When in the process of film production the distributor needs to decide on ways to advertise the film and make it as appealing to the target audience it is aimed at as possible. They use advertising such as television ads, ads in cinemas before another film (in which case the film which is being shown in the cinema would be likely to be in the same or a similar genre of the trailer which they are showing, as they need to ensure that they are promoting the film to the correct target audience), internet advertisements, billboards and posters in magazines. The types of advertising is different depending on the potential audience for a film and how much money the film is likely to make. If it is a low budget film there will not be as much marketing as in a blockbuster as the distributors wouldn't want to spend too much money advertising the film as it wouldn't lessen their potential profits when the film hits the cinema. Often they rely heavily on word of mouth from the public in order to advertise their films. Blockbuster films such as "Harry Potter" and "Toy Story" spend a lot more money on promoting their films as they know that, as the films as so popular and highly anticipated, they will bring in a lot of money in the cinemas, therefore they can afford to take the risk.
An existing film poster
As the Harry Potter films are so well known, the poster advertising one of the later films only has very minimal words included on it, as straight away from looking at the poster the audience would recognise what it was. Also, the words Harry Potter have been abbreviated to HP as the series is so well known. The picture is simply a close up of the main character of the film as this is the person the films are most associated with and the image of him would grab the audiences attention as they would recognise who it was and what the film which is being advertised is. If they were a fan of the films, this poster is all that would be needed to ensure that they would go to the cinema to see the film.
It is important within an ad campaign to keep various themes ongoing. For example, a logo which appears on all posters and adverts, including trailers, to help the audience remember the film and keep it fresh in their minds. This would be the films identity and would also help an audience instantly recognise the film. As well as logos, other themes such as fonts, colour schemes, and significant props could be used as a films 'identity' as they would be the thing which links all the products of the film together.
Our Marketing Campaign
We decided to go with the classification of 15. This means that our film would be suitable for anyone over the age of 15. We decided this as we thought if our classification was 12 then it would limit us on how scary our film could potentially be and if we chose 18 then many people who are interested in horror films and are likely to go to the cinema (i'd say mainly boys from the age of about 15 to early 20's, wouldn't be able to go and view the film.
There are various clear links between my trailer and my poster, which would help an audience identify the film. Firstly, the figure of the gask mask man is shown on the poster, slightly hidden on the right hand side of the page. This links in with the trailer as Diederich is a figure which is hidden away in the house of a couple who have just moved in and he seems to be just creeping out, in order to carry out whatever it is that he is planning on doing in the film. The lighting is quite dim which is similar to our trailer as in the end of it where the scary scenes start happening the lighting is quite dim and blurred. My film poster is fairly simplistic, not including very much, which highlights the fact that our trailer doesn't give too much of the film away as well, it leaves the audience guessing. I have also included the signiture Diederich logo (below) to stick with the films individual identification, and the red which connotes blood and danger.
If a film is on the cover of a film magazine it will be extremely helpful in attracting the audience, as this will be the first thing they see, catching their eye and wanting them to read more about the film. The image which is put onto a film magazine would have to be linked closely into the colour scheme of the film and stick to the same themes and logos of the trailer and poster, to keep up with the films identification, as the audience needs to be able to know what the film is straight away by specific links.
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