As a production group, we were set the task of creating a multi-media marketing campaign for our neo-noir movie, called Two Minds. Therefore, we had to create a teaser trailer, a poster and a Sight and Sound magazine cover. It was crucial that the trailer and ancillary tasks work effectively as a combination. Various different institutions and companies play different key roles in ensuring the multi-media marketing campaign is effective. Distribution companies are responsible for ensuring the movie created by a production company is marketed effectively, which could include a trailer and a poster. Therefore, this process had dictated that my production group and I have performed (Jenkins) as both a distribution and a production company. I also took on the role of an employee of Sight and Sound Magazine, when me and my group created our Sight and Sound cover on Adobe Photoshop.
On this page, I will highlight the roles different media institutions played throughout the production and distribution phases of the creation of Two Minds. This includes production companies, distributors, the exhibition (Netflix, Amazon...), regulation (BBFC) and Sight and Sound Magazine.
Production Company
A production company is a media institution whose role is to actually create the production. They receive funding from distribution companies but also earn funding through private investors. If a company has been involved in a very successful production in the past then they are considered to be a major production company. Examples of major production companies include: Dreamworks Ltd, MGM and Time Warner (owned by Warner Brothers)
For 'TWO MINDS' an independent production company is the more likely fit for success. This is because we have a low production budget, our product is driven by narrative and not by big stars, there is no romantic sub-plot and the neo-noir genre is relatively niche compared to action and adventure for example.
Our Production Company
We choose the name 'Cannon Productions' because we wanted our name to convey the explosive energy and drive that our group have. Also we thought that 'cannon' represents the strength of our group.
Cannon also connotes violence, death and pain, which are all themes from within the noir repertoire of elements. Cannon productions specialise in the noir and neo-noir genre, so we felt this name was appropriate.
The role of Cannon productions was to create the movie, which distributors would base their multi-media marketing campaign around. However, production companies often work in tandem with other producers in order to create the best product possible. Therefore, Cannon Productions will co-produce Two Minds with...
The production company we choose to produce 'TWO MINDS' with us...
We choose 'Focus Features' to be the production company for 'TWO MINDS' for a variety of reasons. Firstly they have had tremendous success with productions such as:
- 50 Shades of Grey (2015) - Grossing $528 Million
- The Theory of Everything (2015) - Grossing $124 million
- Brokeback Mountain (2006) - Grossing $178 million
Other than these huge box office successes, Focus features have also produced a number of films which have the same audience as 'TWO MINDS' and have been very successful. For example, The Atomic Blonde (2017).
This company produces and distributes foreign and independent films. This benefits 'Cannon Productions' as they have built themselves great reputation through previous successful productions.
Distribution Companies
A distribution company is responsible for getting the final product out into the public eye through a successful advertising campaign, which may include posters, teaser trailers and theatrical trailers, among other aspects. They also decide the realease date and decide which platforms the product will be available on.
The big 6 distributors are Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal, Sony Pictures and Walt Disney. These are the richest companies who only take on mainstream, high production value movies and as a result would be inappropriate for TWO MINDS. We choose a smaller distributor called...
Below is a link to 'Transmission Films' most recent product. It's called 'LION' and isn't a neo-noir production but it's an example of a Transmissions trailer.
Our distribution company and why?
We chose 'transmission films' as they are a leading independent films distributer. I believe this company will also produce the perfect marketing campaign to make our neo-noir production successful and make us a tidy profit. Transmission Films have also been behind some fantastic multi-media marketing campaigns, which include some fascinating film posters. This is obviously a benefit for the distribution of Two Minds as transmission films could be responsible to creating professional, high quality trailers and the posters.
I have already shown you the 'LION' trailer, but now lets take a look at a range of posters that Transmission Films released as another form of media, on which to advertise this film.
Having also seen the trailer, the first thing I noticed was similar elements which appear in both the trailer and poster. This ranges from basic things such as, using the same font in the final 'LION' title in the trailer and on the poster, to showing the audience the same characters, and even using similar lights and colours in both the poster and trailer. The poster on the left is very intriguing to me and I would say it is the best film film poster I have seen across all the research I did across my A-Level course. What I found interesting was that layered over the close-up of Dev Patel, framed to the right of the poster, are lots of little photos from the real story. So those images are the real people, on who LION is based. This is the quirky and unique style that I thought would benefit our Two Minds poster. Also you can see that some of these posters are not in English, which demonstrates the international reach that Transmission Films have, which would be a benefit when releasing our production of Two Minds.
Transmission Films are an Australian based company which was founded in 2008. They started as partners with paramount pictures, however they recently became independent after Paramount dropped the company. This is a positive as it means they have the plenty of experience to effectively distribute our product on a large scale.
