The Dark Knight had an elaborate viral marketing campaign to promote the film. Warner Bros. created fake websites related to the plot and characters that fans could interact with online. They also held real-world scavenger hunts where fans searched cities for clues. This generated buzz and encouraged fans to share information about the film through word-of-mouth and online discussions. The viral campaign helped The Dark Knight become a box office success and one of the most profitable superhero films ever made.

1. Production, Distribution
and Exhibition
The Dark Knight

2. Brief History
Batman was a comic book character
created by Bob Kane. Rapidly
becoming popular, over the years
Batman went through a series of
different incarnations ranging from
campy to dystopian. Famous
examples of comic books with him in
it include “The Killing Joke” and “The
Dark Knight Returns”.
Along with Superman and Wonder
Woman, Batman is one of the most
famous DC Comics superheroes. The
large fan-base he has means that
any movie he’s in is assured an
audience however good the film
ultimately turns out to be.

3. Former attempts
Batman has undergone
both positively and
negatively reviewed
adaptions throughout
history. Tim Burton’s
Batman film was positively
reviewed by critics. Later
attempts, like Batman and
Robin, were not.

4. First Installment
The first film in what would
become known as the “Dark
Knight Trilogy” was “Batman
Begins”. Released in 2005 to
critical acclaim, it reinvented
Batman Films with a darker edge
and an emphasis on the themes
of fear and corruption. The film’s
major success virtually
guaranteed a sequel.

5. The cast from Batman Begins returned mostly
unaltered, with the exception of the replacement of
Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhall. Gillian Murphy
got a cameo as the Scarecrow, reprising his role from
Batman Brgins, but the most important new cast
members were Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and the
controversial choice of Heath Ledger as the Joker. For
Batman’s most iconic villain, it seemed
incomprehensible that an actor specializing in
romcoms should be chosen.

6.  Cross Media – different medias (radio/tv/print/film) or
different media institutions (studios/newspapers/TV
networks)
 Convergence - The joining of two or more media
companies or technologies to form a new
object/promote a new product
 In Cross media convergence – more than one
company benefits from working in a partnership.

7.  Produced by Legendary Pictures (with Warner Bros)
 Distributed by Warner Bros
 Directed by Christopher Nolan

8. Legendary pictures: Action and sci-fi focus on films
Syncopy Films: A small production company set up
by Nolan and his wife.
And DC comics: the actual owner of Batman.
The distribution company = Warner
Bros pictures.

9. Box Office Success

10. Critical Response

11. Awards

12. The distribution of a film includes:
 The release strategy
 The marketing strategy
 This film had has one of the most elaborate
marketing strategies to date.
 Warner Bros made use of all kinds of media and
without “cross media convergence” this strategy
would not have been as successful.
 “cross media convergence” ensures that the film
reaches the widest possible audience.

13. The Dark Knight
RELEASE STRATEGY

14. The Dark Knight
 Featured the opening sequence shot using
IMAX technology.
 It was the first time ever that a major feature
film was even partially shot on IMAX cameras.
 It broke box office records for IMAX, taking in
about $6.3 million from 94 theatres in the U.S
and Canada over the opening weekend.

15. The Dark Knight
 IMAX records and displays images at far
greater size and resolution than other film
formats.
 It increases the resolution of the image by
using a much larger film frame. To achieve
this, 65 mm film stock passes horizontally
through the cameras. Traditional cameras
pass film vertically.
 Standard film shoots at 24 frames per second.
In order for IMAX to match this, 3 times the
length of film rolls through the camera.

16. The Dark Knight
 The Dark Knight cost approximately $180 million
to make.
 Warner Bros. held the world premiere for The
Dark Knight in NYC on 14th July 2008.
 Screened at an IMAX cinema, the film’s
composers (Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer),
played part of the film score live.
 It was then distributed to 4,366 cinemas, in the
U.S and Canada, breaking the previous record
held by Pirates of the Caribbean.
 Released on 24th July 2008 in the U.K, it was just
in time for the summer holidays.
 Warner Bros. re-released the film in January
2009, to enhance the chances of Oscar success.

