Sunday 26 April 2015

Ill Manors Platfrom promotion

Ill Manors- Promoting effectively and imaginatively

Ill Manors is an urban drama released in 2012,  directed by Ben Drew also known as Plan B. Ben Drew uses numerous techniques to engage and maintain his audience. One way is through the E-Media platform. The Tedx lecture is a unique and imaginative way of engaging then maintaining their audience. The Tedx lecture was done by the director himself (Ben Drew) and was posted on YouTube to promote the film which is an E-Media technique to promoting Ill Manors. This is an imaginative and effective technique because it is able to grasp and aim the movie to  a more sophisticated and higher class audience, outside the core audience. This is shown by the people that Plan B was directing the lecture at, which were mostly white middle aged, middle class people. This is effective because it ties into the audiences needs and applies it to that middle class audience which engages them. The sophisticated scene of the lecture allows the movie reach a different audience. 

Another way that Ben Drew manages to engage and maintain the audience in an imaginative way through their platform use of broadcast. Ben Drew has an interview on the Jonathan Ross Show this was an imaginative way of engaging and audience. The Jonathan Ross show attracts the affluent audience because of the people that are brought on to the show every episode but also the channel which is ITV 4 attracts the mainstream audience that watch free view TV. This is an interesting way to promote the movie because the interview is based around the movie and Ben Drew allows it to appeal to a different audience by adjusting every time he appears on different media platforms.

Ben Drew also promotes his movie through print and he does this in a unique way which gives the film recognition and a wider audience. Ben Dew uses the print advert to promote the movie in a different way. The quote/review at the top promotes the movie by complementing it which gives the audience the temptation to go and watch it. Also, the characters are all across the image which allows the audience to identify and recognise the actors in the movie which may draw them closer to the movie and engage them in watching it.

Skyfall- Promoting effectively and imaginatively

Skyfall is an action thriller released in 2012, directed by Sam Mendes. One platform promotion method that seemed to work well was E-Media. Skyfall managed to promote their movie through E-media in a very effective way including celebrity promotion. Adele who is the soundtrack artist for the movie promoted the movie through social media. Adele tweeted her soundtrack on her twitter which gained a mass of attention and 'retweets' this allowed it to spread across the social media platform. This was an imaginative and effective way of promotion because it allowed Skyfall to be advertised to her fans which may show interest to the movie through her.
Another way in which Skyfall is promoted in an imaginative way is through the print platform. Skyfall is advertised by its film poster which is very unique. The central image is of Daniel Craig acting as James Bond lying across the floor with a gun which instantly gives the audience excitement and tempts them to watch it because of the great photography which promotes the movie. Also there is a review of the movie by several different magazines rating the movie 4/5 which gives the audience a  sense of assurance that this movie is worth watching which is again a promotion method that the Skyfall team have worked hard to think about.


Saturday 25 April 2015

Case study research tasks

SKYFALL ($200M BUDGET)-

The basics
1) What is the name of the film, the director and notable stars? When was it released?
The movie I've decided to do my case study research on the very successful Skyfall. Skyfall was released on October 26th 2012. The director of Skyfall was Sam Mendes who has directed many successful movies in the past. One notable star is the main character Daniel Craig acting as James Bond. Daniel Craig is an Iconic figure in the media seen as a very 'macho' man.


 2) What genre is the film? What are the generic conventions that tell you the film belongs to this genre?

Skyfall is an action thriller movie. It is clear just from the trailer that this movie belongs to this genre. The classic action scenes including violence and explosions suggest to the audience that it is an action thriller. Also if you look at the trailer it consists of short second shots and fast pace camera work which suggests it is an upbeat and fast movie containing fight and chase scenes which are typical conventions of an action thriller such as this one.

 3) What was the critical reception? What is the film rated on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes?
Skyfall is rated a 7.6 out of 10 from IMDB which is a very good and high rating coming from a very established and trusted movie reviewing website.


Broadcast

 1) Write a close-textual analysis of the trailer using the MIGRAIN key concepts of Media Studies.

