Cross media advertising is when a company uses different ways to market a product. For example, When advertising a film, a teaser trailer will be released about 18 months before and this will be followed by a movie trailer with more infromation about the film closer to the release date. These trailers would be shown in cinemas, television and the internet. Apart from this, the film will be advertised in magazines, on magazine covers, in newspapers, on posters, on buses, on the radio, on the internet and on television.
Within these marketing products, cinematography, film clips, typography and editing programs (such as Photoshop and iMovie) would be used to attract the audience the movie is aimed at. For example, the High School Musical series are aimed at children and young teenagers; mainly girls. To make sure their intended audiene is attracted to these films and motivated to watch them, the producers use mise-en-scene, sound, camera and editing techniques, cinematography and typography. The teaser trailers for these television films all include the 'catchy' songs from the movies, along with the cast dancing and using props to do with the characters personalities and the story line. The posters for these films would have photographs of the cast, air brushed to look 'perfect' with the main characters 'Troy' and 'Gabriella' standing out. 'Troy' is seen as a 'hearthrob' so he attracts teenage girls into watching the film. Bright colours and bold fonts are used using contrasting colours to stand out and attract a younger audience. In addition, web pages would be used with fan sites to promote these films so cinematography can be viewed of the characters. The radio and music channels can help to market these films along with the disney channel as they can play the songs from the films and make music videos using the different clips from each of the series.
Companies within cross media advertising work together for mutual benifits. For example, Sony owns television company CBS, film production company Columbia and music company BMG. Therefore, a Columbia film could use a song by BMG and consequently people would buy the song more, beinifiting Sony's finance and success.
In this trailer we are again presented with the studio logo first.
The most striking element of this trailer is that the name of the film is not revealed, only the release date. There are also no actors ascribed to the film, only the producer J.J Abrams, who produced the hugely succesful television programme, Lost. Lost attracted a substantial online fan base and Abrams was clearly attempting to create an online 'buzz' by not revealing the name or indeed significant plot details for the film. This worked and the marketing for this film was hugely successful.
This teaser trailer (as you find out when watching the film) is the first scene of the movie. The hand held camera effect/ point of view camera work has been put together using short clips with a steady cutting rhythm which makes the footage seem realistic making you curious and motivated to watch the film to find out what happens.
The Diagetic sound used through this trailer is the background chatting, party music which suddenly changes to screams, lound chrashes and high pitched tones to add mystery and tension; this creates an action/ thriller feel to the atmosphere capturing your attention imediatly. The low- tungsten lighting along with the camera flashes adds to the realistic atmosphere.
The film could be said to be attempting to attract a predominantly male, teenange audience. This is due to the fact that the action and special effects indicate that the film is a horror movie, or monster movie. The lead character of the opening sequence is male and indeed the fanbase for 'Lost' is mainly male. Below is a list of audience statisitics from Internet Movie Database. These statistics are taken from viewers who have graded the film out of ten.
Here is a copy of the questionnaire I have produced and intend to give out to 30 people of different ages and genders; who are interested in different genres of films. This has been created to find out what the majority of the public enjoy and find effective within a teaser trailer for their favourite genre of film.
I have chosen these questions to find out the most popular genres for each age group and gender and how it links to what techniques used in a teaser trailer attracts them and motivates them to watch the film being advertised. My findings from this questionnaire will be vital as they will help me choose the right genre to fit a wide audience (most age groups, genders and social groups) and focus on the most effective techniques.
This graph shows that out of the 15 females and 15 males that filled out my questionnaire; the majority of the audience for action and thriller films is mainly the Male gender.Whereas, romance and musicals is only women in my research.
This graph shows that the public that filled out my questionnairebelieve that tone/ beats and sound effects suit most popular genres.
For this project i will have to use different computer editing programmes when creating my teaser trailer, poster and magazine cover.
Here are some programmes i may have to use; iMovie and Photoshop. The New media products I may be using are gadgets such as; Sony A1E Camcorder and my own Canon 450D DSLR (Digital single-lens relfex camera).
Photoshop- A graphics editing program. This was developed and published by Adobe. This program alows you to edit photographs by using tools such as; adjusting the tone levels, desaturating the image, applying filters to change the effect of the picture and layering photos ontop of eachother. Here is a website with information on Photoshop and the tools: 20 Things you have to know about PhotoshopI intend to use this program when creating my movie poster and magazine cover. Using Photoshop to do so, i would be able to add text, effects and edit the image itself to create a proffessional look to my products.
iMovie-This allows you to produce movies on an Apple mac computer. It is a easy and quick program to use. Here is a website that shows you the simple steps to using iMovie: iMovie by Apple. To use this program you just simply drag all the video clips, photos and audio tracks in the order you want them in onto the film strip/ timeline. You can place markers in the places you want to remember or to make photos/ clips move or change to the beat of the music. You can also 'Fine-tune' every edit; meaning you can edit each clip precisley.
