Saturday, 26 February 2011
Friday, 25 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
VIRAL MARKETING YOUTUBE
What is viral Marketing?
Viral marketing and advertising are known marketing techniques that are use social networks to create awareness. It’s known as the self replicating viral process, through either word or mouth, or the power of technology such as web 2.0 and user generated platforms such as YouTube. Viral marketing can be carried out in many ways, such as video clips, flash games, text messaging, online popup and images as well as through a technique of stealth marketing.
What audience does it target
Viral marketing can be known to target a specific audience. Considering the use of techniques that viral marketing is done through, younger audiences and those who have access to the web and other forms of technology are the main focus and audience type for viral marketing.
Examples
Cloverfield is a prime example of the use of viral marketing, and how using such techniques can be a great success. Before the release of this film, Paramount pictures carried out a viral marketing campaign. Film makers decided to release a teaser trailer which was put together during the production process. This teaser was released without a title, it included the release date of January 18th 2008 and this was all. This alone acts as an example of viral marketing. A trailer was released, but with limited information, in result creating a buzz among the audience.
A more recent example of a viral marketing campaign in the film industry is the campaign for Paranormal Activity. This video below shows a 20second video clip which was shown online, on platforms such as YouTube. It was shown through pop ups and word of mouth and the video also played at the sides of websites. This is one of many viral videos that were released for this film, and its sequel.
The Blair witch project is an older example of the success of viral marketing It was released in July of 1999. The success of the film could also be given to its unique website, where there included slideshows and real images with the caption 'less than a week before their disappearance', Again having similar effects to the viral marketing of Cloverfield.
How i will use viral marketing
By researching and understanding the importance of viral marketing, it is essential to include this type of marketing technique for my film. I have created a video which is shown below, which I have made to present my idea of what I would use as a viral marketing campaign. I would present this video on web 2.0 and audience generated platforms such as YouTube, and social networking sites such as facebook and MySpace and Twitter I would not release the name of my film, as I would create a word of mouth process. Audiences would send the YouTube link across sites. Also being published on YouTube can allow access to the video via mobile, which can create a bigger audience.
Below i have included a mock up of what my Twitter page would look like, zooming into the details. Twitter is a fast growing social networking site and by following the page the audience can find out details of the film as they are released. I also made a Facebook page, which other users can like.
Viral marketing and advertising are known marketing techniques that are use social networks to create awareness. It’s known as the self replicating viral process, through either word or mouth, or the power of technology such as web 2.0 and user generated platforms such as YouTube. Viral marketing can be carried out in many ways, such as video clips, flash games, text messaging, online popup and images as well as through a technique of stealth marketing.
What audience does it target
Viral marketing can be known to target a specific audience. Considering the use of techniques that viral marketing is done through, younger audiences and those who have access to the web and other forms of technology are the main focus and audience type for viral marketing.
Examples
Cloverfield is a prime example of the use of viral marketing, and how using such techniques can be a great success. Before the release of this film, Paramount pictures carried out a viral marketing campaign. Film makers decided to release a teaser trailer which was put together during the production process. This teaser was released without a title, it included the release date of January 18th 2008 and this was all. This alone acts as an example of viral marketing. A trailer was released, but with limited information, in result creating a buzz among the audience.
A more recent example of a viral marketing campaign in the film industry is the campaign for Paranormal Activity. This video below shows a 20second video clip which was shown online, on platforms such as YouTube. It was shown through pop ups and word of mouth and the video also played at the sides of websites. This is one of many viral videos that were released for this film, and its sequel.
The Blair witch project is an older example of the success of viral marketing It was released in July of 1999. The success of the film could also be given to its unique website, where there included slideshows and real images with the caption 'less than a week before their disappearance', Again having similar effects to the viral marketing of Cloverfield.
How i will use viral marketing
By researching and understanding the importance of viral marketing, it is essential to include this type of marketing technique for my film. I have created a video which is shown below, which I have made to present my idea of what I would use as a viral marketing campaign. I would present this video on web 2.0 and audience generated platforms such as YouTube, and social networking sites such as facebook and MySpace and Twitter I would not release the name of my film, as I would create a word of mouth process. Audiences would send the YouTube link across sites. Also being published on YouTube can allow access to the video via mobile, which can create a bigger audience.