The media language that is used throughout the trailer is very sophisticated and formal language. This is done because the narrative of the movie is a very complex one that requires the audience to pay attention. The genre is clear from the trailer. Skyfall is an action thriller and the fast pace action shots with explosions allows the audience to identify this. The trailer follows a very conventional narrative.  This can be linked to Propp's  theory because it is clear that there is a hero villain etc. For example, James Bond in this case is the hero this is a classic way to engage the audience.

 2) Does the broadcast promotion use stars to create interest in the film?

One promotion method is through Adele creating the soundtrack for the film, Adele is a Bafta star that is known internationally. Her fans may show interest to the film through her and also she tweets this on twitter this promotes the movie to Adele's many followers which is an imaginative and successful way to promote the movie through a popular star such as Adele.

Print
1) Read at least THREE reviews of the film and provide a quote from each one.
"It is not the breath of fresh air that was 2006's "Casino Royale," but it is nearly as satisfying."

"It's not just a terrific Bond movie; it's a terrific movie, period."
 
"Mendes has embraced the general super-ness of Bond and taken his inspiration from the best superhero flick of recent years: The Dark Knight."

 2) Find examples of print promotion (e.g. film poster, billboard adverts etc.) on Google images and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.
This Is a film poster for Skyfall and seems to promote the film in an effective way.  The film poster provides a quote review at the top of the poster stating that Skyfall is the best bond movie this review engages the audience because they trust what other people think and interests them in watching it. It also provides shorter reviews with ratings 4/5 which at the top of the groups.
 
 

 3) Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience.


This print advert is a very effective and successful one in communicating and sending the audience messages about the great Skyfall. The print advert consists of the famous code for James Bond '007' this is written across the poster and is the biggest text on the page which gives it significance and importance. This is the classic brand identity that allows the audience and people familiar with James Bond to identify his famous agent code. This is a promotion method to give Skyfall a strong link in its brand. Another effective aspect of this print is the central image of James Bond himself lying across holding a weapon(gun) This is effective because it creates a sense of excitement and adrenaline for the audience tempting them to watch the movie and this is the aim for the directors of the poster.
 

 4) How is the film’s brand constructed? What does the brand connote? Does it remind you of any other brands or similar films?

James bond movies have a very high brand and reputation so the movie has already gained a very high target in audience and created expectations for the next Bond movies. This was constructed by many years of success in the past of Bond movies and this creates a strong and established Bond brand which allowed Skyfall to gain great success. This can be compared to Batman movies. Batman is similarly a very strong brand and has been constructing and building their brand name for many years which allowed the action movie The Dark Knight to gain great success similar to Skyfall.

E-media
1) Research the film’s presence on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. How does the film’s social media presence help promote the film? Can you find any examples of the two-step flow theory online – did celebrities or journalists tweet or post about the film in order to promote it to their followers?

Adele's fans may show interest to the film through her and also she tweets this on twitter this promotes the movie to Adele's many followers which is an imaginative and successful way to promote the movie through a popular star such as Adele. So one way that Skyfall is present in social media is through big celebrity tweets to promote the film.
Adele has a strong fan base and by her promoting the soundtrack by tweeting it this brought the movie publicity and gave it more recognition also seeing as that Adele's tweet received a very high amount of retweets which allowed the movie to spread across the social media platform so that more people are aware of the movie.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

A Field In England

On Friday July 5th 2013, a low-budget, black and white, art-house film by emerging auteur, Ben Wheatley,
A Field in England, tried to break the Hollywood model of distribution by becoming the first film in the 
UK to launch simultaneously across all platforms – VOD (4OD and iTunes), free broadcast TV (Film4), DVD, 
BluRay and cinema (17 Picturehouse venues). You may have heard about it – and then again you may not. 
Because, as Mark Ramey will explore in this article, film distribution is a high-risk battle for revenue, with 

the major Hollywood studios packing the biggest punches.

How was A Field In England’s release different to typical film releases?

A Field In England's wasn't typical and was very unique in its release. A Field In England was the first film in the UK to launch simultaneously across all platforms that includes TV, DVD, Cinema, BluRay etc. This made this film very unique and different because it's release was very different because it was the first ever film to do this in the UK. This was a promotion method because it meant watching the film was easily accessible so many people would watch it which would increase its success and popularity across the UK.