17. Media Ownership
 All media (film, TV, print, music) is owned by a
company.
 This company holds the ‘rights’ to publish, distribute
and manipulate their work to make a profit to fund
their next product.
 When an existing story, book, play, comic etc. is made
into a film, the rights have to be bought from the
author, as it is their ‘intellectual property’.
 Warner Bros. bought the rights to make the first 4
Harry Potter films for $1m.
 Film makers ‘option’ a script – meaning they only pay
10% of the fee to secure the rights and then pay the
full amount if the project is ‘green lit’.
 There is normally a time limit on an option – 2 or 3 yrs.
If the film isn’t made in this time, the option can be re-
sold.

18. Media Ownership
 Warner Bros. Pictures produces and
distributes, finances and co-finances films and
maintains worldwide distribution rights.
 Hollywood is driven by profit and success.
Through cross media convergence, The Dark
Knight has become a global brand. Warner
Bros. and DC hold the copyright
to the brand.

19. Integration
 Vertical Integration (Home Video, Interactive
Entertainment, Animation, Television)
 Horizontal Integration (New Line Cinema studio, DC
comics, The CW network, Rock Steady games)

20. Media Ownership
 Audiences are loyal to brands and will see
every film: Star Wars, Harry Potter, Toy Story,
The Lord of the Rings, Spiderman etc.
 Profit is made through box office sales, DVD,
Blu-ray, toys, games, clothes…

21. Piracy
 Piracy is the illegal distribution of media
without the permission of its owner.
 A disadvantage of digital technology is the
ease with which films can be pirated. This is a
major problem for the film industry. It effects
profits and breaks copyright law.
 Illegal downloads – leaking and sharing of
films over the internet can spread within
minutes.
 Illegal filming of screenings – fake DVDs.

22. Combating Piracy
 An advantage of digital technology is that it
allows films to be released simultaneously,
and legally, around the world. Previously, the
delay in films reaching other parts of the
world encouraged piracy.
 Digital encryption means that films can be
securely distributed.
 3D cinema is currently more
difficult to pirate
http://www.thehobbitblog.com/?cat=8

23. Anti-Piracy : The Dark Knight
 Warner Bros. devoted six months to an anti-piracy
strategy that involved tracking the people who had a
pre-release copy of the film at any one time.
Shipping and delivery schedules were also staggered
and spot checks were carried out both domestically
and overseas to ensure illegal copying of the film
was not taking place in cinemas. A pirated copy was
released on the Web approximately 38 hours after
the film's release. An illegal download website
taunted the movie industry over its ability to provide
the movie free, replacing its logo with a provocative
message.

24. Home Exhibition
 Included:
 a one-disc edition DVD
 a two-disc Special Edition DVD
 a two-disc edition BluRay
 a Special Edition BluRay package featuring a
statuette of the Bat-
 a four-disc Batman Begins/The Dark Knight pack
on DVD pod

25. The Dark Knight
 Awards:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/awards
 The Dark Knight Rises: Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD
8
 The Dark Knight Rises: Fan-made titles
http://io9.com/5879763/fan+made-dark-knight-
rises-titles-so-good-they-deserve-to-be-in-
nolans-movie

26. The Dark Knight – Marketing Campaign

27. Traditional Marketing
• Trailers
• Posters
• Premieres
• Merchandise

28. The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer ….
A theatrical teaser was also
released with non-IMAX
showings of I Am Legend, and
also on the official website. The
sequence was released on the
Blu-ray Disc edition of Batman
Begins on July 8, 2008.
The teaser trailer was no longer
than a minute long and
consisted of the bat logo in front
of bright light, gradually breaking
up, revealing – “coming soon”.

29. The Film Posters ….

30. Film premiere …..
At the world premiere of The Dark Knight, instead of
the traditional red carpet it was black in honour of
the late Heath Ledger. The cast also dressed
appropriately in dark coloured outfits. Inside the
premier an orchestra performed extracts from the
films score , complete with a light show featuring a
Batman signal. Outside the premier aspects from the
film were on show such as the iconic ‘Batmobile’.

31. The three small tokens you see in this poster were manufactured by Warner
Bros and were available for audiences to collect.

32. A range of different posters were produced, each to
entice a different audience members

33. Merchandise – Burger King …..
Fast Food franchise ‘Burger King’ linked up with
‘The Dark Knight’ to produce a burger named
the ‘Dark Whopper’ – this followed with a series
of adverts of Burger King “customers” doing bad
things branding the words “bring out your dark
side” to coincide with the films name. The fast
food franchise also designed a kids menu which
came with a free toy of different characters from
the film such as ‘batman’ & ‘the dark knight’.

