Audience and Institution Practice Essay

Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied.

Marketing plays such an important role in the film industry. I personally feel that the usage of marketing is what allows these films to truly become successful. Most of the time, the way I hear about a new film is through the marketing techniques used. Cross promotion is one of the most well-known marketing tools in the film industry. This is a great way to bring attention to both companies through something that the audience enjoys.

Marketing can be seen throughout most films, whether it is in the trailer or in the film itself. One of the most well-known examples of marketing that I have seen is in the movie Despicable Me. This movie opened at the number one spot at the box office and pulled in approximately $56.3 million, making it the third-biggest opening grossing for an animated film. This film quickly became popular for these little yellow creatures shaped like fire hydrants, known as minions. These minions actually represent corporate synergy at the company Comcast, which is one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. Comcast wanted in on this film, as they knew it would be a great way to promote their company. As the filming industry continues to rise, companies in other industries, such as Comcast, start to realize the value in connecting their company to the new and improved world of television and film. When further analyzing this, I can see how important the use of marketing is for all companies involved. In this case, I can see that the usage of marketing allowed Comcast to lead both the distribution and development industries by bringing more attention to their company through something that almost everyone knows of. I can also see the benefits of marketing brought to Universal, who produced the film. The popularity of the minions led Universal to create another popular film that just focused on the minions. In this film specifically, we can see that the usage of marketing was very important in creating the popularity and success that this movie had in the film industry.

Additionally, marketing can also be used to bring attention to the film by advertising in different stores or on social media platforms. In the movie Beauty and the Beast, I saw many different forms of marketing used to help bring more success to the film. When this film was released Disney teamed up with different companies to bring in awareness. They teamed up with a store called Hot Topic, which is commonly known for having younger shoppers, to release t-shirts, jewelers, and mugs. They also teamed up with Target to release Beauty and the Beast costumes for children. This is an effective marketing technique because it not only brings attention to the store but also to the film. When younger kids see their friends wearing a shirt about a movie they liked, they may be intrigued to watch it and also buy the merchandise for themselves. Targeting stores with generally younger crowds of shoppers is a great way to get your film to be recognized. Additionally, Disney advertised on a social media platform known as Twitter. This was done through exclusive stickers and photos released only to this app. This is a very effective marketing technique because as more people retweet these stickers and photos, more attention is drawn towards the film. This marketing technique enticed me to watch this film. I saw some of my favorite celebrities retweeting these photos and using these stickers, which inspired me to watch the movie as well. Overall, we can see that the use of advertising in stores and on social media platforms is an effective way to rapidly spread the word about your film.

Additionally, one of the most common forms of marketing for a film is through cross promoting. When I watched one of the most well-known Marvel films, known as Black Panther, I saw many uses of cross promoting. This was used to help bring worldwide attention to this film. This film opened globally in February of 2018 and made $361 in profits in its first week alone. One of the reasons for this was because of the many cross promotions used. For starters, the debut of the trailer was made during an NBA finals game. This is an excellent marketing technique because there were millions of people watching this game that would likely be interested in seeing it. Additionally, Kendrick Lamar was the main feature of the Black Panther soundtrack. To bring attention to the film, he performed at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game and finished off the performance with one of the sounds from the movie soundtrack called “All the Stars”. This was a very efficient technique as this game had almost 21,646,000 viewers. Marvel used this as a marketing technique because they knew how many people would be watching this game. Additionally, anyone who likes Kendrick Lamar for this music would be more intrigued to watch the film knowing that he plays a role. Lastly, Marvel partnered with Lexus, which is a well-known car brand, to reveal a special and unique commercial for the 2018 Lexus LS 500 that was inspired by the movie. In this commercial, you can see the Black Panther on top of the car with special effects added. This is a good marketing technique as it brought more attention to the film anytime someone viewed the commercial. Overall, the use of cross-promoting is one of the most valuable techniques for marketing a film.

