Research Into Digital Film Marketing

In this section of my coursework I will be conducting research into the Digital Film Marketing. As I know that I will be designing a website as one of my ancillary texts I have decided that I should conduct some more research, my intial research can be seen in the very first post on this blog, ‘Extensive Research 1 - 50 Teaser Trailer's – PowerPoint’. As a website is a fantastic form of promotion I think that this will be great way to raise awareness of the teaser trailer that I am creating. As a result we are using aspects of these 9 teaser trailers and I have decided I will look and then analyze these websites, below are the films:

• Sin City – Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino - 2005
• Maltese Falcon - John Huston - 1941
• District 9 - Neill Blomkamp - 2009
• Terminator 4 Salvation – Joseph McGinty Nichol - 2009
• 28 Days Later – Danny Boyle – 2002
• Fight Club – David Fincher - 1999
• Memento – Christopher Nolan - 2000
• The Matrix – Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski - 1999
• Inception - Christopher Nolan - 2010

I will now show screenshots of the homepage of all of the websites and then I will analyze them, also below are the conventions of the website that I have found out from the PowerPoint that I previously created, (Analyses of 50 teaser trailers, Websites and Posters).

• Opening Page Includes The Teaser Trailer
• ‘Enter’ Official Site
• Animations During The Loading Of The Site
• Enticing Image Matching The Genre Of The Film
• Reviews And Titles
• Navigation Bar At The Top Of The Page
• Tabs For Cast, Crew, Games, Videos, Photos, Download etc.
• Sound And Music

‘Sin City’ - http://www.sincity.aufdvd.de/



The first website I browsed was for the film ‘Sin City’. This is a screenshot for the Sin City Website; this film has a USA website and a Dutch website, this is the homepage for the Dutch website as I thought that this was a lot more effective and will help me more in the future. I thought that this website was very effectively because of many reasons. For instance the website was coherent, as this film has the genre of film noir by making the homepage of the website black and white it makes the film more understanding and gives the user more of an insight into the film.

Also there is an establishing wide shot of a city; as a result as the user will have more information of the film there is a greater chance they will want to watch the film and therefore I will now make sure that my website is also very informative.

In addition the website is also very interactive in many different ways. An example is how the user can play games on the website and in order for the user to visit further pages they have to hover their mouse over the buildings. As a result this makes the website look more enjoyable for the user and therefore as the user will like the website this will also tempt them to watch the film. As a result this will mean that the website is effective, this has shown me that I have to make the website as interactive as possible to tempt the user into watching the full film.

‘Maltese Falcon’ - http://www.symaltesefalcon.com/index2.asp



Furthermore I also tried to find and then analyse the Maltese Falcon website which was a film made in 1941, however although I found a Maltese Falcon website I believe that this is for a boat of the same name and not the film. As a result I have analysed this website thinking that it is the film website as I am not 100% sure.
This film has the genre of film noir. The location of this film is on a ship and this is outlined by the homepage of this ship. This was the very first factor of the website that I noticed and by this image it gave a lot of information to the audience. As a result the audience will have more of an insight into the film and therefore this has shown me how effective an image on the homepage can be.

In addition the colour scheme on this website is also very effective. The colours used are black and grey, stereotypical film noir colours. As a result this emphasizes the genre of the film and also makes the films ancillary texts more coherent. This has shown me that every aspect of the film has to be coherent and therefore I will now concentrate more about this.

Finally signifiers are used; this is because of the falcon at the top of the website and the ship. As a result this also gives more of an indication to the audience about the film, also as the sea is in a bright colour (sky blue) and the falcon also stands out (White on black) this emphasizes these factors and therefore by giving more of an insight of the film to the audience there is a greater chance that the audience will watch the film. This has shown me that signifiers are a great way to entice people to watch the full film and therefore I will make sure this is included in my website.

‘District 9’ - http://www.d-9.com/



The next website I looked and analyzed was for the film ‘District 9’. The first aspect of this website that I instantly noticed was how the opening page made the user make a choice; as a result this made the user more involved in the website which is the aim of the website. The option was for the user to say if they were ‘Human or ‘Non-Human.’ This has shown me that I have to make the website as involving as possible to make it more effective.

Furthermore the website for this film is also vey interactive, not only does the website start off with the user having to answer a question but there is a interactive map showing the location of ‘humans’ and ‘non-humans.’ This therefore makes the website more interesting and exciting and this has shown me that I should make my website as exciting as possible to increase effectiveness.

In addition the website is coherent with the film, for instance as the film is about a derelict town that is being taken over, the website outlines this. As a result this makes the user think that they know more about the film as they will understand the website more, therefore this will increase the chances that they will watch the film and as the website is a form of promotion this will mean that the website is highly effective.

‘Terminator 4 Salvation’ - http://terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com/dvd/index2.html



The fourth website I looked at in detail was for the new ‘Terminator’ film. The aspect that I liked about this website was how it was enticing for people to continue to browse the website. This is because the website included interesting images and scenes of the film; also this made the website coherent. As the film is a sci-fi by making the website coherent and exciting this entices people that enjoy this genre to browse. As a result this has shown me that I have to make my website coherent and as unique as possible as then my website will attract people’s attention and hopefully they will want to visit the website.

