Evaluation question 5

Marketing Tools!  Our film appeals to young male adults and teenagers aged between years old as it follows the story of a 19 year old male who is involved in selling and taking drugs. We will use social media websites to promote it; for example Facebook will be our main online application, known as using pull advertising, so that it will be more likely to be viewed, as our audience is a Niche audience, so spreading word of mouth is an effective way of promoting our film. Other forms of advertisement like newspapers and posters wouldn’t be effective as our 21st century viewing audience would typically use social media websites to find out new information, as their friends share and like new things. As we have a niche target audience, we won’t promote our film through push advertising like TV adverts or TV interviews because it is an independent British film with a low budget. Due to our film being set in Brighton, we will perform screening tests in the city of Brighton, to see how the portrayal concludes; whether people relate and enjoy it or disapprove. The information gained will help us to gain more positive elements of promotion, to successfully help our film progress. We could additionally promote our film by having it shown at a local film festival like the ‘Brighton Film Festival’.

Content!  We will use quotes from magazine reviews to show our unique selling point which appeals to the local audience of Brighton. For example, ‘Crew Magazine’ will set us up with a positive quote to present on our Facebook page as it is a popular source of local shops in Brighton. As our film is an independent film it doesn’t star any famous actors that would usually attract people to watch it. It does, however, have new, up and coming talent which might entice people to watch their potential skills before they become famous. Additionally, people who know our main character could be interested into seeing our film.  Our unique selling point is the fact that it is a low budget, British independent film that surrounds a character involved with illegal drugs. So the fact it’s set in a location where the topic appeals to a large population involved in the prolific drug culture in Brighton, is our USP as this specific group of people would relate to it.

Feedback!  As a group we conveyed our opening title sequence to our target audience to get feedback on different aspects of our film. We incorporated this to gain a perspective of what the viewer’s thought was effective and what wasn’t.   In the aspect of genre, the audience thought it was conventional of a thriller film for a few reasons. For example, viewers believed that the font used was typical of an urban crime-thriller film as it was graffiti-like and connected well with our drug aspect of our film. Others thought that it gave the impression that the film is quite gritty and realistic, conforming to the crime-thriller genre. Also, some other comments mentioned the mysterious effect of our package, which relates to the typical element of thrillers being a mystery.  In relation to Mise-En-Scene, our audience believed that there were many aspects that related to the thriller genre. For instance, the clothing chosen reflects the crime thriller genre because our main character wears all black with a hoodie and a beanie.

Continued…  Furthermore, the locations we used were set in an urban environment which the audience believed was effective because it suggests Eli’s solidarity, spending a lot of time on the streets on his own. The viewer’s thought the lighting and props used were realistic and stood out; the lighting being quite grainy and dismal whereas the props, like the package, realistically reflected actual narcotics. As well as the pseudo-money, which appeared quite real providing a more detailed portrayal of factors which involve illegal drug activity. We had two side characters involved in an early stage, doing a drug deal. The sliding of hands reflected a quite realistic deal, which the audience believed to be effective.

Continued…  Cinematography: We incorporated a variety of shots. The one on the right is a tracking shot of Eli walking down the street. This was effective at conveying his solidarity. The image above conveys a shot of the Brighton Pier and Brighton Eye. It was made effective by the time lapse we put on the clip, which again reflects Eli’s solidarity. The image on the left is an associated POV shot expressing Eli walking down the street. We used this specific shot Eli concealing his face could suggest he's got something to hide. The shot to the right portrays an extreme close up of money. The use of the ECU is effective as it conveys Eli’s craving for money, as it’s a flashback.