The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 Marketing and Review

Before I get stuck into the marketing, please check out my review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 at Starburst Magazine now.

The marketing campaign for the penultimate entry in the Hunger Games franchise has seen a wonderful mix of traditional and more modern methods of spreading the word about the film. While waiting for Mockingjay Part 1 to be released, Hunger Games fans have been torn between propaganda messages from the Capitol and interrupting broadcasts beamed directly from District 13. 

Lionsgate opted for an immersive series of poster and viral videos that will inspire audiences to start picking sides and ensuring followers will feel like joining the revolution (and by that I just mean go and see the film). First came a series of disturbing and chilling posters from the Capitol, displaying and 'celebrating' the hard work, perseverance and crucially the sacrifice of ordinary people from the districts.

Next came a formal address from President Snow in which a brainwashed, docile Peeta stared blankly by his side. The Capitol’s television is going into propaganda overdrive in order to win back the servitude of the districts. Panem forever baby!

 

Then came Snow’s second address to the people of Panem. As Snow delivered his message to the divided nation, the screen distorted and the Capitol’s pristine vision was interrupted as Jeffrey Wright’s Beetee hacked his way onto the Capitol TV feed. His stark warning to the Capitol of Panem and fans of the Hunger Games franchise? The Mockingjay lives. 

Sooner or later the marketing had to get sensible and traditional again. So then we got the trailers actaully delivering some snippets from the movie. Of course we got the obligatory teaser:

And then finally the real deal:

Now the movie is almost here and I was lucky enough to attend a screening for Starburst Magazine so here is my review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

If you subscribe to or pick up a copy of the latest issue of Starburst Magazine, you can read my full preview of the film. 

More from I Love That Film:

What is The Hunger Games trilogy really all about?

Why I Love The Hunger Games

Trailers at I Love That Film

Reviews at I Love That Film

Buy my book on The Blair Witch Project

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 1 Posters and Trailers

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 2 TV, Radio, Internet 

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 3 Merchandise
The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 4 Premieres
The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 5 Press Junkets and Preview Screenings
The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 6 Film Festivals

Fast and Furious 7 Teaser Posters Arrive

The countdown is on until the first Fast and Furious 7 teaser trailer screeches onto the net. To mark the last seven days before we get some quality footage, Universal is releasing something special each day for fans.

So here it is: the first real poster for Fast and Furious 7, thankfully with the 'Fast and' intact after yesterday's banner (below) that only read 'Furious 7'.

Seeing as how Fast Five was called Fast Five and most people just referred to the sixth as Fast Six, it would be a bit weird to have to start calling it the 'Furious' franchise suddenly. On the other hand, I suppose the Furious is in keeping with the idea of vengeance which apparently, according to this poster, is about to hit home.

Lest we forget, this will be our last chance to see Paul Walker doing his thing in these films. It is only a month until the first anniversary of his death and I'm sure this film will give him a fitting send off. RIP.

I'm also hoping for big things from this film as Saw director James Wan took the wheel for this installment. Let's hope he steers the franchise in a thrilling direction with newbies Jason Statham and Kurt Russell on board!

Like the posters or had enough of this franchise?

Much more Fast and Furious 7 news at Yahoo
Trailers at I Love That Film
More on Fast and Furious 7 at I Love That Film
Reviews at I Love That Film

The Equalizer Linear Trailer

What if movie trailers presented their clips in chronological order? Would it give away the story of the whole movie? Here's what the trailer for The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington would look like. Here is my review of the film at Starburst Magazine.

Hunger Games Teaser: President Snow's Panem Address

Poor Peeta. Check out Josh Hutcherson in this teaser video for the third Hunger Games movie Mockingjay Part 1. He is brainwashed like so many of the citizens of Panem and is now President Snow's mascot.

Poor old Peeta is about to become a propaganda tool in the fight against the rebellion that will rise with Katniss Everdeen at the centre. This also means that we'll actually get more of a chance to see Katniss getting cosy with Gale as Peeta is going to be far too busy standing still and staring into space at Snow's side.

