Movie Advertising Over Time
Once a movie has been made then there is that small matter of getting people to see it. How do you grab peoples attention? how do you make them want to see a certain film? what techniques are frequently used to advertise films? how has the advertising of film changed over time?
One technique that is frequently used when advertising films is showerings its poster and trailer with quotes. These quotes come from critics and can sometimes make up 90% of a films advert. It is no coincidence that the quote will be in huge, bold letters, dominating the screen while its location is hidden in small text. Infact sometimes when the quotes come from respected sources, the location of the quote is very recognizable. In the trailer for Up In The Air they were proud to show off Time magazine being kind about their film.
Another aspect of film advertising is linking the film to successful films of the past. You will often hear those who made the film say something along the lines of " its a mix of Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean" they take two successful films and make you believe that their film will give you a similar experience. This is also evident with the quote tactic mentioned above, trailers will have large quotes basically saying "It's like that film you loved and that other film you loved" The frequent use of quotes and comparison is a big marketing tactic when trying to get people to see a film. Next time you see a poster, a trailer or a promotional interview for film look out for any comparisons that are made and be sure to look at where the quote is coming from.
One way Studio bosses hope a film makes money is by having big name actors or actresses in it. When these "Star Vehicles" are advertised the names of the actors are almost bigger than the name of the film and their bodies dominate all the films posters and promotional images. However is the age of movie stardom dead? it used to be that simply putting big stars in your movie guaranteed box office success...but who is the "big star" in Avatar? Perhaps this is a technique which is fading, especially if you look at the box office failure of films like Salt and Knight and Day. Leonardo Dicaprio and Johnny Depp are now probably the two actors whose name alone could probably generate people to see it. We now seem to be moving more into an area of advertising where its those who made the film that become more important.
You can tell a director is big, if his name is used in the trailer. Sometimes a trailer will say "From the director of (insert film here)" the film the director have maid are more marketable than his name. However when you have a marquee director like Spielberg or Tarantino it doesn't say "From the director of E.T and Jurassic Park" it says a film from Steven Spielberg. How a director or filmmaker is marketed in respect of advertising the film, says a lot about their power and respect in Hollywood. The main way of marketing films nowadays is through trailers. The trailer is perhaps apart from the poster, the biggest advertising tool films have. However JJ Abrams and crew have brought to light a whole new form of movie marketing. Viral marketing. With Cloverfield and now with Super 8 they are marketing their movies though internet guessing games, ambiguous clues and mysterious trailers. Cloverfield, The Dark Knight and Buried are all examples of what i want to call proper movie advertising. All three did not give away all their plot details in the trailer and were all pretty good films as well. Especially in the case of Cloverfield and Buried, they were more traditional film trailers. They hinted at the story but did not give the whole game away. In the 70's trailers for films such as Ridley Scotts Alien and Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange had incredibly mysterious yet memorable trailers...
One technique that is frequently used when advertising films is showerings its poster and trailer with quotes. These quotes come from critics and can sometimes make up 90% of a films advert. It is no coincidence that the quote will be in huge, bold letters, dominating the screen while its location is hidden in small text. Infact sometimes when the quotes come from respected sources, the location of the quote is very recognizable. In the trailer for Up In The Air they were proud to show off Time magazine being kind about their film.
Another aspect of film advertising is linking the film to successful films of the past. You will often hear those who made the film say something along the lines of " its a mix of Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean" they take two successful films and make you believe that their film will give you a similar experience. This is also evident with the quote tactic mentioned above, trailers will have large quotes basically saying "It's like that film you loved and that other film you loved" The frequent use of quotes and comparison is a big marketing tactic when trying to get people to see a film. Next time you see a poster, a trailer or a promotional interview for film look out for any comparisons that are made and be sure to look at where the quote is coming from.