Below i have included a mock up of what my Twitter page would look like, zooming into the details. Twitter is a fast growing social networking site and by following the page the audience can find out details of the film as they are released. I also made a Facebook page, which other users can like.
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| This print screen shows the front page of the facebook page for the film. |
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| Videos, images and other links can be posted up on this page. I have posted up my viral marketing video as an exmaple of this. This way facebook audiences are viewing my video through this site, as well as youtube users viewing the video through the Youtube site. If this video is posted up anywhere, external sites can get a hold of it, many may wish to blog about the video and upcomming movie that is creating a buzz, and as a result the video may be shared on various blog sites. |
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| Options on the facebook page allow me to post status updates for the films audience, Promote the facebook page on external websites, which will gather a greater audience size, and also set up the page for mobile users. So anyone using facebook on their mobile can view the page and keep fully up to fate with the details of the film. Having this page connected to your mobile will allow audiences to recieve automatic information, and becuase they would recieve it at any time through their mobile, it can easily be sent to hundreds of other mobile users, by instant messenger,SMS or email. |
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| Facebook also allows me to take this page and promote it as an advert. When i promote the advert through the process shown above, The page will be an advert for facebook, showing up on the sides of users homepages. Using facebook and other web 2.0 technologies is a great way to market the film. In particular facebook does not just allow you to create a page, but allows you to advertise your page, post youtube videos and images which will work together to create a buzz for the film and market the film virally. |
Monday, 14 February 2011
Features, Ideas, Slogans and skyline for magazine cover
I decided to make a brainstorm of ideas that would represent my thoughts on what features i would include on my magazine cover. I wanted to do a brainstorm because it helps me think of more ideas, forcing myself to want to fill the page and come up with as many ideas as i can. I also did this for Slogans and teasers, as well as what i want my skyline or selling line to read.
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Many of these feature ideas were based on my results from the audience research that I carried out. All of my respondents thought that reviews is a very useful and beneficial feature of a magazine as it helps decide if they should go watch a film or not. My audience also suggested summaries of films, screen shots of the movie, exclusive interviews and film ratings. Screen shots can be used to make a film look more appealing to an audience, and it’s the only way a magazine can represent a film without using a visual video. For example, seeing a screen shot of a girl, with blood all over her face and a possessive facial expression can be very persuading for the audience, as they would want to know the story behind what’s happened to her and what she’s is going or has done in the film. I used all these ideas in my brain storm as well as adding a few of my own. I thought a feature on Horror hair and makeup would be interesting, I took the idea from general magazines, for example look magazine is a different market and genre, but hair and makeup can be applied to everything. However my audience may want to know how the characters come about looking the way they do, what equipment or makeup it used. I Also thought of a feature called horror: then and now, which would look and compare classic horrors to more modern ones. Other features that came about in my brainstorm was directors choice, upcoming movies, news, top 25 horror films this year, top 5 recommended films this year, an article on being backstage at a horror film set, Top 10 horror soundtracks and the celebrities favourite horror films. Some of these ideas stemmed from general aspects of a film, for example, hair makeup, sound/music, directors and actors. In result giving me some great ideas to consider for the features of my magazine. |
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These Slogans and teasers have come from my feature ideas; this brainstorm above shows how I will represent my features in a sentence on my cover. For example my idea of horror hair and makeup, I worded into the hair and makeup of horror. This is short, snappy and explains itself well, but doesn’t give away too much, this way my audience will be interested in what films and characters I looked at in terms of this subject. I also used a teaser to represent the horror trailer I created. This teaser reads 'Disconnected set to be the most anticipated horror film of 2011, and we have the inside scoop'. Although this magazine specialises in horror, I wanted to include themes, conventions and language which was of general magazines and film magazines. Therefore I have been using language which you would see in modern gossip or latest news and film magazines, the reason I did this was because it has around the same aged target audience and to ensure my magazine is a modern one, which is my goal, I wanted to use modern language, in this case, 'scoop'. Overall the teasers I have come up with all give a tease and insight into what my magazine will include, they don’t give away a lot and keep information to a minimal so the audience will want to know more about what’s inside and therefore buy the magazine. |
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My final brainstorm was to gather ideas on what I could have for a skyline/selling line. I have not yet decided if I want the skyline to be the selling line so I just included all ideas here and kept my options open. From my brainstorm some of my favourite lines are, specialising in horror films for you, the golden package for horror lovers everywhere, the horror version of OK magazine and also most popular modern horror magazine. A lot of the ideas I thought of were promoting the magazine and verifying its target audience, and in all the ideas I came up with I was successful in doing so. For example the horror version of OK magazine. This is an interesting selling line, as it automatically verifies the target audience and as soon as somebody reads that, they will know whether the magazine is for them or not. |
Overall by creating these brainstorms i have allowed myself to have a range of options to consider for my magazine features, skyline,sellingline and slogans. Doing this planning has made decions easier and allowed myself to be organised when creating my magazine cover. If i did not carry out this task i would be confused and be making up lines last miniute when making my cover.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
AUDIENCE RESEARCH FOR MAGAZINE COVER
I carried out an audience research in order to find out more about what people think and want for a film magazine. I wanted to carry this research out in a unique way, a way that I have not attempted in doing before; I didn’t want to use facebook as I have used that method to gather feedback for my trailer. I also didn’t want to use a typical questionnaire sheet which I would physically distribute because I have done this before and found that those I have asked have usually been in a rush and information can result in being invalid.
