Film Studies

Avatar

What you think is the point behind the Avatar marketing is?
The point behind marketing any film is to get the public to go and see it. However, Avatar hasn’t released many trailers or much information; this has increased the hype over this film as the public aren’t really sure what the film is about. This makes the public more interested and they will be more intrigued to see the film.

Where have you come across it?
I have researched the marketing of Avatar via the internet and how found out one of the main methods of marketing for Avatar. Its’ director, James Cameron, announced that a 15 minute promotion video would be released in many IMAX 3D cinemas. This would evidently, allow people to see 15 minutes of the film, for free. This is a new social marketing experiment that the director has decided to use. I think this is a good marketing technique to use as by showing the audience a small part of the film, the public are then going to want to see more which they will then pay to do so. This is a useful method to increase the popularity of the film. However, there could also be a disadvantage to doing this. If some people don’t like the 15 minutes they see of the film, they are then not going to pay to see the full film. The film will then lose out on some of its audience, if the new marketing technique doesn’t work out as planned.

http://brandstrategy.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/james-camerons-avatar-film-will-its-marketing-be-as-innovative-as-its-filming/

Whilst researching I have also come across some other marketing techniques that are being used for Avatar. They include the following: Panasonic has toured around shopping centres in the UK with a 3D cinema which they have used to show trailers of the film. They have done this to also advertise the companies’ range of HD Televisions. LG is running a TV campaign to advertise its latest new mobile phone which has a HD screen. A trailer for Avatar has been pre-loaded onto the phone. Also, McDonalds is set to launch an activity relating to the film.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Marketing/News/968264/Fox-lines-big-brands-promote-Avatar/

Were you affected by it in any way?
I was affected by the marketing of Avatar in a negative way as they film isn’t one I would go to see voluntarily. I can tell from the posters/trailers and magazine covers that this is a Sci-Fi film and this isn’t a genre I generally watch as it doesn’t appeal to me. In a way the marketing hasn’t really affected me other than me seeing the trailer, and from that deciding that this is not a film I would pay to go and see.

What messages the campaign is trying to communicate?
The campaign is communicating the message of the narrative of the film. We can identify from a single poster what genre the film is as the image on the poster isn’t of a real human, it is of an alien of some kind which tells us that this is a Sci-Fi film.

The overall strategy for communicating that message – shock, surprise, charm, persuasion by rational arguments etc?
The strategy used for communicating the message behind Avatar is partly shock and surprise. The image on the poster is something very different and interesting as the public tries to work out what the image on the poster actually is.

The items that have been used in the campaign (e.g. posters, flyers, television adverts)
There are a range of items that have been used in the marketing campaign for Avatar, these include the following: Posters, Trailers, magazine covers.

What is similar about the items in this campaign – what tells us that they are all part of the same campaign?
The posters and magazine covers use the same image for each, this identifies that they are a part of the same campaign.

Who is targeted by the campaign?
The campaign targets both a teenage audience and older people. It appeals to both audiences in different ways. The younger audience will be drawn in by the use of CGI and the fact that it will be shown in 3D at as many IMAX cinemas at possible, and the older people will be drawn in by the story itself.

How the people that created the campaign have tried to reach that target audience?
The campaign teamed up with Coca Cola for a part of the marketing campaign. This would help to appeal to a teenage audience who can associate the film with a drink they are probably familiar with. However, the trailer shown at the cinema is very intense, and quite long so it shows the audience a lot of information in what is still, a short space of time. This would appeal to an older audience who read a lot into the trailer and would then want to see the film to see what happens.

The strengths of the campaign and how successful it is in communicating its’ message strengths?
A main strength of the campaign was how it released only a little information at a time and didn’t release further information until the audience wanted more. This meant that when the new information was released, the audience absorbed the new information and became more interested in the film.

Any weaknesses in the campaign and how it could be improved.
A strength of the campaign could also be seen as a weakness. The fact that so little information was released only a short while before the film itself meant that not many people knew about the film until the late stages. People who had heard of the film however wouldn’t have been able to see trailers or anything for it until the trailer and articles came out in the same month when the film was released. This could be a main weakness as the audience is limited straight away to what they can learn about the film until any articles are released.

Whether you were already aware of this campaign.
I wasn’t already aware of this campaign, as I didn’t feel the need to do my own research on the film, as it is not something that overly appeals to me. I have seen a trailer at the cinema for it, and that is about it. I am now more aware of the campaign as there are a lot of articles that have recently been in the newspapers and in magazines. I have read these articles purely on the basis that I will be seeing this film. If I wasn’t planning on seeing it, I wouldn’t have read the articles.

How is the star power used in this campaign?
Avatar is directed by James Cameron, a director most known for his work on Titanic back in 1997. The film Titanic went down a storm with audiences and has since won 11 Oscars and had a further 76 wins and 48 nominations. It is a film people everywhere immediately know and will have watched, or definitely heard about. James Cameron also director the Terminator both 1 & 2 and Aliens. He is a well known director because of these very popular films. This ‘star power’ means as he is the director of Avatar, people will associate him with these high profile films and will therefore expect Avatar to be another incredibly successful film. This also means that potentially more people will go and see the film based on simply, who directed it.