One way Studio bosses hope a film makes money is by having big name actors or actresses in it. When these "Star Vehicles" are advertised the names of the actors are almost bigger than the name of the film and their bodies dominate all the films posters and promotional images. However is the age of movie stardom dead? it used to be that simply putting big stars in your movie guaranteed box office success...but who is the "big star" in Avatar? Perhaps this is a technique which is fading, especially if you look at the box office failure of films like Salt and Knight and Day. Leonardo Dicaprio and Johnny Depp are now probably the two actors whose name alone could probably generate people to see it. We now seem to be moving more into an area of advertising where its those who made the film that become more important.
You can tell a director is big, if his name is used in the trailer. Sometimes a trailer will say "From the director of (insert film here)" the film the director have maid are more marketable than his name. However when you have a marquee director like Spielberg or Tarantino it doesn't say "From the director of E.T and Jurassic Park" it says a film from Steven Spielberg. How a director or filmmaker is marketed in respect of advertising the film, says a lot about their power and respect in Hollywood. The main way of marketing films nowadays is through trailers. The trailer is perhaps apart from the poster, the biggest advertising tool films have. However JJ Abrams and crew have brought to light a whole new form of movie marketing. Viral marketing. With Cloverfield and now with Super 8 they are marketing their movies though internet guessing games, ambiguous clues and mysterious trailers. Cloverfield, The Dark Knight and Buried are all examples of what i want to call proper movie advertising. All three did not give away all their plot details in the trailer and were all pretty good films as well. Especially in the case of Cloverfield and Buried, they were more traditional film trailers. They hinted at the story but did not give the whole game away. In the 70's trailers for films such as Ridley Scotts Alien and Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange had incredibly mysterious yet memorable trailers...
This trailer was taken from:
“ALIEN” Trailer (1979) (Video). April 22, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhGdRSkiUw
“ALIEN” Trailer (1979) (Video). April 22, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhGdRSkiUw
From that trailer could you tell what the films story was? who the characters were? could you guess an ending? Now lets check out the trailer for Clockwork Orange...
This trailer was taken from: “A Clockwork Orange” Trailer (Video). July 29, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n2NXuQ5ako
Now that is a trailer! it may not make sense until you see the film, but there is no denying its power. However nowadays it is rare to see a trailer like that and it seems like trailers are slowly becoming short films. I wrote a post on my weekly blog about what makes a good trailer and it seems like the opinion of how a movie trailer should go has dramatically changed over time by those who make them. Compare those two trailers to the trailer for Avatar...
This trailer was taken from: “Avatar” Trailer The Movie (New Extended HD Trailer) (Video). October 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ&playnext=1&list=PLB86B49514AF9FC35&index=36
From that trailer you are basically given the entire story of the film up until the very end which you can guess. However Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time, so clearly the advertising worked? well it seems like one of the most explicit trailers in terms of giving the story of all time resulted in the highest grossing film of all time. What does that say about us? are we more prepared to go and see something in safe knowledge of what we are seeing? are we now afraid to just go into a film not knowing what to expect? do we need everything defined for us and set out before we commit? what does movie advertising and its results say about us and our psychology? our need for safety and reassurance. Avatar made more money than the films above, the films above which had more mysterious trailers.
Perhaps the change in how movies are advertised is linked to the increase in money available in the industry. Rising ticket prices means that a huge amount of money is available in the film industry. With the possibility of such money, perhaps that is the reason why trailers are becoming more safe, predictable, long and annoying. Ultimately a rise in ticket prices and our human need for safety and knowledge could be cited as the two main reasons for the lack of secrecy in modern movie advertising.
What do you think of movie advertising? what things have you noticed? what kind of trailers do you prefer? do you agree that star power is dying? and what do you think about movie trailers possibly telling us something about human nature and being indicative of the money now present in Hollywood? be sure to leave your opinion in the your say section.
By Michael Dalton
What do you think of movie advertising? what things have you noticed? what kind of trailers do you prefer? do you agree that star power is dying? and what do you think about movie trailers possibly telling us something about human nature and being indicative of the money now present in Hollywood? be sure to leave your opinion in the your say section.
By Michael Dalton