Audiences & Institutions Essay

Marketing is a very important part of the film production process. It greatly influences how much money the movie makes and it also controls the film’s relationship with its audience, making it a major role in the overall success of the film. The amount of exposure the film gets heavily affects the money it makes and its relationship with its audience.

First off, marketing is very important for films because it increases the amount of money that the film makes. People need to know about the film in order to attend a showing and buy the merchandise. Along with the amount of marketing, the strength of the marketing strategy is also key to the success of film. For example, the film Black Panther (2018), used many types of marketing to make the movie known across different media types. One part of their strategy was to feature unique fashion pieces inspired by the film at a New York Fashion Week event hosted by Marvel. Merchandise was another aspect of their marketing strategy. Clothing, toys, accessories, and more were all sold in order to reach out to their audience and get them excited for the upcoming movie. Also, Lexus teamed up with the film to make an advertisement for the 2018 Lexus LS 500, which was partly inspired by the movie. Black Panther made strenuous efforts to make sure they got their name out there across different media styles. Websites, posters, radio shows, and soundtracks were all made to go along with the movie. 

In contrast, the effort put into the marketing of the movie Ugly Dolls (2019) had much less strength than that of Black Panther. Many digital posters were made for the cartoon, along with the usual trailers, but no great efforts were made in getting the movie out. They could have created a website for kids with interactive games that featured the characters and setting of the movie. This would get children more involved in the movie. The movie partnered with multiple food service businesses, such as Cold Stone Creamery which added two flavors to their menu that were character themed. Although they did make some efforts, if more marketing had been done before and during its release, the film would have been more successful. This can be shown when comparing how much money each film made. Black Panther made around $361 million in its first weekend, while Ugly Dolls only made about $31 million worldwide. This difference could have been lessened, had the marketing been stronger for Ugly Dolls. 

Additionally, marketing is very important to the film process because it builds relationships between the film and its audiences. For instance, Beauty and the Beast (2017) started their marketing journey long before the movie released, just to get their crowd riled up. The poster of a single rose encapsulated in a glass jar gave the audience something to look forward to. As the release date came closer, merchandise began to be mass produced out of stores like Target, Hot Topic, and the Disney shop. This merchandise targeted people of all ages. Kids costumes, T-shirts, mugs, and figurines were all produced to help engage audiences with the film. Additionally, the soundtrack for the movie was released just a week before the movie was released. This allowed audience members to indulge in the music even before they saw the movie. Stickers were made for iMessage so that people could text using the stickers in their day to day life. Lastly, synergy was utilized when a special episode of The Bachelor was aired which was hosted by the stars of Beauty and the Beast. All of these efforts were made in order to connect the film with its audience. 

Another film that also strived to engage their audience through marketing was Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Just like Beauty and the Beast, the movie featured a sound-track which got fans excited for the movie. Marvel has already created a great relationship with their audience, but along with the usual trailers and merchandise and such, a video game was also released before the movie was. This got the gamer fans of the movie excited and ready to watch it. Not every movie has a video game to go along with it, and this was another great way of getting in touch with their audience. To get the younger kid’s attention, the movie exercised synergy and partnered with the cereal brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Spider-man was featured on the box and small toy web shooters were found in the boxes. They aimed to encourage all ages to join the fandom and get excited about the new movie.Engaging fans is a really important part of having a successful movie released and marketing allows it to happen.

In conclusion, marketing is very important to films because it makes the film more profitable and it helps connect the movie to its audiences. Without marketing, no one would ever know about all the amazing films that have been produced. In film production, marketing is just as important to the process as actually filming the movie scenes for the overall success of the film.

Practice Extract Essay

In this “Game of Thrones” extract, the director is trying to create an imagery of a fictional story in a real-life time period that did exist at one point. The mis en scenes were included in order to make the scenes more realistic. The director conveyed this with specific shots, angles, and sounds. They were able to blend the elements of these scenes with editing in order to manifest a particular idea. This all goes into showing the audience the setting and context, which includes location and era. 

The first scene starts out with an aerial shot in order to unveil a massive ship carrying many passengers. The ship is very large which is why an aerial shot is needed to capture the entire image. The ship is used to show the context of the upcoming scenes because is modern times, it is not usual for people to travel by ship. When people see a large ship, they often relate it to pirates or more medieval times when traveling by ship was efficient. The aerial shot then zooms into the characters aboard the ship to emphasize the focus on those characters. This shows their importance to the scenes. This scene also includes an establishing shot which shows the audience that this story is taking place somewhere in Europe. The establishing shot reveals an overview of where the ship is going as it zooms out from showing a close up shot of the characters on the ship.  It then shows a large statue, what seems to be a Trojan warrior, which is what gives the indication that they are in Europe. The music in this scene accompanies the action going on very well because it is very deep and low. It creates suspense for the audience as they sail to their destination. 