Although it was very popular and gained a lot of notice during its period for being the first UK film to have launched simultaneously it states in the article that ‘‘£184 million of this was allocated to media advertising, the rest on film prints, advertising production, publicity, premiers and related costs.’’ This meant the whole promotion and advertising of the film was very costly. Which effected their profits because costs were high which meant it would've affected the profit depending on the revenue of the film itself.

What are the advantages to releasing the film across all platforms on the same day?

One of the biggest advantage for this type of release is that it will bring the film itself a lot of recognition and popularity because the fact that it is releasing across all platforms makes the movie more accessible to people and more people would have recognised it because they've seen it come up in many different platforms which makes it more known as a brand.

What are the disadvantages to this approach?



There is one main disadvantage to this approach that caused the field in England to be set back and do worse than it could've done. The fact that it is broadcasted all at once makes it more available however accessing it for free will be more of an option for the audience because they are able to get a hold of it online. If it was only put in cinemas for a certain period of time then it may have been more successful. The fact that people are able to get it for free makes it worthless because the movie itself is not generating much revenue so its expenses for advertising etc. may overshadow the revenue which will cause the movie gain not much profit if any at all.

What target audience would A Field In England be aimed at? Demographics and Psychographics.

Their main target audience will have to be people that are into the media and are very updated in terms of their social media because their promoting and distributing of the movie is mostly around the media whether that be online or on billboards. However people that notice media are the main people who will notice the popularity of the movie so will probably be the right audience that they are aiming the movie at.

Do you think all films in future will be released across all platforms simultaneously in future?



No, I don't think that this will be the case at all because as we saw the field of England struggle majorly to gain and generate any revenue because it allowed easy access to the audience for free so films that are released across all platforms are likely to be less successful because they may not produce much profit which will cause less films to look at this as a way to release their movie.

Learner Response- Mock

Q1- Institution





The BBC aim to create a positive brand image. They do this by creating interest in the programme this is to ensure that their brand image is always high and positive. Brand image is a very important aspect of a brand because their reputation as BBC should remain high because they are already a very popular, well established TV broadcaster.







Also one of the BBC's main intentions is to fulfil their normal purpose to inform, educate and entertain their audience. They do all three throughout the broadcasting of Frozen. They inform the audience by giving their audience facts and statistics about Antarctica so they definitely inform and educate their audience by giving them information to absorb. They also entertain by their need to humour their audience by creating jokes to make sure their audience are satisfied by the entertainment of the programme as well  as the informing and educating side of it. Their intentions to do this is vital because the BBC's whole purpose is to inform, educate and entertain their audience and this programme does this so seems to fit into the channel well.






The show frozen features amazing quality camera work and production of the programme is at a very high level  so by BBC broadcasting this on their channel it is a way of promotion. This promotes their channel and the high quality viewing allows the channel to look prestige. So one of the BBC's intentions is to promote their channel to expertise viewing.






Q4- Inform, Educate and Entertain





Frozen the programme seems to entertain its audience and fulfil its purpose. The programme definitely entertains its audience and it does this by humouring their audience. One part is when the narrator says 'spectacular belly flop' this bit of humour from the programme allows the audience to enjoy it and be entertained by it.




It informs their audience by creating interesting facts about the Antarctica that some people may not have knew about which also links to it educating its audience by providing facts and statistics about the penguins and the Antarctica this helps inform and educate the audience with interesting things they may have not knew

Sunday 8 March 2015

Ill Manors e-media: Tag London campaign

Summarise the Ill Manors Tag London campaign in 100 of your own words.
 
The Ill Manors tag London campaign is a digital marketing system for the album release. Ill Manors used their social networking sites to promote this. The hash-tag was a part of the scheme to promote the movie. It was very interesting because it was a different way to get the album spoken about everywhere and spread around. This was done to give fans a part in exclusive parts which is an intelligent way to promote the movie because it makes the audience feel as if they are getting special treatment which will help promote it because they feel satisfied by this.
 
How does the Ill Manors Tag London campaign help to promote the film?
 
The marketing campaign helped promote the film because it constantly showed the Ill Manors title this will attract people because of its popularity which will make them think that it is worth watching and that was a good technique to promote the film, this was through twitter and other social networking sites on the internet.
 
