May 7 2013

AS Level: Film Industry

Please try and use the resources on the blog to add to your Mest 1b notes. Below are some useful links:

https://dohacollegemediastudies.wordpress.com/tag/film-2/

https://dohacollegemediastudies.wordpress.com/tag/black-gold/

https://dohacollegemediastudies.wordpress.com/tag/hollywood/

https://dohacollegemediastudies.wordpress.com/category/the-film-industry/

Apr 19 2013

Brand Channel

Brand Channel is a great website for both Mest 3b:new media and Mest 1b:film industry. For example, the website identifies how Mazda has a tie in with Star Trek:

And that Dove have released the latest installment of their famed Real Beauty campaign:

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/04/18/Mazda-StarTrek-041813.aspx

Apr 19 2013

Advertising ‘Man of Steel’

Warner Brothers have been cleverly building up a buzz for the upcoming installment of the Superman franchise, ‘Man of Steel’ by releasing a TV spot (500,000 YouTube views) 2 official teaser trailers released on July 24th (200,000 YouTube views) 2012 and 2 full official cinematic trailers; one was released in December 2012 (31 million views) and the most recent was released in April (11 million views). These figures only account for the official Warner Brothers YouTube page, so clearly the approach is building momentum and is creating a keen sense of anticipation for the upcoming movie. The institution, Warner Brothers is part of the conglomerate, Time Warner and therefore it has the finances to back big budget blockbusters such as these and of course, a substantial amount of that backing goes on advertising and marketing which often accounts for around 1/3. The great thing about YouTube is that it is free for institutions such as these and it is a fantastic way to connect with audiences virally. Youtube encourages audience interactivity and immersion because you can share, like, comment etc. There are also links to other Warner Brothers sites such as Tumblr and Facebook. It helps encourage we media. Furthermore, the trailers are hosted on lots of other YouTube pages such as FilmTrailerZone which has enjoyed 6 million hits for the teaser trailer. Thus Youtube offers great scope for secondary circulation.

It promises to be an interesting re-branding exercise for Superman; Zak Snyder (300) is directing and Christopher Nolan has co-wrote the film therefore it is likely that the film will be far more sophisticated and stylish than its past incarnations.

The Facebook page has over 100,000 likes and is a great platform for immersive and fun competitions such as www.iwillfindhim.com and Superman superstakes.Facebook helps extend the narrative of the film and encourage the audience to interact with the film outside of the diegesis.

See if you can spot any product placement; one has been spotted already – Lois Lane now is the proud owner of an Ipad!

Traditional media also has a part to play in the marketing mix and as a conglomerate, Time Warner can again utilise its vast media portfolio to good effect. In this case, Man of Steel was the cover story in Entertainment Weekly which coincidentally is part of the Time Warner group too:

Apr 18 2013

Cannes Lineup Announced

19 films have been nominated for this year’s Palme d’or and world cinema dominates this year’s lineup.

Also, it may signal Steven Soderbergh’s swan song; his Liberace biopic, Behind The Candelabra staring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon as his young lover.

Steven Spielberg will head up the jury.

The festival will open with Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of The Great Gatsby and close with Jérôme Salle’s South Africa-set thriller Zulu.

The festival is worth referring to for your Mest 1b essay question because it is a good example of how less mainstream arthouse films gain exposure and distribution deals. Indeed, many directors view Cannes as the most important of all film festivals:

Walter Salles: “Cannes is above all a place of exchanges, of discoveries, of resistance and a place that assures the continuation of “auteur” cinema in a manner so as to be a mirror image of specific societies and cultures. In this vein of thinking, the Festival is about to celebrate the anniversary of a young girl with a long future ahead.”

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: “I think what this festival is doing is trying to find the best filmmakers around the world, new filmmakers, new tendencies and to expose. The festival will be as good as the filmmaking around the world is.”