The third book is probably the weakest of the book series and the decision to split it into two films is perhaps unwise but with marketing like this, we'll just have to wait and see. No matter what, it will be good to see Katniss out of the arena and into a real war, and this will also be the final chance to witness Philip Seymour Hoffman's majesty on screen.

Does anyone else get a creepy Michael Jackson/Jimmy Saville-like vibe from the President in this video?

Panem forever baby...

New Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Posters, Banners and Trailer

Christmas is definitely coming early with the biggest of blockbusters being displayed like bright lights on the particularly large house that is the internet. The studios behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be keen to capitalise on the successes of the first in each film series and long ago started the marketing ball rolling with stills, posters and trailers. Expect the marketing machines to go into over drive as we get closer to the November and December release dates.

For now, some lovely new banners have been released for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and also a brand spanking new poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The Desolation of Smaug banners are all the usually sumptuous range of imagery and really reminded me of the marketing of The Lord of the Rings and the weight of expectation that each new poster or trailer for that trilogy carried every Christmas.

The first banner focuses on Bilbo and the team of dwarves battling their way through what is likely the darkness of Mirkwood. Then there are separate banners for Elf-King and Legolas Dad Thranduil and finally Luke Evan's new addition Bard the Bowman. There are no more signs of Smaug but Peter Jackson is undoubtedly saving the big final reveal of the dragon until December 13 when the film is released. Enjoy the banners below:

If that hasn't tickled your fancy, perhaps a further slice of Katniss might do the job. Ahead of the November 22nd release date, Lionsgate have unleashed another fiery image from the Hunger Games sequel. Katniss is still determined to maintain her archery skills but despite being thrown back into an arena to fight for her life against former winners, is also being encouraged to 'remember who the enemy is'. The real enemy of course is President Snow and the system that imprisons Katniss and her fellow captive tributes but we will have to wait until Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 to see Jennifer Lawrence and co rage against the real machine. For now, enjoy the poster:

Liking the look of these posters and banners? If none of that whets your appetite, why not try the brand new Desolation of Smaug trailer:

The History of Internet Movie Marketing

I'm currently writing one of the last chapters of my book on The Blair Witch Project for the Auteur Devil's Advocate series and I'm trying to find out a bit about the history of movie marketing using the internet as a tool. Everybody knows about the effectiveness of the website that was made to promote The Blair Witch Project but I'm curious about how ground breaking it actually was.

I'm finding it pretty hard to find out much about the history of internet movie marketing so I've put a few tweets out to see if anyone can help. Here are the tweets. This is, by the way, one of the many reasons I love Twitter. There are so many movie buffs out there and their knowledge, passion and desire to communicate astounds me. I'm just waiting for the day when I run out of movie buffs to follow but I hope that never happens.

Anyone know anything about the history of movie marketing on the internet?
— Pete Turner (@ilovethatfilm) June 17, 2013

Anyone know the first film to have a promotional website?
— Pete Turner (@ilovethatfilm) June 17, 2013

When did promotional movie websites become commonplace?
— Pete Turner (@ilovethatfilm) June 17, 2013

And as usual with the power of the internet, I got a response to one of these question almost immediately. How good is that? Love Twitter. Love the internet. Very grateful to @beckygracelea for the information. I recommend you go follow her for being awesome!

@ilovethatfilm Oddly, I do know this one - it was Stargate in 1994.
— Becky Lea (@beckygracelea) June 17, 2013

So Stargate eh? Freaky that I've just finished writing a Roland Emmerich retrospective for Filmoria too (to be published next week). You'd have thought I might have stumbled across this little nugget of information. Here is the proof that @beckygracelea was right:

"Stargate was the first movie to ever have an official website. It was set up by Dean Devlin in 1994 and featured images, trailers and behind the scenes clips and actor information."

So now my other questions still stand, what happened next, when did it become commonplace? Was Blair Witch really the one that made movie makers see the power of the internet as a marketing tool?  Any help would be extremely generous and much appreciated!