Continuously, some films use different strategies to create excitement before the movie is even released. This is a successful marketing technique used to keep us captivated as to what is coming next. Universal Studios teamed up with many different companies to make the movie Jurassic Park become more recognized before the premiere. For starters, the original Jurassic Park movies were aired on bigger channels like NBC, before the release of Jurassic World. This is the main reason why I watched this film. After seeing the Jurassic Park films, I was very interested to see how different the Jurassic World film would be. This a marketing technique used by producers to leave the audience wanted to know what comes next in the sequel. After finishing the Jurassic Park movies, the people would be captivated to see the new and improved movie that would be releasing soon. In addition to this, Universal teamed up with Sony to create a behind the scenes commercial with some of the more well-known actors. This commercial was shown on some of the more popular tv channels to bring excitement to the release of this film. Not only did Universal use essential marketing techniques before the release of the film, but they also continued to market their film after the release. Universal partnered with bigger companies such as Legos, Mike and Ike, and Dairy Queen to create Legos based on the movie, dinosaur-shaped candy, and a Jurassic Park blizzard with the name of the film printed on the cup. One of the main reasons I watched this movie was because I saw the advertising for it on the side of my ice cream cup. This marketing technique is intentionally used to target the attention of the younger crowd. The Legos, ice cream, and candy are all great ways to quickly grasp the attention of children who would be interested in watching the movie. Overall, using different strategies of marketing is a great way to create hype for your film.

Lastly, marketing for films can be seen through special events. In the movie Furious 7, Universal Studios marketed through the use of special events. The trailer for Furious 7 was released by having a special Red Carpet event that allowed fans to watch the trailer and watch questions. The producers also created a website for the film Furious 7 that had contests, pictures, videos, and information. In addition to this, Universal CityWalk had a movie marathon at their movie theatre which featured the first look at one of the cars used in the movie. They also introduced the addition of the new ride based on the movie called “Fast and Furious Supercharged”. Before going to Universal over the summer, I had never heard of this movie. After I went on this ride, I was eager to watch the movie as soon as I got home. Now, not only did Universal Studios market through special events, but they also partnered with other companies as well. Furious 7 teamed up with a phone brand known as OPPO, which hosted promotional events for the movie. Furthermore, Furious 7 partnered with Forza Horizon 2 to release a video game based on the movie. The use of marketing used throughout this film demonstrates the importance of getting your film attention. Most film companies utilize many different strategies to get their film to be heard. I feel as if these marketing techniques are extremely important in having a successful film.

Conclusively, the usage of marketing is extremely important for a film. After looking at the many different types of marketing techniques, I can see how important these are for a film. The usage of marketing plays a huge role in the success and popularity of a film. The movies that have been most successful in the film industry today have exhibited numerous ways of marketing their film, allowing it to reach its full potential.

24 Extract Essay

                        24 Extract Essay

               

               The director wants the audience to feel a sense of excitement and suspense as more of the story begins to uncover who this woman is. This mostly relates to the thriller and action genres. We can see the thrill as the audience feels lots of suspense and excitement as they are eager to know more about what this woman has done. Additionally, we can also see the action through acts of violence from Jack such as when he flips the table or slams the chair the woman is sitting in against the wall. The main message that can be seen throughout the extract is that it is not always easy to have patience in potentially dangerous situations. It is hard to stay calm when you know something bad could occur at any second. In life-threatening situations, anger cannot always be controlled as easily. As this anger continues to build up, more violence and rage occur as an outcome.

                In the first scene, the author uses different techniques to begin introducing the plot and theme. The first technique was an over the shoulder shot. This shot was used to show the expressions of anger that Jack has as he tries to get more information out of the woman tied up. This allows for the audience to understand that Jack is directly talking to her. Even though it appears as if he is looking at the camera, the audience can infer that he is specifically speaking to her because her shoulders appear slightly in front of the camera. This is an excellent technique because it focuses directly on Jack, allowing the audience to form interpretations of his expressions and how he may feel. Another technique used to help introduce the plot and theme was crosscutting. Crosscutting was used to show the difference between the two main settings. From this, the audience can infer that one room may be the observation room, while the other is the interrogation room. The director used cross-cutting to show what was happening at the same time during the same scene just in a different location. This helps the audience to better understand where this woman is and what is happening around her. The usage of this technique adds to the director’s vision as it creates thrill and suspense as the audience starts to learn more about who these people are and who they work for.

