RESEARCH: DIFFERENT KINDS OF TRAILERS

Different Kinds of Trailers

Using the film Mr. Holmes (2015)

The Main Trailer (1.55 mins)

Dan Skinner from TeachingTrailers describes trailers as the basic sales tool for the film, and its the basic sales tool that all films have at their disposal. It is an incredibly important part of the marketing machine as its goal is to intrigue and obtain an audience. He also explains how the distributors don't have much time to convey the genre of the film and who's in it, and that's the key to a trailer. As it is the first impression people get of the film, its very important you get people getting the urge to need to see your film. 

The Main trailer provides a deeper sense as to what the film is about, with the distributors having a slightly longer time frame than the teaser or TV spot to get across information about the film. The main trailer usually fits a '3 act structure' and that is exactly how Mr. Holmes has done. 

The beginning is used to introduce characters and introduce the dilemma that Mr Holmes has been challenged to solve. The middle builds the story further, elaborating on the antagonists and further developing the problem at hand, and the end of the film is a strategical masterpiece that aims to amaze the audience and entice them, in this case there is a very large question that goes unsolved: What did Mr Holmes do wrong? Does he solve the case?

The main theatrical trailer usually incorporates the director too, and the successful films they have done in the past. This helps to encourage previous established audiences to watch the film as well. The main marekting strategy to sell the film is with this type of trailer and can be found in multiple places: online, in cinemas before a film and other media devices

 

The Teaser trailer (50 secs)

The Teaser trailer to a film tends to be much shorter than the main trailer, lasting less than a minute, with the main aim to excite the audience. 

The Teaser trailer also tends to be lighter on story information, but compensates for this with a much more action packed view as to what the film will be like. 

Teaser trailers tend to be released months before a film is actually released, so the distributors have the inclination to use fewer shots from the film, as to not give away too much information. This can work to the advantage of the trailer, generating a sense of enigma that will further entice the audience to want to watch.

The TV Spot (30 secs)

The function of the TV Spot is to build awareness of the hook for the viewers at home. This type of trailer has a very limited time in which to grab the attention of the viewer and so the most action-packed and climactic scenes must be utilised in order to retain an audience.

This trailer focuses on the familiar and traditional values of Sherlock Holmes. This is so that the audience that are familiar with these values pay attention to the trailer being shown before them.

This trailer is also helped along with audio cues that the viewer will pick up, and hopefully intrigue them. the Sherlock Holmes franchise is all based around mystery, and this mystery will help obtain an audience. "I must have done something terribly wrong" is a very climactic sentence and will intrigue the curiosity in the viewers mind and is a very good way to keep the trailer moving. 

Future

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RESEARCH: HOW THE CAMPAIGN IS PROMOTED

RESEARCH: WHAT SETS THE FILM APART?

I have researched how Entertainment One UK thinks distributors pick out the film's Unique Selling Point (USP) or hook.

Kezia Williams describes how that when deciding what the USP is, a distributor will look at many elements of the film; for example: how the story line differs from other films, other key elements of the story, who stars in the film, what were they in their most recent film, where was it made. These questions are all compiled and are highlighted in the films trailer in order to entice an audience to want to go and watch their film. 

The distributors can start working with the film campaign at any stage. This could be as early as from the conception of the film script, so the distributors can get a sense of the film and what parts of the film are most powerful. They could start when the footage is first seen, or even when the film is finalised. 

When the film is finalised this is the most important part of the distribution phase of the film. This is what helps to develop the film's hooks and what they can focus on when trying to market the film. 

Chris Besseling, the director of marketing at Pathe UK puts emphasis on the market and the marketplace for certain types of films and what should be considered when trying to promote a film. 

Things to be considered when promoting a film would be:

• The Unique Selling Point (USP) of the film which can be targeted to entice and audience
• Who is the target audience? this has to be done as early as possible to maximize the efficiency of the marketing campaign
• What are the key strengths of the film that the distributor will look to exploit in every which way possible in order to make the campaign for the film to be as effective as possible
• Any potential challenges that could be encountered upon the weekend of release for the film

Once everything has been thought out and the strengths and challenges have been outlined, the position of the film come week of release will be determined and the marketing campaign will be outlined. The key selling points of the film will also be worked out, this could include:

• Director (what films have they previously directed, were they successful?)
• Awards (if applicable)
• Reviews
• Cast
• Has the film been based on a novel or true story?
• The storyline, in terms of genre, is it a blockbuster or indie film?

In terms of blockbuster films, the use of CGI can also be used as a key selling point for the film. Indie films have the more challenging task of establishing themselves as a breakthrough film, and therefore must work harder to convince their audience it is a must see come week of release. There are some methods Indie films can utilise to help: emotional resonance and/or the thought provoking message behind them, like the film I, Daniel Blake has as it challenged the social system.

RESEARCH: WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE

TARGET AUDIENCES

By Thomas H 1733

TASK

Each film has to be positioned through considering the selling points of the film.

This can be put against an understanding of

1

Age, gender, lifestyles

1

Activities of the audiences available

2

TASK

2

Kezia Williams of Entertainment One UK explains the importance of understanding who your target audience is; what motivates them? what interests do they have? what drives them to the cinema?

Distributors often start by examining data of 'comparable films' films that have been released in the past that are similar to that current film. Data is then drawn from these outcomes and then researched. Previous audiences are identified from these previous films. 



Oftentimes, demographic film data is also analysed to see the intricacies of the potential target audience. This defines the gender gap for the film, and the involvement of several audience types. Repeatedly distributors will look at which cinema chains are more frequently used to display that film. These are exploited to better reach the predominant target audience

TASK

3

Taking into consideration what I have learned from Kezia Williams and Chris Besseling, I have tried to imagine what the target audiences for the following films may have looked like. 