The second scene abruptly starts with a two shot in which two men begin a conversation. Within this time the music fades which leads the audience to infer that the mood is becoming more serious. All non-diegetic sound has faded and all that can be heard are the dialogue, the echo, and light footsteps. The echo from their voices shows how large and empty the castle-like building is. The size of the building is also shown by a wide shot taken of the men and where they are talking to each other. In the shot, the audience is shown the medieval architecture from the stone construction, to the details in the windows as well as the very high ceiling which are not often seen in working class structures. Therefore, this adds to the fact that the director trying to capture the essence of this time period in the most realistic way possible. The director mostly utilizes cross cuts within these scenes to show the two men speaking from different perspectives. 

In the next part, the men seated behind the table are going back and forth in conversation with the same men who were aboard the ship. To show the physical back and forth in their conversation, shot reverse shots are used. The men had all foreign accents which portrayed their origins whether it was their current location or not. This adds to fact that this story was taking place somewhere in Europe. The costumes that the actors were wearing consisted of heavy coats, gloves, and boots. This dress code would not normally be seen in our modern era. These clothes are closely related to medieval times which further confirms the fact that the director wanted to closely resemble this time period in the most realistic way. 

In summary, the director’s vision for the scenes in this extract were to recreate medieval times and portray realistic story lines. They did this using specific angles, shots, and sounds. The mis en scenes play a very important part in conveying this time period because they visually show features specific to the era in these scenes. The location and characters also play a huge part in conveying the right ideas to the audience. All the elements of film are crucial in portraying the theme for the audiences’ understanding and enjoyment. 

Practice Extract Worksheets

Final Task: Movie Opening + CCR

"No Scrubs" Music Video + CCR

Vans Commercial + CCR

The Effects of COVID-19

     Due to the virus outbreak of COVID-19, school closed a week early for spring break. The virus is very serious. Due to social distancing, my parents are keeping me pretty much in full quarantine. Everything is cleaned around the house daily. I have to wash my hands constantly, which isn't really the worst thing. If that's all I need to do to keep the virus away I'll do it gladly. Blogging our journey wasn't required over spring break, but I figure I would update you guys.
      For us, not being able to see each other is not a huge deal. Our movie is fully done. The next step is the creative critical reflection (CCR) questions. It has to be a 12-15 minute video answering 4 questions. Originally we were going to do this together, but now that is not possible so I need a Plan B. I decided that I was going to do something in relation to the fact that we cannot really see anyone outside our families at this time. A talk show would not be ideal for this idea because that would include people seeing each other. Talk shows typically do not include another family member as the interviewer. So, I am going to set up my desk in my room facing a plain wall. I will put 3 relatively heavy boxes on top, then put my laptop on top of those. I'll use my laptop as a stand for my phone so I could film myself. This is better than getting someone else to film me because it will be more still. This is similar to a DIY tripod. But I can't give you every detail, you will have to see for yourself.

Re-edit: Finishing Touches

      After re-shooting, we of course had to re-edit our material. A lot of our material had to be cut out. This was somewhat difficult because while filming we were scared we wouldn't have enough footage so we elongated the take as much as we could. We ended up having to cut full scenes. This made our movie opening go from 3 to 2 characters. That doesn't seem like a big difference but because our film is only 2 minutes, everything is essential. Cutting these parts out made our movie make a little less sense but not by a lot. We ended up switching a lot of things around. This was in order to make it more seamless and perfected. It was really good and ended up being exactly 2 minutes long. This was the exact requirement!
      After perfecting the editing of the scenes, we then had to do music. We had to search for music that would not be copyrighted. This part was a little difficult. However, we eventually found music that fit the exact mood and atmosphere of our movie. It went with the suspense of the movie. It even added to the suspense, in my opinion. If I was watching it for the first time, I would definitely want to watch the rest. After editing in the music, we had to put in the titles. We didn't exactly know how we wanted to do it yet. We started brainstorming ideas for the font, color, size and other things important to adding in titles. We decided on a medium sized font and to do the first name in red and the last name in black.