What links are there between the Tag London campaign and other texts you have studied as part of  the Ill Manors case study?

The article from the NME magazine of Ill Manors. Plan B discusses his opinions on the British government and puts across his view in their intention and criticises them to an extent. This is about the youth having their say and having the right speak out against anything, Plan B speaks for the youth and is their voice in this case proving that the youth are more than what they are shown to be in the media.
 
Choose five of the tweets above and for each one write what target audience the tweet could appeal to (demographics/psychographics) and then link the tweet to one other media text you have studied as part of the Ill Manors case study (TEDx lecture, music video etc.) Justify your link for each tweet using examples from the film/promotional material.

THE RECESSION IS A WORLD SCHEME TO KEEP THE POOR, POOR. THE RICH OF THIS WORD HAVE NEVER BEING RICHER. #ILLMANORS
 
This relate to the strugglers and it links to the TEDx lecture as its all on the fact that the government have run this scheme to keep the youth away from their goals by closing centres which will allow youth to do productive things instead of being on the streets.
  
ON PRINCIPLE, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEENAGER LOOTING TRAINERS AND A POLITICIAN STEALING THOUSANDS IN EXPENSES? #ILLMANORS
 
this tweet relates to the aspirers as they are young and defending their rights and links to Plan B's interview on the Jonathon ross show when he stands against the government stating that they are corrupt.
 
  
LONDON IS CALLING, THE CITY IS CRUMBLING #ILLMANORS
.
This tweet relates again Jonathan ross show as he talks about how London as a city is very corrupt and needs change and the government are very static in this situation because they don't do much to show change and interest in this issue that is causing damage to London and England as a united country.
 
 
@ILLMANORS #ILLMANORS OLYMPICS GONNA LEAVE US WITH A LARGE BILL A LARGE VENUE THAT WILL CLOSE BY THE NXT PROJECT AND IS A TERRORISTS WISH,
 
  
This tweet may also relate audience psychographic may be strugglers this is because it is a chance to discriminate the poor and ignore them while the rich are involved in the Olympics whether physically or just watching it.

Twitter Ill Manors Page

Twitter-




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
How does the Ill Manors Twitter feed use the Ill Manors brand to promote the film?
What hashtags are used on the Ill Manors Twitter feed?
 
 
 
 
 
The twitter feed interacts with its audience by retweeting tweets that were made by fans, the feed also uses the hashtag #iLLManors to help expand the audience when searching for the pages relations.

Find three celebrities the Ill Manors Twitter feed re-tweeted to promote the film and explain how they appeal to the Ill Manors target audience.
 
Ed Skrien as he is a key actor in the film, Riz Ahmed as he is the main actor & also Plan B has the most retweets considering he is the director of the film and has a strong fan base that will  consider watching his movie.

How has the Ill Manors Twitter feed used pictures to help promote the film?
 
They have used behind the scenes images to help keep the audience interacted and in touch with the film which will keep them interested and gives them a sense of satisfaction and special treatment because they see what happens behind the scenes.


Find examples of the Ill Manors Tag London campaign in the Ill Manors Twitter feed and explain how they help to target the right audience for the film.

How was the Ill Manors Twitter feed used to specifically promote the release of the film (May/June 2012) and the release on DVD (October 2012)? Choose three tweets for each and explain how they effectively promote the film.
 
Similarly to the Facebook page they also used the countdown system which is a good way to promote and advertise the movie because it keeps the audience waiting and looking forward to something.

How was the planbuk YouTube channel used to promote the Ill Manors film?

Uploaded music videos from the soundtrack as well as trailers, interviews and teasers all related to the film to keep the audience waiting and satisfied until the movie comes out.




Find examples of synergy or cross-promotion between the planbuk YouTube channel and other media texts you have studied as part of the case study. Explain how they both promote the film and appeal to the Ill Manors target audience.

An example of synergy is the design consistency in the way the title and central images i.e.  the print and the DVD cover show the same font in design terms which helps show the brand image is strong and consistent which makes it more familiar and recognisable to the audience.

What links to other social networking sites can you find on the planbuk channel homepage?
 

Linked to iTunes, Google+, Twitter, Facebook and SoundCloud.