After many ideas, such as emails, twitter and through phone calls, I found a method which is very relevant to the film industry. I decided to carry out the research through the mobile technology, using particular applications of instant chat, for example BBM (Blackberry messenger and Whatsapp. These applications allowed me to access all my phone contacts that have a blackberry or an iphone, and on my contact list that was around 70%. In my opinion this method is very easy and it catches people at a time which is free for them. For example if I sent out a broadcast message, my contacts can reply whenever they want, if they want and how they want. They can even send me pictures of what they think is a bad or great film magazine cover. This method was also very unique and suitable as my target audience is of a younger age, who are more socially active through media technologies and platforms, weather the case being via mobile or web 2.0, Therefore considering my target audience, a questionnaire seemed an old fashioned method.
Films such as cloverfield also used mobile SMS to carry out their viral marketing, which was sucsessfull. Technology is everywhere and new methods highlight how easy and fast it is to carry out tasks such as viral marketing, and in this case audience research.
In order for this to work, I would need to capture the answers of my short questionnaire. I did this by downloading an application called MUNCHED. This is where you are able to `munch’ what is on your phone screen and save it, exactly like a print screen on the computer.
Once I had this application, I began setting up a broadcast message on my blackberry messenger, which is shown on the Munched screen catchers below. This broadcast message can be as long as you like and it sends to whoever you like. I made five quick questions for my audience contacts which would be individuals aged from 17-25. I purposely made a quick questionnaire as it would be more appealing to instant chat users then a long paragraphed message. Myself as well as allot of other users find these long broadcasts a turn off. So for a good result and response rate, I kept questions short and sweet, this way I would gain quantative results and research that would help me create my magazine cover, and receive a decent response rate.
Below are the answers I received in my audience research. This is a sample of the many results i received through BlackBerry messenger and Whatapp messenger.
Overall this audience research has given me some insight before i start to create my magazine cover. I have gathered that individuals between the ages of 17-25 do not read film magazines too often. Out of those i asked, only one seemed to buy it 2 or 3 times a year, and that was as frequent as it got. My second question asked, do you enjoy reading reviews about films, and all my respondents answered yes, so from this i will ensure I include film reviews as a feature on my cover. In terms of pricing the answers averaged out to around £3, this is the price that the audience is willing to pay; therefore i will set my magazine at that cost. My forth question asked what features would you like to see in a film magazine. This was a vital question as i was interested in knowing what others would be interested in seeing. Overall the respondents felt that film reviews, interviews, screenshots, summaries, ratings and upcoming films and news were great features that they would be interested in reading. My fifth and final question asked if a cover should be busy or simple. The majority of people I asked felt a busy cover would be better because there is more to read and the cover grabs their attention, more so then a simple cover. However a few respondents said a simple cover would be most effective as it creates suspense on the dominant image.
This audience research has been very successful and i have achieved my main goal of gathering insight on a few things for the magazine cover. Such as pricing and features which i was eager to research.