Reshooting: Fixing the Problems

      Almost all of our footage was usable. This was one reason why we didn’t have much to reshoot. Also, in editing, we had to cut many scenes in order to meet the criteria for the length of our movie. We just had to reshoot one scene. There were voices in the back. We tried to get them out in editing. This didn’t work very well. It was the scene where savanna enters the office in order to get the polaroids. We had to make sure there was no people around. We also had to make sure no music or other background noise was playing. We took many reshoots. This was to ensure that we definitely got a usable shot. We reshot a few other scenes too. This wasn’t exactly necessary but it was just in case we needed it. Mainly, I was just there for additional help. Kelly filmed. Savanna was in the shot so she was acting. The reshoot actually came out better than the original. It was difficult getting it in the exactly same spot, but we made it work. Also, mimicking the lighting from day was also a little difficult.

Peer Review Time

For our peer review we were given numbers. Each group was assigned a number so, whichever number you got was the group film that you were reviewing. The one we got to review was actually very good. This was especially good because we haven’t had too much in class time to edit. Their camera work was very good. They included a tilt shot which was very clean. It was moving upwards. The camera seemed very sturdy. They had most of the required angles and shots. They were only missing a few. The camera work told a story. It was set in a house mostly. The shots showed a girl and a guy each getting ready to see each other and hang out. He seemed to have ulterior motives. The inference my group and I made while watching is that we was maybe going to kidnap her. Also, the editing of this film was very clean. The cuts weren’t chopping and the film flowed very well. The titles done were very good and original. The font matched their film genre and added to the plot. The titles sizes and color made them very clear to see for the audience. Overall, it was really good and it will probably improve with reshooting.

First Looks: Editing Blog

      Well, we had way too much footage. We had to cut out many scenes. We had to cut out the elevator scenes. We also had to cut out the first office scene. This makes our movie not as good but we are still working it out. Our movie right now is still too long. Also, some of the shots are not lined up correctly. We, as a group, still need to work on the editing process. We also have not included our titles yet. We want to do this once our scenes are editing to our liking. This way will be easier so we don’t have to edit where the titles are in the movie. We left a lot of the cuts as jump cuts for now just until we get the perfect amount of each scene into the movie. We want to finish out rough draft basically. We aren’t there yet though because we still have a few things to do. There are only a few scenes we might have to reshoot. We need to find out if we even need them first though. If we reshoot something and then end up not needing it, that would be a waste of time. Also, we still need to add in non-digetic sound. This would include background music. Some of the dialogue in our scenes was hard to hear because the music in the area was loud. To fix this, we may have to reshoot or edit in smooth voiceovers to cover this mistake. There isn’t too much dialogue in our movie so this should be too difficult.
     

We Filmed!: Filming Blog

      On Tuesday, my group and I finally filmed. We got everything done in about 2.5 hours. We followed our shooting and sound script as we were supposed to. It helped having those already made and made filming easier. We had a few extra ideas to enhance our film but other than that it was how it was expected to be. I acted in it but I was really only in it at the end. I mostly filmed throughout this process. We also had to let the manager of the building know that we had gotten permission to film there. We got many takes of each shot to make sure we got enough usable footage. I think we did really well.
      Also, while Savanna was acting in a particular scene, Kelly was filming. There was glare coming through a window that was messing up the shot. I had to hold me sweater up to cover it. This way, we fixed the lighting and got the shot perfectly. One thing we had to improvise was that there was no drawer in the table we were using. Instead we put the polaroids inside a book. This was a good idea because it was also interesting. Because we filmed right after school, the lighting in our outside scenes was also really good. It wasn’t to bright or too dark. Overall, our filming day was very successful.

It’s About to Happen: Filming blog

We still haven’t filmed. Although there is good news. We are filming tomorrow! We got permission from the location to film there. This way there are no problems. The location is very close to all of us which is convenient. We are going there after school. We had to bring our costumes and mis-en-scenes with us to school. This wasn’t very easy. We had to do it though because filming on the weekend is difficult. I’m excited to film. We’ve spent so much time planning. We want it to be perfect and easy. I also need to make sure my phone is fully charged for filming. If anything were to happen, which it won’t, we could always use Savanna’s iPhone. I think filming will be pretty easy. There is no wind or excess sounds inside a building. The only thing we need to worry about are people walking through. We could just wait for them to leave. Hopefully a swarm of people don’t show up when we’re there.