34. • Warner Bros are a horizontally integrated company. That means
they only more than one company at the same level of the
production chain. They own:
• Warner Bros Studios, Rock Steady Games and DC Comics
• The success of a film like The Dark Knight will influence sales of
related games and comics. The success of those related items
might encourage new audiences to watch the film

35. •The game “Batman: Arkham
Asylum” by Rocky Steady
Games was the biggest selling
game of the year.
•It took the “new look” Batman
and particularly “The Joker”
from the film and made a game
that directly benefited from the
success of the film

36. Official Merchandise …
The film in line with Warner Bros
released a range of official
merchandise in fans could
purchase from their online
website.
This ranged from things such as
‘mugs’ & ‘phone cases’ all the
way to ‘costumes’ & ‘clothing’.

37. Cross Marketing

40. Batman is the only
fictional character ever
to appear in the “Got
Milk?” advert.

41. Media

42. • The death of Heath
Ledger just months
before the planned
release of the film meant
that a host of new
attention was given to it.
Tragic loss? Stroke of luck?

43. Publicity stunts
Hundreds of fans arrived in New York to see the Bat symbol
projected onto the side of a sky scraper. The fans flocked to
the symbol just as Batman follows as a sign to meet
Commissioner Gordon in the film. Their prize was a preview of
the first full length trailer. Publicity stunts like this are vastly
important in creating hyper about an up and coming release.

44. Viral Marketing …..
In 2007 Warner Bro set up a viral
marketing campaign by setting up a
“fake” newspaper named “The
Gotham Times”. An interactive
document online made to look real –
however in Chicago they actually gave
out hard copies of this newspaper –
helping to promote the film.
This campaign utilized the films
tagline “why so serious?”
The site aimed to interest fans by
having them earn what they want to
see. – where emails sent by fans
slowly removed pixels, revealing the
first official image of the joker.
The link is:
http://www.thegothamtimes.com

46. www.ibelieveinharveydent.com was the
first of a long line of websites dedicated to
generating interest in “The Dark Knight.

47. “I Believe in Harvey Dent” Promotional
Packs were sent to those who had
registered on the way page.

48. The page was defaced in order to
build suspense as the first images
of Heath Ledger as “The Joker”
were released. This is a good
example of modern viral
marketing and traditional print
based marketing working well
together.

49. More and more websites appeared urging fans to get involved in the world
of “Gotham City”. This sight allowed fans too upload an image of
themselves in “Joker” makeup. This ensures that the audience can engage
directly with the campaign and will help to promote the film through “word of
mouth” – perhaps via social networking sites.

50. Warner Bros invited fans to follow an elaborate
“case” of clues around the internet, following the
fictional movements of “The Joker” until they
were given a day, time and location to meet up.

51. Viral Marketing Continued …..
During the 2007 San Diego Comic-
Con International, 42
Entertainment launched
WhySoSerious.com, sending fans
on a scavenger hunt to unlock a
teaser trailer and a new photo of
the Joker. On October 31, 2007,
the film's website morphed into
another scavenger hunt with
hidden messages, instructing fans
to uncover clues at certain
locations in major cities
throughout the United States, and
to take photographs of their
discoveries. The clues combined to
reveal a new photograph of the
Joker and an audio clip of him from
the film saying "And tonight,
you're gonna break your one rule."
The link is: http://whysoserious.com/

52. Viral Marketing Continued …
Completing the scavenger hunt
also led to another website called
Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the
false working title of Rory's First
Kiss), where fans could submit
photographs of themselves
costumed as the Joker. Those who
sent photos were mailed a copy of
a fictional newspaper called “The
Gotham Times”, whose electronic
version led to the discovery of
numerous other websites. Those
who sent photos were mailed a
copy of a fictional newspaper
called The Gotham Times, whose
electronic version led to the
discovery of numerous other
websites.

53. Viral marketing and ARG

54. Viral marketing
• Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing
techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce
increases in brand awareness or to achieve other
marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-
replicating viral processes, similar to the spread of
computer viruses.
• It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the
network effects of the Internet.
• Viral promotions may take the form of video clips,
interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable
software, images, or even text messages.
• The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral
marketing programs is to identify individuals with high
Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create Viral
Messages that appeal to this segment of the population
and have a high probability of being passed along.