Pre- and Post-Viewing Experiences and Conditions of Reception: The Relationship between Audiences and Films Part 7

The enjoyment of a film can also be affected by the pre and post-viewing experiences of the person who watches it and where and how they watch it. For example if a viewer watched all the trailers, promotional clips, interviews with the stars etc before a film is released, they may have extremely high expectations of the film. This might mean the film fails to meet these expectations. Comedies often have many of the best jokes in the trailers of the films and these jokes will not be as funny when they are in the final film if you have seen the trailer a few times. Similarly many trailers give a great deal of the story away and show many of the best stunts. The recent Fast and Furious 6 trailer seemed to have clips from all the major set-pieces and therefore there was no sense of surprise when watching the film. Prometheus was also a victim of its excellent marketing because people had huge expectations and the film was not as good as many had hoped.

Before or after a film, reading reviews might also affect a person’s enjoyment of a film. Sometimes I read a review and I can’t get the words of the writer out of my head and it ends up affecting my opinion. For this reason many wait till after they have seen a film to read any reviews. Also discussing a film after it has finished can potentially change your opinion of it. Though I still love The Dark Knight Rises, hearing people pick out the all the plot holes has lessened my love for it a little bit.

How you watch a film is also important as watching a film at an IMAX cinema with state of the art sound is a very different experience to watching a film on a mobile phone or a dodgy pirate DVD copy. Blockbusters particularly are supposed to be seen on a big screen in a dark room with the sound up loud to get the full audio visual experience. If an audience is laughing in a comedy or screaming in a horror, it will likely have an effect on other viewers. Watching a film with mates is different to watching it with parents or on a first date and watching it alone is very different to watching it with a large audience. All these factors can affect enjoyment and interpretation. 3D is supposedly more immersive but many hate it and some people have home cinema set ups because they would rather watch a film in their own home. I also find that if I see a really good film early (at a preview before it is released) I think I often love it even more than if I was (seemingly) the last to see it. I certainly feel the need to talk about it more to convince more people to go and see it.

And that is the end of this series on the relationship between audience and films. Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to argue with me all you want it the comments below and check out the other posts in this series. All the links are below:

Did you miss...?

Part 1 on active vs passive spectatorship.

Part 2 on the pleasures of film watching. 

Part 3 on frameworks of interpretation.

Part 4 on media literacy and intertextuality.

Part 5 on the effects of film.

Part 6 on fandom.

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 6 Film Festivals

This is the sixth and final (hooray!) part of my many posts on the different methods of movie marketing, this one covering film festivals. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences. You can find part one on posters and trailers here. Part 2 on TV, radio and print media advertising and using the internet and viral marketing is here. Part 3 on movie merchandise is here. Part 4 on premieres is here. Part 5 on press junkets and preview screenings is here.

Finally film festivals are an increasingly powerful tool for a range of films to get promoted to as big an audience as possible. Festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, London, Sundance and SXSW all hold competitions and give out awards to films that are shown there. Festivals attract the press and so hold fancy events in often glamorous locations. Independent and world cinema films used to be the biggest offerings at film festivals but recently the major Hollywood studios have descended on them and flexed their marketing muscles with publicity stunts and parties. Film festivals traditionally gave a boost to smaller films but now are being increasingly taken over by the studios output.

The Cannes film festival has the coveted Palme D’Or as well as many other prizes that can be won by films in competition. They are voted on by a jury that in 2013 includes directors Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee and Lynne Ramsay and stars Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz. If a film wins prizes at a festival, it can use this in other forms of marketing such as trailers and posters. Last year’s Palme D’Or winner Amour went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. This year at Cannes, the Hunger Games sequel dominated headlines as the stars turned up for a party thrown by studio Lionsgate to help promote the movie.

Film Festivals mostly show films before they are released worldwide and help to build a buzz around them. The press write about film festivals and keen film fans will always be aware of the latest films that are being screened. Smaller independent films like The Blair Witch Project picked up distribution deals at Sundance Film Festival and went on to become huge hits with mainstream audiences. 

