Institutions and more

1. Institutions
Production.Distribution.Exhibition
ADIA
TV or Film?
and Certification

2. Companies

3. Production companies
 Mosaic Films
 We decided on using Mosaic films as our production company, this was due to their history in
producing creative documentaries. They are also a company that focuses on creating cinematic
documentaries rather than ones for television, and this was the style and appearance we wanted
our film. On top of this they have also had experience of creating short films that have been
successful, for example their short, ‘I Can’t Go To School Today’ won a BAFTA. The company are
also based in London and work across the UK. This was also an advantage as it meant
communication would be easy as they’re in the same country. Due to the limits in budget, also
means by choosing a company close to us that traveling and communication isn’t an issue, unlike
Grassroots Films.

4. Distribution Companies
 Journeyman Productions
 We chose Journeyman productions as our distributer. They have had experience in co-producing
as well as distributing so have a lot of knowledge about the processes of creating and releasing
films. Within the company they also have a specific department for documentaries, further
supporting their experience. They have a strong belief in producing informative content, as due
to the fact we wanted to show the truth about the industry we felt they would be a fitting
distributer. Another reason we chose Journeyman as our distributer was the fact that they can
distribute on several platforms. Also like Mosaic Films they are based in the UK in Surrey, Greater
London.

5. Production, Distribution, Exhibition

6. Production
 If we were to produce our documentary professionally with Mosaic Films then the processes would be as followed:
 For funding, we considered the BFI and NESTA. Out of the two we would probably be more eligible for funding from
NESTA, this is because BFI only tend to fund feature length films. NESTA are an UK based organisation that put money
into arts projects. They provide investments between £150,000 and £600,000. This money would then be spent on our
productions values and marketing.
 With money to spend on production values it would mean we would have less uncertainty about locations. In our
production, we had to change the location of Genesis’ interview last minute. With funding, we would be able to gain
access to areas/ hire out a location to film on, rather than just relying on favours.
 If we were producing the film professionally it would also mean that we would get more time to research, plan and
film. Planning was a major stage of the production and was something we needed more time on. This means that we
would be able to have more time to secure locations, and find interviewees.
 In terms of finding music if we were a conglomerate we would’ve had less trouble. This is because we would’ve been
able to secure rights easier, as we would’ve had more money to spend on paying for them and would potentially
have the contact/links to the artist to get the permission off. However, Mosaic Films are an independent company
therefore the process of getting music would’ve been like way we did it in our film; we would have an original piece
commissioned.

7. Distribution
 f we were to distribute our production professionally then we would need use a distributer like Journeyman Pictures to determine the marketing
strategy for the film. A large part of the campaign would include below the line marketing on the Web 2.0 via converged devices. This would be
on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This appeals to our primary audience who are fox thinker digital natives and who have grown
up with the internet. As they are very active on social media it means that they are likely to find us.
 Marketing on different platforms would be a key part of the campaign, in order to reach a wider audience. For example, the radio advert would
attract our target audience who are older and sophisticated, as stereotypically these are the people who listen to the radio most. Whilst
advertising on social media would target our primary audience who are younger and most active on these sites. They have grown up with the
internet. Marketing offline in places like the tube would attract the attention of a cross-section of commuters and other passers-by. Not only this,
but by advertising at stations that are close to drama and arts colleges it means we would be directly targeting our creative audience who have an
interest in theatre . It is quite unlikely that an independent production(?) company could afford posters on the tube, however if we did have to
choose a station, Swiss Cottage would be suitable as one of London’s most successful drama schools, The Central School of Speech and Drama, is
situated next to it.
 As seen in our research, a cohesive marketing campaign is a very effective way to market a product. This is done by creating links between
products, also known as a brand identity. In our case this would be the main production, poster and radio advert. For example, we created links
between the poster and main production by keeping the gold and black colour scheme in the title, as well as using the font of the title on the
poster for the title and credits in the main production. However, for our poster and radio advert we could’ve created better links, by including the
tag line on the poster in the radio advert. We did not do this. By including the tag-line in the radio advert as well as the poster it would’ve helped
the audience remember our product better as the branding would’ve been stronger .
 In the real world, it would be unlikely that we would create a radio advert as part of the marketing of our film. This is because film is a visual
medium, so it can’t be successfully promoted through audio. Also, radio advertising for independent short films isn’t cost effective because
independents have niche audiences and therefore can’t produce enough revenue to make advertising worthwhile.

8. Exhibition
 For exhibition, we would release our film to the London independent cinema, Phoenix Cinema, as a season of
shorts. London is the epi-centre of most of our primary audience as it’s home to some of the biggest drama
schools and creative universities.
 To create further interest, we would also release it as part of film festivals. Ones that we have looked at are
Sundance Film festival and London Independent Film Festival. Both would be suitable choices that would attract a
wider audience. Sundance would attract more of an international audience due to the fact it is based in America,
whilst the London Independent Film Festival would attract more of a local audience who are more specific because
they are from the areas we base of film around.
 The way we chose to exhibit was very restrictive as it focused on exhibiting in London, and unless you are in
London you cannot view it. Therefore, if we were going to produce the product in the real world we would also
release the documentary onto an online platform. This way it would reach a wider audience. Also, because a lot of
our marketing is online it would make sense that we release the product online as well. To do this we would release
the film onto our distributers website as well as platforms such as YouTube. Also, because we filmed in the Curve
and include Sarah Ingram who works at with the Curve it means we have local links. This we could mean that
could release it regionally, on online TV channels like Leicestershire TV. However, if we were to do this we would
have to change our radio advert as it only says that it’s being screened in London. Even though it is costly we
would probably have to produce another advert for the Leicestershire area, changing the information on where
audiences can access it.