55. Viral marketing
• The assumption is that if such an advertisement reaches
a "susceptible" user, that user will become ‘infected’
(i.e., sign up for an account) and can then go on to
‘infect’ other susceptible users. As long as each
‘infected’ user sends mail to more than one susceptible
user on average the number of infected users will grow.
• It is the job of creatives in the marketing company to
produce engaging material which will entice users to
spread the viral.
• Viral marketing is used to create the impression of
spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.
• This is called Astroturfing to create the impression of
being spontaneous grassroots behavior, hence the
reference to the artificial grass, Astro-Turf.

56. ASTROTURFING
• While Astro-turfing enables marketing
companies to rapidly reach a potential enormous
audience, the goal of such a campaign is to
disguise their efforts. This is arguably designed
to combat the turn against organised institutional
commercialisation by young audiences .
Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual
pushing a personal or political agenda or activist
organizations.

57. WELL KNOWN VIRAL
CAMPAIGNS
• Cadbury's Dairy Milk 2007 Gorilla advertising
campaign was heavily popularised on YouTube
and Facebook

58. WELL KNOWN VIRAL
CAMPAIGNS
• The 2008 film Cloverfield was first publicized with a teaser trailer
that did not advertise the film's title, only its release date:
"01·18·08." Elements of the viral marketing campaign included
MySpace pages created for fictional characters and websites
created for fictional companies alluded to in the film.
• http://www.slusho.jp/
• http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com/
• http://www.tagruato.jp/index2.php
• http://www.avirginsplea.com/ claimed that a 25-year old virgin
living in Toronto named Geoff needed five million hits on his
website in 30 days in order for Jenn, one of his very hot platonic
female friends, to help him lose his virginity.

59. Viral marketing for The Dark Knight
and the use of an alternate reality
game (ARG)
• ARG = an interactive narrative that uses the real world
as a platform, often involving multiple media and game
elements, to tell a story that may be affected by
participants' ideas or actions.
• The form is defined by intense player involvement that
takes place in real-time and evolves according to
participants' responses, and characters that are actively
controlled by the game's designers. Players interact
directly with characters in the game, solve plot-based
challenges and puzzles, and often work together within
internet social networks to analyze the story and
coordinate real-life and online activities.

60. • Marketing based ARGs can rapidly spread
publicity for a film by targeting fans social
network sites as fans collaborate on
solving puzzles or arranging to meet to
role-play certain options suggested by the
game’s designers.

61. • The marketing campaign for the 2008 film The
Dark Knight combined both online and real-life
elements to make it resemble an alternate reality
game. Techniques included mass gatherings of
Joker fans, scavenger hunts around world,
detailed and intricate websites that let fans
actually participate in "voting" for political offices
in Gotham City.
• The movie also marketed heavily off of word of
mouth from the thousands of Batman fans
perhaps supported by Astroturfing.

62. • In May 2007, 42 Entertainment began a viral
marketing campaign utilizing the film's "Why So
Serious?" tagline with the launch of a website
featuring the fictional political campaign of
Harvey Dent, with the caption, "I Believe in
Harvey Dent." The site aimed to interest fans by
having them try to earn what they wanted to see
and, on behalf of Warner Bros., 42
Entertainment also established a "vandalized"
version of I Believe in Harvey Dent, called "I
believe in Harvey Dent too," where e-mails sent
by fans slowly removed pixels, revealing the first
official image of the Joker; it was ultimately
replaced with many "Haha"s and a hidden
message that said "see you in December."

