FILM POSTER- EFFECT WITH AURASMA

The video above illustrates how we incorporated Aurasma into our promotional poster. As the video illustrates when you hold your phone (when using the Aurasma app) above the poster, it automatically plays the teaser trailer (sound included). The benefits of this being that if this was part of a promotional campaign then posters would not only have a distinct edge, but also be able to target particular audiences- commuters would be targeted with the use of bus, tube and train stations- pedestrians with the use of bus billboards, bus side billboards, street billboards and shopping centre billboards- and drivers with the use of bus side billboards and street billboards.
This is especially effective since it merges two aspects of promotion in one: the poster and teaser trailer, with this merging causing heightened interest not only in the advertising itself but the product.
If we were to complete this task again, we would likely tackle a different format- keeping the poster as a poster format but having the Aurasma make the falling feathers in the background continue moving. Therefore, we would have a selection of posters to again continue spurring interest within our product.
This promotion is primarily digitally based, therefore suffices in targeting our preferential age group of 18-35 years old, whom would likely download the Aurasma app due to intrigue from the poster.

Possible Promotional Locations

 Bus stop billboard.

Road side billboard.

 Tube station billboard.

 Tube line billboard.

Shopping centre billboards.

Bus side billboards.

 Train station billboard.

Bus stop billboard (example 2)

TEASER TRAILER- FINAL PRODUCT

This is our final piece 'GRACE'. 

We are ultimately proud of our final product identifying our key strengths especially in post- production with the use of sound layering; clip layering; tints and fades. Our favourite shot especially is the eye level extreme close up of our protagonist on the train, as this truly depicts her grief and follows the conventions of our genre (to see how our teaser follows conventions seek blog post on 'QUESTION- IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL LIFE MEDIA PRODUCTS?'

The most difficult aspect of our teaser trailer was most likely the shooting of the subliminal rape, since it was our decision to not have the male perpetrator included as a character (since we wanted to illustrate to our audience how most assailants are never brought to justice). Therefore, it proved difficult to make it appear as a rape with only the POV of the perpetrator. However, it appeared that the footage which we achieved seemed too distressing for our viewer when showcased for a period of time, so after audience feedback we scrupulously selected key moments within our footage and had these on screen for less than a second. We did succeed in achieving our intended affect, whilst also sending our message and appeasing to the audience's preference. 

If we were to start this project again the weaknesses which we would focus on particularly would be our shots of symbolism. Even though they each have specific connotations with our narrative, some can appear unclear and random among our shots of our protagonist. To improve this, we would suggest having our protagonist integrated with the narrative: eating pomegranate seeds; laying below the falling feathers; within the bath of milk etc. 

Audience

Motion Picture Rating System (Audience)

The reason for a rating system is to monitor the viewing of films depending on the suitability for particular audiences, with the main issues being sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence and various other types of mature content. They carry age restrictions (or sometimes recommendations).

Various factors may influence the decision of a particular rating of a film, these may include:

• The country showing the film in their movie theaters/ cinemas. 
• Whether it's set within a non-fictional historical context.
• If violence or drug use is shown, whether it is carried out by the protagonist or the antagonist, this is because some viewers tend to sympathise with the protagonist and could potentially encourage drug use. 

Here are a few certificates used to restrict viewers in the United Kingdom:

(This information was extracted from http://www.imdb.com/updates/guide/certificates)

E - Exempt from classification 

U - Universal / Suitable for all 

PG - Parental Guidance / Some scenes may be unsuitable for children

12A - Parental advisory / Children under 12 must be with an adult

15 - Those aged 15 and above

18 - Those aged 18 and above 

R18 - Those aged 18 and above, in specially licensed sex shops or movie theaters/ cinemas. 

Our Film Teaser

We need to make the decision as to whether we wish to add an age restriction on to our film teaser. Here are some of the ideas we had when making this decision:

12 Rated Movie:

• Dangerous techniques of violence such as hanging, suicide, self-harming and drowning should not be frequently displayed as they can be copied and appear to be pain and harm free, which is not true. They should not be encouraged. 
• Scary scenes are allowed and can be intense and last a while but gory moments involving blood and injuries should not come about as a result of violence. 
• Any substance abuse should be infrequent and cannot teach viewers how to take drugs or appear to be glamorous or attractive. 
• The film must not approve of language/ behaviour that would offend someone's religion, colour, gender, sexuality or disability as it could be seen as encouraging discrimination. 
• The themes of the film must be appropriate for those aged 12 and above. 

