'Keep' - Evaluation
My evaluation answers the following four questions:
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?
How do your products engage with the audience?
How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
The social group or issue that my marketing campaign for 'Keep' represents relates to gender stereotypes that I found were common in thriller movies. My protagonist, a vulnerable woman alone, who is presented initially as the victim in the film, follows stereotypical conventions in thrillers of women who need to be saved. I reinforced this by using further conventions I had found during my research, such as the use of camera angles and music that was typical of thrillers. I made my protagonist look vulnerable by using a birds-eye-view shot at the start of my teaser trailer to look as if someone was in control of her, something that was a common trope of the thriller genre. By filming the protagonist lying on the floor, the high angle accentuated her vulnerability. Furthermore, in both trailers it is clear that no one else is in the room with her and the fact that it is completely, empty apart from one prop, emphasises her isolation and her peculiar position. I also used extreme close up shots in my teaser trailer to give the impression that she is trapped or enclosed, as she also looks terrified. In terms of gender representation, I decided to follow conventions by making the antagonist male and have him issue an ultimatum to the woman (heard at the end of my teaser trailer). As is common in thrillers, his phone call suggests that he is involved in some shady organisation and that he has imprisoned her because she has vital information on a device that could harm them. Music was another important convention I found in opening sequences, as a way to signal genre but also as a way of indicating threat, menace and danger. In both of my trailers I used intense and sinister music to create an additional mysterious atmosphere. Right at the end of the teaser trailer the protagonist answers the phone (the TV Spot, which focuses on shots of the phone, ends at this point) and there is a short piece of muffled dialogue, where a man reveals that the protagonist has an important device that he wants and won't let her go until she reveals where it is hidden (shown in a flashback). This raises all kinds of questions in the minds of the audience; who is this man, what device is he talking about and will she give it to him? We now know that she is trapped and is going to struggle with the ultimatum. Will she give up the device or be trapped potentially forever? I want the audience to feel confused and disorientated as well as wanting to be desperate to see the film (reinforced by the positive reviews in the TV Spot) to find out what led her to this point and if she will manage to escape. Due to the vagueness and tension in the trailers, particularly in the TV Spot, I would want to make the audience question everything. Most likely, the audience would side with the main character as events shown from her perspective, often through POV shots, and I want the audience to see her as an innocent victim, a conventional character type of thriller films. However, I would also like the audience to debate internally whether she really is innocent, as thrillers often have plot twists where something that the audience feel certain about turns out to be false later in the narrative. This, in many ways, conforms to conventions of genre, with the audience asking themselves whether she might not be so innocent as she seems.
My research into existing film marketing campaigns highlighted that branding and unity is important in creating awareness ahead of the release of a film. I made sure to use unifying elements across each of my trailers, the poster and my Instagram page so that it would be clear that the marketing materials were promoting the same film. This included repeated reference to the phone, which can be seen in both trailers (with the TV Spot, called 'Phone', almost exclusively focusing on it), prominently in a number of images on my poster, and in various tiles and reels on my social media page. I also used the same font across my marketing materials, used the same tagline ('You Can't Escape Your Past'), the same production companies, hashtags and the same reviews.
