FILM MARKETING 1: Mainstream film- Straight outta Compton

Summarise the companies and brands responsible for the funding, production and marketing of the film and any links to media industries that would help maximise income and audience.

Straight Outta Compton was produced by the mass media production company of Legendary Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures which is part of the global conglomerate of Comcast who own many other media companies. Legendary Pictures is part of a Chinese conglomerate which are also quite international

. Due to the large scale of influence that these to companies have within the media industry this benefits the marketing of the film as they have the power to reach a worldwide audience. Additionally, this means they can gain access to acquiring the rights to NWA's music, the funding for the project would be a lot greater compared to that of  an independent film (the budget for this film was $28 million- 50 million). Furthermore, the members of the band (Ice Cube and Dr Dre) were executive producers of the film therefore meaning that the worked alongside the companies to narrate their stories within the film. This is an effective way of production as the intended audience, likely to be urban black people, would be interested in how Dre and Ice Cube portray themselves within the film. With the support of Legendary and Universal the film would be able to seen all over the world thus attracting people who may not necessarily relate to the film such as upper/middle class white people, or younger generations who may not be familiar with NWA but would still be interested for educational reasons such as discovering how a small rap group from a notoriously crime ridden area rose to stardom.

Analyse how the film marketing trailer has targeted its audience.

The official trailer for Straight Outta Compton has many fast paced shots which increases the exhilaration and hype around the film as it was quite highly anticipated film. Instantly, this attracts all types of audiences regardless of social background as many people are attracted to excitement and mystery. Furthermore, there were different marketing techniques used to target different types of audiences. For example Universal released the green band trailer with less explicit language and content for a mainstream worldwide audience who may not be familiar with the urban film genre. They also released a red band trailer aimed at adult audiences which would appeal to perhaps young hip hop fans and older NWA fans who are interested in the raw background.

Historical Key Text: Kiss of the Vampire

Overview

Hammer Film Productions is a British film production company and they are best known for creating a series of gothic films from the 1950s-1970s.


Explain how the film poster for Kiss of the Vampire (1963) creates meaning about the following elements for its audience.

The poster

Paper 1- Print Section B: Tide

Representation

Initially, the main image of the glamorous woman is located in the middle third/ second third of the page which is instantly where the eye is drawn too.
The main character's hair is tied back with a headscarf which would have been a typical style in the 1950s. She has a full face of make up and her hair is quite pleasant indicating that appearance was quite important for women during that time. For the tide print advert the creators intend to create an aspirational image for their consumers. Representation would have reflected the typical 1950s fashion    and trends to help create an aspirational image for women as practical and resourceful. As the advert is post world war II and the beginning of the consumer boom the creators would have used the stereotypical convention to capture the audiences attention and allowing them to create their own identity as Gauntlett explained in his identity theory that the audiences to build a sense of their own identity which links to the central image of the woman being an ideal wife who is pleased with her new tide product in a patriarchal society. However this representation of a typical housewife is challenged due to the intertextual reference of the world war II women's land army.

Surrealist Advert: Rihanna Reb'l Fleur

Surrealism is when the creative part of the unconscious mind is released.

Semiotics: The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour. Used to construct possible meaning from a text.

A signifier- The form in which the sign takes (e.g the green man)
The signified- The concept it represents. (you can walk across the road)
The sign is the combination of the signifier and the signified.

Exam Question Paper 1 Section A Q1

Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in this save the children advert and the water aid advert. (30 marks)

Both adverts require their audiences to feel a sense of empathy for those who are suffering in order for money to be donated to their cause. In the Water Aid advert the establishing shot is of a  dreary, wet windowsill with the visual code connotations of cold and blueish lighting. Similarly, the Save the Children advert has an establishing shot of a young girl who is about to blow out her birthday candles. As it is a stereotypical representation of western culture it links back to Stuart Hall's theory as it is celebration the intended audience can relate too. Initially, the audience would build some sort of connection to the young girl. However, In the Water Aid commercial the camera cuts to an unfamiliar scene to a landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. The lighting of this shot is warmer than the previous one. Afterwards, the main character, Claudia, begins to sing a well known western pop song by the international British Pop singer Zoe. Creators of Adverts often use inter textual references such as to engage the audience whilst keeping it relevant to the contemporary audience allowing them to respond positively or negatively depending on what emotions the creators are trying to provoke. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting that begins to emerge in the background with the chaotic and disturbing camera shots as the advert progresses could evoke a sense of guilt.

Advert creators often use intertextual references such as Claudia singing the Pop song to engage the audience whilst allowing it to be relevant for the contemporary audience therefore evoking positive or negative emotions depending on what the creator intended them to feel. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting begins to emerge in the background around forty seconds into the Advert. Traditionally within media dark lighting is associated with chaos and disturbance. As the fast cuts of the camera progress the advert could provoke a sense of guilt as the young girl begins to look a bit paler inferring to the audience that the conflict going on has effected her physically. In the Save the Children advert the earlier mis en scene is from a wealthy western country with the establishing camera shots displaying scenes such as the young girl going to school and getting into the car. Around forty seconds into the advert the scenery begins to shift from the familiar everyday to war torn imagery as the lighting becomes low-key. This paticular shift in tone would be when the audience recognises that something is wrong and begin to question if everything they saw in the previous shots is a potential facade as the reality of war is slowly being revealed. In these shots the young girl's facial expressions suggest fear as she appears to be afraid but aware of eerything that is going on in the background. The audience would be familiar with this representation as it links back to George Gerbner's representation theory as it tis a repreated representation of victimizing people who are struggling in society that has been used in a countless number of charity adverts. Furthermore, the shift in tone that the advert took would also resonate with the audience as it is also a genreand repeated convention audiences would be used to which links to Steve Neale's genre theory.

Unlike the Save the Children advert in the Water Aid commercial the main character, Claudia, is given a name to personalise her character allowing the audiece to feel some sort of connection to her. In the visual footage we witness brighter colours than the dull and dreary Save the Children Advert however she is walking a long distance to reach the water well. Due to this the audince may feel pity as it is unfortunate prompting them to donate to the cause. On the other hand, the save the children advert does not give the girl a name indicating that conflict could occur anywhere in the world which links to the last scene 

Dizzee Rascal Research

Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18th September 1984) is a British rapper and record producer. He was born in Bow, East London. `Additionally, he is known as the pioneer of the UK grime scene and paved the way for many UK rappers. His number one hits include "Dance wiv me", "Bonkers", "

Key Text: Wateraid Charity Ad

Analyse how the wateraid charity advert uses its technical codes to provoke responses, emotions and connections with its target audience.

The WaterAid advert uses many technical codes such as camera shots of a community in Africa to illustrate the positive impacts of donating money to their cause. The Advert begins with a landscape close up of a radio, windowsill with raindrops in the background and plant pot at the edge of the frame. Initially, from the scenry it is clear that the target audience is middle class. It then cuts another landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. Instantly, the lighting goes from the cold, blueish tint from the rainy scene to a warm, yellowish lighting from the bright sun on the wheat fields in Africa. These contrasting visual codes represent the binary opposition of Africa and the UK. It then cuts to a extreme close up of Claudia.  She appears to be happy as she is singing a song while walking with a bucket on her head. Even though she is walking a long way to reach the water tap she is singing an upbeat song. The song connects with the western audience as it is a well known pop song by the British pop singer Zoe. This clever inter textual reference contradicts with many typical charity adverts which often have many negative representations of African people in poverty.