To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?
I am going to explain my opinions on whether films relies on there advertising methods/strategies or on there reviews from the critics. I will find an example of this for both so it can help back up my answer to this. Also, I will explain my views on this throughout this essay.
The film Transformers goes huge on the advertising for their films so it gets the public aware that they have a new film in there sequel coming out. This is a method that attracts potential viewers at the cinema as the more they see it advertised, the more they will be likely to see it and not forget about it. Some of the advertising strategies that Transformers use are; posters, trailers, adverts at the cinema and on the TV, they have a big premiere for the movie which boosts its popularity and many more. The film will have to make sure that they distribute the film to the right audience which in this case would be 'Mainstream' and this will have to be there target in their advertising campaign. Therefore, if the film tried to advertise it to a different audience then it would be a waste of time as they will not want to watch the film unlike the category 'Mainstream'.The film also is a blockbuster movie as it includes all of the 4 rules to becoming this. Number 1 is that the film must have a newsworthy budget which it certainly has as in its first movie it had a budget of $150 million. Also, it now in its last movie has a budget of $210 million which is phenomenal. Rule number 2 is that the film has spectacular visuals and if you have ever seen one of these films you will know that this has visuals that will blow your mind. Rule number 3 is that the film must not be a comedy and Transformers isn't one of them. Finally, rule number 4 is the film must include an 'A-list' star which this film definitely does. If this doesn't get there target audience speaking about the film then I don't know what will. The critic reviews for the Transformers reads As of October 2014, based on 176 reviews collected by the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Age of Extinction has received an overall rating average of 18%, with an average score of 3.8 out of 10. This rating is awful considering the amount of money spent on the film and that it is a blockbuster movie. The film made at the box office $318,759,914 which is a huge amount and it backs up the fact that if you advertise well to your target audience then you can make a lot of money and the viewers don't look for the critic reviews as if they did then I am sure that they would not go for this film with its poor ratings.
The second film is Dredd that I am going to look at. Dredd had a pretty poor advertising campaign which in my opinion goes by a well-known saying which is 'failing to prepare is preparing to fail'. They didn't get the film out there enough in my opinion for it to become a big hit which it wanted to do. They had to advertise their film to their target audience which would be 'Film Buffs' and they would try for some 'Mainstream' viewers to come and see the film. If Dredd would have done this with their advertising campaign then the films success may be a different story. The film Dredd didn't make it in to the category as it didn't meet the 4 rules, for one it had a budget of $45 million instead of the $100 million to be in the blockbuster criteria. The visuals are good but not spectacular, it hasn't got an 'A-list' star and the criteria it does fit it that it isn't a comedy. The budget is one of the reasons that advertising and marketing didn't take off I feel as they never had a newsworthy budget and couldn't afford all of the strategies of advertising the movie to its full potential. Also, unfortunately for Dredd a film called 'Raid' was released before in that calendar year which was very similar to the film Dredd which also stumped its potential of making more money at the box office. The film had average to good film ratings form critics who reviewed the film. It garnered a 78% approval rating from 146 critics, with an average rating of 6.5 out of 10, on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. CinemaScore polls are reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a 'B' on a scale of 'A+-F', these ratings are fairly good. The film made $41 million at the box office which is $4 million less than what the budget was meaning that the film made a loss at the box office which i believe was due to the advertising on the movie, Dredd.
In comparison of both of the two films that I have studied then I think that Transformers definitely had the biggest success which is pretty obvious. I think that the success is down to their advertising campaign as Transformers went big on their advertisement/marketing unlike Dredd who made a pretty poor attempt of advertising which was due to budget. Also, I think that the majority of viewers don't care about the critic reviews as you can tell because Transformers had a 3.8 out of 10 while Dredd had a 6.5 out of 10 which is a fair bit better and Transformers was so much more successful. Therefore, advertising/marketing is the main way to have success with the film and for making the most you possibly can at the box office which is the goal you are aiming for.
Overall, I agree with the statement that the a films success relies upon how well it is advertised to its target audience and how easy it is for that audience to access, rather than whether it is regarded by critics as a 'good' film.
Overall, I agree with the statement that the a films success relies upon how well it is advertised to its target audience and how easy it is for that audience to access, rather than whether it is regarded by critics as a 'good' film.
Campbell, there's no need to say what you will do in an essay, just get on and actually do it. The main focus of your essay should be how successfully the audience for the film was targetted. Different films have different target audiences, a film with a larger target audience will attract a larger budget and be expected to make a bigger return on its investment, other films have smaller target audiences and therefore smaller budgets, however both films are capable of making a proportional profit.
ReplyDeleteIn your first section on Transformers try to be more specific, you cant just say the film has spectacular visuals, you need to mention a scene and the technology used to create the effects. Also try and mention that the film is part of a franchise as this will mean it carries an audience with it.
For your section on Dredd it wasn't that it had poor marketing, it struggled because its target audience were unable to see the film in the format they prefered, this meant cinema takings were low but DVD/Blu Ray sales were high. This is where you could discuss distribution patterns.
Finally you need to evaluate how important critical reviews are to a films success. Does the audience for Transformers read reviews? Do they even care if a review is bad? Similarly is the type of film Dredd is (violent action) likely to deter viewers?