As well as traditional advertising such as posters and trailers on TV, new media (prodominantly accessed by the internet) now plays an important role in film production & release, as well as audience awareness. For example, trailers for films (along with games and other entertainment) are often released onto sites such as YouTube earlier than they are shown on TV. And with YouTube being one of the most visited sites on the internet, it's a great way to increase audience awareness of an upcoming release. Furthermore, before a film is even announced to be released and is still in early stages of development an information page will often already be dedicated to it on sites such as Wikipedia. So if somebody was looking up their favourtie director, they could easily follow links to information on films that have barely been developed yet. There are also various media blogs on the internet on which information is leaked on upcoming films, such as cast lists. Such information leaks or releases onto such blogs not only give the audience knowledge of the film but also spike their interest if the cast seems appealing to them (for example). Another powerful part to the internet is the use of social networking; sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Friends can easily tell each other about new films almost instantly; even when they aren't near a computer if they happen to have mobile internet and perhaps a relevant app. Also, social networking sites provide a new advertising space for film companies aside from posters & TV trailers. Additionally, on sites such as Twitter the public can 'follow' their famous actresses/actors/directors/film makers/etc who also may 'tweet' information on upcoming releases. So, due to the internet, the audience can be bombarded with as much information as they like regarding new films and not just by the TV. There is also the issue of pirate copies, illegal downloads, film leaks, etc, on the internet which allows people to watch films that are perhaps unreleased (either in the cinema or DVD/BluRay) as of yet. Such illegalities, although seemingly unbeneficial to the film maker, still raise audeince awareness- if the person watching a pirate copy likes what they see they may buy the actual DVD when it's released. We used two forms of new media when making our thriller; the first of course being this blog. Blogs are made by many people, and read by many people. Thus, are a valid way of releasing information unto the public to attract their attention. Because of existing blogs and sites such as Wikipedia, in our early stages of production we were able to research other products for ideas on our own thriller. In later stages/when our thriller was finished, if this was a real media product, our blog could be used to issue a release date as well as a trailer for the film and other info. Secondly, we used YouTube (as well as having them copied to DVD) to publish our thriller opening in the same way that real production companies do so with trailers, etc of real media products. Additionally we used database/review websites such as IMDb to understand what kind of thriller films our audience would want. Such sites provide further information on films that isn't just technical, but opinionated which helps the audience decide whether to watch the film or not. If our own thriller was made into a real film, I'm sure it would probably end up with a review on one of these sites. Overall, the use of 'new media' (for example the aforementioned internet sites of YouTube, blogs, Wikipedia, etc) has helped us develop and publish our thriller in many ways; mainly in that of research into other thrillers and release of our own thriller opening in formats other than DVD.
Great work, Catrin. I've remarked your draft.
ReplyDelete1) Please talk about how social networking and YouTube have increased audience awareness and helped you plan your thriller.
2) Insert slides from your thriller and annotate them.
As well as traditional advertising such as posters and trailers on TV, new media (prodominantly accessed by the internet) now plays an important role in film production & release, as well as audience awareness. For example, trailers for films (along with games and other entertainment) are often released onto sites such as YouTube earlier than they are shown on TV. And with YouTube being one of the most visited sites on the internet, it's a great way to increase audience awareness of an upcoming release. Furthermore, before a film is even announced to be released and is still in early stages of development an information page will often already be dedicated to it on sites such as Wikipedia. So if somebody was looking up their favourtie director, they could easily follow links to information on films that have barely been developed yet. There are also various media blogs on the internet on which information is leaked on upcoming films, such as cast lists. Such information leaks or releases onto such blogs not only give the audience knowledge of the film but also spike their interest if the cast seems appealing to them (for example).
ReplyDeleteAnother powerful part to the internet is the use of social networking; sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Friends can easily tell each other about new films almost instantly; even when they aren't near a computer if they happen to have mobile internet and perhaps a relevant app. Also, social networking sites provide a new advertising space for film companies aside from posters & TV trailers. Additionally, on sites such as Twitter the public can 'follow' their famous actresses/actors/directors/film makers/etc who also may 'tweet' information on upcoming releases. So, due to the internet, the audience can be bombarded with as much information as they like regarding new films and not just by the TV.
There is also the issue of pirate copies, illegal downloads, film leaks, etc, on the internet which allows people to watch films that are perhaps unreleased (either in the cinema or DVD/BluRay) as of yet. Such illegalities, although seemingly unbeneficial to the film maker, still raise audeince awareness- if the person watching a pirate copy likes what they see they may buy the actual DVD when it's released.
We used two forms of new media when making our thriller; the first of course being this blog. Blogs are made by many people, and read by many people. Thus, are a valid way of releasing information unto the public to attract their attention. Because of existing blogs and sites such as Wikipedia, in our early stages of production we were able to research other products for ideas on our own thriller. In later stages/when our thriller was finished, if this was a real media product, our blog could be used to issue a release date as well as a trailer for the film and other info. Secondly, we used YouTube (as well as having them copied to DVD) to publish our thriller opening in the same way that real production companies do so with trailers, etc of real media products. Additionally we used database/review websites such as IMDb to understand what kind of thriller films our audience would want. Such sites provide further information on films that isn't just technical, but opinionated which helps the audience decide whether to watch the film or not. If our own thriller was made into a real film, I'm sure it would probably end up with a review on one of these sites.
Overall, the use of 'new media' (for example the aforementioned internet sites of YouTube, blogs, Wikipedia, etc) has helped us develop and publish our thriller in many ways; mainly in that of research into other thrillers and release of our own thriller opening in formats other than DVD.