15 Rated Movie:

• These rated films may include: strong violence, fairly strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence, discriminatory language/ behaviour and substance abuse. 

18 Rated Movie:

• Strong language has no restrictions with regard to 18 rated films, very strong language can be used aggressively, frequently, directly and accompanied by strong violence.
• Racist, homophobic and other discriminatory language is allowed. 
• There may be strong violence that can lead to dwelling on pain and injury as a result.

Brief deconstructions of various successful teaser trailers

I found some great examples of teaser trailers used to create a buzz for upcoming feature films. After watching a variety of different trailers I tried to identify what made them so successful.

Batman (1989)
After the producer, Jon Peters, read in the Wall Street Journal that comic book fans were disappointed with the casting of Michael Keaton, he quickly rushed to release the trailer in the hope that it would switch attitudes towards the film. Although the trailer was a rushed attempt at saving the film, the quick collection of scenes without music actually created enormous anticipation and created that all important 'buzz'.  The strong use of fast pace editing and dialogue proved to be extremely effective.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)
This trailer in particular was very significant within the marketing campaign for this film. They released the trailer a full year ahead of the film's release, before shooting a single frame of the movie. That's why it was so significant, they managed to construct and present a very good teaser trailer, without showing a single shot from the film itself. The trailer features crevices with hidden and mysterious symbols which is later revealed to come together to form an image of Da Vinci's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
The trailer for this film was beyond successful, they attached the teaser to the film 'Meet Joe Black' in November 199, and it was reported that many people had in fact paid for admission to the film just so that they could watch the trailer, some even walked out after the trailer had been screened. To stop fans from leaving before the movie was over, some cinemas played the teaser an additional time after the film finished. The second teaser trailer for the film was shown with the film 'Wing Commander' in March 1999, and again there were people paying admission just to watch the second trailer. The second teaser was released on the film's official website which resulted in the servers becoming overloaded.

Interstellar (2014)
This teaser trailer was very successful even though it only really showed around 10-15 seconds of footage from the film. It doesn't give too much narrative away and ends perfectly with a shot of the protagonist's daughter watching the rocket launch- which never made it to the final film. The use of a voiceover also proved to be very effective too as it added a very 'theatrical' feel. The teaser concludes with the words 'one year from now' in white font on a black background, making it a very bold statement.

The Social Network (2010)
The teaser trailer for this film was very unique, and it worked. Unlike other teasers, it only shows the face of one character, and that comes right at the end. The teaser is 1 minute 11 seconds and consists of a black screen and words written in white, bold, block capitals; ('PUNK', 'GENIUS', 'PROPHET', 'TRAITOR', 'BILLIONAIRE'). After that, the quote "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies" is shown on the screen. Throughout the teaser a voiceover is used with various dialogue from the film and then right at the end a pixelated image of Mark Zuckerburg's character is zoomed out.

Website deconstruction - Hidden figures

http://www.hiddenfigures.com

This website not only incorporated the film and its information, but also the history behind it and the number one selling book. It's a very simple website compared with the others I have looked at. Nevertheless we liked the use of text and minimal images used which adds mystery to the film; the characters presented are the three women as seen above.

Website deconstruction - La La Land

http://www.lalaland.movie

This website really stood out to be as the best I've seen. As I entered the site it led me to an opening page (displayed above) in which a photo of the two protagonists, the title and some reviews are displayed. The concept behind the opening page is to sell the DVD and soundtrack with direct links to iTunes and the Lionsgate website to do so.

After clicking to enter the site I was directed to the page as seen below, the title is displayed in large white font along with the leading cast titles, information on how to buy the DVD and reviews/awards. As soon as I opened the website the musical score 'City of Stars' is played (of which they won an Oscar for best original score) and moving images of the film are projected in the background. The website makes very good use of the scrolling feature, showing a video of another song, and the synopsis.

Production company title feedback

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C2ZFCTS

I decided to make a survey on surveymonkey.com to collect feedback on production company titles. The survey asks what their favourite production company is, whether they fit social realism films, if they've recently watch films from these companies and their opinion of Netflix.

We used the results we were given to influence our choice when choosing a production company title.

Teaser trailer feedback

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DLHY38P

I decided to make a survey on surveymonkey.com to collect feedback on teaser trailers. The survey asks what they think makes a good teaser trailer, the length and whether the music/dialogue is important. 

We used the results we were given to influence our choices when creating the teaser trailer.

Genre feedback

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DLFWJMW

I decided to make a survey on surveymonkey.com to collect feedback on our choice of genre. The survey asks their favourite genre, and if you are familiar with the urban drama film genre. 

We used the results we were given to influence our choice of the social realism film genre for our teaser trailer. 

Production company title decision

Our final decision
We came to the conclusion that the best production company title for our piece would be Netflix, for many reasons. Not only was it the most popular result from our audience feedback but it also seemed the most appropriate when looking at the other work it produces, most recently, 13 Reasons Why.

Providing a platform to showcase works such as 'The Hunting Ground' and '13 Reasons Why' has made the connection from our piece to the title so much clearer.

Some Netflix statistics:

• Around 98.9 million subscribers worldwide.

• The number of hours per day that users spend watching Netflix - 100 million hours.

• Amount of original content Netflix plans to release in 2017 - 1000 hours of content.

Website deconstruction - Lion

http://lionmovie.com

It was vital for the website to appeal to the huge audience this film was directed to, and it does a fantastic job. Not only does the website present the film title in huge, clear font, but it also displays the cast line up and four selected characters. In addition to this, the main focus of the home page is the promotion displayed in the middle of the screen. Within this feature, there is a chance to enter your email address, click to watch the teaser trailer, and learn more about how the film is helping society. Having a white background proves to be really effective focusing attention on the text and images displayed.

FILM POSTER- FINAL PRODUCT

Title: The title is positioned in the top left corner in block capitals within the font 'Avenir' in order to correspond to our other media texts such as the font within the teaser trailer but also the font used across our website.

Tagline: The process of choosing our tagline has been evaluated within another blog post (see Tagline label) however, we decided aesthetically to position it just below the title, as we thought this would ensure the tagline would be seen. However, we constructed it within a smaller font that is italicised to distinguish its difference from the title itself.

Awards: The awards that our piece has received is illustrated in the teaser itself, and from deconstructing other posters it became paramount to demonstrate these awards as a promotional device. Therefore, we kept them as a logo format so that they were more distinguishable, and positioned them below the tagline as the title, tagline and awards go consecutively below one another in importance. By illustrating these awards however, cinephiles (an audience group which we are attempting to target) would understand the recognition the film has got within the film industry prompting them to go and watch it.

Reviews: Even though there were a large number of reviews within our teaser, we decided to utilise the power of three by finding three varied reviews from trusted newspapers or websites that would attract audience members to see the film. Our 'Guardian' quote was what audience members found most intriguing out of the reviews, since it highlighted the plot, genre and demonstrated the issue we were attempting to target. However, by including this substantial review, we needed the other two reviews to be minimal so that the reviews didn't overcrowd the poster, hence used just one word reviews instead that are powerful but simple.

Social Media: The top right hand corner has just the two symbols for Twitter and Facebook, as since our audience is 18-35 it means these symbols will be recognised by the target audience hence it is unnecessary to write the links to the actual pages themselves. Social media needed to be included again due to the target audiences usage of digital technology, as again this can act as a means of promotion in itself. The hashtag, for twitter especially, is found at the bottom of the screen beside the release date, since this can act as a promotional feature for if this becomes a trending hashtag it will increase interest amongst the audience.

Website: Next to these symbols in block capitals is the link to our website, with a simple and straightforward webname it makes it easier to find and more memorable. The deconstruction of our website can be found on a separate blog post (refer to tag Website).

Production Company: As we are attracting cinephiles especially as part of our target audience, combined with survey results suggesting that our audience are attracted towards a film due to the production company, it was essential that we used our production company logo. The 'Netflix' logo therefore appears in the bottom right hand corner, this is the same symbol used within our teaser and the same symbol used for all of Netflix's own productions. Since there are no variations of the symbol, it is highly identifiable attracting fans of this production company especially.

Release Date: The release date we left ambiguous to just 'Out 2017', this was also at the bottom of the poster in small font. We didn't want this to be a large part of the poster as we wanted the audience to look on either social media or our website to find out when it is released. This causes our audience then to look at our other promotional features that would likely make them want to watch the film even more, as our website and social media would have their own promotional features also.

Certificate: This is highly important as even though our target audience is 18-35 due to the mature content and social issue being targeted which is sexual assault. Because the rape is only subliminal our piece would be a certificate 15, which widens our audience even more.