After many ideas, such as emails, twitter and through phone calls, I found a method which is very relevant to the film industry. I decided to carry out the research through the mobile technology, using particular applications of instant chat, for example BBM (Blackberry messenger and Whatsapp. These applications allowed me to access all my phone contacts that have a blackberry or an iphone, and on my contact list that was around 70%. In my opinion this method is very easy and it catches people at a time which is free for them. For example if I sent out a broadcast message, my contacts can reply whenever they want, if they want and how they want. They can even send me pictures of what they think is a bad or great film magazine cover. This method was also very unique and suitable as my target audience is of a younger age, who are more socially active through media technologies and platforms, weather the case being via mobile or web 2.0, Therefore considering my target audience, a questionnaire seemed an old fashioned method.
Films such as cloverfield also used mobile SMS to carry out their viral marketing, which was sucsessfull. Technology is everywhere and new methods highlight how easy and fast it is to carry out tasks such as viral marketing, and in this case audience research.
In order for this to work, I would need to capture the answers of my short questionnaire. I did this by downloading an application called MUNCHED. This is where you are able to `munch’ what is on your phone screen and save it, exactly like a print screen on the computer.
Once I had this application, I began setting up a broadcast message on my blackberry messenger, which is shown on the Munched screen catchers below. This broadcast message can be as long as you like and it sends to whoever you like. I made five quick questions for my audience contacts which would be individuals aged from 17-25. I purposely made a quick questionnaire as it would be more appealing to instant chat users then a long paragraphed message. Myself as well as allot of other users find these long broadcasts a turn off. So for a good result and response rate, I kept questions short and sweet, this way I would gain quantative results and research that would help me create my magazine cover, and receive a decent response rate.
Below are the answers I received in my audience research. This is a sample of the many results i received through BlackBerry messenger and Whatapp messenger.
The last answer is through the whatsapp application for iphone users.
Overall this audience research has given me some insight before i start to create my magazine cover. I have gathered that individuals between the ages of 17-25 do not read film magazines too often. Out of those i asked, only one seemed to buy it 2 or 3 times a year, and that was as frequent as it got. My second question asked, do you enjoy reading reviews about films, and all my respondents answered yes, so from this i will ensure I include film reviews as a feature on my cover. In terms of pricing the answers averaged out to around £3, this is the price that the audience is willing to pay; therefore i will set my magazine at that cost. My forth question asked what features would you like to see in a film magazine. This was a vital question as i was interested in knowing what others would be interested in seeing. Overall the respondents felt that film reviews, interviews, screenshots, summaries, ratings and upcoming films and news were great features that they would be interested in reading. My fifth and final question asked if a cover should be busy or simple. The majority of people I asked felt a busy cover would be better because there is more to read and the cover grabs their attention, more so then a simple cover. However a few respondents said a simple cover would be most effective as it creates suspense on the dominant image.
This audience research has been very successful and i have achieved my main goal of gathering insight on a few things for the magazine cover. Such as pricing and features which i was eager to research.
TYPEFACES FOR MAGAZINE COVER
This post includes all my planning for typefaces. This aspect of the magazine cover is vital as it represents the words you are trying to get across to the audience. Having a typeface is blue bubble gum writing for a horror magazine would be very unrepresentative and would not make sense. Choosing the right typeface sets off a vibe for the overall magazine and i will be researching to in the end have three typefaces for my horror magazine cover. From previous research i found three typefaces is a conventional number.
These typefaces below are the ones i found for my masthead.