                Moving on to the second scene as more of the plot begins to unravel. The first technique used was a long shot. A long shot was used to show the audience that this woman is tied up to a chair. In the first scene, only close-up shots were used, so the audience was unaware that this woman could be dangerous. It adds suspense as we can begin forming interpretations of what this woman may have done given the context of the “bomb”. The use of this technique adds on to the director’s vision of creating thrill and suspense as the audience may have been shocked to find out that she was not just sitting in a chair for her own good. Another technique seen was through the usage of dialogue. Dialogue gives the audience a better understanding of how this woman may have ended up in this situation. It gives an insight into her past and what she may be seeking. By referencing to “Versailles” we can see that she is trying to escape from someone or something. This adds on to the director’s vision as it creates thrill and suspense as the audience becomes more eager to find out what she is trying to uncover or hide from. The last technique used in this scene to help build on the plot was diegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds allow the audience to truly get an insight as to what is happening in the scene. Because these sounds were natural to the scene it may have more of a connection with the audience. The loud screeching of the chair being pushed against the wall and the slamming of the table shows how violent and angry Jack really is. This adds on to the director’s vision as it increases the level of action and violence as the theme starts to develop.

                Lastly, in the final scene, the main theme is uncovered as more details are revealed. The first technique used was a split-screen. This is an editing technique used to show two scenes on the screen at the same time. This was used to show the professionally dressed man running out of the observation room and into the interrogation room to prevent Jack from choking the woman tied up to death. The usage of a split-screen allowed the audience to see what was happening in both rooms, as the tension increases. This adds on to the director’s vision because it creates thrill as the audience begins to wonder if the professional man will reach the room in time to get Jack to let go of her. The next technique used in this scene was the setting. In this scene, both of the main settings (the observation and interrogation room) come together. This shows the audience that these people work together. At first, it may have been hard to identify this because of the way that Jack suspiciously looks at the camera. The audience may have figured that he was not supposed to be in the room at that time. As time goes on, we can see that these men may work together for some type of crime-stopping agency. This adds on to the director’s vision of creating thrill because the audience is excited to put the pieces together and figure out what these guys are trying to do based on the information they try to get from the woman. The last technique used in this scene was the actors. The main actors included Jack (the angry man), the woman tied up, and the two observers. Few actors were used so that the audience would focus more on the dialogue. The dialogue was so important, so the director did not want to include too many actors and take the attention away from the conversation between Jack and the woman. This adds on to the director’s vision as it creates suspense that maybe not many people are around her because she is highly dangerous.

                Conclusively, the director’s main vision is to create suspense ­and excitement for the audience. This is done through the usage of many different techniques such as over the shoulder shots, cross-cutting, long shots, dialogue, diegetic sounds, split-screens, the setting, and the actors. The director wants the audience to be able to identify the theme/message that it is not always easy to have patience in potentially dangerous situations. This message is developed throughout the use of many details and lots of action as well. Overall, my analysis closely relates to the director’s message as I discussed how the usage of action and thrill helped to build up this plot and overall theme.

               

Creative Critical Reflection for the Final Task

          The Creative Critical Reflection was the last and final step in completing the final task. To wrap everything up I had to create a video of myself discussing some important topics. This was a 12-15 minute long video with lots of information included. I went in-depth on four key points that played a huge role throughout this whole project. This was such a fun experience because it felt like I was on a talk show. It was also a lot of fun to edit because I could be as creative and unique as I wanted to be. I got to add in so many cool pictures from my film and from online to make the interview come to life. I also got to add in the music that was played at the beginning of my horror film. I added in the music at the end of my talk show to wrap everything up and end on a peaceful note. This also creates a connection between my film and the reflection video.
          This process took a lot of time. I had to re-shoot each question multiple times to ensure that there were no mistakes and that the audio could be clearly heard. It’s important that you film somewhere with good and natural lighting as it makes the scenes much easier to see. Adding in photos was very fun, however, this took a lot of time as well. For each new topic, I had to find the photo and then import it into iMovie. Once they imported I had to ensure that it would appear as a split-screen so that the audience had some type of context with what I was saying. I then had to place the photo in the right spot and trim it to the right amount of time. If photos were placed in the wrong spot it wouldn’t correspond with what I was saying and may confuse the audience. Overall this process was a lot of fun to experience. I got to see what it would be like to be in an interview or on a real talk show. The knowledge I gained from this was so important and can be very useful in future experiences.