Three of their distributed films, The King’s Speech, Shame and Lion have won oscars. We also want our piece to prosper in our niche target audience bringing in lots of revenue to make to make sure production costs are covered and maybe even provide support for a sequel. Although, they focus the majority movies towards Australian and New Zealand audiences, they had success in foreign markets such as 'Made In America' (2014) which won an academy award. We want our production 'TWO MINDS' to thrive as our debut movie and we believe Transmission films is the perfect platform from which to do so.
Vertical and Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration and its effect on the Two Minds multi-media marketing package:
Vertical Integration is when a Media Company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution. An example is that, 20th Century Fox owns the studios in Hollywood, they also own cinemas, TV channels and DVD rental shops. They own parts of chain so that they can make money from every part of it.
The best way to explain vertical intergration is to look at a specific example. Let's use 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two' as an example.
This film was created by Warner Bros. pictures. It was then distributed by Warner Bros. Distribution. The film was marketed using many of Time Warner's companies. For instance, HBO ran a behind the scenes making of Harry Potter before its cinematic release. CNN, another Time Warner company, was able to use its position as a news station with worldwide reach to promote the film through its Larry King Special programme which interviewed the actors before the red carpet premiere. Time magazine also ran special features on Harry Potter before and after the film was released to not only ensure people went to watch it at the cinema but keep interest up for DVD sales. In terms of exhibition, Warner Bros. was able to use its Warner Bros. International Cinemas chain to show the film to a worldwide audience. Also, I'm America HBO premiered the film on television. This allowed HBO to profit by having exclusive rights to show a worldwide box office hit, but also meant that Warner Bros. profited from the integration of Time Warner companies because their product was marketed by HBO across several different media before it was shown.
This case study highlights that vertical integration can help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing transportation expenses and reducing turnaround time, among other advantages.
In terms of the effect of vertical integration on the production, distribution and exhibition of Two Minds, Cannon Productions and Focus features do not own the distributor, Transmission Films, or any cinema chains or streaming services. Therefore vertical integration is not a benefit to the marketing of Two Minds. However, the fact we are working in partnership with Focus Features has a link to vertical integration. The parent company of Focus Features is huge media conglomerate, Universal Pictures. Universal pictures are a distribution company who also own Universal Television, which runs a huge American TV network, NBC. This means Universal pictures will be able to produce, distribute and exhibit Two Minds, which benefits us (Cannon Productions) as we will not have to spend loads of money on the distribution and exhibition of Two Minds, and also benefits Universal as it will reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing transportation expenses.
Overall, vertical integration would have a hugely positive impact on the marketing campaign of Two Minds. Working in partnership with a vast media conglomerate, such as Universal, would reduce costs for my team and the wide reach of a major distributor would lead to a wider and higher quality marketing campaign. However, for Cannon productions, it is unlikely to work in partnership with Universal, thus whilst the idea of vertical integration on this scale is very appealing, it is more utopian than anything.
Horizontal Integration and its effect on the Two Minds multi-media marketing package:
Horizontal Integration is when a Media Company owns several businesses of the same value. A Media Company can own a Magazine, Radio, Newspaper, Television and Books. Almost all Media companies have horizontal integration. It helps to create more money and makes the company more popular with an audience. It also makes a media product available on more media platforms, which ultimately helps the product reach a wider audience.
Let's use 'James Bond: Skyfall' as an example.
Skyfall was distributed by Columbia Pictures and MGM, which are both owned by Sony. Sony also owns Columbia Records, which is a record label. One of the artists signed to Columbia Records is Adele, who recorded the soundtrack to Skyfall. All of the subsidiaries of Columbia are owned by Sony. In Skyfall there are shots of a Sony mobile phone, which is an example of product placement.
This highlights that horizontal integration has been used in the production of Skyfall as it expanded into different subsidiaries of during the production.
Cannon Productions (my group) are not an established production company, and certainly not a massively powerful media conglomerate like Sony. However, in certain ways my group and I have utilised the ideas behind horizontal integration. Let me explain...
If you imagine that Rory, Matt and I (Cannon Productions) are Sony, in the production of Two Minds we needed a soundtrack. Rory, performed (Jenkins) as a record label and produced the music for the trailer. This cost us nothing as Rory is a member of our group in the same way Universal Records is part of the same group as Sony. I hope that makes sense to you.
Overall, in a way we did use horizontal integration in the production of the Two Minds marketing package because the poster, trailer and Sight and Sound cover, were all made by our one group, which consisted of three members adopting the roles of different subsidiaries.
The Exhibition
Our production 'TWO MINDS', shall not be available for DVD purchase but will be released in cinemas. We came to this decision as over the last decade or DVD sales have fallen largely. For example DVD sales fell by 12% in 2015, having already fallen 11% the year before. The DVD will soon be an invention of the past so it would be foolish to hop onto a downward trend. This article from the Guardian perfectly illustrates my point...
Streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime on the other hand, are making as much money as they ever have and now is a good time to get on board. In 2015, streaming service NETFLIX had an annual revenue of $8.83 billion, which is over $2 billion more than in 2014. This supports the fact there is more money than ever before in online streaming. Another benefit of releasing our production on these online services is that it's easily accessible on a global scale, there are no geographical boundaries and restrictions like with DVD's and also 'Transmission films' won't need to pay for DVD's to be physically distributed around the world with planes and trucks.
Research has also informed me that major, high budget films dominate the market in terms of DVD sales. Therefore our niche, low budget production would struggle to sell many copies as it will be smothered by more anticipated releases.
REGULATION
What BBFC regulation have we chosen for TWO MINDS?
15
Below is a button linking to the BBFC official website, which we used to decide the classification of our film. It explains in detail the criteria a film needs to meet to be established as a 15 rated film...
Why did we chose a 15 regulation?
After thoroughly examining the BBFC's guidelines, we have regulated our 'TWO MINDS' as a 15. This is because of the 'imitable behaviour' of Detective Wells, our protagonist, and as a result our movie will not be suitable for persons under 15 years of age. There are also scenes of "implied violence" which would identify as a 15 BBFC rating. The fact that we have a 15 BBFC rating means that our piece is more widely available as people don't have to worry about any legal barriers. This is also very good for our distribution company as our target audience demographic is people from around 18-35. The 15 rating means our audience will have no issue accessing the product.
One problem however is that due to our choice that our product will only be distributed to online streaming companies like HBO and Amazon Prime, is that it is almost impossible to enforce our BBFC rating. In the cinema someone under age will not be allowed into the cinema and if someone under age tries to buy a DVD , they will be asked for ID. Online however, it is very hard to police these regulations, which may be something online streaming services need to address it the near future.
Sight and Sound Magazine
Sight and Sound Magazine played a crucial role in completing our multi-media advertising campaign. Two Minds was the focus of the January 2018 issue of Sight and Sound. The cover is created by Sight and Sound themselves, and the magazine is then published by the British Film Institute. You can find more information about Sight and Sound magazine and the BFI either on my blog or on the BFI website below:
Despite the drop in the popularity of printed magazines over the past decade, using Sight and Sound as a part of our multi-media marketing package is still useful. This is because Sight and Sound magazine has a loyal readership, which consists largely of academics and people with a deep interest in film. These are the exact kind of people we need to target as they are more likely to come and watch an independent neo-noir film, with no big stars and a small budget. Two Minds is certainly not the type of film to fill up a cinema on a school holiday or a weekend, which again is a reason that Two Minds will only be available to stream online.
Sight and Sound Magazine has had numerous quality covers, which my production group aimed to replicate. I have made blogs specifically on this topic which you can check out after this. Below is a collage of Sight and Sound magazine covers, which go a long way as a form of advertisement.
Overall, Sight and Sound magazine is a crucial form in aiding the marketing of Two Minds as it presents the film on another media platform, thus expanding the range of the Two Minds marketing campaign.
The importance of the relationship between press and film industries...
The relationship between the press and film distributors is crucial to the effectiveness of a films marketing campaign. The relationship between these two industries is a symbiotic one, meaning they work together for the mutual benefit of both companies. For example, the main image on a magazine cover may be of a director who has recently produced a highly anticipated film. The main story in the magazine may also be an interview with the director in question. This benefits the distributors and producers of a film as it is being advertised via the magazine cover and means the marketing campaign has a bigger reach. It also benefits the magazine company itself as fans of the director of film will buy the magazine to find out more than they can get from a trailer or poster.
A similar principle can be applied to the Two Minds Sight and Sound Magazine. The director of Two Minds, 'Calvin Gilbert, who is a successful and famous director, is the main focus of the January 2018 edition of Sight and Sound Magazine. This benefits my group, as the producers and distributors of Two Minds, as it means our multi-media marketing package is available on another form of media, and also means more people will come into contact with our advertising campaign. Using 'Calvin Gilbert' as the main focus of the magazine is also beneficial to the BFI and Sight and Sound Magazine, as the draw Calvin has is large and fans of his will buy the magazine, which will boost the sales of the magazine.
Conclusion...
So, in answer the to the question, 'how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?', in regards to media institutions, I would say it is very effective. We utilised and adopted the roles of different media institutions, ranging from Sight and Sound Magazine, to various production companies and distribution companies in order to create the best products possible. Rory, Matt and I had identified through our own individual research that there are common elements than run through a multi-media marketing campaign. This includes similar colours, fonts and characters being used and shown. This was something we knew we had to ensure because if there was no obvious signs that our poster, trailer and magazine cover were linked, then people will not make the mental connection, thus the campaign will have been a failure. The main way we linked our poster, trailer and magazine cover was through our colour scheme, which was red and blue. Our titles were red and blue in the trailer, the skyline was red and blue on the poster and the magazine was split 50/50 red and blue vertically down the middle. Have a look for yourself below:
