Assignment 2 - Film Promotion

Sleep Tight

Log Line
One random night a month, when the last person goes to bed, every dead human from the last century comes back to life to haunt their descendants and ten visits from their ancestors results in death, which is what the Fuller family need to realise as their defences have been hopeless since this started and have been visited nine times by the mother of twelve year old Isabella, who died five years ago in a plane crash, and now have to do everything they can to protect themselves from her.

Genre
This film is a horror thriller, a typical film that will have you from on the edge of your seat, to jumping out of your seat. Elements of this film that make it a horror include unexpected noises like people banging on doors, and music playing when it shouldn't be. The obvious factor is the ghost of the mother attempting to reach her family and eventually kill them. There is also the tension of the pressure they're under; the 12 hours they have to protect themselves from her, whilst trying to keep each other safe.

Target Audience
This film's target audience's age would probably range between 15 and 30, because nowadays a lot of teenagers enjoy horror films, and older people, particularly older women don't like horror films. I think the gender breakdown for this, considering the age range would be 60% male and 40% female.

Characters
The main character, who is on the poster is twelve year old Isabella, whose mother (the hand you see on the window) died in a plane crash five years ago. The other characters in this are Logan, Isabella's seventeen year old brother, Brooklyn, her twin sister, and Rosie, their four year old half sister. There is also Hunter, their Dad, who has not left his bedroom since the tragedy, and towards the end, he is the children's last hope. Most importantly, there is Lydia, the dead mother and wife in this family. She's haunted them nine times in the last three years. One more time, and she will kill them before the sun rises.

Setting
The film is set in a small town in Philadelphia, in the Fuller residence, sometimes in the street, and the entire film except the first and last 10 minutes is set at night because that is where and when the action happens. Also, it being at night adds to the fear and the lack of light the family has to see what's happening. It also gives the audience a lack of light and therefore a lack of certainty as to where the next fright is going to come from.

One similar film
This film could be compared to the 2013 film 'The Purge' as it is about something that happens at night at a certain time, and about people who try to conceal themselves from the attackers.

Film Trailer and Poster Analysis

This is the trailer for the 2012 film, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. One of the key conventions

of this trailer is the age rating right at the beginning. I think this would attract a potential audience because children who are younger than the age restriction would want to watch it. Another key convention is the institution logo, also at the beginning. A way this could attract an audience is because there are going to be other films made by Summit of similar genres so if people know this, and are fans of a particular genre by Summit, they will be intrigued and encouraged to watch this film. Another convention I found was fast paced editing and I think this would attract an audience because there are certain clips from the film in the trailer that a lot of people would want to continue watching, wanting to know what happens in the rest of that scene. This can be quite frustrating, so then they are led to watch the film. Another convention I noticed was the voice-over at the beginning and the end of the trailer, introducing us to the character, with text of the same context during the trailer. This helps to attract an audience because it lets them get to know the main character/s and feel emotion for him/them e.g. sympathy, happiness, anger etc and would lead to people going to see it so they know what happens to the characters at the end.

This is the poster for the 2012 film 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. The most obvious key convention I can see is the central image, which is the three main characters (Charlie, centre, Sam, left and Patrick, right), and almost immediately you can tell what kind of people they are. From Sam's (Emma Watson) demeanor, we can see that she is quite warm and quite friendly. We can see from Charlie's (Logan Lerman) facial expression that he is a bit shy and a bit insecure, a very different character to Sam. Finally, Patrick clearly has his arms folded, the kind of demeanor of someone who doesn't care what the world says and he is quite a confident person. These are all very different personalities and I think that they would attract a potential audience because young people (who this film is aimed at and about) would be able to relate to at least one of them, and so would want to go and see the film and see what happens to that character and get to know them better.

Another key convention that I noticed is the production blurb at the bottom. I think this would attract an audience because if the audience don't know any of the three actors at the top, they can skim through the production blurb to see if there are any actors that they might be interested to go and see.