My target audience is likely to be older than 15+ as the thriller genre is one that would appeal to those who are able to deal with more adult themes and scenes of distress and violence, as these are common in my chosen genre. Thrillers often appeal to audiences who are interested in watching a film that will challenge them and require more active spectatorship. ‘Keep’ relates to the kind of film that was made in the late 1990's and early 2000's when some of the most popular thrillers and mysteries were made, and really challenged audience expectations with their gritty storylines and confusing and challenging narrative structures. I expect the film to appeal to both men and women, as is typical with many thrillers, and I have included characters in my film that will resonate with both genders. To engage with my audience, I was careful to use mise-en-scene and music to make ‘Keep’ instantly recognisable as a thriller/mystery genre to the audience, so that it would appeal to their expectations of genre. The setting, for example, is immediately unsettling for the audience. The room is bare apart from a telephone ringing and the protagonist lying on the floor (shown in my teaser trailer). The empty room raises all kinds of questions in the audience’s minds. With little to look at, they have to focus on the one person in the room and the phone, creating intrigue for them. I also kept the props I used in my trailers to an absolute minimum so that the audience are not distracted away from the key questions I want them to ask. Who is the woman? Why is she there? What is the information she has taken? Is she innocent or guilty? The phone, however, was a key prop, representing a gateway to answers for the audience. I used different sounds to add to the atmosphere of the sequence. The pleonastic sound of the phone continuously ringing for dramatic effect (in both the teaser and the TV Spot) continues in the trailers until it is answered. It will grate on the audience’s nerves and they will be hoping that it is answered soon to stop the noise, but also to find out who is ringing, in the hope that it might shed some light on the woman’s situation. Audiences will have to see the film to find out these answers.
In addition, I added a non-diegetic score to the trailers, to signal that this was a mystery/thriller, but also to connote the level of danger the woman is in. The sinister music will unsettle the audience and as it becomes louder and more intense it adds to the atmosphere just before the protagonist answers the phone. The voice at the end of the line in the teaser trailer is a male voice, stereotypical in many films making men seem dangerous, harmful and often as the antagonist. He is also suitably mysterious in what he says, revealing only enough to keep the audience intrigued but not enough to reveal what has actually happened. Thriller films often manipulate the audience, especially in the marketing materials, and I decided that the best way to hook the audience was by withholding narrative information from them, inviting them to solve the puzzle with the protagonist. There was careful consideration about camera angles in my trailers and how this could add atmosphere to the sequence. The first shot of the teaser trailer was a birds-eye-view shot looking down on the protagonist to emphasise how she was vulnerable, which I hoped the audience would realise was implying that the woman is not in control of events. I also used an extreme close up to amplify her face and show how scared she was.
I also used title cards and copy on my poster to intrigue the audience and to encourage them to see the film. The tagline implies the woman is being punished for something she has done, implying that she may not be as vulnerable as she first seems (hinted at in the teaser by her shifty glances), but it is the reviews that I really hoped would engage the audience. In my TV Spot I have four reviews (one of which is used on my poster, and two of which appear on my Instagram page) and these have been designed to encourage the audience to see the film because of the star ratings and the positive language used.
As my film is produced by Warner Brothers I would expect it to be distributed in a number of different ways. Initially, I would expect it to have a wide cinematic global release preceded by a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign on social media, on X, Instagram, TikTok and You Tube. I anticipate an effective viral marketing campaign similar to that used for 'The Blair Witch Project' where I would make it appear as if the main character’s abduction really took place. This campaign would include fake newspaper articles and missing persons reports.
A24 are known for creating a buzz and anticipation for their films and so I would use mystifying teasers in trailers that would encourage audiences to want to find out more about the film. In this way, the film will already be in peoples minds and they will be excited to watch it, contributing to the hype by actively trying to solve the social media puzzles I would create. As it is a thriller and they are popular films, I would expect ‘Keep’ to have a release in multiplex cinemas. However, A24 and Magnolia Pictures are independent film companies and so are not as well known. Therefore, their films would usually be released in independent cinema chains, which I would also do with ‘Keep’. Following a complete global release, I would also consider that the film would then be streamed on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple, or alternatively, exclusively streamed on HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Brothers.
As my film is produced by Warner Brothers I would expect it to be distributed in a number of different ways. Initially, I would expect it to have a wide cinematic global release preceded by a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign on social media, on X, Instagram, TikTok and You Tube. I anticipate an effective viral marketing campaign similar to that used for 'The Blair Witch Project' where I would make it appear as if the main character’s abduction really took place. This campaign would include fake newspaper articles and missing persons reports.