9. AIDA
The AIDA scale is used in marketing and advertising. It is a scale which measures the process a
consumer goes through when interacting with a media product. The whole process for a short film
would last around 6 months. Below is how it would look for Backstage:

10. Awareness
 The first stage of AIDA is awareness this is where you first introduce the product to the
public, this is done subtly and doesn’t give too much away. At this stage, we would use
below the line marketing techniques on the web2.0. This would be creating a social media
presence on sites like Facebook or Twitter. From this we could then create hashtags. Hashtags
are used to create a buzz around a topic, to get something into the public eye and noticed.
What’s good about using hashtags is that the audience can actively get involved, this suits
our primary audience who are fox thinker digital natives that regularly use social media and
who have a big online presence.
 We could also get our interviewees to tweet about the production, for example by saying,
“had a great day at filming for #backstage” something like this gains the interest of their
followers as they want to see what they are doing next and well as making them think about
what backstage is. All our interviewees have a substantial number of followers; John has
around 445, Sarah has 937, Genesis has 1309, whilst through the TV workshop Ian has 2098.

11. Interest
 In this stage the consumer gets intrigued by the brand by learning more about it. It would be here
that we would release the poster. At first we might release a teaser poster, on this may be the main
image of the poster, the name and a release date. It would only be when the full poster is released
that we see more information like the reviews, institutions and a tag line. The teaser poster would be
released online via the social media pages, whilst the full poster would be released both online and
off for example, in London tube stations and at the cinemas where it is being screened.
As well as the poster release you would also find further online
marketing. We would release clips and shorts videos from the
production, including behind the scenes footage. This further interests
the audience as they get to see the backstage elements to the film and
understand what the film is all about. This would allow us to set up a
YouTube channel, this is another way of cementing the younger
millennial audience.

12. Desire
 This is where the consumer creates a positive and favourable frame of mind about the product. This stage
would include stronger methods of marketing. It would be here that we would see the release of the radio
advert. The reason it comes quite late in the campaign is due to money as it can be very expensive to pay
for an advertising slot, therefore it can only be done for a short amount of time to which the end of the
campaign was fitting. Also the advert is directed to a specific type of customer, this again justifies releasing
the advert later.
 Here we could use synergy marketing and release the songs/soundtrack created by James Waymount to
create further interest and cement audiences to want to watch the documentary. This would be released
onto our YouTube channel and other social media sites.

13. Action
 It would be here in action that the product would be released and the customers form a decision
to purchase the film or they do buy it. This stage is about the audience and their decision to
watch or not, less so about the marketers’ intentions to persuade them to watch it.

14. A social media presence
is created: 6months
before release.
Backstage
is released.
Teaser poster is released Social media
presence is widened: 5 months before
release.
Theatrical poster is
released: 4 months
before
Online marketing, clips and
trailers released: 3 months
before and up until release.
Synergy marketing of
soundtrack: 2 weeks
before release up until
after release.
Radio Advert released:
3 weeks before
release.
Release Timeline

15. TV or Film?
We decided that we wanted to approach our
documentary with a more cinematic view, rather than
TV. This was because we felt that the theme of theatre
would be captured a lot better if it was done in a more
cinematic style. The question is did we achieve this?
With most of our shots we managed to achieve it. The best shots
were of Izzy performing a solo dance, this was seen in the cutaway
section of the documentary. The reason they worked so well was
due to the lighting and editing. We used back lighting that was
purposely made visible in the shots to create a dramatic and eye
catching image. We also used the re-timer tool on final cut pro to
slow the shot down to add emphasis onto her performance.
Other shots we liked were the ones of Genesis, the lighting on her
was very dramatic and this tied with the shallow depth of field
created a cinematic look.
However we weren’t always able to achieve a cinematic look
due to complications with the lighting, this can be seen in
John and Sarah’s interview. Sarah’s lighting was very bright,
which washed out a lot of the colour, making it less
cinematic. Whilst with John’s interview it was the opposite
,there wasn’t much lighting available meaning and was very
dark. To improve this we could’ve added back lighting to
both interviews to provide depth, we also could’ve adjusted
the distance between the subject and the lights in order to
get the correct balance of light.

16. Certification
We originally chose the certification as a U. U’s are
conventionally used for educational films like documentaries as
it doesn’t focus on difficult topics like drugs and sex. We felt
this would be suitable for our documentary as it doesn’t
include strong language, nudity or miss-usage of drugs.
In our interview with Genesis, she used quite strong language
at times which if we included in the documentary would’ve
made it be more suited to a PG. However, the responses we
got that included the strong language didn’t work with the
narrative, and we didn’t include it. Therefore, we believe that
the certification of a U was the most suitable.

17. Slide 7: How cost effective is radio advertising for short documentaries?
How likely is your independent 5 minute documentary going to be able to afford posters on
the tube? You mention another location here however that might be more viable and will
directly target your primary audience.
Slide 8: You are right about having to exhibit in an independent cinema but how would this
happen? You are a short 5 minute documentary, are people going to visit the cinema just for
that? Look for an existing model of a short film festival in a cinema for ideas.
Slide 10: I need to see designs of your social media materials.
Slide 13: You have a really strong idea of your marketing strategy. You could also add a
timeline of the release of your marketing materials with dates e.g. 6 months before release in
order to support it as a real life product.
Slide 14: Proof read!
Why did the shots of Izzy stand out? The shots of Genesis also had a shallow depth of field
which made it cinematic.