Image: The image itself works on the frame of thirds. The left third is comprised of the domestic space, her bedroom, with the falling feathers identified also. This highlights the realism aspect of the piece, with the symbols highlighting the abstract techniques we use of symbolism (identified also in the teaser and website). The middle third is predominantly our protagonist's face, an emotional photograph it breaks the fourth wall and has the audience look at our protagonist directly- creating a relationship between the two. This photograph also evokes sympathy and pity for our protagonist, and is also the background for our website also due to this fact. The right third therefore, appears at first glance to just be a location shot of the woodland, but on closer inspection the outline of a males face is recognised. Having only the side profile outline, demonstrates the central issue of our piece, how the perpetrators are rarely caught meaning that victims lack justice- but also appears sinister and menacing since it is his shadow that blocks her face. Therefore, the use of all three together highlight the protagonist, plot, issues and location, demonstrating her turmoil of wanting to move on with her life but always being reminded of her past ordeal, hence she is positioned in the location of her domestic ( her bedroom) and the location of her rape (the woodland).

WEBSITE- FINAL PRODUCT

When you enter our website the image, surrounding text (title, tag line, reviews) and trailer all fade into the screen at the same time. For we thought due to the emotive photograph we've chosen, it should be revealed gradually to the audience instead of appearing suddenly. Much like American Honey we placed the title in the top left corner, using the same font and colour from our teaser trailer and film poster (to illustrate a clear promotional package). The tag line is positioned underneath the title, this is within block capitals much like the rest of the font, as this not only keeps a link between the ancillary texts, but ensures the audience can easily read the information. The whole screen is filled with our protagonist's face in an expression of sadness, which is not only emotive to provoke empathy from the viewer but illustrates the clarity that our whole film is revolved around the protagonist as the victim. The photograph has not been largely edited or photoshopped to keep the realistic nature of the piece to conform to its conventions of the genre. Underneath similar to Room, the reviews by varied papers and magazines are in a slide show motion fading onto the screen consecutively after the other, as this causes more focus to be on each review individually but also provides time for the viewer to read it. Within the bottom right corner we positioned the teaser trailer, which plays automatically upon opening the website to make the viewer watch it as a method of promotion. To the right also is a tab of social media profiles so that viewers can continue its promotion over these platforms.

Once the viewer scrolls down (inspired by American Honey) they reveal four boxes that act as tabs to different pages of the website. The most important of these being the 'Statistics' tab which would reveal the facts behind sexual assault to highlight the reality of the issue (this was inspired by Lion), since as producers we wanted our film to provoke a change in the treatment of sexual assault victims. Behind these four tabs is a moving video of the woodland, from watching the teaser trailer it would be understood that the attack took place within the woods- hence as part of the promotional package to reveal the narrative, woods are incorporated in the teaser, film poster and on the website also.

At the footnote of the page we reveal the production company, as having only been a small company we felt it was unnecessary to have our title on the main page. There are four allocated slots below with extra important information such as the youtube channel, email, hashtag and release date. We placed these here instead of the main page as we wanted to keep the home page extremely simple so that all of the viewers focus was on our protagonist's face.

DECONSTRUCTION OF A WEBSITE- AMERICAN HONEY

This film was entirely different from the other film websites. Since this was primarily focussed on understanding the components (most importantly the characters) of the film. Throughout even on the main home page behind is a montage of clips that utilise visually attractive images from the film to illustrate the unity of friends highly the central point of the plot. However, as you scroll down, each page is dedicated to a separate character with an individual montage of their appearance within the film, causing the viewer to begin building a likeness/ relationship to certain individuals. Tabs to the left imitate ripped paper, and this is the only means of viewing the trailer. During the whole viewing process a country western musical piece plays within the background, likely an aspect of the films soundtrack. Inspiration we will take from this is the use of the scrolling aspect to reveal more information, moreover we prefer Arnold's positioning of the title and tag line in the upper left corner so more focus can be dedicated to the actual images found on the screen.