TASK

4

I took what I have learned from Kezia Williams and Chris Besseling and tried to imagine how I would market a film.

Marketability is referencing the ability for a product to be sold or marketed. In the case of films, the marketability of a film is very important otherwise people will not pay attention to your film.

Playability references the quality of something to be played, in the case of films these are legacy views. How many people will buy the eventual DVD or watch on a streaming service time after time. This is very important for the life span of the film.

Resources used for this presentation:

http://thefilmspace.org/fda100/distribution/who

RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR

The major role of the distributor involves acquiring a film. 

What?

Distributors have to work out what kind of film this is going to be, and this means that as well as find out about what genre it is going to be, they also need to find out how well similar films have done, how well the directors last film did as well as the actors and cast involved. The big question they need to answer is What is this film? What is it based on? This is all compiled to figure out what the purpose of the film is. Each individual film has to be looked at with its merits and that is what will help the distributor.

Who?

Distributors have to consider WHO will watch the film. This is a key part to working out the target audience to the film which is broadening all the time. According to Mark Batey of the FDA audiences can range from 8 to 80 years old. Older people are going to the cinema more frequently, with 40-50 year olds being the most common in the older age group. The FDA has observed that there is a growing divergence in the viewing ages of certain mediums. For example, the TV audience ages are rising with over half of the TV audiences in the over 54 category. This is in contrast to the OFCOM survey which found that 48% of 12 to 15 year olds chose YouTube as their favourite platform. 19% chose Netflix too. This will influence how distributors will market their films, depending on their target audience. Films like Trolls: World Tour will be marketed more on YouTube than on TV due to the target audience. Audiences comprise a complex mosaic of consumer segments, varying substantially film by film, week by week. 

When?

Distributors decide when a film will be released in cinemas and on other digital formats. This is key as in the UK about 700 feature films are released every year. Choosing the right time is very important to ensure that the film isn't lost in the backlog of all the other films released in the same year. For example, it wouldn't be wise to release a smaller film on the same weekend as a Marvel film as it will be looked over very quickly. Distributors also struggle with clashing events, for example the 2018 World Cup quarter final between Sweden and England cause a major disruption in the cinemas as many people opted to stay inside and watch the game. There was also excellent weather which also dissuaded people from going to the cinema. These are all examples of unexpected events that can cause issues with cinema releases.

How?

Distributors also govern how they will market the film and how much money to spend on marketing and promoting the film to a wider audience. Based on this they will create trailers, and display materials in order to help garner the audiences attention. They will create interactive material like twitter Q&A's as well as TV interviews and premieres and news stories. This process will also include developing promotions for the film with media partners to engage all possible audiences. FDA estimates that UK film distributors’ investment in bringing 916 new titles to market in 2018 exceeded £350m.  Around half of this is paid-for UK wide advertising, using many social and physical media outlets. The remainder is formed of many components, for example publicity, premiere costs and cinema packages. The FDA assert that although the UK is a large cinema territory in terms of box office receipts. The high cost of marketing results in a lower return for the distributor. It is hard to 'cut through' in a congested marketplace and the fact that it is so crowded makes decisions on release dates very tough.

RESEARCH: MOVIE TRAILER WEBSITES

Using the website Lifewire I have researched movie trailer websites to find out new and existing sites I use and to find out which is the best. 

One of the websites I already am a frequent user of is Trailer Addict. Trailer Addict appeals to me as it has a very interactive way of getting its audience involved. They have a feature where you can leave comments about the film trailer and gain exposure to lots of different ideas and opinions. They also show screen shots of the trailer so that you can see the gist of the trailer and if its a film you would want to go see anyway. The major downside to the website however, is the substantial amount of ads on their site, and the fact that you have to be logged into Facebook if you want to leave comments. However, I believe that Trailer Addict is the best trailer dedicated site.

I am also a frequent user of the International Movie Database (IMDb) but I personally use it for reasons other than to purely watch trailers. IMDb is a website I use to garner information about the film I've just watched or am about to watch. This is because they have lots of useful information about the film on their website, such as the awards the film was nominated for as well as won, the cast involved and the director and the reviews of the films the website gives. I trust IMDb a lot with their reviews as theirs tend to reflect mine too. I didn't realise that they also show trailers on their website too, and it is definitely a feature I'll be looking to use more in the future. This means that each page for a film will act more as a hub of information about the film for me and that is very useful. 

YouTube is a massive video-sharing platform and there are thousands of YouTube channels dedicated to uploading HD trailers for new and upcoming films. You can also find the YouTube channels of the official film where the information on the film can be drip-fed to its audience. The major downside to YouTube is that it is a massive media platform and isn't dedicated to film trailers. The major positive to YouTube is the ease of access to the website. It is very easy to use and everything is set out clearly, helping for a smooth viewing experience. 

ComingSoon.net is one of the most popular entertainment websites on the internet, having 2,850,000 visitors in April 2020. The scale of the website is huge and the website has multiple ways to view a movie trailer as well as showing more than just movie trailers on its website. You can find insider gossip, speculation about the film and movie plots and cast information. The website is easy to traverse and makes finding out about the films less of a laborious task. 

The FDA Yearbook 2020 has updated information about how audiences use certain media to garner information. It mentions YouTube and social media sites like Twitter and movie databases like IMDb. The information about how audiences use IMDb supports my view that whilst it is a place to get information about the film, like a database would do, it also acts as a site that audiences use to watch trailers like Joker and Avengers Endgame two films that topped the charts of most viewed trailers on IMDb.