Case- Study Outline The Avengers

Case Study of The Avengers

The budget: $220,000,000 (estimated) 

The gross: $1,481,585,111 (Worldwide)

Director: Joss Whedon. Also directed Buffy the Vampire slayer, Toy Story and others.

Institution: Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures

Style of marketing: Trailers, Posters, Reviews and sharing on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking sites.

The movie was pre-launched almost 2 years before its show date. They had done their research and preparations well as they had followed a clear strategy. The marketing team for The Avengers seems to know its niche, and they expand on it. With the Avengers trailer, most people thought "Wow, I am so going to watch this movie!" And with such a trailer, they made sure that customers would be overly satisfied with how great the great superhero action movie is. The marketing team had taken advantage of the Marvel superheroes' fan base. Reviews (whether good or bad) from movie critics like New York Times and trusted sites helped in making the movie reach out to its supporters more. They combined conventional promotions through TV, conventions, posters and the trailer in movie houses with a lot of modern advertising and sharing on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking sites and online communities.

Best Picture Oscar Winners

Best Picture Winners

2010 - "The King's Speech"

Director: Tom Hooper

Basic story: The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

2009 - "The Hurt Locker"

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Basic story: Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

2008 - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Director: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan

Basic story: A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

2007 - "No Country for Old Men"

Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Basic story: Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.

2006 - "The Departed"

Director: Martin Scorsese

Basic story: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

2005 - "Crash"

Director: Paul Haggis

Basic story: Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.

2004 - "Million Dollar Baby"

Director: Clint Eastwood

Basic story: A hardened trainer/manager works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.

2003 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Director: Peter Jackson

Basic story: Aragorn leads the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw the dark lord's gaze from Frodo and Sam who are on the doorstep of Mount Doom with the One Ring.

2002 - "Chicago"

Director: Rob Marshall

Basic story: Murderesses Velma Kelly (a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister after finding them in bed together) and Roxie Hart (who killed her boyfriend when she discovered he wasn't going to make her a star) find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

2001 - "A Beautiful Mind"

Director: Ron Howard

Basic story: After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

 

Summary of The Hobbit & Star Trek The Making Clip

The Hobbit countdown to release

From watching how some of The Hobbit's scenes were made, we learn that there were a lot of people involved in making this film. They told us how there were 8 studio buildings used whereas, for Lord of the Rings, there was only 1. This shows that The Hobbit was a big movie to make and shows appreciation to the director, producers and other participants involved in making this film for the target audience. In this case, the most focus was on the animation and special effects as this was carried out throughout the whole film. They had to use green backgrounds and carefully draw out skilfully the background which is shown in the film. They also showed different ways and techniques for doing so such as, using groups of people to run and shout into the mic. Also, filling in bits of a background and changing the pitch of the voices of some of the characters, and making sure they use the correct one.

This material offers the audience a lot of information they can take away about how some of the scenes were made and how much effort and time was put into each one. This countdown to release clip also showed how many different departments there were and what each department's job was. For example, the special effects used and also the sound effects. They also showed people who actually had to sleep in the studios as it was becoming very tiring to put the movie together. This also makes the audience show appreciation towards the people who put time for the producing of the film. This would also show a positive reaction from the film for the audience by showing that it is going to be a very good film. The audience would feel anxious and excited and would impatiently wait for the countdown until The Hobbit would be released. 

The audience would watch a clip like this for information on how some scenes were actually developed. Also, the audience could also feel as if watching a clip like this could come across as being entertaining for them, or even because they like and enjoy the director (Peter Jackson's) movies. This would probably encourage them to want to watch this and the upcoming movie.

Star Trek 

The Star Trek film behind the scenes also shows how hard they tried and how much effort they put into making an excellent film. While watching this, the audience realizes how they made it look very realistic by using a mirror and trying to have the camera at such an angle, that it actually looked like the man was falling through the sky- when actually, he wasn't! Sci-Fi movies are generally produced in the same way, and use the same techniques. This offers the target audience a discovery of how some scenes in the film and special effects were designed and created. 


They also let the audience know of a secret, the secret being how Spock (one of the characters from the Star Trek film), goes into an elevator, and it shows him going to another floor when in fact he was already on the same floor, it just looked as if he wasn't because they had used the green background behind him. This also tricks the audience in the way that they were completely certain that Spock was on a different floor but, the camera trick used (the green background) made it look like he was but really wasn't. 


