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1) Outline
The main focus of this evaluation is to identify and analyse how I marketed by film towards my intended target audience. I will look back on my previous blogger posts and demonstrate how looking at different marketing methods inspired me and how I used my research to appropriately approach my target audience. -
2) Inspiration
One of the first things to look at before approaching my audience is successful methods used by other films. The reasons for this are: to gain inspiration, to use similar techniques that will make my marketing successful too, and to make sure I am appropriately targeting my audience. -
3) Blair Witch Project
Although it is a different genre, one of the best film marketing campaigns I have researched was for The Blair Witch Project. It was successful due to how believable it was, with the conspiracy surrounding the film capturing attention worldwide. This was helpful as it made me realise how emphasising the unique selling point of a film can be key to successful marketing. -
4) Reasonable Doubt
Peter Howitt's Reasonable Doubt was one of many films that inspired Dichotomy, and therefore they have a lot in common. As Reasonable doubt was produced by the independent South Creek Pictures, the marketing methods were fairly mainstream and typical (e.g. producing a poster and trailer). However, they had the unique selling point of having Samuel L Jackson play a secondary character in the film, which was a great promotion tool. -
5) Top Boy
Despite it being a TV series, Top Boy was the most helpful and inspirational when establishing my target audience. The series created a social media buzz before its release onto Channel 4 in 2011. It was popular due to the issues raised, particularly in an area so close to home. As Dichotomy is also described as gangster crime, the two would target very similar demographics (e.g. the young male audience). However, Top Boy does this by relying heavily on gender stereotypes. -
6) Genre Conventions
After finding sources of information, it is then vital to refer back to the typical conventions of crime films. Dichotomy was conventional in the location choices, gender of the main character, and the iconography used (e.g. the car and brown package). All of these things would meet the audiences expectations as they are familiar due to fitting the typical crime genre. -
7) Unique Selling Point
Taking a film that would typically appeal to C/D demographically categorised audiences, and turning it into a film that appeals to AB, and C audiences is the most unique aspect of Dichotomy. I was able to achieve this by including moral questioning, challenges of binary opposites, power struggles between the people and police and psychological questions on peoples morality and behaviour. These are all in depth themes that work the audience, however, it can still be enjoyed by C groups too. -
8) Audience Expectations
As mentioned, several aspects of my film do meet the expectations of my target audience. However, I was unconventional in the music choice and timing of the film title. The music especially would be unexpected, as it is uncommon to hear such an upbeat and lively soundtrack, however, my audience feedback demonstrated how most people liked this unconventional twist, as it kept them on their toes, in turn capturing their attention. -
9) Appealing to Audiences
The unconventional aspects of my film combined with the conventional ones work well together to appeal to my audience. This is because I am not challenging genre conventions so much that it becomes a niche marketed film, yet at the same time I am testing the audience by making them think. Combining these in depth themes with classic conventions makes it more of a mass market film as people can watch it without having to think too deeply if they don't want to, making it appealing to a wide range. -
10) Film Poster
After publishing a blog post analysing different marketing methods, I created a poster to accompany other marketing techniques I would use (e.g. several teaser trailers and social media promotion). I feel that a poster is the best marketing tool as it is so versatile in the locations in which it can be displayed, and as a result, it reaches a wide range of people. The poster I created is successful as after several improvements, I think it effectively conveys the genre and demonstrates mystery. -
11) Star Ratings
Not all film posters include star ratings, and although it is more unconventional, I too did not include them on my poster. This is because I wanted it to look sleek, and stick to a strict colour theme of black and white. I would however, ensure star ratings are included in magazine/newspaper reviews for example, and I would also include them if I published another post-release poster as this may encourage another wave of viewers. -
12) YouTube
Another way of addressing my audience is through posting videos onto YouTube. If I was to actually produce my film, I would set up a separate account and post things such as my teaser trailers and different interviews with cast members, actors and the director. YouTube is a good site for this, as it is very popular, and a good way for videos to go viral as it can be shared onto other social media platforms too. -
13) Online Presence
Another way of attracting my audience even more, is to create an account for my film on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as these are the top three most used social media platforms. Twitter would probably be the most suitable site as is the most 'current' platform, and would enable me update to fans instantly.