A24 are known for creating a buzz and anticipation for their films and so I would use mystifying teasers in trailers that would encourage audiences to want to find out more about the film. In this way, the film will already be in peoples minds and they will be excited to watch it, contributing to the hype by actively trying to solve the social media puzzles I would create. As it is a thriller and they are popular films, I would expect ‘Keep’ to have a release in multiplex cinemas. However, A24 and Magnolia Pictures are independent film companies and so are not as well known. Therefore, their films would usually be released in independent cinema chains, which I would also do with ‘Keep’. Following a complete global release, I would also consider that the film would then be streamed on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple, or alternatively, exclusively streamed on HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Brothers.
As one of the first tasks for my research, I analysed trailers, posters and social media pages for films from a wide range of genres, because at this stage I wasn’t sure which genre I wanted to do, but also so I could identify and analyse whether the conventions of each type of marketing material would remain the same or whether they would change depending on the genre. Here I wanted to find out what the general conventions of trailers, posters and film social media pages were.
I looked at the the theatrical trailers, teaser trailers and TV Spots for a range of films including 'Nosferatu', 'Red One', 'Gladiator II', 'Mickey 17' and 'Deadpool and Wolverine'. There were lots of conventions I noticed that I eventually used in my teaser trailer and TV Spot for ‘Keep’, such as the production company idents and the title cards featuring reviews, the tagline, reviews and the title of the film. Before I finalised my shot list and the outline for each trailer I decided to look at more trailers from films from the genre I decided to work in. As my film is a thriller/mystery, I analysed a number of trailers from the genre to see how genre conventions were used in those trailers, including trailers for 'The Girl on the Train' and 'Dead Man's Shoes'. The trailers for the films that I researched, held back critical information about the main characters and the storyline, creating enigma. In this way they create an air of mystery, an important common convention, creating intrigue for the audience and almost forcing them to figure out why things are happening. By holding back information, trailers for thriller films create a riddle to challenge the audience, often placing them in the same position as the protagonist who must also try and work out why seemingly unexplained events are taking place. In my trailers I want the audience to wonder who my protagonist is and how she ended up in that situation. In both of my trailers I chose to focus mainly on the setting, a bare room apart from a phone on a table, showing different angles of the room she is in but not having any establishing shots which might reveal where the character is. In the teaser trailer, I decided to show who the main protagonist is but to reveal nothing about her personality. My main character is lying on the floor dressed in a grey tracksuit. She is asleep and wakes up when a phone rings. She answers the phone and says hello in a scared and confused tone. Typical of the enigma often found in the trailers of films from the thriller genre, what is unclear is how she arrived there, why she is lying on the floor and who is ringing her on the phone. This instantly creates mystery for the audience. Chronologically, this scene in the teaser is in the present and is followed by a black and white flashback montage of her appearing to steal a USB device. I also researched many different film production companies to see which were most popular for thriller/mystery films, so I could use appropriate idents and title cards. As a result, I introduced Warner Brothers, A24 and Magnolia Pictures, all film companies that have a history of making films from my chosen genre. My TV Spot contained reviews for the film, a common convention I found when analysing TV Spots, such as the one for 'Nosferatu'. Both trailers contained release dates, social media links, the title of the film and references to other films made either by the film's director or by the film's producers, alongside a tagline and production company logos.
I looked at posters, also from a range of genres, to initially establish the common conventions of the medium. Posters included those for the films 'Wicked Little Letters', 'Black Panther', 'High Life', 'About Time', Abigail' and 'Jackie Brown'. Across these posters I noticed the use of taglines, billing blocks (with social media links and production company logos), images from the film, release dates, reviews and references to source material, all of which I included in my finished poster.
I followed a similar research process for analysing film social media pages, before looking in detail at posters and social media pages for films from the thriller genre, including 'Dead Man's Shoes', 'Mr. Brooks', 'Se7en', 'The Adjustment Bureau', 'The Talented Mr Ripley, 'M3GAN' and 'Knock at the Cabin'. These gave me a much better insight into how genre is presented in marketing campaigns, so I included many of these elements, from reviews which reference genre to taglines which create enigma, into my marketing materials.
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