Sony A1E- 'Sony's smallest, lightest yet professional HDV camcorder'. Here is information on this product on the Sony Wedsite: Sony A1E. This product allows proffesional users to switch the format that suits their footage best. The great thing about this camcorder is that it has all the professional features needed to create an impressive film, however, it is light and simple to use.
This is a Disney Pixar animation production. The animated logos are played at the beggining of the trailer to copyright the film being advertised.
Within this Teaser Trailer famous voices are used. As this is the third Cartoon of the Toy Story series of films the charactor's and their personalities are recognisable to the audience. Woody (Tom Hanks)is the main charactor; therefore, the dominant figure on the screen throughout the trailer, he is the well- known so this would grab the auidences attention. The cutting shots are simple to correspond with the genre and the audience. It uses these to attach a clear narrative which is easily understanded by the younger audience.
This teaser trailer uses an orignal piece of animation to create excitement, its use is not for preview, but to let the audience know that there is another sequel coming soon; the less information the more likely people are to see it.
This film is classed as a 'U' (universal) meaning it is suitable for all ages. The intended audience is young children, however, some adult humour is added to keep parents entertained.
The bright colours in this poster, including the blue, red and yellow in the bold, large title stands out and attracts the attention of children. This poster includes the title of the film, a witty comment, (the toys are back in town), the names of the main famous voices used in the cartoon along with the Disney logo and 'coming soon'. This is used to advertise that the film is being produced currently and will be released soon, motivating you to keep an eye out for the release date to go and see it. The large image of the characters would be recognised by fans of the film series, again attracting their attention.
As there is not a magazine cover for Toy Story 3, i have used this example of the Toy Story 2 magazine cover from Empire. This magazine cover uses a a red, bold font on the header, which shows the Magazine name stands out on the black background; film lovers and readers of this magazine would be familiar with this. The word 'greatest' catches your eye making you want to read the contents.
As toy story 3 has not been released yet; here are the ratings from toy story 2 which was released in 1999.
Inception
This teaser trailer is extremely effective and catches the audience's eye immediatly; this is because the camera work, editing techniques, sound and mise-en-scene has been used effectivley. The warnerbros. logo is shown at the start of the trailer; as this is a popular, successful company you straight away know this will be an effective film.
This teaser trailer shows random clips from the film that does not give any of the story line away atall; it gives you curiosity to what the film is going to be about. The fact that it is a Christopher Nolan film 'from the Director of the Dark Knight' grabs your attention as it implies that if you are a fan of that film, you will enjoy this one.
A lot of time and effort has been put into producing this poster. I love the film noir effect that has been created. The dominant colours; black and blue give a sense of danger and mystery along with the male figure , facing away, in a suit with a weapon in his hand. The which text throughout this poster stands out on the dark background. With 'Leonado Decaprio' across the top; this would attract fans of this actor and give you a sense that it may be an action, thriller film.
As there is not a magazine cover for Inception yet. I have used the example of Empire's cover for a previous successful film by Christpoher Nolan; The Dark Night.The typography on this poster has been used well by using bright colours and white contrasting against the dark background. The use of the photograph of The Joker (Heath Ledger) filling the page stands out and looks mysterious making you want to read about his character.
A small amount of text has been used on this magazine cover; this is good as it just gives you short phrases and film names that are effective and easy to skim read.
High School Musical 2
This American television film is a Walt Disney production. It is classed as a 'U'; therefore, is suitable for ages and is aimed at a younger audience. It was a big hit for young children and young teenagers in the USA so they braught it out in the UK, where it became popular with children. This is the second of the series.
The use of good looking young actors, eg. Zac Efron (Troy), attracts young girls making them want to see the film, along with the romance story. Within the mise-en-en scene used throughout the trailer a very 'perfect' look is created. For example, The make-up and air brushing used on the characters and the bright lighting and colours of the locations and costumes.
The sound in this trailer is very important to the genre of the film and the storyline. The ticking of the clock 'counting down to summer' builds up tension. This then brakes into song, 'What time is it?', which is very 'cheesy' and catchy as the music and singing is the diagetic sound of the movie.
This trailer has been very thought out as it uses parts of the film including dancing with props as a group, eg. with basket balls, this has been very well choreographed.
The editng and camera work of this film fits the genre as the clips change to the beat of the music. The bright, colourful text on top of the clips show you the main characters names that followers of 'High school Musical' would be familiar with; making them want to see the movie. This film was directed by Kenny Ortega.
This is surprising as this rating shows that the majority of the votes are from females aged 18-29, however it is aimed at a younger audience.
This moive poster is very simple and does not give any information about the film; just its name and 'Disney channel'. As it is a television film this is not too important.
The bright yellow bold font of the title fills half the page standing out and catching a young audiences attention. The water/ pool effect in the background along with the characters' summer costumes in the images give the effect that it is a film based in summer.