And that is the end of my series on movie marketing! Hope it has been useful to my students and occasionally interesting to anyone else who may have read it!

More on movie marketing:

Part one on posters and trailers
Part 2 on TV, radio and print media advertising and using the internet and viral marketing
Part 3 on movie merchandise
Part 4 on premieres is here 
Part 5 on press junkets and preview screenings

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 5 Press Junkets and Preview Screenings

This is the fifth part of my many posts on the different methods of movie marketing, this one covering press junkets and preview screenings. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences. You can find part one on posters and trailers here. Part 2 on TV, radio and print media advertising and using the internet and viral marketing is here. Part 3 on movie merchandise is here. Part 4 on premieres is here.

Press junkets are where the people behind the film gather the press together for an event usually held in a hotel. They have the stars and filmmakers available for individual or group interviews and may have a press conference Q&A session. This allows TV and radio shows, magazines, newspapers and websites to come and interview the stars and the then give the film free publicity by writing about it. Stars will also be contracted to appear on chat shows to promote the films but a press junket allows a lot of media outlets to get access to the stars quickly and efficiently. Most big releases will have a press junket in different cities across the globe. For example the Star Trek Into Darkness press junket was held at London’s City Hall but was more of a conference with a Q&A to give as many media outlets a chance to print something about the film as possible. Read more about the Star Trek Into Darkness press conference here.

Preview screenings are also an excellent way to spread the word on a movie. Different to test screenings, preview screenings show the finished film and do not ask for detailed feedback. They are special screenings that can be accessed in numerous ways. Critics will be invited to them in order to review the film, sometimes people will win competitions to gain tickets to them and sites like ShowFilmFirst offer tickets to their members. Sky, The Telegraph newspaper and the Daily Mail also offer tickets to their subscribers occasionally. If the film is good, preview screenings create positive word of mouth and more people will go and see the film on opening weekend. Sometimes some feedback will be required from the audience in order to gauge their reactions and figure out how to market the movie more effectively to the target audience. Currently the Guardian are offering tickets to a preview screening of Behind the Candelabra. Preview screenings can be an excellent and relatively cheap way to develop some good buzz around a smaller film with a small marketing budget.

Next up is the final part on film festivals.

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 4 Premieres

This is the fourth part of my many posts on the different methods of movie marketing, this one covering premieres. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences. You can find part one on posters and trailers here. Part 2 on TV, radio and print media advertising and using the internet and viral marketing is here. Part 3 on movie merchandise is here.

Premieres are another way to help market a movie, particularly if the film has big internationally recognisable stars that are willing or contracted to attend. Premieres are the first official screening of the film to the public and are often big events in major cities across the world. They have a red carpet and the press and fans gather outside the cinemas to see the stars arrive for the screening. The press interview the stars and filmmakers on the red carpet (or blue in the case of Fast and Furious 6) and these interviews help to publicise the film in the media. 

Sometimes premieres for the biggest films even end up being covered by news programmes because they are such a big story. This is excellent publicity for the studios as it gets the film in the consciousness of everybody who watches the news or reads magazines. Often the stars are dressed in the latest fashions and minor celebrities also attend so pictures, videos and news items appear in celebrity gossip and fashion magazines. This targets an even wider audience for the film than the other forms of marketing.

The final Harry Potter film was covered by the news because fans were sleeping out on the streets in order to see the stars. Some premieres appear to take over Leicester Square with the landmark being transformed into a scene from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory complete with giant candy canes and lollipops for the premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The bigger the stars and the more work that is put into making the premiere an event, the more attention it will get.

Having even just one international star can really boost a smaller film if that star attends the premiere. For example the small British film Is Anybody There? would not have the same marketing budget as a Hollywood blockbuster but because Michael Caine stars in it and attended the premiere, there will be more attention brought to it in the press than a similar small British film with no recognisable stars in the cast.

Next part is on press junkets and preview screenings.

