When creating promotional material for the final product such as the poster and magazine I used the software Premier Pro, having used it during my first year of media studies I learnt an understanding of how to edit and use it roughly. The software allows you to create products to a professional level with a lot of designers using Photoshop to a high up standard when production products. I also used this for things such as a mood board and any story board for things that needed merging and editing together, Photoshop is a good platform for this as it allows you to transform and put things together. For our trailer we used the software Premiere Pro also an Adobe product, with access to this on all of the macs at college and my own personal at home I had a keen knowledge of it from doing creative media production. Because of this I could do things such as color grading, tweaking the sound levels and using loads of transitions the software allows for you to manipulate footage intensively and up to professional level you can edit full length films on there without hassle.
When filming our trailer we stuck to a Canon 750D a standard DSLR, a lot of our shots were still so for that we used a standard tripod from the college AV room so we could get professional level still footage for the trailer. To increase the quality we also added on a 50mm canon lens so the footage would look crisper and of a better standard
When producing an ad campaign for a film audience feedback is very important for distributors and creators it allows them to meet the target audiences needs and enables creators to change or improve upon an issue. It also gives them an idea for an indication of how popular the film will be/ how well received. For my audience feedback we created a questionnaire to gather data and had it sent out over social media and people in the class contributed towards it also, that meaning it had a average range of 17-18 year olds completing it. We asked questions asking the audience what conventions they like in horror films, this was to ensure that we could complete a final product to the best of our ability and most suited for our target audience questions such as what there favorite element was and that being suspense and a plot twist.
Because of this we wanted to ensure suspense and a plot twist throughout, we done this by having the two main characters (we see working together) pointing the gun at each other on the balcony to shock and draw in the audience. Because of our massive idea change the synopsis we had for this questionnaire was our original idea, involving the church. Because we couldn't use this data we had to conduct in person research this meant asking classmates and peers about our idea of a school shooter film with two females but a big twist at the end. The verbal feedback that we received was all positive with a few legitimate questions involving the country it took place in, how would you make it look realistic and questions about the setting. After we had a rough cut put together after a week or so of filming our teacher shew it to the class and we received feedback in the form of paper notes with 3 positives and 3 negatives on them, positives included a good establishing of location, good titles, good idea, good music, good depth of field and good transitions. With bad feedback being more jump scares more pace, more sound effects, change music/tempo, lacking tense music with this feedback we went back and completely changed the ending by speeding it up with a tense dramatic music it changed the whole tempo and dynamic of it.
My magazine and poster had a few drafts, I started off with a plainer theme to it not including any background and little to no editing done on the main character having them bold and stand out. But after receiving feedback from my teacher and peers in class and looking at existing products I thought it would be good to incorporate some dark shades and possible blood to have typical horror conventions within. I then added blood splatters on both of the characters faces also adding a background into both of them to give it a more realistic feel also, using a locker school layout so the setting for the film is clearly established.
Our final idea is to create a trailer about a school shooting. We felt, as a group, that this idea is unique and we like the fact that it is based on something that happens in real life. School shootings are common in America which are extremely sad, life threatening and frightening. We were very much inspired by the film Elephant, which has pushed us to create a trailer on a school shooting. Our synopsis:- The day that changed America, two young, psychotic college girls form a close bond who perform a mass execution of their class mates and teachers, all in one day. Kylie and Jenna, seem like ordinary, innocent girls but have the brains of killers and are very different to all the other students. The uncivilised pair walk through the school, fully armed and loaded, killing their first sight of human. However, the girls feel the guilt, but who kills who?
A film distributor company will be the people who are in charge of the marketing and advertising of a film this ranges from what the audiences will be able to view the movie on and the release date of cinema screening and home viewing/DVD. They also come up with a marketing plan of how to promote the film and to what target audiences and any psycho and demographics. Promoting the film is important to attracting customers and social media has now become a big part of marketing campaigns, also for our trailer we created a poster and a magazine cover as a way of marketing it this is same type of advertising that famous film distributors use as a way to reach everyone. Posters can be plastered all over billboards and bus stops for a wider audience and can launch social media marketing campaigns, for a more younger target audience. Marketing techniques of films will often differ dependent on the demographic for example TV adverts, radio and bus stops advertisements will typically be seen by a older audience with adults more likely to be watching the television and getting on buses, driving around etc. But promotional techniques such as trailers trending on social network sights, as an ad on YouTube and website being launched are more likely to be seen by the younger technology based demographic.
Billboard in LA
Soda it was advertised on
An example of a film with a big marketing and distribution campaign is Deadpool (2016) the film having loads of hype due to leaked footage from years back, a Marvel studios film about a witty and R- rated anti villain played by the well known Ryan Reynolds had good backing to it already. The first image surfacing in March 2015 with Ryan Reynolds lying sensually on a bearskin rug it was somewhat of an homage to Burt Reynold’s nude spread in Cosmopolitan from 1972. The demographic for the movie was evident by the way it was marketed, it being an R rated superhero film with 'dirty' and 'witty' humor it clearly appealed to young adults and predominately male. A lot of posters of various kinds were plastered all over social media most of which being posted by Ryan himself having a big involvement with the campaigning. Because it was distributed and released by Marvel Entertainment the media coverage and promotion it got was more than usual it being one of the top distributors and now owned by The Walt Disney Company, it had a few brand deals and endorsements also like Tinder with a networth of $1.35 billion
international poster
My magazine cover was directly inspired by a few magazines the main one being Sight & Sound by having the title directly taken from it, and the same style with bold headlines and titles and the main feature looking directly into the camera establishing an eye line match. I decided to put a light blood look overlay on top of the main image to give it a gore and horror effect linking to the gun and title 'The Shooter'
I didn't go as conventionally typical with my film poster, I followed conventions such as gore and dark colours by having a black background with a few blood splatters also some over the main characters face. I took inspiration from the Scream 4 poster by just having a simple face that being the protagonist of the trailer and having them looking lost almost sinister.