Elia Suleiman: “This is a place where actually films get exposure, they get screened, they get sold, get distributed, everything. It is really the most important festival of all times. Sometimes it’s crazy because it’s crazy, but most of the time you go home with something from here. Certainly for my films, it’s quite an essential place to come to.”

Roman Polanski: “I think Cannes is really the symbol of the movie fest. I remember from film school that the films that were awarded here were always brought to Poland. I remember seeing films like Jeux interdits orMarty or 8 ½, at each stage of cinema there was something significant that became popular because of this Festival.“

Apr 10 2013

Digital Product Placement

During both AS and A2 lessons, we have discussed at length about the problems advertisers are having reaching their target audiences. Product placement appears to be one of the more successful ways because it is more covert, helps establish a strong brand image and can create a synergy between two or more brands. A new form of technology means that ‘digital’ product placement is now available. It is referred to as digital because the product you are seeing did not exist in the first place, it has been added during post production.

BBC April 8th: Digital placement firm MirriAd has taken advantage of the growing appetite for this service, having just raised £3.6m from investors led by Indian media tycoon Subhash Chandra.

n the original scene from Australian soap Home and Away the bus shelter is missing

“These are not just logos, they can be video, signage and products, even cars,” explains Mark Popkiewicz, the company’s chief executive.

“When brands are integrated they are placed in such a way so it is clear to the audience that they were always there and are part of the scene.

“For example beverages are placed as open cans or bottles with glasses containing the beverage alongside – that way they look like they are being consumed.

“The technology is capable of placing or replacing moving objects and even replacing products being handled by actors like mobile phones,” he says.

Mr Popkiewicz believes there is a key psychological reason his solution could cheer up impecunious film and advertising executives.

Read the whole article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22066153

Mar 5 2013

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Lara Croft – Feminist Pariah or Icon?

Lara Croft - Feminist Pariah or Icon?

The next installment of the Lara Croft franchise will be on shelves soon. Croft is an interesting character, on the one hand she embodies the ‘male gaze’ what with her tight crop tops, super sized chest etc. However, on the other, she constitutes quite a rare mainstream representation – a strong, powerful and capable lead female character. Therefore, she can at once be considered a feminist pariah and icon…

Interestingly, the new installment’s female writer, Rhianna Pratchett, has pitched Croft as a more rounded character; a character with a vulnerable side. Pratchett states:

“I’ve had an up-and-down relationship with Lara over the years, I played the first game… Then I felt she’d become reduced to a pair of boobs, a pair of pistols and a hair plait. She became bigger than the games and was over-sexualised.

“I’m fairly used to that in games but it gave the impression that ‘ladies, this isn’t for you’. The chance to get my hands on her gave me the chance to make a difference.”

Feb 28 2013

AS H/W FILM INDUSTRY AND ADVERTISING

DUE TUESDAY:

On your blog, please collect examples of how your three films have been advertised – the more information the better.

For example, post examples of trailers, TV interviews, magazine features, viral advertising, guerrilla advertising…You will present your findings on Tuesday to the class.

the following websites might be helpful:

http://christhilk.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/movie-marketing-madness-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy/

Homepage

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/06/07/super-8-best-viral-marketing-movies/

http://www.imediaconnection.com/article_full.aspx?id=32219

The research will help you answer the CLASS ESSAY ON THURSDAY:

What is the relationship between the media products in your case study and the advertising industry?

Feb 25 2013

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Life of Pi wins Four Oscars

The full list of winners can be found here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/25/oscars-2013-full-list-winners

Feb 24 2013

AS ESSAY :)

On Tuesday you will sit the following exam question:

All media texts tell stories.’

In what ways is narrative used in the media products in your case study?

You will refer to the three short films, Life of Pi and your three case studies considering how the different narratives are shaped and why they shaped in this way. For example, the Life of Pi narrative is far more straightforward than the original novel – why might this be? What issues do feature length films face in comparison to novels or TV series? How does this affect the representation?