This document provides guidance for students on planning a cross-media film promotion campaign that considers representation and institution. It defines representation as how media texts select and portray reality through conscious or unconscious choices that can use stereotypes or target audiences. Institution refers to the media industries that produce, distribute, and exhibit media to target specific audiences. The document instructs students to plan their campaign with consideration for genre conventions and how they will signify them, how they will represent characters and settings through stereotypes or details to appeal to audiences, and how their texts will demonstrate knowledge of the film industry through elements like ratings, production companies, and marketing.

1. CROSS-MEDIACROSS-MEDIA PLANNING &PLANNING &
EVALUATIONEVALUATION
Use this notes table to help you break down how you’ve reflected planning and knowledge in your proposed
cross-media film promotion campaign. The more precise you are with your denotation (description of the
media language you used) the better. You can use this to help ensure you have considered issues of
Representation and Institution in your work, and can clearly explain this when you eventually come to
evaluate it.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY REPRESENTATION?
Media texts do not simply reflect reality; they carefully select who or what to present and how – to RE-
present a version of reality to us. Whether through conscious choice, unconscious bias (or how we see the
world), and/or the influence of existing media representations, media texts will reflect the views and values of
their creators, probably shaped too by the commercial/business desire to target an audience. This can mean
using stereotypes; the opposite (countertypes); perhaps reflecting early representations that influenced a
common stereotype (archetypes, such as 1950s film star Marilyn Monroe as the dumb blonde).
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY INSTITUTION?
By institutions we mean the media industries, how they operate, the media companies producing, distributing
and exhibiting media texts, with a focus on how they identify and target specific target audiences to market
media texts to.
See http://gcsemeeja.blogspot.lu/2016/02/film-assignment-2-cross-media-marking.html and printed
guide for details + examples of applied marking. You submit:
1. 1000 word analysis/comparison of 2 texts (1 poster, 1 teaser from the same film
campaign), applying Key Concepts Representation + Institutions (and reflecting Audience
+ Media Language knowledge from Assignment One)
2. A film poster, using your own images and film concept
3. A teaser trailer storyboard for the same film campaign
4. 200 word explanation of how your texts deal with issues of Representation and Institution
[you can see actual student examples in the above blog post]
1: GENRE CONVENTIONS + SIGNIFIERS (Media Language)
Key to targeting a specific audience and successfully marketing a text is working within a recognised genre
(or hybrid genre). Note the ways in which you will signify (symbolically represent) your genre/s
GENRE CONVENTION HOW I WILL SIGNIFY THIS
ASSIGNMENT 2 cross-media film marketing campaign PLANNING 1

2. GENRE CONVENTION HOW I WILL SIGNIFY THIS
2: WHO, WHAT, WHERE I WILL Represent (WHY: Audience)
Take each character and setting in turn, and consider how you are representing them: as a stereotype?
countertype? What details (signifiers) create this representation? How is this likely to impact on your target
audience? You should try to apply the uses and gratifications theory (see handout/blog). Example:
The central figure in my poster, the protagonist (hero) in my trailer, is a tall, well-built young man with closely cropped hair
and wearing a khaki military uniform with combat boots to denote that he is a soldier. The macho style he is posed in
(kicking in a door) is intended to appeal to a young male primary target audience, who could identify or more likely aspire
to be like him, whilst the action genre itself offers escapism (three ways I can apply the uses and gratifications theory).
His jacket hangs open showing his muscular shape, and he is intentionally clean-shaven to help create appeal to a young
female secondary target audience.
CHARACTER/SETTING + DETAILS OF HOW
I WILL REPRESENT THEM (signifiers)
WHY I CHOSE THESE SIGNIFIERS (how
this fits with your target audience/s or
reflects the genre/s)
ASSIGNMENT 2 cross-media film marketing campaign PLANNING 2

3. 3: INSTITUTION KNOWLEDGE + SIGNIFIERS
What details within your texts will demonstrate your knowledge of the film industry and how marketing
works? This includes elements such as age rating, star billing/casting, director + other technical roles, ‘IP’
(intellectual property – based on a book, play etc), franchise (prequel, sequel, remake etc?) + genre,
production + distribution companies, critics and sources selected, use of social media/web/QR code…
INSTITUTION FACTOR HOW I WILL DENOTE (show) THIS
ASSIGNMENT 2 cross-media film marketing campaign PLANNING 3