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| This is a typical horror typeface. As soon as the audience see this as the masthead, regardless of what the masthead is, for example show reel, (which doesn't specify the horror genre), they can automatically link this to the horror genre. This typeface is perfect for indicting the genre if the name of the magazine does not. |
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| This typeface reminds me of a cinima or a popcorn movie. It does also give a slight horror or medevil feeling becuase of its curved top half and its straightness along the bottom. |
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| This typeface is very different from the others, which is why i chose it as an option. It reminds me of the horror movie 'The Ring' because the typeface used for that movie name is similar to this. It looks handwritten or as if it could be carved which is always a good effect. |
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| This typeface is not as great as the others, its in a bubble type writing which does not give out the right message. If this was to be the typeface of my masthead, the audiences reaction to what the magazine is about may be a confused one. They may think its a horror magazine for children. |
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| This typeface has a medevil vibe but also reminds me of the circus. Becuase of this, it may not be a suitable typeface for the masthead. |
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| This is one of my favourite typefaces out of what i have found. its not too much, like the first typeface above, and you can tell that it is meant for a horror genre. it would suit well, its not too out there or much, it has a slant and flicks in the letters so its not to bold or masculine. This is definitely one of my options for the masthead. |
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| This typeface is also one of my favourites and i am considering making it my masthead. it is a film reel with the name of my magazine running along it. I think this is very clever because it's visually representing the name of my magazine. If someone was to see this on the front of a magazine cover, they would not only automatically know that it's a film magazine due to the reel, but they will know it's a horror magazine because the word horror stands out, as the reel type design makes the overall word emphasised. |
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| Typeface 1 |
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| Typeface 2 |
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| Typeface 3 |
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| Typeface 4 |
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| Typeface 5 |
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| Typeface 6 |
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| Typeface 7 |
Typefaces 1, 4 and 6 are thinner; I would look to use this type of font for text such as price, issue number and date.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
NAMES FOR MAGAZINE
These are the names if have thought of for my film magazine. Whether my magazine is just a film magazine or specific to the horror genre will most likely be dependent on the name I choose.
Show reel
This name is the first one I thought of, I started to think of connotations of a film, and came up with 'reel' then added show to it. I think it’s a good name, it doesn’t specify it’s a horror magazine, but just a film magazine in general. By looking at this name, the film audience will be targeted and they will realise it’s a film magazine because Reel can only be associated with a film reel; this will grab the targeted audiences attention.
Horror reel
Similar to the `show reel' I changed the show to horror to make it specific to the horror genre. I am still deciding if I want my magazine to be on general film or just horror. If it is specific to the genre, this name will be perfect as it targets my audience perfectly for those who are looking to buy a horror magazine.
Action
This is a simple name, just an idea but too typical and boring.
Play
This also has the same effect as 'action' it’s not great, but just an idea.
Horrific
This name is interesting, horrific has the meaning of causing horror and by having that as a magazine name I can get a message across that by buying and reading this magazine, it will cause horror by the films mentioned and talked about inside, or even resulting in the audience wanting to see the film.
Horror
This is a simple title, easy and the target audience can automatically understand what magazine it is and what it specialises in. The genre is the title, therefore the magazine and what it’s about is self explanatory.
Lights camera horror
This name is from the saying 'Lights, camera, action', instead of the action, its horror. I changed the word to horror because it allows the genre to be slipped in and makes the magazine to be a specific horror magazine rather than a general film magazine. It would be a general film magazine if it was called lights camera action, or even in relation to the genre of action.
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Show reel
This name is the first one I thought of, I started to think of connotations of a film, and came up with 'reel' then added show to it. I think it’s a good name, it doesn’t specify it’s a horror magazine, but just a film magazine in general. By looking at this name, the film audience will be targeted and they will realise it’s a film magazine because Reel can only be associated with a film reel; this will grab the targeted audiences attention.
Horror reel
Similar to the `show reel' I changed the show to horror to make it specific to the horror genre. I am still deciding if I want my magazine to be on general film or just horror. If it is specific to the genre, this name will be perfect as it targets my audience perfectly for those who are looking to buy a horror magazine.
Action
This is a simple name, just an idea but too typical and boring.
Play
This also has the same effect as 'action' it’s not great, but just an idea.
Horrific
This name is interesting, horrific has the meaning of causing horror and by having that as a magazine name I can get a message across that by buying and reading this magazine, it will cause horror by the films mentioned and talked about inside, or even resulting in the audience wanting to see the film.
Horror
This is a simple title, easy and the target audience can automatically understand what magazine it is and what it specialises in. The genre is the title, therefore the magazine and what it’s about is self explanatory.
Lights camera horror
This name is from the saying 'Lights, camera, action', instead of the action, its horror. I changed the word to horror because it allows the genre to be slipped in and makes the magazine to be a specific horror magazine rather than a general film magazine. It would be a general film magazine if it was called lights camera action, or even in relation to the genre of action.
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Saturday, 5 February 2011
mooodboard of colours for Poster and Magazine Cover
http://prezi.com/gbjwl3yf1pp6/colour-moodboard-and-conventions-for-film-posters-and-magazine-covers/
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| This is a printscreen of how i changed the colour of my image in order to create a colour moodboard. |
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