Is there a message in the marketing about society’s’ set of beliefs?
There are mixed messages given out to society in the marketing of Avatar. Different messages come across to people depending on what they believe.


How is technology used to market Avatar? Are there forms which use this approach more than others?
With the 3D technology Avatar used in the film itself, the marketing campaign has allowed a 15 minute preview of the film to be released in IMAX and 3D cinemas.

Elephant

Micro Analysis.

Narrative:
In this still image from the film ‘Elephant’ you can see the character Alex Frost. The shot shows Alex looking up slightly whilst he is in the school canteen during the busy lunchtime period. The audience is unsure at this point in the film what Alex is actually looking at or what he is potentially looking for, and this makes the viewers want to continue watching to find out what Alex is possibly planning. However, as the film unfolds the audience can work out during the shooting that Alex could have been looking around to see if this would be an ideal location where Eric and he could kill the most people. In this scene Alex takes his time looking around the canteen, almost oblivious to everything that is going on around him. This highlights to the audience how it appears that Alex doesn’t fit in with the other students. As the narrative unfolds throughout the film, the audience becomes aware of just how isolated Alex and his close friend Eric feel and therefore we see what drives these two students to go on a shooting spree, killing their fellow students.

Costume:
From this still image, you can only tell that Alex is wearing a grey hooded jumper, over a red t-shirt. As the shot is a close-up, we are limited in information from this still. However, we know from seeing the film that Alex is wearing nothing out of the ordinary for a teenage boy. He is simply wearing jeans, t-shirt and a jumper. His clothing allows him to blend in with other students, although his odd behaviour still makes him seem like an outcast and this makes him a target for bullies. We see Alex being a target for the classroom bullies near the beginning of the film when he is sitting at the back of the classroom, having wet paper towels thrown at him. The teacher in the class appears to have no control over his class as his has no idea what is happening when his back is turned. As Alex is being the victim of a very visual form of bullying, the teacher should be aware of what is happening yet appears to have no knowledge of what is going or. However, he could know what is happening, and is choosing to ignore it.

Lighting:
In this still image, the right side of Alex’s face is very well lit. The lighting coming from above the canteen counters and staff has resulted in the right side of Alex being very brightly lit, so bright that you cannot identify objects or people to the right of him. In contrast to the brightness of the right side of Alex, the left side of his face is very dark, even creating a small shadow on Alex’s’ neck. In the background we can see a few other students and the wall of the canteen, all of this is also very dark and you cannot identify any other characters. The contrasting brightness and darkness on either side of Alex’s’ face can suggest that Alex has a good and a bad side to him. The light on his face along with his expression shows him as being vulnerable and even a bit scared. The darkness then shows him as being very secretive and possibly about to do something bad that we don’t want to see, we being both the audience and the other students.

Location/Setting:
This film is set in a shut down school which obviously adds to the realistic-ness of the film as the location is real and not staged. This particular scene is in the school canteen during lunch time when many other students are sat at the surrounding tables eating their lunch and mingling with friends.


Camera Angles/Framing:
This shot is a CU (Close Up) of Alex Frost. The shot shows Alex with his head tilted, looking up slightly. Alex is the focus of this shot and the background is blurry and out of focus. Alex takes up the majority of the frame with a little space to the right of him showing the canteen staff, and a larger amount of space to the left of him showing other students in the darkness. In the frame, Alex would be at the viewers’ eye level if he was looking straight at the camera, but, as he is looking up, this makes the audience look up as well as if they are trying to see what he is looking at. This framing ensures that the audience focus on what Alex is doing, but the audience can be conscious of what is going on behind and around him.

Props:
In this scene Alex has no props that we can see in this still image. All he is doing is looking around, not interacting with anyone or doing anything in particular.

Performance:
In this shot Alex is standing up near the canteen serving counter. He is looking nervous and a bit concerned. His head is tilted as he glances up and then around the canteen. The actor is positioned so that we only see his face and expression. The audience follows his eyes but we see nothing as we don’t actually know what Alex is supposedly looking at or looking for. The audience can vaguely make out other characters in the background, which appear out of focus as they are irrelevant to the scene. This ensures that we focus entirely on Alex and nothing or no one else. The performance in this still image highlights the vulnerability of the character as he is alone, and appears to be in a world of his own.

Mise-en-scene:
During this scene we see Alex in the canteen during lunchtime. Whilst fellow students are eating lunch and hanging out with friends, Alex is standing, apparently oblivious to everything around him as he gazes around the canteen. There are no real props seen in the image as objects are not as important compared to what the character is doing in this scene. As no other characters are in focus in this image, the audience are forced to focus their attention on Alex, the lack of props and distractions also ensures that this happens.