Target audiences would only want to watch the making of Star Trek if they really enjoyed this movie and wanted to know more about it because, it is only available on the DVD and so, they would have to buy the DVD to get to know more about the sound effects and special effects used. Clearly, they would have to enjoy it fairly well to watch the making clip as it is only on the DVD itself. 

Analyzing official website for...

Analyzing the official website for The Amazing Spider-man

This official website for The Amazing Spider-man film is to entertain people and so they can find out more about the film, when it was first announced that it would be showing in cinemas. This also makes the audience aware of when the film will be coming out in cinemas and so they are ready to go and watch it when it is released. This was created so that more people would be interested in the film itself and would want to know more about it i.e. the cast, images/videos, soundtrack and even the release date of the film. This website helps to promote the film and make more people go and watch it when it was released. 

In the navigation bar, there are 8 different sections titled as; The Film, Gallery, Downloads, Videos, Free app, the Spider-Man game, Partners and even one page where you can download the soundtrack that is used in this film. This keeps the target audience interactive with the website by taking a look at the images, videos and playing the game provided on the website. This website also has links with Twitter and Facebook which shows that fans of The Amazing Spider-Man film can also help make the film 'Viral' by posting things on Twitter and Facebook for the public to have a look. 

There is also an arrow which once clicked on, shows each character in The Amazing Spider-Man and what part they play in the film. This gives a glimpse of all the important characters in the film so that the target audience is aware of who and what each character is/does in the film so they are familiar with each and every one of them. This website gives information such as; the cast/characters, images & videos, the soundtrack and even downloads in which there is a drop down menu which includes downloading Avatars of Spider-Man Gwen and of the Doctor etc. This even includes Animated GIFs which shows the sort of graphics and effects used to build up Spider-Man's actions in the film. People or preferably fans of Spider-Man would download these type of images for their Twitter, Facebook or any other social networking types as their profile pictures or if they wish to share with others. 

The colors used in this website represent Spider-Man himself by using the color scheme of Red, Blue and Black. These are all dark colors which link to Spider-Man's identity. This attracts the audience by showing them what kind of images, videos and colors we would be able to see in the film. Spider-Man is also very attractive and so this would catch the attention of many if not most females presumably aged 15-30. On this website, you are able to interact with Spider-Man by playing the Spider-Man game on the website, this would attract children who are into superheroes such as Spider-Man and, would make them anxious to watch it. The costume also can attract the target audience by it looking very cool and heroic which links to him being a 'Spider' man and refers to his webs. 

Overall, this official movie website attracts the audience by most of the semiotic features such as colors used, images/videos, information about the film and even downloads of the soundtrack and animated pictures. 

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

What is the synergy between the poster, trailer and film of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The world?

From watching the trailer of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The world, the elements that are seen in these Media forms, also link to the poster and the film of Scott Pilgrim. The elements that have been seen by observing the film, trailer and the poster have been things like; Scott Pilgrim himself, the institutions, his guitar and the fact that he plays in a band, and even the way he is dressed. Another element would also be the colours used in the poster, because they have also been used in the trailer and the film as the title.

These elements (most of them) are included in the poster, film and trailer of Scott Pilgrim. In all three media forms, there has been an inclusion of the main character, Scott Pilgrim of course because he is the main character and his name also appears in the title of the film. Another element would be the fact that he is holding (playing) the guitar in the poster and he also does this in the film and trailer, which suggests that Scott Pilgrim is in a band. From looking at the image on the poster, we cannot see what he looks like but we can sort of tell what kind of guy he is, like he could be considered as being one of the nerdy guys, just by examining his clothes and from watching the trailer and film. Another obvious point would be the fact that he is wearing the same clothes in all three Media forms.

The trailer and film, by being a moving picture shows much more identity and the story line of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The world and so, it does not show much in the poster of this film. The institution of this film is Universal and we can see this at the bottom of the film poster, in the trailer and also in the film. In the film and the trailer, there has also been a use of splitting screens. This makes the audience focus straight on both or more characters that are involved in this screen splitting. 