We Didn’t Film: Filming Blog

      Our group did not get to film this week. We have to schedule a time that we are all free. It is difficult because we are all busy with extracurriculars and jobs. As of now, we do not have an exact date that we are going to film. We are going to try to film next week. We want to film as soon as possible so that we can have enough time to edit and reshoot scenes. While storyboarding, we solidified our setting, characters, and mis en scenes. We have all of our props figures out, our cameras, and all of our scenes worked out. We need to ensure that the cliffhanger isn’t too dramatic as well.
      In the film, I am going to be an actor. I play the antagonist. I only come in at the end of the titles sequence. You barely see me. You mostly hear my footsteps which are diegetic. During the filming process I will probably also have to film scenes that I am not in. Filming will most likely take us a few hours. We need to ensure that we get enough shots of each scene so that if any of them have imperfections we have other options. We want to reshoot as little as possible. We will be filming on my iPhone 11. This more manageable than a camera so we can get a variety of angles.

Storyboard

     For our storyboard, my group and I worked very hard. None of us have very strong artistic abilities but, we felt very accomplished when seeing our results. For the storyboard, one scene was split into four boxes on the paper. It was then divided between my group members and I. On our storyboard paper, we decided to put what camera angles would be in that particular box/scene. We also wrote any dialogue that would happen in the scene under our drawings. The last thing we wrote on our storyboard was a brief description of what is actually happening within the scene.The storyboard is very important because it will help guide us when we are filming each scene. Instead of looking at an entire powerpoint, we can just look at our storyboard papers instead.Storyboards have to be as detailed as possible so that the filmmakers can refer back to it at anytime and know the setting, dialogue, and camera angles. We can do that thanks to a great storyboard!

Location, Actors, Health, and Schedule

On our powerpoint, we talk about our schedule, location, actors, and health/safety. The second slide is our schedule, which explains each date we will film or edit our final project. February 17th will be the very first day we will start the filming process. Filming will hopefully stretch out from the 17th to the 23rd of February, anything after that will be editing and 'final touches'. The third slide is where we will be filming. My group mates and I have decided to film in the office spaces within my building. There are multiple office spaces which we could film in as well. The fourth slide is about our 'actors' who are just my group mates and I. Savanna will be playing the main character, the receptionist will be played by kelly, and Haylie will play the antagonist. Savanna and Haylie will play the most important parts in our film because they will help create the mood/ genre the most. For the fifth slide which is health/safety, my mother will be with us observing the entire time.

Title Design

This powerpoint describes our titles in which we will use for our film. We decided on a name that fits the genre and that is useful to the development of our story. We also discuss the fonts we will use in creating the titles. This is very important because the type of font gives off a certain mood to the viewer. We also decided to only use first names for safety purposes. The titles will be “focused” on the screen. The powerpoint also describes the length of time we will be displaying the titles. All titles will be white for a simplistic viewing. The transitions between each title will also be fitting to our story. Within each title, the first name will be made more prominent. We will do this by making the font larger for the first name and a little bit smaller for the rest of the title. This also gives it a sense of design.

Dialogue & Sound Script

Sound is one of the most important features in a film. Since we are creating a thriller film, sound and dialogue are going to play a key role within our movie. In the beginning of our film there is no dialogue but there is diegetic sound of a woman’s high heels hitting the floor as she walks. We believe that this is creating a suspense of what is going to happen next. As soon as the dialogue begins it’s with the receptionist and woman, which comes to an end very quickly as the conversation is short and fast. After this sounds are added in such as soft instrumentals. More diegetic sounds such as elevator dings, keys jangling, drawers closing, and doors opening are added in. In scene 12 the dialogue starts up again from which another person walks into the room and starts talking to the woman. Scenes 11-16 are the most important parts of our film because this is when the thriller genre really shows. It is also when our use of sounds and dialogue is used most effectively.

Shooting Script

This is my group mates and I's shooting script. A shooting script describes each scene of a movie. The scenes are what make a movie, so having each scene described in depth is important. These descriptions include everything that happens within the scene as well as few other important factors. The camera angles and shots that are going to be used in each scene are listed in the shooting script. This script is very important for a movie because it is the whole movie in written form. This can also be used as a guideline when creating your film because it helps you plan out the way you want each scene to look. The lighting and types of sounds are also described in this script. This shooting script is vital for our film because it helps my group mates and I see the build up of each scene. Since our theme is thriller, being able to identify exactly when certain climax will be best placed is beneficial.

