz, to get the world talking about the new land of Avatar, engaging the audience to enter the mythical land. Merchandise, such as the coca cola bottle, Mcdonalds promoting to ‘Avatarize yourself’ and books and video games created was all part of Cameron’s plan. Shane Meadows however didn’t intend to make This is England a worldwide hit, or anything fancy. They both wanted success in didn’t ways.

Counter arguments would dispute with success being what you make it. Some only see success as getting the highest box office rates, selling the most merchandise etc. With Avatar having the higher budget they would agree with the statement. It is very narrow minded, as not all directors intentions is to make a film like Avatar.

I personally think success is what you make it. Some films have had high budgets and high expectations to sadly not succeed. I understand that the budget is crucial when making a film but I also believe how you manage the budget makes a film successful. If you work around the budget, without being too ambitious you can create an exceptional and entertaining film, just like those with big budgets!

Tetley Tea 'make time'

Tetley Tea 'make time'

How are the following represented in the Tetley Tea advertisement?

-women

-New technologies

The adverts main priority is to advertise Tetley's Tea. The advertisement adds different factors to make the advert more entertaining for viewers.

In the first 4 seconds of the clip we see a women, the protagonist on a social media website posting about getting her 'dream job'. Instantly, we see new technologies being advertised. Before sending her post we get a medium close up shot of her face looking unsure. This sends enigma codes to the audience as we are not sure why she pulls this face, why wouldn't you want to expose the fact you got your dream job after all? Instantly within a slip second another women pops up from no where in another medium close-up shot. She is young, bubbly and enthusiastic congratulating the women by saying 'that's tots amaze' this could be hinting that young women using the internet are very ditzy and in your face, the use of abbreviated words portrays her as unintelligent, also she has blonde hair,  this could link to the stereotypical ideology ' the dumb blonde'. We see a second women looking stern and old saying 'best wishes kiss' very blunt and doesn't seem too interested. The lack of interest could relate to older women's lake of interest on new technologies like social websites. By having the younger women appear instantly could perhaps be hinting the younger generation are always available on social networks, whereas the older women appears 3rd in the sequence which could hint older women are less attentive to the internet. After deciding she wouldn't status her 'dream job' she decided to invite the girls for a 'cuppa'. In the last 10 seconds of the clip we see a long shot zooming in to the women drinking and gossiping. This is a stereotypical view of women, especially as they are talking about snogging her boss.

The new technology also has a big impact on the advert. As seen on the clip, people pop up instantly congratulating her at home, this advocates that technology invades your privacy. Signalling that it isn't always good to post something online. We get a sense of danger from the internet when 'Mark from accounts' congratulates her but she says 'who are you'. We know that anyone can log onto social websites, so the advert shows some awareness that you don't know everyone online. From the crowd of people, it creates this dynamic busy picture of how buzzing social networks are, and how many people are on them. 

For the audience to know what advert is trying to advertise, Tetley's Tea has its own long shot image for approximately 2 seconds. This anchors the advert. To finish the 40 second clip, we see the 'Tetley Tea Folk' handing out a cup of tea these animated figures perhaps reminds people of why they would make time Tetley's.



Avatar

Avatar

Production:

In 1994, director James Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for Avatar, drawing inspiration from "every single science fiction book" he had read in his childhood as well as from adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard. In August 1996, Cameron announced that after completing Titanic, he would film Avatar, which would make use of synthetic, or computer-generated, actors. The project would cost $100 million and involve at least six actors in leading roles "who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world". Visual effects house Digital Domain, with whom Cameron has a partnership, joined the project, which was supposed to begin production in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release. However, Cameron felt that the technology had not caught up with the story and vision that he intended to tell. He decided to concentrate on making documentaries and refining the technology for the next few years. It was revealed in a Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover story that 20th Century Fox had fronted $10 million to Cameron to film a proof-of-concept clip for Avatar, which he showed to Fox executives in October 2005.In February 2006, Cameron revealed that his film Project 880 was "a retooled version of Avatar", a film that he had tried to make years earlier, citing the technological advances in the creation of the computer-generated characters. In making the film they used many different technologies to film it to make it look ‘out of this world’. They had new technology to create this image. The actors were highly skilled, some not as famous as others but still the film featured some of the top actors. The film was estimated  $280–310 million to produce and an estimated $150 million.

 

Distribution:

 

The first photo of the film was released on August 14, 2009 and Empire magazine released exclusive images from the film in its October issue.

