RESEARCH: HOW THE CAMPAIGN WORKS?

Task 1: Prints and Advertising 

Advertising: Mark Jones, Film Distribution and Publicity Consultant says that the largest spend of any P&A budget will be on advertising. Distributors can advertise through a number of 

• Posters
• Trailers
• Press advertising
• T.V. advertising
• Websites
• Outdoor
• Radio advertising
• Merchandise/Cross-promotion
• Online social media

The Poster 

Online Marketing: Chris Beselling, director of marketing at Pathe UK states that digital marketing needs to be at the forefront of their thinking. He says that social media platforms allow for millions of voices to be heard and that a film needs to work hard to maintain its deserved position in that space.

Task 3: Types of Trailers

Trailers are one of the key elements in drawing an audience in to watch a film. A trailer should interest and hook a viewer into making them want to see more. Trailers also give the audience a sense of the genre of the film, who is acting and directing the film and when the audience can expect the film to be released. 

I looked at different types of trailers for Mr Holmes, Teaser, Full, TV spot. I looked to see how each trailer was different and how it managed to show the selling point of the film. 

Type of Trailer example: Mr Holmes 

Teaser trailer: This type of trailer is under a minute long and is used to build curiosity about the film. This teaser trailer is from Mr Holmes and is told through the eyes of an ageing Sherlock Holmes. As he tries to solve a case that he has never been able to solve before and tries to correct the myths that surround him.

                                

Full trailer: This type of trailer is used to show more about the film such as cast members, a brief overview of the plot of the film as well as hooks that will make someone want to come and see the film. A full trailer shows more of the film without spoiling the film. The way that this full trailer is done is very clever as the voice that is over the trailer is that of the main character. He goes on to explain what is it he wants to solve which is a unique selling point for the film and this can hook audiences on the film.

TV spot: This type of trailer lasts 30seconds. The trailer will focus on a key hook which will grip the audience watching the short trailer. TV spot trailers give the audience a brief look at who is in the cast and who is the directors and producers  

                                

Task 4: Trailer Analysis

Task 5: Trailer Maker,

On the FDA website I decided that I would try and used the trailer making feature. Through using this feature I was able to find the key selling points from clips of the film 'Suffragettes'. I liked how i could change the clips around and make add a music to it. The trailer maker prevented me from putting transitions in which meant that it was very jumpy and not as smooth as I would have liked. 

DISTRIBUTION

Kezia Williams explained that, in a congested marketplace, a film distributors aim is too position a film in a way that it stood out for its target audience. Chris Bessling offered me a series of insights into how film distributors market a films USP(unique selling point) such as its star cast, provenance (such as its literal adaptation or biopic credentials), its wards and good reviews. It also said how to position the film as a unique cinema experience come the week of release. 

Matt Smith of the FDA tells us that spend on digital has increased enormously. For instance, trailers are now cut for portrait viewing on smart phones. Digital includes all social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc) that work as a synergetic whole in promoting a product. Matt Smith also refers to paid for marketing as a distinct form of free publicity. Social media can generate a viral market - free publicity. 

I choose to make my collage on the film IT Chapter 2. This was because the film was the sequel to IT which earned over $700million. The genre of IT is horror and this would attract a certain type of audience to the film even before other people would have watched the trailers, or read the films instagram, facebook, twitter and website pages.

IT is about a group of friends coming together to over come the evil force which terrifies the children of the town every 27years when a clown (Pennywise) emerges from the sewers. It was directed by Andrés Muschietti. IT was an adaptation of the famous Stephen King novel. This meant that the film was a literary adaptation of the novel. After the huge success of the first IT movie IT Chapter 2 had a large following before the film had reached screens. IT chapter 2 is set 27 years later than the first IT film the characters, who are all adults and have lead separate lives are forced to come together one last time to defeat the even stronger Pennywise. Although having a large following from the first movie It Chapter 2 did not do as well as expected only earning $70million. 

RESEARCH WHO IS A TARGET AUDIENCE?

Distributors have a number of factors to think about which lead to how and when the film is distributed. These factors include age, gender, lifestyle. Distributors have to compete for audiences time and for their disposable income 

RESEARCH: WHAT SETS A FILM APART?

After watching Kezia Williams and Chris Besselling on the FDA website it gave me an insight into the factors that need to be focused on so that the film can be set apart from the rest. I can use this information to help me make my film be different from the others. Kezia Williams stated that at any moment during the film campaign distributors will look for key themes, unique selling points and hooks. She also said that emotional and engaging aspects of the film can be used to grab the audiences attention.

Chris Besselling, marketing director for Pathe UK explains how he looks for hooks or key selling points as early as he can in the making of a film. He goes on to explain how a selling point of a non blockbuster would be different to that of a blockbuster. 

RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR

I used the FDA film site to research the roles of the distributor. The Chief Executive of the FDA, Mark Batey explains how a distributor has to consider who, what, when and how which are involved for marketing successful  films.

WHAT?
Mark Batey states that at the earliest moment a distributor needs to work out what this film is. He also says that the distributors should look at if there are any other films which have come out recently which are similar and look at how well they have done. other things that the distributor should look at are how well that the films that the actors involved have done, the director is another factor which the distributor needs to look at. They need to look at how well their previous films have done.

