Ittiphol Srirachanikorn (4089)
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Every short film story is golden opportunity to showcase opportunity
"shortfundly"
POST-PRODUCTION STAGE
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PLEASE
REFRESH AT LEAST TWICE
BEFORE SURFING TO ENSURE ALL CONTENT
FILM WEBSITE
A website is a collection of digital documents known as web pages which contain images, text, videos and hyperlinks; the main page is called a HOMEPAGE, others are called SUNPAGES.
Films are expressive to produce and their success relies heavily on being promoted and advertised effectively.
The aim is to promote the media film and get the target audience to purchase it.
Websites are just one aspect of film promotion and marketing strategies.
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Poster - eye catching
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Online Advertisements - pop up ads
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Television Trailer - quick infomercials or commercial breaks
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Magazines - subsection or featured page
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Giveaways - toys or items regarding film reference
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Music - a sponsor at a concert
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Social Media - instagram hashtags, facebook mentions
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Guerilla Marketing - local billboards
Marketing Strategies for Film Promotion
Jurassic Park (1993) partnered with BARBASOL to promote the film's franchise and film in relation to a product reference that was tailored to relate with the film's plot, encouraging audiences to use them to be a part of the survival story.
Countless films release official trailers online in hopes of creating a digital viral trend through 'sharing'.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) successfully bonded fictional audience engagement with a digital interactive website and a platform of made up narrative to intrigue audiences.
Unfriended (2014) took the digital step further, by creating digital profiles of the characters and the possessed being (the antagonist), where audiences can interact and 'add' the fake account as a friend while receiving threatening comments that put the audiences in the victim's position.
CASE STUDY: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The ‘Blair Witch’ project is a perfect example of a successful film in 1999 through its viral marketing, with its user-friendly and interactive website consisting of fictional subpages of “the legacy” and “the aftermath”, which employs police videos, crime scene photos, and descriptive myth and legends on the film to create a verisimilitude aspect of the film’s realm. The realistic touch- even as far as labelling the actors as “missing” on the credible IMDb website, would direct the attention as a non-fictional event, providing more demographics to look into the film product and generate curiosity to watch it, accumulating a larger audience The film’s marketing can be praised for its revolutionising and unique distribution (guerilla marketing) in giving out real life ‘missing persons’ posters regarding the film’s plot ONE YEAR prior to its release.
Proving to be successful with only a budget of $60,000 - the film’s marketing could be said to become a significant factor in dramatically raising the excitement and curiosity of the audience, providing an outstanding profit of $250 million in Box Offices, solely!
GRATIFLY WEBSITE
Initially we were going to go with a plain, simple, and conventional approach of a film website: a webpage that states "GRATIFLY" with the mediocre contents of News, About, Media, and Story.
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However, taking on an unconventional approach, I had a creative burst to which the website will portray the viewpoint of the film's plot in the antagonist's point of view: a government spying agency on the BOY. This can allow for more plot development, a higher level of audience interaction, and an expansion in the film's narrative.
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Replicating a government website is difficult, providing the design and content that matches one is harder. Thankfully, we have Toy- our military and government enthusiast- who has offered immense and significant support in the research process of the government website's logo, look, and content.
Ryu took to designing the government logo and name: MEPA (Media Enforcement and Protection Agency). He is also the technological source for any desired photoshoots, gif files, small clips, and photos for the website.
Finally, I took on the challenge to provide the government content of the website, hoping to link narrative and make sense of the plot to the audiences- as the former lead writer and screenplay creator.
Research; Government websites can take many shapes and forms; technologically higher class and secretive, or old fashioned and informal. Taking inspiration of both sides; the fictional Umbrella Corp. with its high class and neat design of a red and white threatening theme, to the official DEA Website, which is more informal and old fashioned.
Reflect; A rather artificial look that features the theme of prominent red and white, Umbrella Corp. boasts the entity of white to accent the red that conveys an undermined mood of threat and some form of discomfort. The haunting and lifeless look becomes ironic to its "pro for health and humanity" mission statement, while the constant reminder of the logo gives the user an experience of always being watched or reminded of their presence- unsafe and insecure.
Relate; At first sight: definitely what can be of inspiration is the overall look of the website. Promoting its video game and film franchise, this particular version of the series-based webpage offers the professional and cunning red theme that I think is the perfect subtlety to suggest danger. The quote mission statement also seems like a great addition to provide more in depth into the antagonist's and narrative development.
Reflect; Going back in time, this classic government against drugs organisation consists of a flawless and vintage design compared to modern .gov websites. The look of blue is shared throughout the webpage which accentuates white content-filled squares and its recognisable yellow logo.
Relate; The look states the theme of a government website clearer than Umbrella Corp.'s resemblance of an organisation of higher class, which is what we were initially going with. However, due to the style of MEPA being a secretive agency, we thought that less content and the inspiration of Umbrella's design would leave a more ambiguous and ambient of secrecy and professionalism.
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Structurally, the DEA Website provides the subpages and hot tabs of "Operations" and "About" that will be employed in the MEPA Website under "Operations" and "H.O.D. (Heads of Department)".
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GRATIFLY POSTER
Creating a poster for our film was a hard task to do. The thought of proposing an absurd and extensive narrative into a single shot, while also grabbing the attention of audience was challenging. Initially, I was proposed by the dream team to show include the BOY or the PERFECT BOY in the photo as a cast line up with the Fly at the back-- imitating the Star Wars series release posters.
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However, after some thought I decided to stick with the ambiguity of the narrative by not showing any signs on human form, but rather the remnants of the fly to draw attention to the insect that will majorly feature later in the story. This was the thought process.
THE WEBSITE: https://gratiflymovie.wixsite.com/mepa
Abandoning the Star Wars inspired poster proved to be the better idea. The ambiguity should focus on inhumane objects or simply the fly itself-- where the antagonist not only takes power and dominance in the film, but also on the promotional release poster.
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The first option would have been the technological analysis of the fly as the main headline and theme of the poster. The digital appeal would attract the attention of niche audiences who are interested in films about technology or artificial intelligence.
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The green mathematical background would also accentuate the Orange-blue and white coloured logo to make it standout greatly. Lighting would not be an issue as it is artificial and can be controlled manually on computer.
The second option was to move towards the other inhumane but significant motif of the film; the Windex Bottle. As the bottle is ambiguous on itself greatly, this will not specifically appeal to a specific target audience, making this film accessible to the mainstream audience.
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Also, not showing the fly hides the identity of the fly as the cunning entity and society protagonist that hides its way to traumatize the boy. This provides the antagonist with more power. Also, shooting the poster in the Sixth Form centre also gives the location of the film beforehand to the audience, giving them a slice of at least- where- it is happening.
After multiple tweaks and edits, the final poster is complete. The Dream Team are very proud of what we had achieved from the very promising beginnings throughout the challenging creative process, to the final successful and desired outcome. Phew.