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 3 Merchandise

This is the third part of my many posts on the different methods of movie marketing, this one covering merchandise. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences. You can find part one on posters and trailers here. Part 2 on TV, radio and print media advertising and using the internet and viral marketing is here.

 

Merchandising is another useful way to market a movie and has become increasingly important since the days of films like Star Wars and Jaws. Not only can merchandise help to spread the word about a movie, but it also can make the studio a lot of money. The audience are basically paying to help market the movie. Merchandising means putting an image or logo from the film on a range of products and selling them to the public. Merchandise can range from t-shirts, toys, lunchboxes and duvet covers to collectible items such as replica weapons and props from films. 

Blockbusters and high concept films that can be sold on the strength of a single image can be particularly beneficial for selling merchandise as the image or logo is easy to recognise and gives the film brand recognition. Spiderman, Batman, Jurassic Park and Jaws all have distinctive, easy to reproduce and recognisable logos or posters which can be put on any products the studio wishes to sell. Transformers was a toy range before becoming a film but now with the film versions begin released, Hasbro can make more toys that tie in with the films. George Lucas, the writer and director of Star Wars kept ownership of the licensing and merchandising rights  (which the studio did not realise could be so profitable) and made a fortune from selling Star Wars toys, collectibles and games based on the franchise.

Merchandise is often, but not always, aimed at children so family movies can often have a larger and more successful range. Disney, Pixar and Marvel will make huge amounts of money from selling toys of the characters and a huge range of products with images from the films on them. The idea is that once a child sees the movie, they will want a souvenir and then fortunately for the studio, that piece of merchandise will advertise the film to more children.

Get ready for Pacific Rim!

Everything you need to know about Guillermo del Toro's latest, Pacific Rim:

The auteur has not directed a film since comic book sequel Hellboy II in 2008.

His version of The Hobbit failed to emerge due to scheduling conflicts and then his long-awaited passion project At the Mountains of Madness was refused a green light by a nervous studio.

He has completed his trilogy of vampire horror novels The Strain with Chuck Hogan which will now be turned into a series of TV movies.

Synopsis

When a portal beneath the sea opens unleashing mega-monsters (known as Kaiju) from other dimensions, the human race must fight back by building 250 foot tall mecha-titans, known as Jaegers. Two human pilots control these giant robots as they get strapped into circuitry suits, each controlling a hemisphere (left or right) of the mechanical beasts.

Set in the not too distant future, the Kaiju that have emerged from the portal have devastated earth leading to masses of destruction and millions dead and the fight back has dwindled human resources leading to a sense of desperation. Charlie Hunnam’s former pilot is forced to team up with an untested trainee to ‘cancel the apocalypse’ in the words of Idris Elba’s commanding officer.

Inception

Travis Beacham, writer of The Clash of the Titans remake wrote a 25 page script treatment back in 2010 which was immediately purchased by Legendary Pictures. Del Toro then came on board developing the screenplay with Beacham for two years before principal photography began on the 103 day Toronto shoot in November 2011.

Inspired by the Fransisco Goya painting The Colossus that also inspired video game Shadow of the Colossus, the initial idea of Pacific Rim was to go back to the earliest tales of monsters that mankind would tell around campfires.  

Casting

Taking a risk, del Toro managed to secure the cast he wanted without any of the huge star names that usually hold up a tent pole movie of this size. Legendary Pictures backed his decision, arguing it is the creation of the world and the concept that will be the main attraction to audiences.

Idris Elba is the commanding officer Sensi who will go head to head with the Kaiju. It was a role originally developed for Tom Cruise who had reportedly shown an interest. Charlie Hunnam from TV’s Sons of Anarchy takes the washed up Jaeger pilot role as hero Raleigh.

Monsters

Steering away from the archetypal monsters of mythology, anime and previous Kaiju movies, the completely original designs have been at the forefront of del Toro’s mind since the beginning. 

3D?