Title Research: Zodiac

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
31 titles are displayed during the opening scene.
-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
There is a cart that a man is pushing around the office the main characters work at, that contains many envelopes. Throughout the opening sequence, the cart is shown every few clips from a few different camera angles.
-What connotations do the images carry?
There are not a lot of people working in the office however, the men that do work there are all gathered up which could indicate they are analyzing something important.
-How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The scenes of the cart build some tension and show something big may be introduced soon. There is a book one of the characters has that is opened for only a couple seconds, but it is just enough time to reveal drawings that are ominous and a bit creepy.
-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The drawings are mysterious and create an eerie feeling. Everyone gathered up together looking at something that seems to be very serious also creates suspense.
-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
This movie includes mysterious subjects that the audience doesn't know fully about yet. It also contains crime which keeps the target audience intrigued throughout the film. The film includes a child to emotionally connect the audience with the character by adding the element of sympathy if something ever happens to the main character.
-How has technology been used effectively?
The camera movements helped create a mood and set the tone for the movie. The editing also did this by making it so the transitions between scenes affected the audience in a certain way.

Title Research: Twister

     On the watchthetitles.com under "Feature Films" the film twister caught my attention. The film Twister is a Thriller-Horror film created in (1996).
-The number of titles that are displayed during the opening sequences to the film are three. The first title is a "Warner bros present", the second title is "An AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT production" and the third is the name of the movie twister. The warner bros logo is also shown in the opening sequences.
-The images that are prioritized in the opening sequence are, the big bold black three-dimensional letters that sweep of the screen and the overflow of fog behind the letters.
-The connotations that the images carry are, it gives off a spooky, mysterious vibe and has the viewer thinking what's next?
-The genre is reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset by, the technical codes that are reinforced for the genre are the camera is still, but the titles are creeping towards the camera while the letters get bigger. The symbolic codes are that, the titles are creating an uncertainty of what will come next due to the titles disappearing and re-emerging through the heavy fog.
-The film establishes an enigma from the outset by, the opening title sequence sounds like very strong gusts of winds, and leafs (really pieces of letters) are seen flying all around the words TWISTER. This makes the outset wonder what is to come in a film named twister that has so much sound in the background.
-The strategies that are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience are, there is always something happening even if the titles are not on the screen. From the moment the opening sequence starts, a low gust is heard, but everytime a title emerges the gusts get louder and louder creating uncertainty for why it's becoming louder.
-Technology has been used effectively by, the film was created in 1996 so the technology has been outdated. But specifically for the time the movie was made in, it was at an advancement for it's time. In Twister they used State-of-the-art CGI, which was made to look as realistic as possible, especially when creating the three-dimensional black title letters. Also when the letters break apart they use CGI to make it look as if its actually leafs flying around in the background.

Title Research: Split

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
27 titles
-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The scenes of the opening title sequence alternate from a black screen with the name and credit for each job and scenes of a ceiling that gradually reveal a girl getting dragged down a hall then into a room.
-What connotations do the images carry?
The constant switching between scenes create suspense and carries an eerie mood. The shots of the ceiling also create a creepy setting for the movie and the scenes set the whole mood for the film.
-How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The movie is intense from the very first scenes. Flickering lights symbolize the danger or uncertainty of where the main character is right then. The scared girl in a dimly lit hallway/room is meant to show that she may have to try to escape and that she is not safe. Intensity is a major element of the thriller genre and this movie executes this very well for the audience to perceive. The editing of switching between scenes builds intensity, suspense, and mystery all within the opening sequence.
-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The scared girl, who is the main character, is also meant to produce the same emotions the creators of the movie want the audience to undergo while watching.
-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
It is psychological and intense which will intrigue the target audience.
-How has technology been used effectively?
The camera movements helped create an intense, ominous mood and set the tone for the movie. The editing also did this by making it so the transitions between scenes affected the audience in a way that made them feel scared yet psychologically intrigued.

Title Research: Dark

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 18 titles in this opening sequence.
-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
There are prominent images of eyes, trees, and weapons.
-What connotations do the images carry?
The connotations of these images shown definitely carry a scary connotation for the audience.
-How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced because it has many of the typical conventions such as a thrilling mood for for audience, mostly dark opening sequence, and also a mysterious mood.
-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
This film establishes an enigma by using somewhat confusing images in the opening sequence. They are puzzling because you can't quite figure out what they are or what they mean.
-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
They use puzzling yet interesting images that would appeal to the viewers of this movie. This also draws in the viewing and makes them want to continue watching the film.
-How has technology been used effectively?
The editing of this opening sequence plays a major part in how the audience views it. Many of the images are mirrored and many of the images look like ink blots which is also interesting for the audience. So, the technology used to edit this is involved, most likely some sort of computer. Also, machines used for lighting are also important technology because the darkness was a major part of the mood created.