63. • During the 2007 Comic-Con International, 42 Entertainment
launched WhySoSerious.com, sending fans on a scavenger hunt
to unlock a teaser trailer and a new photo of the Joker.
• On October 31, 2007, the film's website morphed into another
scavenger hunt with hidden messages, instructing fans to
uncover clues at certain locations in major cities throughout the
United States, and to take photographs of their discoveries. The
clues combined to reveal a new photograph of the Joker and an
audio clip of him from the film saying "And tonight, you're gonna
break your one rule."
• Completing the scavenger hunt also led to another website called
Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the false working title of Rory's
First Kiss), where fans could submit photographs of themselves
costumed as the Joker. Those who sent photos were mailed a
copy of a fictional newspaper called The Gotham Times, whose
electronic version led to the discovery of numerous other
websites.
• http://www.whysoserious.com/itsallpartoftheplan/

64. • After the death of Heath Ledger, on January 22,
2008, Warner Bros adjusted its promotional
focus on the Joker, revising some of its websites
dedicated to promoting the film and posting a
memorial tribute to Ledger on the film's official
website and overlaying a black memorial ribbon
on the photo collage in WhySoSerious.com.
• http://batman.wikibruce.com/Whysoserious.com/
Itsallpartoftheplan
• On February 29, 2008, I Believe in Harvey Dent
was updated to enable fans to send their e-mail
addresses and phone numbers. In March 2008,
Harvey Dent's fictional campaign informed fans
that actual campaign buses nicknamed
"Dentmobiles" would tour various cities to
promote Dent's candidacy for district attorney

65. • After the death of Heath
Ledger (22 January 2008)
Warner Bros adjusted its
promotional focus to the
joker
• Dedicated to promoting the
film and posting memorial
tribute to Ledger on the film’s
official website and
overlaying a black memorial
ribbon on the photo collage
in WhySoSerious.com
Heath Ledger

66. • Warner Bros. delivered a stronger
PR effort for The Dark Knight. This
was illustrated most visibly in the
final 3 weeks build up to the
weekend release
• Successive waves of stories about
the film helped to build buzz and
create demand for the important
weekend
• Started off with news of record
advance tickets sales, followed by
speculations about Heath Ledger
being nominated for an Oscar.
• The Dark Knight managed the
unexpected death of Heath Ledger
with a high degree of tact and skill.
• Insiders at the studio comment that
his tragic passing became a big
boost for the film’s awareness
levels
• The awareness of the film reached
extraordinary levels and interest in
seeing the film increased roughly
20%
Heath Ledger

67. Key aspects of viral marketing
which make it a success.
• Astro-turfing
• ‘ARG tasks which are co-ordinated
through social networks and played out in
the public domain.
• ‘Play’ or ‘Vandalisation’

68. • Astro-turfing was evidently an important factor in
the success of spreading various viral projects
for TDK.
• The solving of the puzzle on:
WhySoSerious.com and
whysoserios.com/Itsallpartoftheplan
• Organising real-life joker rallies against Harvey
Dent on: ibelieveinharveydent.com
and http://www.rorysdeathkiss.com/
• Registering online for the fictitious Gotham
Times through rory’sdeathkiss.com and GCN –
Gotham cable News online.
• http://batman.wikibruce.com/Takebackourcity@ibelieveinharveydent
.com

69. • Warner Bros devoted six months to an anti-
piracy strategy that involved tracking the people
who had a pre-release copy of the film at any
one time.
• Shipping and delivery schedules were also
staggered and spot checks were carried out
both domestically and overseas to ensure illegal
copying of the film was not taking place in
cinemas.
• A pirated copy was released on the Web
approximately 38 hours after the film's release.
BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay taunted
the movie industry over its ability to provide the
movie free, replacing its logo with a taunting
message

70. Why Virals?
• Virals tie into recent developments in Web 2.0
technology.
• They are the institutions fight back against the
netocracy created by online sites like YouTube
and the loss of direct control over their material
and the semiotic messages contained in them.
• Virals are institutions answer to re-establishing
an interfacing relationship with a younger
technological audience.

71. VIRALS and MASH UPS
YouTube mash-ups.
• YouTube has provided audiences with producerly
powers and their own unique and niche audiences. Much
of the user generated content on YouTube, its themes or
messages cannot be produced by large media
institutions because of content regulations governing
their output.
• Institutional material and the messages created by them
can be/are perverted with audiences taking advantage of
basic filmic skills of download recording, editing and
domestic cameras and phonecams.
A netocracy has been provided by Web 2.0 technology
(See Gauntlett’s Web 2.0:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNXg7Vt-ig#t=32 )

72. MASH-UPS allow the public to
‘vandalise’ institutional material.
So why are Mash-Ups allowed?
They:
• ‘play’ with intentionally placed advertising
materials by an institution.
• Further familiarise a wider audience with
the original material.
• Foster a ‘sense’ of control and ownership.
• Combat a total loss of influence and
product placement in and audience
controlled medium.