Another convention on this poster is the tagline 'We are Infinite' and this is also used at the end of the trailer. I think this could attract an audience because they would want to find out the depth of the tagline and see what it actually means.

Film Production Analysis

Your chosen movie

1) What film have you chosen? 
I have chosen the film 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.

2) Why did you choose this film in particular?
I chose this film because it outlines the struggles of teenagers in American High School and therefore enables young people to relate to the characters.

Institutional background

Use IMDB to find out the institutions behind your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then look for the production company and UK distributor.

1) What was the film studio or production company behind your chosen film? E.g. Warner Brothers, Paramount etc.
The production company behind this film was Summit Entertainment 

2) Who was the distributor for the theatrical release of the film in the UK?
The distributor was Entertainment One.

No brand loyalty

1) What genre does your chosen film fit into?
Romantic Drama

2) How can you tell it fits that genre? Be specific with reference to the trailer.
In the trailer, the film is clearly set in a school, predominantly in the Freshman year, the American equivalent of year 10 in the UK.

3) Is your chosen movie a sequel?
No, this film is not a sequel. It is based on a book written in 1999 by Stephen Chbosky.

3a) If Yes, how does the film use the original movie or franchise as part of its marketing?


3b) If No, are previous films by the writer, director or star mentioned in the trailer?
Not the writer, director or star, but it does mention another film (Juno) by the producer(s).

It’s all a matter of timing

1) What was the UK release date for your chosen film?
The UK release date was 3rd October 2012.

2) When did the first trailer appear on YouTube for your movie? Find the earliest example you can and embed it in your blog.

This trailer was posted to YouTube on the 4th June 2012, 4 months before theatrical release.

3) What other examples of marketing (teaser trailers, main trailers, newspaper or TV interviews etc.) can you find for your chosen film from before the film’s release date?
This is a teaser trailer posted on YouTube two days before the official trailer was released, and is based on the relationship between two of the main characters, Charlie and Sam.

It’s a social thing

1) What was the word-of-mouth like for your chosen film? If you can’t find tweets (probably blocked) use the IMDB user review rating or the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating to judge whether the public have given the movie a good review.

One of the IMDB user reviews was: Stephen Chbosky has taken his exceptional novel and made it an extraordinary film. As the opening credit rolled I was impressed with the quality of the cast including Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Kate Walsh, and Dylan McDermott. And to top it off, Joan Cusack is there as well.

This review shows that they were clearly a fan of the film and approved of the casting, especially the fact that Joan Cusack was in it. He uses the word exceptional to describe the original novel, and the word extraordinary to describe the film. These are both positive adjectives instigating positive responses from readers who then go on to watch the film, because the review encouraged it.

2) Find three quotes (no more than 25 words each) from user reviews of your movie to create a picture of what the public reaction to the film has been. Post them on your blog.

1. This movie is heart felt and just amazing. I will definitely be seeing it again.

2. I had the pleasure of seeing Perks Of Being A Wallflower at Arclight Cinemas in LA yesterday and it was definitely worth the one hour drive.

3. I went to a screening last week and was totally BLOWN AWAY......this film has everything.

Risky business

Use IMDB to find out the box office records for your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then Box Office/Business.

1) What was the original budget for your chosen film?
The original budget for this film was $13,000,000.

2) How much money did the film make in the opening weekend?
The film made $228,539 in the opening weekend.

3) How much money has the film made in total? (Look for the subheading ‘Gross’ which has the total box-office earnings listed).
In total (Feb 2013) the film has made $17,738,570

Stars in their eyes

Research the stars and director for your chosen film.

1) What films has the director previously directed? Are they in the same or similar genres?
The director, Stephen Chbosky, has not directed any other films apart from 'The Four Corners of Nowhere', which is not of the same or similar genre as this film.

2) Who is the main star in the film?
The main star is Logan Lerman.

3) What other films has the main star appeared in? Are any of the films similar to the one you are researching?
Logan Lerman is most famous for his roles in:
-The Percy Jackson series
-Stuck in Love
-Noah
-3:10 to Yuma.
Strangely, the majority of these films listed are all action based films, which is not what 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' is.