DECONSTRUCTION OF A WEBSITE- ROOM

The clever use of the graphics to make the website appear as a room likens it to the title and creates an unusual visual attraction towards the website for the viewer. The initial website is a large picture of the two main protagonists within an embrace, illustrating obviously their relationship within a hopeful image for the viewer whom thus after watching the trailer will be aware of the characters escape. The colour palette used throughout the film, trailer and poster reappears in the website too with the use of the blue mis en scene and filters, opposed by the bright yellow font that makes it easier for the viewer to navigate the website. To the right within large yellow writing, are the awards the film has received (namely the actress) including a symbol of the oscar to ensure people understand what an academy award is... therefore they are also accommodating towards those whom are not largely interested in the film industry but more the commercial aspects. Once you 'enter' the site, clips from the film play in the backdrop whilst the main protagonist's (the mum) voice sings over the top as you scroll through the website, in an attempt to establish a relationship with the characters before the film has even been watched. The awards appear once more yet these include much less commercial awards, thus is more directed towards the cinephiles interested in the artistic side of film making etc. Inspiration we will take from this most likely is the use of the similar colour scheme to depict a clear promotional package, but what we found particularly attractive was the slideshow of quotes about the film that appeared at the top of the screen, so that they were not too overbearing at once but faded in within an order: this is what we'd wish to duplicate.

DECONSTRUCTION OF A WEBSITE- MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Again we have a second film poster which has artistically used photographs to demonstrate a link to the films promotional poster as a promotional package. But this one is far less personable, instead being an active shot where the viewer appears to be a detached observer to the scene, provoking intrigue to its narrative and context. Similarly it also uses the won awards for film festivals as a means of promotion to those interested in the film industry especially, this is used far more obviously since before you enter the site all of its awards appear on the screen- we would not use this technique however, for we want the viewer to enter the site and be subject to the plot etc immediately, moreover due to the genre, as a British social realism, we would be limited on the large awards we would receive such as Oscars or Academy Awards. Alternatively however, the actresses and actors have been referenced which is likely due to their reputation within the film industry... this will also promote the film towards fanbases etc which we cannot employ due to the convention of our genre being that unknown actors and actresses as the protagonist to increase reality.

DECONSTRUCTION OF A WEBSITE- MOONLIGHT

Above is the three variations of the layout for the website of 'Moonlight'. These are revealed within a slide show  motion, with each picture fading consecutively into the other revealing the three main characters. The use of a picture instead of moving image was a rare find when conducting our website, however it is an aspect of the website we would like to take inspiration from. As we believe with a well shot and distinctive image, a photograph can prove a powerful tool to provoke empathy from the viewer since due to the lack of movement it allows the viewer to focus on the character: emphasis being on their eyes. Moreover, the title is clear and distinct across the screen, yet is in a thin font so as not to distract from the pictures and to not cover up any important aspects of the photographs. Social media links are small, yet due to being white contrast to the coloured backgrounds so are still clear and distinct, this white font also revealing other aspects of font. These include tabs such as 'Watch Trailer' 'Get Tickets' etc but more importantly the tag line 'This is the story of a lifetime' which is also used on the film poster to demonstrate relation. In quite large font moreover, almost as large as the title is the Academy Award 'Best Picture' to emphasise the acknowledgment the film has received within the film field: this is likely to attract audience members such as cinephiles, a successful use of promotion.

13 Reasons Why

We used the Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' as a key source of inspiration for our piece with the connection of sexual assault present throughout. The posters published ahead of the release of the series are not only creative but very powerful in attracting the right audience whilst not revealing important aspects of the narrative. 

Posters of individual characters were also released with a re-occuring theme of words masked over their faces- indicating but not revealing the plot effectively. Here are some examples:

Production Companies - working off of original ideas and feedback

When considering production companies, we analysed what production companies were producing similar style pieces to the issue of sexual assault that we were portraying.
We researched what companies focused in on pieces that were within the social realism genre and explored what companies were available for us to attribute to our piece.

One of the main companies that came out as the most popular was Netflix, as in recent years the company has started to produce many documentaries based upon issues in the world. More recently, Netflix have begun to tackle more taboo issues within society, for example 'Hot Girls Wanted' that focuses in women forced into prostitution or 'The Hunting Ground', focused in on the sexual assault amongst female college students in order to protect the freedom of the football students in America.

We showed people different production companies and explained the narrative of our piece (with the help of a storyboard) and allowed them to choose which company was their favourite. The majority replied with Netflix and this followed our own views as some of the more recent pieces have had the same issue (sexual assault) as our own piece.

As our piece focuses in on one specific character, it appears as a movie similar to 'The Lovely Bones', however there is focus into the realisation that the attack is from no fault of our protagonist and victim, and rather the acts of the attacker. This makes the piece similar to 'The Hunting Ground' and 'Audrie and Daisy', both of which aim to shine a light on the consequences of silencing the crime of sexual assault.