2. What is a marketing campaign and
why is it needed?
Films need to sell and make money, therefore a reasonable amount of takings at
the box office to pay for the expensive filmmaking business, the takings from the
box office will pay for the production costs, pay the investors and make enough
more for the next release. Previews of films (trailers) only have a timed lime
allocated to interest the audience and become a “box office hit” this is why viral
marketing is very successful in attracting an audience. Viral marketing is successful
as it informs the audience about the film and encourages the audience to return to
the cinema to see the film previewed. There are many different roles behind the
film industry, distributors are certain people who distribute the film around the
country, they and loan the film to the cinema to show it for a fixed period of time
to create a successful profit. To make sure the film turns out a profit, marketing
campaigns are started to create a buzz and raise awareness and allow the film to
be advertised on many different media platforms. Different media platforms, web
2.0, interactive platforms, YouTube, Facebook are all ways to inform the audience,
there are many different elements in a film marketing campaign, it informs the
audience of the release date, the genre of the film, clips of certain scenes in the
film all in aid to attract the audience into seeing the whole film. The audience will
see a film depending on how well it is sold and advertised to them, if it looks
presentable and contains all relevant information, a link is then established as an
audience will be attracted to certain films based on their likes for certain genres.
3. Why is a trailer important?
Trailers are a successful approach in the marketing campaign approach to attract the audience,
viewing a trailer in a cinema creates a certain effect, the combination of visual images running
parallel with surround sound creates a cinema experience and allows the audience to get lost
within the trailer and create an exciting experience and gives us a “flavour” of the film, allowing the
audience to become hooked and determined to watch it all. Posters are used to inform, to show the
audience what they haven’t seen yet; however they cannot capture the excitement and energy
unlike a trailer. The titles of certain films can automatically tell the audience what the film is about,
“Prom night” tells the audience that it is based on the younger generation and their end of year
prom, as it is based on the younger generation it will be targeted towards teenagers and young
adults as it will sell more. knowledge of other films can also be linked in with the title, eg:
paranormal activity 2, this is a the second release of paranormal activity 1, this title gives the
audience the clue that it will be the same genre as its previous one; supernatural horror, if a certain
group of audience like the first release then automatically they consider watching the second
release. When watching a trailer the title usually ties to trailer together at the end in big clear font
located in the middle of the page, the font of the title can reveal a lot about the genre, for example:
f the title is slashed and has blood dripping from it, it indicates to the audience that it is a horror
trailer, however is a curly fancy writing is shown, it could perhaps be for a fairytale. Visual images
and sound are usually both present within a trailer, in my opinion both are important and
sometimes one element is more effective is a certain situation, for example: if enigma is created
then there usually isn’t any clear image; however there will be sound of the characters, presenting
abnormality and creating excitement for the audience. Images are used to allow the audience to
see and understand characters and show mise en scene allowing the audience to try and piece
together what the trailer is about, making it user interactive.
4. When is the trailer produced?
• When a film is edited for viewing at cinema a trailer is created and produced at the
same time. A trailer is viewed on many different media platforms, cinema,
internet, online, and television, a trailer is released before the film is shown in
cinema to allow a sense of excitement to be created. The timing of release of a
trailer must be taking into consideration; if a trailer is released too early then the
audience will forget about it before the film is shown. A “Teaser” trailer is also
done part of a marketing campaign to allow people to get a ‘taster’ as to what the
film is about and create a buzz. Teaser trailers are often viewed online on social
network sites such as YouTube. After all the excitement is created, a Theatrical
Campaign which is shown in cinemas is done to increase the excitement just as the
film is about the air. From my own experiences, i usually new trailers on YouTube
as they are free, quick and easy to access, however i have also viewed trailers in
cinemas before the showing of a film, this increases my interest and creates a
sense of excitement about watching it. Different locations can affect your response
to a film, for example: if the trailer you are watching has poor quality sound and
continuously flickers, this will automatically lose the attention of the audience,
however if a trailer is viewed in a cinema on big screen with surround sound then
it will automatically interest the reader as the atmosphere is more exciting and
real, drawing the audience in as they then become lost in the trailer.
5. Global Releasing:
• A film maybe shown in a range of countries, therefore trailers need to be
adjusted to suit its audience, there might be a range of release dates
depending which country the film is shown first at. Many US films are shot
in US therefore trailers have American vocabulary and American voiceover,
sometimes a trailer can be re-edited for certain countries, the language
may need to be changed making it universal or a different accent for
voiceover may need to be used. As technology has evolved, seeing films
before their release date has become very popular, this is due to “Pirated”
copies of films being visible over the internet or sold to customers.
Individuals record the film in cinemas and then upload it on the internet
and through social networking sites. This can reduce the potential box-
office profits as the audience can watch it for free and in advance of the
release date, therefore the film company are not making any money from
the audience going to watch it in the cinemas. Films are not normally
released around the same time in all countries to avoid this problem as it
will reduce pirated copies.
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