To show how different genres of films need different distribution methods. To show this I made a collage of a number of films that Working Title make:

  

WHO?
Mark Batey says that another role of the distributor is that they need to look at who their audience is. He states that the most frequent cinema goers are young adults and students. However more recently people aged 40-50 have started attending the cinema he finishes off by saying how the age range in one screening can range from 8-80.

The largest audience section is age 16-34 in 2018 91% went to the cinema making a total of 77Million visits. The FDA recorded that ages of audiences are increasing. Over half of TV aduience are aged 54 and over. Figures influence distributers so they would be intrested to know that 48% of 12-15 year olds said that YouTube is their favourite platform with Netflix having 19% of this age group saying its their favourite platform.

WHEN?
Another key role of a distributor is to determine when a film is going to be released. in the uk around 700 feature films are released from blockbusters to low budget documentaries. Mark Batey  says that picking a date to release your film is a very difficult decision.

There are factors that are out of the control of a distributor, for example weather or large sporting events like the FIFA World Cup can result in changes in box office takings. This is because the cinemas are competing with these factors. Another example of the weather being a factor is that during the third week of april when there was a warm weekend less people attended the cinema.

HOW?
Mark Batey suggests that another key decision for a distributor to make is how they are going to distribute the film. How much money that the company can spend on bringing the production to market and how many cinemas are actually interested in screening the film. He also mentions that distributors only get a percentage of the box office takings so distributors need to establish how much money it is going to cost to distribute the film and if they can maximise their percentage due to the cost and methods of distribution they use.

In 2018 the FDA estimated that UK's investment to distribution of 916 new titles will exceed £350Million. Most of this is pays for Uk advertising such as social, digital and physcial media outlets. There is a relatively low cut of money for distributors, from the box office takings,  the high costs of marketing and distribution reduct the amount of money earned by the distributors. 

RESEARCH: MOVIE TRAILER WEBSITES

 There are a number of movie trailer websites that I use these are YouTube, iTunes movie trailers, IMDb and Trailer Addict. 

I mainly use YouTube when i watch a trailer for a film. This is because I can instantly find the film trailer that i want to look at and they give me recommendations of other trailers which allows me to watch other trailers that i may not have thought about watching or going to see in the cinema. Most recently i have seen trailers for Netflix's latest film "Extraction" as well as watching the trailer for Sky Atlantics "Gangs of London". After watching these trailers on YouTube it made me want to go and watch the film and the show. 

iTunes Movie trailers is another useful site for watching trailers. I like how it is advert free and i can filter the trailers by recently added, most popular, exclusive genre and studio. 

Trailer Addict has a wide variety of film trailers that i like. One thing a like about Trailer Addict is that i can see screenshots from the trailer, the release date of the film and it provides suggestions of other films that i may like. 

IMDb is another useful website for finding trailers. It provides details of the trailers and films as well as TV shows. IMDb had a wide variety of films which means that you can find a film from any genre you may like. 

The FDA updated its 2020 yearbook on how social media sites like facebook and twitter are and also on how audiences use websites like YouTube. The picture shows how IMDb is used for trailers. 

RESEARCH: INTRODUCTION TO TRAILERS

How do you find out about films? 

My main source for finding out about film trailers is YouTube. I do find out about films from other sources such as social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter and when i go to the cinema I find out about upcoming films from the trailers that are played before the film that I have gone to watch is.

What makes you want to see a film?

Reasons that I go and see a film is sometimes due to the actors that are staring in the film. If there is a film which has Bruce Willis, Micheal Caine or Morgan Freeman in it then I will look to watch it as I know that the film will be good.  I am not really drawn into a film due to who directed it however I like Martin Scorsese's work.  The main reason that I go and watch a film is because of the trailer. If I am gripped by the trailer and the story line then  I will want to go and see the film wether or not it has been directed by a director whose work I or stars actors who I like.

How do you know what to expect from a film?

The main reason I know what to expect from a film is due to the trailer. The trailer gives a good indication of what the film is going to be like and to how fast and how it is going to be structured. The trailer also provides an insight into how the film is going to look and sound.

What am I paying for when I buy a cinema ticket?

When I buy a cinema ticket I feel like I am paying for the best experience which I cannot have at home. The screen in a cinema is far larger than any that I could have at home and the sound provided through the Dolby surround sound is a level of clarity that is almost impossible to experience at home. In a cinema everything is arranged to show the film in its purest form. This is something I could not experience at home. This is what I pay for when I buy a cinema ticket.

Are there any films that I have to see in a Cinema or does it really matter ?

There are some films which I feel I have to watch in films so that I can experience the film how it was meant to be experienced. For example I feel that I have to watch Marvel films in a cinema. This is because the film was made to be watched on a large screen and with the modern audio quality of a cinema rather than that of a small screen with older sound technology. However, more recently I have not been going to the cinema and I have been using streaming platforms like Netflix. This is due to the rising cost of cinema tickets.

A trailer that made me want to go and see the film in the cinema was "A quiet place" the trailer to this film gripped me and I felt like I would get the best experience of the film if I was to go and watch it in a cinema.