73. DISTRIBUTION
• In the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight was
distributed to 4,366 theaters, breaking the previous
record for the highest number of theaters held by Pirates
of the Caribbean: At World's End in 2007. The number of
theaters also included 94 IMAX theaters, with the film
estimated to be played on 9,200 screens in the United
States and Canada.
• Online, ticketing services sold enormous numbers of
tickets for approximately 3,000 midnight showtimes as
well as unusually early showtimes for the film's opening
day. All IMAX theaters showing The Dark Knight were
sold out for the opening weekend.

74. • The Dark Knight ultimately grossed $67,165,092
on its opening day beating the previous record
of $59.8 million held by Spider-Man 3 in 2007
• Warner Bros. is re-releasing the film in traditional
theaters and IMAX theaters in the United States
on January 23, 2009, the height of the voting for
the Academy Awards, in order to further the
chances of the film winning Oscars.

75. Home Release
• In the United Kingdom, the film had
combined sales of 513,000 units on its first
day of release, of which 107,730 (21%)
were Blu-ray discs, the highest number of
first-day Blu-ray discs sold. I
• n the United States, The Dark Knight set a
sales record for most DVDs sold in one
day, selling 3 million copies on DVD on its
first day of release - 600,000 of which
were Blu-ray discs

76. You need to be able to discuss…
• Production: The making of the film; pre-production and
funding; shoot (format); post-production (SFX).
• Distribution: The way the film gets to screens; distribution
company.
• Marketing: The process of raising awareness; targeting an
audience; creating publicity through various methods.
• Exhibition: The way we view; getting the film to a paying
audience.
• Nature of audience consumption: The different types of
ways to watch films; what is the current trend.
• Relationships between audiences and institutions:
Target audience; how do different types of people watch
films and why.

77. With reference to case studies…
The issues raised by media ownership in
contemporary media practice.
• The problems or advantages, pros and cons.
• Large Hollywood companies, like Warner
Bros., are a vertically integrated company (The
Dark Knight) versus small independent films.
• Budget.
• How this filters through to exhibition and profit.
• Is it fair that Hollywood can dominate and
influence an audience’s taste by only allowing
them to watch what they allow?
• Niche audiences – Curzon cinema goers.

78. With reference to case studies…
The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in
production, distribution and marketing.
• Media convergence is having an enormous impact on the
film industry because of the ways in which institutions can
produce and market for audiences/users on a widening
range of platforms, capable of receiving their films.
• New technologies: mobile phones, internet, iPad,
Playstation, websites. Traditional: posters, billboards,
trailers, interviews, reviews etc.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17099518
• Viral campaigns – advancing the effective ‘word of mouth’
strategy
• Newspapers giving away free merchandise – mutually
beneficial to both companies
• ‘The Hobbit’ blog.
• Warner Bros. as producer, distributor and exhibitor.

79. With reference to case studies…
The technologies that have been introduced in recent years
at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and
exchange.
• Digitalisation of film (cameras, cinemas, screens) and this
effect on production costs, accessibility (downloading),
audience consumption, piracy. Both positive and negative.
• Avatar – the highest grossing film of all time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6JXUoWeZ7Q&feature=
related
• Editing on laptops, shooting on stills cameras (Canon 5D
etc.) CGI, 3D
• Audience ability to interact – through viral marketing
campaigns and post-exhibition. E.g, fan made tributes
• Titles for The Dark Knight Rises
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/01/27/dark-knight-
rises-fan-titles-credits-video/
• Prequel to LOTR, fan made The Hunt for Gollum
http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/updates.htm

80. With reference to case studies…
The importance of technological convergence for
institutions and audiences.
• The internet is acting as a hub for many aspects
of film: banner ads, links to websites, You Tube
videos, interviews, trailers, blogs, fan-made sites
etc.
• Mobile phones don’t just make calls/text they are
now alarm clocks, mini offices, cameras, cinemas.
Think of multiple formats and platforms.
• Positives: greater audience; social networking
word of mouth; cheaper; more choice.
• Negatives: piracy; less money for Hollywood; cost
of changing from film to digital cinema projectors;
earlier release; 3D.