OSIRIS UNBOUND - The Complete Marketing Campaign

Evaluation Activity #2: Directors' Commentary

Sync this audio track with the trailer video in order to recieve a mind-blowing aural and visual experience, as myself and my co-director Nicholas Ashurst discuss how various narrative and genre theories can be applied to our film. Enjoy!
   

Evaluation Activity #2: Creating A Marketing Campaign

Through the combination of a theatrical trailer, poster and magazine cover we were able to create a marketing campaign for our sophomore feature Osiris Unbound that would dominate a variety of different mediums – online video sites, advertisements and print media. The campaign was both successful and iconic through a consistent theme and design that emphasised both the lead stars of the film as well as the conventions of the action genre, namely guns, guns and more guns.

All three products give precedence to our lead actor, Nicholas Ashurst, as well as our villain, portrayed by James Richardson. This was done to showcase the protagonist and antagonist of the film, as well as the rivalry between these two Binary Oppositional forces of good and evil. While both appear in the main poster and magazine cover, for The Hollywood Reporter, the two characters were given a special ‘character poster’ and GQ exclusive, respectively. The Lucas Thorne character poster features a strong close up on our lead in order to directly involve the audience with his character’s struggle, while the GQ cover, contrastingly, offers insight into the actor and composer behind the film rather than his character – though his costume is consistent with his portrayal in both poster and trailer. His choice of costume is consistent across the three mediums so that the character of the film’s villain is instantly recognisable by audiences, while similarly Thorne is dressed in the same shirt throughout the campaign. The Hollywood Reporter cover is an exception as it is portraying the cast of the film outside of their roles, so they are dressed formally to give them a sense of class and sophistication as would be expected of movie stars.

Both the theatrical trailer and poster focus on exposing the key differences between our hero and villain, but also the similarities. This is a fact highlighted with Richardson’s line in the trailer, “We’re not so very different, you and I…we’re both destined for the same damnation…it’s just I’m willing to let the world burn along the way”, and demonstrated through the almost identical poses that the two characters exhibit. This blurring of the otherwise binary oppositional forces offers a somewhat unique approach to the genre. Of course the genre is a very significant part of film, and thus our marketing campaign, so this is made pretty clear in trailer, poster and magazine cover, therefore allowing them to work really well together. The characters are also shown holding weaponry – even in the case of the actors on THR cover, with Zubin Parekh holding a balaclava to further emphasise these action conventions.

Emphasis is placed on the film's title, appearing in a bold, recongisable typography that reoccurs in both the climax of the trailer and at the bottom of the poster. Similarly it is the largest lettering on the magazine cover (with the exception of THR logo) though the choice of font was made to reflect the style of the magazine rather than the logo of our film. The logo's design was a conscious choice to establish the brand of the film. Enigma codes are developed through each of the products, for example through the imposing eyes at the top of our poster, and the numerous cliffhangers that appear throughout our trailer. The extract from Prometheus Unbound, by Percy Blythe Shelley, in the trailer's opening is also a good example. The use of enigmas helps further invite audiences to watch the film, to discover the truth behind the various mysteries that we present.

All in all, each of these choices across the mediums of the marketing campaign work together, fulfilling the 'Uses and Gratifications' of audiences (Blumler & Katz, 1970s), notably escapism, entertainment and perhaps even social interaction, as we point out our involvement in previous projects and include a number of reviews from well-established publications ensuring that viewers will want to be discuss the film with others. By including enigmas, and presenting the film from both a narrative-based and technical viewpoint, the audience can get to know the film on various levels, while emphasising the central players of the film ensures that audiences will be interested to know more about them by watching the final film. Thus, we have crafted a successful and cohesive marketing campaign that should appeal to a wide range of audiences.

Feedback v.04

You have made a good start on your evaluation, with task one completed and four begun. You have applied theories of audience, and considered how your trailer conforms to or subverts generic conventions.

Targets:

Evaluation task 3 - re-upload the audience feedback for your finished trailer - you should sum up what you have learned (positive and areas to develop) in your analysis

Evaluation task 2 - record a voice over/interview style footage where you discuss how the three tasks combine effectively to create a marketing campaign

Evaluation task 4 - what about the software you used to create your poster/magazine cover? Blogger to record your work? YouTube to view other trailers etc? Make sure all of this is discussed.

Remember to also upload any written responses you complete for exam preparation to add to your evaluation