Selected Scenes for My Film's Trailer

1) Shot of the news report
2) Shot of the interview with the scientist
3) 20th Century Fox graphic
4) Close up of Ben
5) Close up of Blake
6) Blake 'throwing' boy against the wall
7) The 'light' in Ben's hands

Homework: Storyboard

Film Marketing Research: The A-Team

Strategies

• Posters (teaser and theatrical)
• Trailer (teaser and theatrical)
• Press conferences
• Websites

The teaser poster for the A-Team

There is also an official website for the film which shows the second trailer for the film. Each page has a theme related to one of the main characters in the film.

Face’s section is, somewhat appropriately, “Trailers and Videos.” This section actually has quite a bit of content, including the two Trailers, the Four TV spots and six music videos featuring various producer/artist remixes of the iconic theme song.

“Downloads” is B.A.’s section and just has a selection of Wallpapers and AIM Icons.

Hannibal has “About the Film,” which is where you’ll the Story synopsis – which is pretty good and gives good background on the plot outlines – as well as Cast and Filmmakers profiles. 

Murdock, finally, has the “Gallery,” which has about 13 stills from the movie.

The film has official Facebook and Twitter profiles which regularly posted updates regarding the film, such as press conferences, public meetings and competitions.


The movie’s one cross-promotional deal was with the Del Taco fast-food chain, which offered movie-themed drink cups and used some of the movie’s lines in their sign-age and advertising. 

An online game let you take control of the team’s iconic van and drive it around Google Earth, unlocking movie clips and other content as you go.


So overall, I think the marketing campaign for the film was very effective because it involves the target audience by including games and appearing on social networks so they can get closer to the film. It was also effective because the film was associated with other brands outside the film such as Orange, which gave it more publicity and built the film up more.

Homework: Men in A-A films

Men in a a films

In the 80's, the typical male action hero was very macho and extremely muscular; but as the world and the media developed, we started to see a different kind of a character. Now the James Bond-esque characters are coming more and more prominent in action adventure films. Men are now more romantically involved with in women in films, and they are more suave and sophisticated.

Homework: Moodboard to represent women in A-A films

Women in A-A films mood board

The key words I have chosen show women are often portrayed in A-A films; there are characters created for young girls to aspire to, and there are characters for older women to aspire to. In general, women are often represented as sex objects and film producers use their sex appeal in order to attract a great audience. An example of this is the opening scene of the first Tomb Raider movie where the majority of the camera shots cut off at Croft's waist, to highlight her curves.

Presentation

Immune

Homework: My Film's USP/Target Audience Profile - Immune (updated)

My film's USP is that the film shows teenagers gaining superhuman powers and having to fend for themselves.

Primary audience - teenage boys: they are interested in the supernatural aspect of the film, superpowers, mutations, violence.

Secondary audience - teenage girls: they are interested in the development of the characters, the female characters reaction to the changes and the romance within the film.

Genre: Teenage Sci-Fi

Homework: My Film Pitch - Immune (updated)

Plot
A killer disease hits an isolated town in America, but all under 19's (19 turns out to be an important number later in the film) are immune to the disease. Before the outbreak, there already is a split between the town's kids: the rich private school kids and the poor public school kids. After a few days of mass chaos, the kids have run out of resources and have a limited supply of food and there is no electricity or water. As well as this, some kids are not immune to the disease and they have developed superhuman qualities. The powers then lead to a divide between human kids and the mutated kids, leading up to a final battle between the two sides. Meanwhile, a supernatural being lurks in the background...

Todorov

Equilibrium

A small quiet town with strict rules about alcohol and drugs, hypocrisy from parents, they can drink and smoke but the kids can't. At the annual town fair, a number of adults become ill due to contaminated drinks and they all die.
Disruption
The virus spreads to all adults and the kids are immune. Some kids are affected by the virus but in a 'positive' way; they gain superpowers. However it causes a divide between some of the children who are jealous of their friends powers. It leads to a fight between the humans and mutants.
Restoration
After the chaos and a number of deaths, the remaining children decided to call peace between themselves and help rebuild their town in order to try to communicate with the outside world. But as all looks well, a superhuman being arrives in the town...

Director/Producer

Robert Zemeckis

Screenwriter

Bob Gale

Inspirations for my Film Idea
I Am Legend
Lord of the Flies
Gone

Target Audience

Males and females aged 10-19

The film appeals to this specific demographic because it takes a classic story and adds a modern day twist to it. The characters in the film also relate to the audience, children under 16 being thrust into difficult situations.

Marketing Campaign

Certificate: 12A, contains violence
Release date: July 2012
Teaser poster to be released at the beginning of the year, followed by a teaser trailer the week after. The theatrical poster and trailer to be released simultaneously in June 2012. 
Promoted in cinemas and billboards
Worldwide release
Soundtrack to be performed by the cast members, who the majority are also known for their singing abilities.
Part of a trilogy called "Unstable Tales" (series name tbc)


Potential Cast List
Logan Lerman
Miranda Cosgrove
Dakota Fanning
Bobb'e J. Thompson
Jaden Smith
Jimmy Pinchak

Homework: A-A Clip Genre Analysis - The Expendables (2010)