The 129-second trailer was released online on August 20, 2009. The new 210-second trailer was premiered in theatres on October 23, 2009, and then soon after premiered online on Yahoo! on October 29, 2009, to positive reviews. An extended version in IMAX 3D received overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter said that audience expectations were colored by "the [same] establishment skepticism that preceded Titanic" and suggested the showing reflected the desire for original storytelling. The teaser has been among the most viewed trailers in the history of film marketing, reaching the first place of all trailers viewed on Apple.com with 4 million views

The Coca-Cola Company

The company collaborated with Twentieth Century Fox to launch a worldwide marketing campaign to promote the film. The highlight of the campaign was the website AVTR.com. Specially marked bottles and cans of Coca-Cola Zero, when held in front of a webcam, enabled users to interact with the website's 3-D features using augmented reality (AR) technology. 

MacDonald's

 McDonald's had a promotion mentioned in television commercials in Europe called "Avatarize yourself", which encouraged people to go to the website set up by Oddcast, and use a photograph of themselves to change into a Na'vi.

Books

Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora, a 224-page book in the form of a field guide to the films fictional setting of the planet of Pandora, was released by Harper Entertainment on November 24, 2009. It is presented as a compilation of data collected by the humans about Pandora and the life on it.

Video games

Main article: James Cameron's Avatar: The Game

Cameron chose Ubisoft Montreal to create an Avatar game for the film in 2007. The filmmakers and game developers collaborated heavily, and Cameron decided to include some of Ubisoft's vehicle and creature designs into the film. James Cameron's Avatar: The Game was released on December 1, 2009, for most home video game consoles (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, iPhone), Microsoft Windows and December 8 for PSP.

Having a variety of platforms to distribute Avatar reached out to many of the target audience, the target audience was aimed at 8-80 year olds. When the premiere of Avatar was at Leicester Square in London instead of having one poster advertisement the whole strip was filled of avatar advertisements. 

 Exhibition:

   The film was originally set for release on May 22, 2009, but was pushed back to allow more post-production time (the last shots were delivered in November) and to give more time for theatres worldwide to install new technologies such as 3-D projectors. It had a saturated release into UK cinemas, showing in 503 cinemas in the first week and 485 in the second. This saturated release was mutually beneficial for both audiences and institutions, as audiences got a larger choice of where they could go watch the film, and this therefore meant that more people could go watch the films, leading to higher box office sales (and a larger profit), benefitting the institution. Plus, cinemas benefitted largely from the saturated release of Avatar in 3D. Avatar was released in a total of 3,457 theatres in the US, of which 2,032 theatres ran it in 3-D. In total 90% of all advance ticket sales for Avatar were for 3-D screenings showing that audiences were seeing the film for the 'experience'.

 

 

This is England

About:

This is England was reproduced in 2006. You may have seen the following ones made in 86, 88 and 90. This is England mainly focuses on characters life changing situations and what life was like to live in the 1980s.
One od the films aim was to attract a British audience. This directors specifically picked British actors to shoes the audience that it was an independent British Film.

Production:

The film this is England had low budget of £1.2 million which was mostly funded. Due to lack of funds set encodes realism of the life in the 1980s. There was no sets built, no famous actors, no star marketing and no high tech equipment. Instead there was only British actors, low saturated colouring of the film and handheld cameras were used to film. The film was by Shane Meadows but was produced by EM Media.

Distribution:

This is England was co-funded by the film council lottery fund. Being a British film it was distributed by Optimum therefore it makes the film 100% British. Due to Optimum the film had huge success.
A problem with the films distribution was that Shane Meadows intended This is England to be for a younger audience. However, due to the violence and strong language it was classified as a certificate 18. When Shane Meadows heard the news he said 'this means the film is now unavailable to the audience it will benefit most'

Exhibition:

The film was first released in only one hundred cinema screens due to most of the funding going towards production and distribution, which left not enough money for the marketing of the film. However the film didn't have success in the USA due to the lack of exhibition as the film had a low budget and couldn't afford to exhibit the film worldwide.

The UK film council:

The UK film council was a London based private limited company which was set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. as a PLC it had a board of 15 directors it was co funded by the national lottery. The UKFC made 900films in 11 years, in 2011 the UKFC was abolished, passing over most of its functions to the British Film Institute.


Optimum:
Optimum was founded in 1999. Its head quarters are London/ UK. Optimum have released over 200 films a year and were one the prominent distributors in the UK independent film ad world cinema market since the closure of Tartan films in 2008, Kill list, The guard and a re-release of Whisky Galore! appear to be the last titles released acquired by studio Canal a company working in the UK and Ireland. Since Studio Canal bought Optimum, the French company distribute their large back catalogue of classic British films through Optimum releasing under the strand ''Optimum classic''.