Del Toro resisted the pressure to shoot in 3D because he felt that the 3D effects would miniaturize the robots and monsters and audiences would not get the full sense of the scale and awe he intended.

Then came the shocking news that del Toro had agreed to a dreaded 3D post-conversion. Del Toro supervised the process, taking 40 weeks to do the conversion where it normally only takes a few weeks to complete on previous movies.

The latest trailer

Could this trailer be any bigger?

 The teaser

The poster

Excited yet?

The Many Methods of Movie Marketing: Part 2

The second of four parts that will cover all the different methods of movie marketing. This is mainly for my film students who are looking at the relationship between film producers and audiences. First we looked at how producers get information from audiences and now we move on to how producers give information to audiences. You can find part one on posters and trailers here.

Films with large marketing budgets can also afford to do radio and television advertising. These TV and radio spots are very short mini-trailers for the films and are expensive but tell a large audience about the films. They can be targeted by the programmes and times that they appear in the media. A film can have several different TV spots that target different audiences by highlighting different elements of the film. For example Shaun of the Dead had TV spots that emphasised the romantic comedy elements and others that accentuated the zombie conventions. Some TV spots highlighted the critics reaction to the film by including quotes (see below). Distributors can also place adverts in other types of media such as magazines and newspapers. Film magazines in particular will feature many mini-posters for new release films.

 

Increasingly film producers and distributors are using the internet to market films. This can be similar to other media advertising with banners and other images from the film appearing around websites. For example at the top of the Total Film website on 7^th December 2012, there was a banner for The Dark Knight Rises out now to buy on iTunes. 

Also YouTube and other video sharing websites have become some of the best places to watch trailers. Not only are they all uploaded by either fans or the studios, but often before people watch a video on YouTube, they have to watch an advert which could be a trailer for a film. Studios also fork out for an official website for their films. For example The Hobbit has a site that has an image gallery, videos, and special features and downloads and these official sites also often include games, particularly if it is a family film. It also features the official worldwide release dates. 

The Blair Witch Project was an excellent example of a website that built interest in a film. The makers had not a lot of money to promote their film and so created a detailed backstory about the events in the film and made the website appear as if all the events in the film were true. It got people talking and allowed them to explore the mythology further. 

Other films have since made fake websites to help sell the film. This viral marketing is becoming one of the most popular ways of building interest in a film long before it is released. The idea is that people get involved with the marketing and share it and discover it themselves. Cloverfield had fake websites including one for the fake drink Slusho that tied into the film (http://www.slusho.jp/). Warner Brothers also created fake campaign websites for the character Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. They even went much further:

‘On December 3rd a new page appeared at whysoserious.com/steprightup with a hammer game and some teddy bear toys. Each toy had an address on it located in a number of cities around the US. The note on the game told people to go to that address and say their name was "Robin Banks" (get it, "Robbing Banks") and they'd get something there. It was first come, first serve, and each location was a bakery. What they were given was a cake with a phone number written on it. Now here's the best part: inside the cake was an evidence bag (complete with Gotham City Police printing) that contained a cell phone, a charger, a Joker playing card and a note with instructions.’ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/the-dark-knights-viral-marketing-gets-very-real-cakes-cell-phones-and-all/)

Another type of marketing is using other companies to create promotional tie-ins. The hope is that if the film studios let a fast food or drinks company use their logo, it will increase consumer awareness and the company hopes to increase sales of their product through association with the film. This is like branding and increasing brand recognition. Burger King and Warner Brothers joined forces to create the The Dark Whopper and a cinema and television advertising campaign promoting the product and the film. 

More recently Volvo teamed up with the producers of the Twilight Saga: 

‘Volvo launched the Lost In Forks online contest, in which Twilight fans navigate an XC60 through the town of Forks, Washington following clues that lead to Edward’s home. It doesn’t matter that many of the contest participants won’t be old enough to drive in real life. Volvo said moms will take a look at the XC60 based on their kids’ enthusiasm’ (http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/06/twilight-fans-root-for-team-volvo/)

 Part 3 on merchandising and premieres coming soon!