Posters
Firstly, The Hunger Games released the film’s teaser poster and a motion teaser poster on July 19th/20th2011, around 7 months before the film’s release date. It doesn’t give much away at all, including just an image of the films logo that appeared on the front cover of the book it’s based on. It also included the film's tagline ‘May the odds be ever in your favour’.
The motion poster allows it to be seen on TV or moving billboards, so the poster can be seen by an even wider audience.
Motion Poster- http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/motionPoster/
At a later date of October 11th they released further teaser posters, revealing the characters in the film.
At a later date of October 11th they released further teaser posters, revealing the characters in the film.
Character teaser poster- http://bumpshack.com/2011/10/29/the-hunger-games-main-character-posters-revealed/
To get the audience more involved in the promotion, Lionsgate decided that for the audience to view the final theatrical poster, the fans would have to hunt down the 100 pieces of the poster and put them together. The process was streamlined through Twitter and Facebook- social networks that are used worldwide.
Final poster- http://collider.com/hunger-games-poster-puzzle-hunt/132394/
This poster is much more detailed than the teaser posters. In this poster we are told the release dates, the credits and through the picture we are able to tell more about the story. It also has another tagline ‘the world will be watching’.
This poster is much more detailed than the teaser posters. In this poster we are told the release dates, the credits and through the picture we are able to tell more about the story. It also has another tagline ‘the world will be watching’.
Alice in Wonderland had a series of teaser posters featuring their main characters also. Unlike The Hunger Games, these were Alice and Wonderland’s first set of teaser posters. These posters were released throughout November 2009. Again, not much is shown about the film is about but we can tell what actors play what characters and what style the film has been made in.
Teaser posters- http://hollywoodvulture.com/new-poster-for-tim-burtons-alice-in-wonderland/
The main theatrical poster was released not long after the teaser posters unlike The Hunger Games’ theatrical poster. However it does give more information about the film as well. It also tells the film’s release date and credits and has much more detail in the background- letting us see what ‘Wonderland’ will look like in the film.
The main theatrical poster was released not long after the teaser posters unlike The Hunger Games’ theatrical poster. However it does give more information about the film as well. It also tells the film’s release date and credits and has much more detail in the background- letting us see what ‘Wonderland’ will look like in the film.
Theatrical poster- http://www.moviefanatic.com/gallery/alice-in-wonderland-mad-hatter-poster/
Although Alice is the main character in the film, The Mad Hatter is used for the main theatrical trailers and this could be because of Johnny Depp being the actor that played him. He is such a big actor that the fact he is in the film could entice people to watch it on its own.
Although Alice is the main character in the film, The Mad Hatter is used for the main theatrical trailers and this could be because of Johnny Depp being the actor that played him. He is such a big actor that the fact he is in the film could entice people to watch it on its own.
The teaser posters are the first signs of the film’s marketing campaign and so therefore gets people talking about the film and discussing it. The theatrical poster allows people to get excited about the film’s release as they know it can’t be long and lets them in on a bit more of what the story is about.
Trailers
Teaser trailers are also used in the process of promotional campaigns.
The Hunger Games’ teaser trailer doesn’t give a lot away, just like the posters. The main character is introduced again, walking through the woods when things start to catch fire. The only way you would be able to make out what the story is about would be through the dialogue that is played over the trailer as a voice over as it enables you to tell that she may be playing some sort of game.
Teaser Trailer- http://youtu.be/DsVNNHs3RZE We can also tell from this trailer that it’s an action film which allows people to know the genre of the film.
Theatrical Trailer- http://youtu.be/p-5ANq4sAL0 This trailer introduces more of the characters and more importantly- more of a story line. We now know what the film is about- people fighting to their death. This will attract those who didn’t know what the film was about before from the books. It also informs the audience on when the film will be released.
In Alice In Wonderland’s theatrical trailer it’s all about introducing the characters which is very different to The Hunger Games where only one character is introduced. However, although all the characters are revealed and we get a sense of what the film is about, the plot is kept hidden throughout the trailer. This keeps people guessing about the film and wanting to know more.
In Alice In Wonderland’s theatrical trailer it’s all about introducing the characters which is very different to The Hunger Games where only one character is introduced. However, although all the characters are revealed and we get a sense of what the film is about, the plot is kept hidden throughout the trailer. This keeps people guessing about the film and wanting to know more.
Teaser Trailer- http://youtu.be/1VHRz1S_kYI
Theatrical Trailer- http://youtu.be/1VHRz1S_kYI In the theatrical trailer a lot more is revealed about the storyline of the film. It involves the audience more so they want to know what happens next.
The main difference between the teaser trailers and theatrical trailers are the amount that is revealed about the storyline. The teaser trailer seems to be to let people know about the film whereas the theatrical trailer is making them want to go and see it.
Magazine Covers
Entertainment weekly did a magazine cover on The Hunger Games with Jennifer Lawrence as the main image on the cover. Jennifer Lawrence covered a number of other magazines, promoting the film. This gets audiences buying the magazines to find out more about the film from the inside content. It gets people more familiar with the actors and associating them with the film. Also, when they read about the film they may find themselves wanting to know more and therefore researching the film.
Hunger Games People Magazine Cover
Alice in Wonderland also appeared on a number of Magazine Covers including Total Film and Entertainment weekly. Promotion on the front cover of magazines gives the film a lot of status and it means the film is read about by the regular readers.
Online
Online
The Hunger Games website includes a countdown to its release date, the theatrical trailer, the motion poster, the DVD release date and more. It offers games and downloads- allowing the audience to involve themselves more in the film. They may also tell their friends about it and therefore be promoting the film.
The film also had constant use of Facebook and Twitter, a YouTube channel, a Tumblr blog, iPhone games and live Yahoo streaming from the premiere. This is an easy way to access the audience as majority of people have an account on one of these websites. They also hold contests on Facebook and hunts on Twitter which got more and more people talking and wanting to get involved.
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/aliceinwonderland/
A Facebook campaign was also created for the film where each of the main characters were given fan pages and the one with the most fans would be the first to see the trailer. Alice in Wonderland also had a Twitter account created for the film. These again create excitement and anticipation for the film whilst making fans feel involved and become dedicated.
What I've Learned
Promotional campaigns are elaborately constructed and carefully thought out. You can see by comparing these campaigns that they ran on similar lines, releasing simialr products at similar stages of the campaign, suggesting that there is an acknowledged structure that we can identify and follow when we map out our campaign.
I have particularly noted the appeal of character posters. Our film would not generate these as we do not have an ensemble cast all playing familar roles. However, there is a collecting element to a promotional campaign and we need to think about how we would make our products collectible and therefore talked about.
I've also been reminded about how vital an online presence is for a film campaign now. All of our products needs to work both in their intended context but also online, and there needs to be a social networking element to our campaign.
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