Narrative
Equilibrium 
A team of elite, highly-trained mercenaries, the Expendables, are deployed to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to halt local pirates from executing the hostages on a merchant vessel. They rescue the hostages, but one member, Jensen, is kicked out due to his drug abuse and psychological problems. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the merciless dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee head to the remote locale to scout out their opposition.
Disruption 
Once there, they meet with local rebel Sandra and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city. When they escape the island and Sandra stays behind, Ross has to choose between staying away from the conflict or going back to save Sandra. He chooses Sandra and with the rest of the gang, they go back to the island to infiltrate Garza's palace.
Restoration
Garza is killed by a controlling ex-CIA agent, the Expendables set explosives over the palace and detonate them, leaving the army dead and a handful of survivors. Ross chases down the CIA agent, Munroe, who has Sandra held as a hostage. Ross, with the help of Christmas, kill Munroe and as a result, democracy is restored on the island and the Expendables go home.
Iconography

• Weaponry - the blade used by Christmas and the machine guns by the other characters
• Armour - the Expendables are wearing body armour (bullet proof tops), bandanas as well
• Dull colours and dark lighting, highlights the facial expressions of the characters, shows their sweat and blood
• The deaths result in blood being splattered everywhere, and knives being pull through bodies, these special effects make the film more realistic to the audience 

All these elements are seen in most A-A films which contain guns and violence, the genre is associated with special effects such as blood and big explosions.
Characters

• Barney Ross (played by Sylvester Stallone) - leader of the Expendables and the hero of the film, a typical aspect of an A-A film.

• Lee Christmas (played Jason Stantham) - best friend of Ross, the typical sidekick, helps Ross to kill the villan at the end of the film. He also thinks he is much skilled than his best friend and they have a friendly rivalry.

• Gunnar Jensen (played by Dolph Lundgren) - the false hero, after being kicked out of the team by Ross, he gives information to the enemy, a car crash leads to Jensen being close to death where he gives Ross vital information which helps him later in the film. By the end of the film, Jensen has been reinstalled in the group

• Sandra Garza (played by Gisele Itié) - the princess but also the daughter of the villian, she is different to her father and resents his actions, so much so, she is waterboarded by his cronies and taken to prison. She inspires Ross to complete the mission, but there is no love interest,

• General Garza (played by David Zayas) - appears to be the villian but is in fact a victim of a scam by a former CIA agent, he is the father of Sandra and he is killed. His role is becoming a more common theme in A-A films, the false villain.

• Hale Caesar (played Terry Crews) - weapons expert, part of the Expendables, he is the technical character and also represents a stereotype of African Americans. 

Setting
The film is generally based in a fictional South American island, which is under dictatorship. The fact that the island is isolated highlights:

1. The dangers of the mission which the Expendables face; if they die, no one will know as the news is unlikely to spread to the outside world
2. The island is isolated from the outside world due to the dictatorship of General Garza.

The setting also reflects real life conflict as there are some places in the world where dictartoship reigns supreme and no one is able to combat it; the film shows the audience a fictional solution by using incredibly macho mercenaries to get rid of the dictator and install democracy.

The clip above is set on a boat on the coast of Somalia, where piracy is prominent in the real world, and here the hostages are held by pirates.

Homework: Genre and Narrative Analysis - Superhero Movie (2008)

Genre
Superhero Movie is a 2008 spoof film. A parody film is a comedy that satirises other film genres or films.This film parodies the entire superhero genre but is mainly a direct parody of the first Spider-Man. The film features the late, great Leslie Nielsen who was known for his roles in parody films such as the Naked Gun. The film also makes fun of certain celebrities and their real-life actions such as Tom Cruise's Scientology video as well as scientist Steven Hawking.


Characters (Propp)

• Hero - Rick Riker/ Dragonfly: unpopular student at school, parody of Peter Parker from Spiderman. He lives with his Uncle Albert and Aunt Lucille.
• Princess - Jill Johnson: Rick's crush, hardly notices him and is dating bully, Lance Landers, who is the nephew of the villain. Later falls in love with Rick. Parody of Mary-Jane from Spiderman
• Villain - Lou Landers/Hourglass: the uncle of Lance Landers, a lab researcher who is involved in an accident during an experiment at the lab, transforming him into Hourglass, a villainous being who can siphon the life energy from others, killing them. Parody of Green Goblin from Spiderman
• Helper(s) - Mr and Mrs Xavier - Rick is told to make a costume by Mrs. Xavier, and adopts the identity of the Dragonfly. Mr Xavier tells Rick to join his school for mutants, parody of X-Men.

Narrative (Todorov)

• Equilibrium - Unpopular high school student Rick Riker lives with his Aunt and Uncle, his parents died when he was a child. Rick goes on a school trip to an animal research lab and is comically bitten by a radioactive dragonfly.
• Disruption -  Lou Landers is involved in an accident during an experiment at the lab, becomes the Hourglass, has a fight with Rick, who is now called Dragonfly. Rick is badly injured.  During a Thanksgiving dinner at the Rikers, Landers visits the family, he nearly catches Rick dressed as the Dragonfly. Landers later manages to learn his secret identity. The Hourglass appears and murders Aunt Lucille.
• Restoration - At an awards ceremony, Rick tries to found the real Hourglass, after being told by Landers it is the Dalai Lama and failing to "uncover" him, Rick discovers that Landers is the real Hourglass. This leads to a fight scene which results in Landers' death and Rick getting the girl and finally learning how to fly.