Indiana Jones Mis en scene elements

Raiders of the lost Ark

The first thing you hear is the sound, it introduces the tone of the sound while starting the film. The sound is non-diegetic and runs through for the whole 10 mins of the film. There is hardly any dialogue which shows that in the first 10 mins of the film, sound is more important than dialogue. The music along with sound effects of the jungle, is very mysterious and tense because Jones is on a mission to get a hold of a precious item from inside a tunnel.The use of this music shows that he is slowly walking towards the object and, the music speeds up. When he has access to the object, the music stops- this shows that he has completed this task/mission and it shows he is relieved. The music is fast-moving when Jones is being chased by those men. This helps us keep the pace and we can hear and see that he is being chased. The sound effects that appear in the first 10 minutes of Indiana Jones, are of the environment that this is set in which is a jungle. Therefore, there is a use of sound effects of birds and crickets chirping which gave the feel of the movie being shown in a jungle atmosphere.

The costume that Jones wears is like a cow-boy type outfit. He wears a cowboy hat- which seems to be a part of his identity, has a whip, a gun and he also seems to have a side bag with him. These all show that he seems to be a tough looking, brave, fearless kind of mystery man. We get to know what kind of man he is with a view of his costume and what he carries with him. Other people in this film, seem to be wearing simple plain clothes, like a scraggy top, with ripped trousers or with dirt on them. This shows they have been on many quests before and haven't changed their clothes. However, the men that he is being chased by, they hardly have any clothes on! I presume that this is because, they could probably be slaves of the villain in this film. The costumes present what the people and the atmosphere could be like along with the way Indiana Jones speaks.

The background of the film is of a tunnel when Jones and another man (that betrays him) go and search for the precious object. Otherwise, from watching the first 10 minutes of Raider of the Lost Ark, the background is of the jungle and is where most of the Action takes place. By having this specific background it links to the Genre of the film being Action and Adventure. The background of the tunnel also leads on to a collapsing atmosphere when Jones picks up the precious object from the stand and replaces it with a bag of sand, the whole of the walls collapse and crash down. This shows that the object was very important and should always stay there no matter what. Jones survives the tumbling building but then gets caught and chased by the tribe of men.

Advertising in Film

Advertising The Amazing Spider-man

http://www.theamazingspiderman.com/site/

E-Media

The official 'The Amazing Spiderman' website has used dark, dull colours such as Red, Blue and Black. These colours associate themselves with the colours used in the film and of course, Spiderman's costume. The website, once viewed shows a spider and the website loading. This indicates that this website has been made officially for the film 'The Amazing Spiderman' and has used features to prove it. Once loaded 100%, the screen shows a big image in the centre of Spiderman and, there is also Action music playing in the background. It sounds very mysterious and would make the consumer want to look around on the website- especially if they have already seen the movie. This website has specifically been made for 'Spidey' fans and to promote the film in greater depth. This website has included arrows in the middle left side which shows a brief introduction of all the main characters who were in this film. The music also changes for each character when you click on the arrows to go to the next one. There is also a drop down menu where the characters pictures appear at the bottom of the page which makes it easier for the viewer to find which specific character they are looking for.

This website is very simple and easy to use when exploring the different buttons which take you to different webpages. At the top of the website- the header, in the navigation bar there are buttons which are listed as, The Film, Gallery, Downloads, Videos etc. This has been featured on this website so that is it easy to follow and use the website so the viewers can easily find what they want to look at for the film. There is also an inclusion of the soundtrack that was used in this film which can be downloaded by buying it. This also makes it appealing for the viewer by getting so engrossed in this movie, which makes them want to know more about it- for example, by saving images as wallpapers etc. 

There is only one official website for The Amazing Spider-Man. 

Print

These are the two 'Print' advertisements of The Amazing Spider-Man that were used to promote the film. They both show mysterious sides of Spider-Man by having one masked image of him and another unmasked picture of him. This gives a brief overlook as to what he looks like, but vaguely because he is not completely showing his whole face. This makes him seem very mysterious- like, by having two identities. One being a normal human, the other being an amazing superhero. The first poster also has a catchy tagline 'We all have secrets' which suggests that being Spider-Man is his biggest and most valuable secret. Both these images have his picture on them with his costume to link to the name of the film 'The Amazing Spider-Man'. This helps by showing the viewers what the actual costume looks like and the colours used in it. In both of these posters, there is a view of New York in the background which shows that this film is set in New York and, that he is the superhero of New York City. The first poster shows his back and maybe half of his face, but in the second poster, it shows a profile of him- but with the mask on! He is also very good-looking and so this would probably persuade preferably more females to want to go and watch the film because of him looking so cool! Another point to mention would be the fact that in the second poster, Spider-Man almost looks like he is inside a web. This relates to him having special web powers and shows just how powerful he is.