Final Task: Horror Film

          This was the last film that I made with my group members for this class. I was so excited to film this because I knew how fun it was going to be. My group and I all loved the horror genre. It is such a fun and thrilling genre because it has so many aspects to it. We knew from the beginning that horror would be the best topic to focus on. We had so many ideas, but sadly we knew we could only choose one. We thought a lot about which idea to choose. When we finally selected a topic we knew that we had chosen the right idea because it fit best with the genre. We were so excited to film this because in the horror genre you can be very creative.
          After filming this, I still managed to learn more information. This time I learned more about the editing process. Because this was an introduction to a film there had to be title sequences displayed on the screen for specific amounts of time. I was unaware of how to do this, so I had to figure out how to teach myself. Luckily, this was a very easy thing to learn. It's important to be able to know how to do this for future experiences. Overall, this project was a lot of fun. Throughout each task, I learned so much that was not only useful for this class but can also be applied to future experiences. I am so glad I got the chance to learn so many new things and have a lot of fun throughout the process.

Music Video Project

          After learning a lot from the previous film, I was ready to film again. I was very excited to begin this project because these types of videos have always interested me. Instead of filming a commercial, we were instructed to create a music video. All of my group members enjoyed music videos, so we knew this would be a very fun project. When deciding what song to use my group and I all agreed on the same song. Surprisingly we all shared a love for an artist known as Khalid. In particular we all enjoyed one of his most well-known songs called "location". This was the perfect song to use, as it creates such a calming and enjoyable vibe. As a group we all knew this would be the right song to choose because it had such a good message to it. We had so many ideas and were so excited to begin filming.

          Because we already had experience with filming there were less issues this time around. We used our own cameras to film to ensure that our clips wouldn't be blurry. We also learned to give ourselves lots of time to edit so that no mistakes were made. I did not think it was possible to learn more, but to my surprise I obtained lots of new information. The most important thing that I learned was to film each scene multiple times. Luckily we did this because in one of our scenes the clip cut off. If we had not filmed multiple scenes, we would not have been able to use this scene. It's always important to have backups just in case any of the footage gets messed up. I'm glad I was able to learn more information to assist me in the next project. It is important to learn from your mistakes to become better in both the filming and editing processes. Overall, this was such a fun film to make and I truly enjoyed every second of this process.

Gatorade Commercial Project

          This was the first film that I ever created for this class. In this project, we created a thirty-second long commercial. This was such a fun experience. I was able to learn essential knowledge from it. My group and I decided to make this commercial about Gatorade. We chose this topic because we thought it would be the most fun idea to create a commercial out of. Because this was our first film it took us a while to grasp the concept. We had to re-shoot many scenes because the camera was difficult to operate. Once we learned how to use the camera is was a very fun experience.
          I learned so much from the editing and filming process that I was able to apply to the other projects throughout the year. The first thing I learned was to film using our own cameras and not the ones issued by the school. When using the school camera, all of our scenes were very blurry. This deteriorates the quality of the film, as it is harder to make out what is going on in each scene. This was a good lesson to learn because moving forward it would be much better to not have blurry footage. Additionally, exporting footage from the camera was a very time-consuming process. It took a lot of time away from editing because we needed to make sure each scene exported properly. Overall, the knowledge I gained from this project helped guide me in the projects that came after. If I hadn't learned from my mistakes, I would not have been able to produce an excellent film in the end. I'm glad that these mistakes were made because in the end my commercial still looked very realistic and creative.

Re-edit Blog: COVID-19 Continues to Spread Globally

          Unfortunately, my group and I were unable to re-edit our film due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19. COVID 19 is very dangerous and contagious, especially to younger kids and senior citizens.

Individuals have been recommended to stay indoors and to prevent going out as much as possible. Schools have announced that they will remain closed until at least the beginning of May to prevent this disease from spreading even more. My group and I decided that it would be best to follow orders and stay indoors. Although we were upset, we knew that this was in our best interests. Luckily, our film did not need much re-editing as there were only minor issues that could easily be fixed. As a group, we decided to go on a group call as this would be much safer than risking our health. On the group call, we discussed what needed to be done to put the final touches on our film. We spent lots of time brainstorming and collaborating ideas until we finally came up with the best solution.

          As a group, we collectively agreed that our film already met the necessary requirements. There were a few minor issues with the title sequences that would only require about 5 minutes of editing. There was no need for us to meet together to fix such a simple issue. While staying on the call, each group member took a different task to make the best use of our time. Nadia's task was to make sure all of the transitions we used were smooth and fit with each scene. Katia's task was to make sure none of the scenes were blurry and that the scenes were in the correct order. Sophia's task was to make sure the title sequences were in the correct order. My task was to make that the title sequences remained on the screen for the correct duration of time.