The document outlines the conventions used in creating a viral marketing campaign for a film project. It discusses how each element - the teaser trailer, posters, and website - challenged typical conventions to make them more unique and authentic. Audience feedback was positive and suggested the campaign was effective at grabbing attention in an unorthodox way by emphasizing realism over traditional film marketing approaches.

1. A2 Media CourseworkFinal EvaluationThomas Dransfield

2. Film Teaser TrailerViral Marketing CampaignWebsite Home PageMarketing Posters

3. outline of conventions usedThroughout the creation of my advanced media portfolio, I used many existing conventions. I used these because, theoretically, it would make the products more authentic. There are a variety of conventions that change for the product being made. Below is an outline of the conventions I used for each product and also the existing conventions I challenged to make our products unique.Teaser TrailerMost trailers have a structure about them. Tzvetan Todorovsuggested that a trailer is made up of four stages. The first stage is the Equilibrium which shows the audience a scenario of peace and normality. There may be characters involved which portray this normality by living a typical life that the audience can relate to. The next stage involves an Agent of Change. This is where someone or something interrupts the scenario, changing peace into fear and chaos. The third stage of Todorov’s theory follows on from the previous. It is known as the Disruption. It is here that the chaos is focused on, placing characters in danger and perhaps causing mass destruction. This leads on to the final stage, New Equilibrium. Main characters will find a means of stopping the agent of change, rescuing themselves and others from the danger they are in. This will result in the ceasing of the disruption, and a new sense of normality created.My teaser trailer, however, did not follow this structure. I decided to challenge this convention and create a trailer that was unique and unorthodox. The trailer was in the form of a news broadcast, set at the location of a college in which the characters Jasmine and Sophie Harper attended. The trailer consists of a reporter describing the situation and showing a ransom video released to the Prime Minister. The trailer was described by our audience as realistic and believable. I intended to obtain this result as it shows that the trailer itself is viral.The structure of my trailer cannot be compared to Todorov’s theory. I challenged this convention which made my teaser trailer unique because it did not follow the typical structure. I do no think this disadvantages my trailer, in fact I think it is far more interesting due to its viral nature.Question 1

4. outline of conventions usedSufficient camerawork was required to construct the teaser trailer. Due to the nature of the video, we were unable to use a variety of camera angles. The news broadcast consisted of a tracking shot and a close-up shot. The broadcast was filmed as if it was live so using a variety of camera angles was not possible. A news report would not contain these anyway, so if we were to, then the filming would not look authentic. In the ransom video, there was one fixed shot; a medium-shot. I wanted to film this scene as from a handheld camera, to increase authenticity. Several camera angles would not be used in real circumstances so we did not use them here, as we felt realism was of the utmost importance in order to produce a viral campaign.PostersThe posters were designed as missing posters, advertising the abduction of the two daughters of the Prime Minister. These designs add to the viral element of the campaign because they are realistic and continue the story that the Prime Minister’s daughters have been abducted. Like traditional missing posters, the two I designed include a large picture, a description of the girls and large text to grab the attention of the reader. Also, there is contact information at the bottom of the poster. The phone number will direct a caller to the Metropolitan Police Missing Persons Department (this is pretend and manned by the production company). The web address leads a viewer to the Metropolitan Police Missing Persons website, (this, again, is pretend).Question 1

5. outline of conventions usedThere is a great amount of film posters around and because of this, audiences tend to walk passively by. There is not many missing posters, so people are more likely to stop and read to gain information. Only then will they realise the poster is advertising the film and by that point, the interest should have been gained.WebsiteThe final element of my viral marketing campaign was the home page of a website. I wanted to move away from a conventional website because I wanted to continue the viral aspect. I therefore decided to create a Police missing persons website. I felt this was fitting with the plot of my film and made good use of the viral element.I used a Metropolitan Police missing persons website for inspiration. I followed closely the conventions used there such as the Metropolitan Police logo, use of contact details and pictures of those missing. Instead of pictures though, I used the missing posters I created. I also uploaded part of the teaser trailer onto the home page. I uploaded the ransom video which shows the two girls after being abducted. This adds extra media to the website to make it more interesting for the viewer.I used false links to other pages of the website such as ‘missing persons in other areas’. These were influenced by the original Police website. There is a large amount of text on the home page which also challenges conventions. Having a lot of text would usually put of a viewer as they would not want to read it all. However, in the case of my website, the idea is new and realistic. With a viewer, it will work in one of two ways. Question 1

6. outline of conventions usedEither the viewer will believe what they are seeing is true, in this case they will believe the Prime Ministers daughters have in fact been kidnapped. They will then read on to gather information and whilst doing so, realise that they are reading about a film.Or the reader will firstly realise that this a film synopsis but will continue to read on due to the new and interesting approach to advertising. Both the storyline and the style of the film website will capture the viewers’ interest.I have challenged the existing conventions of a film website. I have not used large images and exciting words to advertise the film. There is no use of forums or special release videos. There is little reference on the website that a film is being advertised and the sense of realism is continually emphasised. I think that this new method of advertising a film via website will gain interest of the audience and increase popularity and awareness.Question 1

7. effectiveness of marketing campaignThe task of this advanced portfolio was to create a viral marketing campaign. I think that I have created a campaign that strongly uses a viral element in all products that were produced. Because of this, I think that campaign as a whole would be very successful and would gain the interest of many.The marketing campaign is viral, containing elements of realism that will attract the attention of the audience. Production companies are advertising films continually and by use of my viral marketing campaign, mine should stand out in the crowd.

8. All products of the campaign emphasise realism. The trailer is of a news report with the ransom video, the posters are missing posters and the website is the Metropolitan Police missing persons website. All three exist outside of the film and are easily recognised so will better grab the attention of the audience.

9. The film synopsis itself is new to the British film industry. There has not been a film that has focused on the abduction of the Prime Minister’s children. Because of its British background, the British public are far more likely to be interested.

10. The viral marketing campaign does not give too much away. The teaser trailer, posters and website all focus on the abduction of the girls. There is no information given on what happens after the abduction so the audience will be interested to what happens next.

11. By use of market research, I was able to determine what the my target audience thought of my products. The responses I got were very positive and proved that the campaign is effective in grabbing the attention of the viewer.Question 2