Both the magazine and the poster directly link and promote the same product, the title for the film being the main feature of both and having one of the main characters featuring on both it creates a link to all three products as you can clearly identify them.
After discussing for a lesson or two and mind mapping and bullet pointing ideas on a word document, we were brain storming various locations that we could use that would be typical horrors and after establishing where the group was located we researched some of the churches and graveyards nearby deciding we would follow that idea. We then thought of an synopsis around the idea of 'An abandoned church ridden from the mysterious death of a young girl is brought back up when a group of teenagers decide to explore it. They came across a secretive hut of which the groundsman lives…They will have to fight for survival.' We started drafting, shot listing and deciding characters etc and ended up filming a few scenes at a local church but due to the distant and lack of footage that was coming together me and Indianna thought to change it to something which would be more realistic and easier to film.
Our mood board shown here shows inspiration for our trailer choice, it showing films that we directly linked to such as Elephant (2003) a film that follows the two shooters from the infamous Columbine shooting. And another called Zero Day (2003) which documents two shooters in a documentary style, also words like death, fear, murder and terror and various pictures of guns shooting and school scenarios.
Audience and Institutions
I think that the primary audience for The Woman in Black would be predominately the young adult sector of society people aged from 15-21, the reason for this is because this generation are usually more interested in the horror, jump scare sub-genre that has become popular in youth culture these coming years. Also with Daniel Radcliffe the main character he is the face of the Harry Potter franchise also with a similar target audience, the second target audience being that of Harry Potter fans and also a more mature older audience due to the history behind the film. It being a novel by Susan Hill published in 1983 and then turned into a play in 1987 it is almost an homage to it and a generation who would be young at the time it was released would want to watch it back now.
the live on stage adaption of the novel
The Woman In Black was marketed in various ways and platforms, due to the target audience the way it was advertised was a lot through media platforms trailers being on Yahoo, Empire, The Sun and Glamour magazines these websites vastly used by the younger generation when browsing online. The genre of the film meant the trailer would need to be broadcast during the same age appropriate times such as during late night television most likely after 5pm, the programming environment varied from Big Brother, Hollyoaks and channels such as Syfy, Channel 4 and taking it broader with horror channel, Five USA and ITV.
Trailer shown on a teen gossip website.
The marketing materials were definitely appropriate for the film having been broadcasted to both the primary and secondary target audience The trailer for the film was first shown at a London Comic Con expo this is designed for fans of the TV, Film, Gaming and Anime culture this would directly appeal to the target audience who show interest purely in the quality and genre of the film. The trailer was also shown during Harry Potter and The Deathy Hallows Part 2, it was done this purely for the secondary audience who were Harry Potter fans and the protagonist being Daniel Radcliffe the face of Harry Potter. The campaign was pretty wide stretched the trailer being shown in April 2011 at Comic Con and again during Harry Potter in July that year and the films release being February of 2012, it gave time for it to be hyped up and advertised to the full extent with a Facebook page being made with interactive elements on the official websites for the younger audience.
The website with all of the social networking above & games
The film had a relatively big release with it being shown in 412 UK screens which in comparison for the type of movie it was, is good. An example of another UK horror film is 28 days later which was released in only 318 screens but is now a cult classic and has a higher rating than The Woman In Black on IMDb even though it didn't have such a good opening weekend. The Woman In Black made £3,153,020 in it's opening weekend in the UK alone in the USA premiering in 2,855 screens made $20,874,072 which is good for a UK film this is mostly down to 'Harry Potter' being the subject of the advertising. The latest harry potter film premiered in 4,125 which is almost double and made $125,017,327 this tells us the reach that a Daniel Radcliffe centered film can gross at a box office, also became the UK's highest grossing theatrical horror film since the chart began.
The amount that was spent on The Woman in Black is roughly estimated budget of around $17,000,000 which is the all around production value of the project, this means it includes how much the film itself cost to make and any advertising campaigns that it had. The film had 3 weeks at the top of the charts in the UK generating a gross of $23.3 million and making $20,874,072 on the opening weekend in the US already profiting from its estimated budget for the film. It used Daniel Radcliffe's face and the fan base he already had as a main technique with gaining popularity to the film, it also helped in reviving the Hammer Film Productions studio and ended up being their most successful film within the last 20 years. The worldwide gross ended up growing to $128,956,290 showing that UK horror films can be a major success, it also led to other film companies wanting to produce paranormal horror films and boosting the sub genre.
The main and evident reason this film grossed so much and was so successful was due to the main protagonist of the film, that being Daniel Radcliffe from the Harry Potter franchise. It was the first main film that he starred in after the final Harry Potter film so fans were rushing to go and see him in the next film. The advertising techniques using his face to be noticed, allowing the audience to be widened by the fact that you're seeing a familiar face, also taking part in interviews etc to attract a wider audience. Also the use of social media dramatically helped by allowing it to travel fast and to the main target audiences, that being teenagers and young adult fans who use social media the most.