Here a simple layout has been used with basic typography; including more images and colours than text. Bright yellow and white block colours of the text on this page have been used here to contrast against the blue background. Simple, bold fonts have been used to stand out and make it easy for a younger audience to read. Very little text has been used on this magazine cover, the small phrases use language that an audience that are not elderly or well educated would use, such as; "gang" and "pics". The photographs of the cast have been taken with studio lighting, have been airbrushed, to give a 'perfect', 'cheesy' look and stand out as they are 'good looking'.
Avatar
Here the studio logo; 20th Century Fox is presented first.The non- diegetic high pitched tones and beats on top of this trailer slowly speed up and get louder, building tension. As the tones and beats get faster the cutting rate goes from slow and the clips fading into eachother, to a fast sharp cutting rate. Aswell as this, sound effects have been used such as the roaring of the CGI creature and the machinery adds to the tension and the sci-fi effect.
Within the first minute of the teaser trailer a clip with 'this December', as this is quite vaigue, it makes you want to watch the rest of the trailer to get more information, which leads to the films name and exact date being presented at the end. The mixture of using Computer Generated Images (CGI) of characters and locations with real people and locations is effective at it confuses the audience and shows a mixture of skills and techniques have been used to create this film and a lot of money would have been put into making it. The CGI equipment used in the lab and the guns, helicopters and avatar land would attract the male gender inparticularly as it is like entering the owrld of a computer game. Whereas, the bright neon colours of the magical fantasy land and creatures would attract a younger audience, visually making it more eye catching and interesting to watch. The romance story throughout the film is aimed at females. Therefore, this film, just from watching the teaser trailer attracts a wide audience, meaning the film would be successful and a high-concept blockbuster film. One of the clips in this teaser trailer explains 'From the Director of Titanic', this would catch your eye as James Cameron's Titanic was very successful. The classification for this film is not shown, however, it is quite obvious the is a slight amount of violence as of the guns in this trailer, therefore, it is quite obvious it is a '12'/'12a', which means children can see the film as long as they are with an adult.
The majority of these votes have been from Males aged 18- 44. The average vote altogether is 8.6/10, meaning this film has attracted a wide audience.
This poster is very effective. A lot of time and consideration has obviously been put into producing this. The way in which the magical creature and floating islands on the bottom half of the image are silhouetted infront of a sunset gives it a fantasy effect. The blue CGI Avatar with the real photograph shows the mixed media and makes you curious as to why this is so.
The white text at the top stands out withthe films by the same director in bold; the audience would be familiar with these films. The film title is in the biggest font on the page, therefore, at a single glance you can see what the movie is called. The extra information naming the actors and actresses used along with the producers is in smaller writing in a harmonious colour to another part of the poster. You would have to read closer and take more notice of the poster to see this information.
This Empire magazinve cover for Avatar influences me greatly for producing my own.The use of gold and white text stands out on the
black background and the blue CGI image (which fills most of the page. The header is the magazine name 'Empire', this is the largest font then the movie's name 'Avatar' is slightly smaller nearer the bottom of the page in a slightly different font catching your eye. The words 'new','epic' and the director 'James Cameron' motivate you to read about the film and make it seem amazing. Here is where i found this poster and many other's advertising past successful films;Empire magazine covers.
Overall, these four different Genres; Musical, High concept Blockbuster, comedy catroon and Thriller/ action all use different techniques when producing their teaser trailers and posters to attract their preffered audiences. For example, Toy Story 3 has used a comical continous scene for the teaser trailer which does not contain any clips from the movie, only the characters. This is simple to view; therefore, easier for a young audience to watch and understand. Whereas, Inception's Teaser Tailer includes many confusing, fast cutting shots from the film to tension building music; this would attract an active audience.
A teaser trailer is used to excite the audience about a film that is being released up to a year and a half after the trailer is shown to the public. The audience would become curious, motivating them to view the film being advertised. Generally, a teaser trailer lasts from half a minute to a minute, as it is created before the film is finished. It may include camera shots of famous faces, humour or well known music to catch the publics attention. Techniques that are typical of a teaser trailer:
Narration, sound effects, music or tones
Bright colours for Comedies and Romance, dark colours for Horrors or Thrillers
Fast cutting rhythm shots for Action, steady cutting shots for Comedies/ Cartoons
Most teaser trailers are folllowed by a title card with the Date the film is released
For this project I am going to create a teaser trailer, a movie poster and a magazine front cover. To do so I intend to follow out research into similar products, target audiences, new media being used (such as, iMovie) and cross media advertising. This will aid me in chosing a suitable genre and techniques to use for the mise-en-scene, sound, camera work and editing of my teaser trailer. Once I have finished researching and planning this project my group and I will outline our initial ideas, a treatment and a schedule for our prodution. Leading up to shooting and editing the footage, and creating the poster and magazine cover, we will need to produce; a script, shot lists, storyboards, a location recce, costume sketches, lighting tests/ test shots, call sheets, a shooting schedule and log sheets. Finally, i will evaluate the production, here i will show how i have used technology, intergrated the specific terminology and the audiences feedback.
I aim to get my research finished by the January 29th 2010