4) Are the stars or the director or writer mentioned in the trailer for the film?
The writer is mentioned in the trailer because the film is based on his novel.

Trailer Analysis

This is the trailer for the 2014 film 'The Fault in Our Stars'.

Genre

Romance

Narrative

The storyline of this film outlines the struggles of two teenagers with cancer, but it's also a story of teenage love and how they go through a life of cancer together.

Character

The two main characters in this are two normal teenagers suffering with cancer who both 

share affection for each other. The main female character, Hazel is quite shy and

stubborn, traits that a lot of teenagers share nowadays. The main male character, Augustus is a typical 17 year old boy who enjoys basketball, and is also an amputee as a result of cancer that has supposedly gone away. Their normality and their similarity to each other, leads them to fall in love; an inevitable factor of the romance genre.

Iconography

Some of the iconography typical to the romance genre include: love, romantic restaurants, meeting by bumping into each other, compliments, awkwardness. All of these things evoke emotion in an audience and that is what the romance genre aims to do.

Setting

The majority of this film is set in America, but some of it is set in Amsterdam as well. It's 

usually set inside, either in the characters' houses or in their support group. The most well

known setting in this film is a bench in Amsterdam.

This is the trailer for the 2014 film 'Divergent'

Genre

Action

Narrative

This film is set in the future and all the people of the world are sorted into factions when they become of age. When the main character Tris has a test run on her, which is supposed to tell her what faction she should choose, her results are inconclusive. This makes her Divergent. She joins the faction Dauntless and meets Four, a very handsome man who she eventually falls in love with. This adds romance to the story line. She soon discovers a plot to destroy all Divergents and the film is about how she tries to escape and stop that.

Character

The two main characters are Tris and Four, two teenagers who are part of the Dauntless faction, who fall in love. Tris was originally from the Abnegation faction, the faction of the selfless, but changes to Dauntless, the faction of the brave. They aim to stop the leader of the Erudite faction leader, Jeanine, who plots to use people in Dauntless to kill all people in Abnegation and then all Divergents.

Iconography

There is a lot of iconography typical to the action genre, including: fights, stunts e.g. jumping on to and out of a moving train, a villain, a hero and a heroine, weapons, death, injury etc. All of these elements create an atmosphere of excitement and pace and keeps the audience intrigued.

Setting

'Divergent' is set in a futuristic Chicago, mainly in the Dauntless territory and in the city's government, usually amongst or on top of or jumping to and from buildings, making the action genre more prominent.

This is the trailer for the 1994 film 'The Blair Witch Project'

Genre

Horror/Thriller

Narrative

This film is about three young adults who try to capture the legendary Blair Witch on camera, during a venture into the woods. They then get lost in the woods, and start to experience supernatural occurrences whilst lost. The crescendo of tension and fear that occurs in this film is what makes it the horror genre. 

Character

The three main characters, and really, the only characters are Heather, Josh and Mike and they are all quite boisterous and tough older teens who like adventure. However, when faced with fear, they do tend to panic, a typical trait in older teens, especially when they have no older people there to comfort them. And when Josh goes missing, the remaining two begin to 

Iconography

I think the main element of this film, suggesting horror, is the fact that the entire film is filmed handheld, which can make it appear like it's from your point of view, or as if you're the one behind the camera. Other horror elements included symbols in trees, symbols sent to them in object form, darkness, the thick forest, isolation, blood, screams, crying.

Setting

Apart from the first 15 minutes which is set in the town they live in before they set off, the whole film is set in the woods where they camp for three days until they find an abandoned hidden house, that's only light can be provided by their torches. The lack of light is a typical element of the horror genre. Also, whilst in the forest, everywhere they go are trees and every tree looks the same which can create confusion and panic in the characters, and consequently the audience as well.

'The Young I' Magazine Cover

This is my final magazine cover 'The Young I'.