In addition the website was also very interactive, for instance there are options that the user can click on such as ‘Terminate Yourself.’ As a result this entices the user to click on this and as the user will spend more time on the website there is a greater chance that the user likes the website and therefore will want to watch the film. This has shown me that I have to make my website interactive which will then result in people being enticed to watch the film.

Finally the website is also very ambiguous. By this I mean that the website is unclear and does not give too much away of the film. As a result this makes the user curious about the film and which will therefore entice them to watch the film which is the aim of the website. This has shown me that make an ambiguous website can also be very effective.

‘28 Days Later’ - http://www.foxsearchlight.com/28dayslater/



The next website that I analyzed and browsed was for the film, ‘28 Days Later’. The aspect that I liked about this website was how the colour red was emphasized throughout the website. As a result as the colour red has connotations of danger this indicates to the user that the film will be a horror. This has shown me the importance of the colour scheme of my website and therefore I will definitely think more about the connotations of colours depending on my genre.

In addition on this website the reviews from the website were emphasized, an example of this is how the review from the Daily Mail ‘Scary As Hell’ was at the top of the homepage. As a result this will entice people to watch on as the reviews are excellent and this has shown me that this is a very effective tool that can increase the amount of viewers.

Finally the website homepage was simple but still very effective. I think this because on the left half of the homepage there is the title and then on the right there are two phrases but then the rest is blank and therefore the user can only see the background. This can be a negative but I think that for this particular website it was very effective because the colour scheme is emphasizing the death and danger in the film. As this is a pulling point of the film this entices people to watch the film. This has shown me that creating a website that is simple is still effective and the colour scheme of a website is pivotal in the effectiveness of the website.

Fight Club - www.welcometofc.com



The aspect of this website that I liked was how the two actors were emphasized. As they are both extremely famous and well known, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, this will entice people to want to watch the film. This is because as they will know the actors they will automatically think the film is good and therefore want to watch it. This has shown me that I have to create a website that will entice people to want to watch the film, however as I will not have celebrities in my film it will be a little bit harder.

In addition the colour scheme of the website is very dark and there is an emphasis of darkness through the de-saturated colour used. As the colour scheme of the website represents that the film will be sinister from the outset if the user wants to watch this type of film they will instantly think of watching this film. As a result this has shown me that I have to think of the colour scheme in my website and create meaning through it like the ‘Fight Club’ website.

Finally a negative of this website is that in order for the user to access extra information they have to loin via a Facebook account. This is a negative because not everybody has a Facebook page; however the positive aspect is that as most people do they will be tempted to log in as they will be curious to what the added extras are. As a result this will mean that the website will be working effectively.

Memento - http://www.otnemem.com/



The next website that I browsed was for the film ‘Memento’. The first thing that I noticed was how the URL of the website was back to front. As a result this meant that this was coherent with the film as the film is also back to front in many different ways. As a result this means when the user goes onto the website they will understand the website a lot more and if a user comes across the website before watching the film they will be curious and therefore they will watch the film. This has shown me that I have to create a website that entices the user to want to watch the film.

Also the website is interactive and therefore enjoyable for the user. This is because the user can only progress onto the website by having to click on the key words in the newspaper cuttings. This makes the user spend more time onto the website which is a positive; however a negative is how it can be complex for some people which can draw people away. As a result this has shown me that I have to create a website that is interactive but simple at the same time.

Finally a negative of the website was how in order for the user to continue to visit the website they must temporarily allow pop-ups. This would be okay for most people but if people have very good anti-virus software they will not have the chance to continue to visit the website. As a result this will draw the user away which is a major negative of the website. This has shown me that my website has to be visible to everybody and therefore I have to make sure that the website is simple and not too advanced.

The Matrix – N/A

‘The Matrix’ film that was released in 1999 currently does not have a website. Apparently according to my research it did have a website but it was recently disabled as the film was released 11 years ago and it did not attract a vast amount of visitors.

Inception - http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/



The ‘Inception’ website has many aspects which I will consider using in my website. Firstly the website is coherent with all of the other texts (film, teaser trailer and posters). As a result when the audience visits the website they will have more of an insight and understand the website more. As a result this will mean that the audience will like the website and most likely be tempted to watch the film, which is the aim of a promotional website. I will now make sure that my website is coherent with all of the other texts.

In addition the website includes pull out reviews. This is a great way to entice the user to watch the film as they will realize that the film is excellent as this is what the reviews state. As a result this will mean that the website will be effective and working successfully. This has shown me that a great way to increase the amount of people that watch the teaser trailer, which is the aim of the website, is to include positive reviews.

Finally the website also emphasizes Leonardo DiCaprio. As he is a famous actor this is a great way to increase the amount of viewers, as his fans will definitely want to watch the film. As a result this has shown me that I must use my strengths to maximum effectiveness, however as we obviously do not have a famous actor that has the same caliber as DiCaprio we must emphasize something else that our target audience will like.



In conclusion from this research that I conducted on the focus teaser trailers I found out and learnt a lot of new information. The inclusion of additional pages on websites, such as a games section and reviews, is a great example of media convergence and synergy. This is when different sections of media join to work together, as a result this increases the probability of success as there should be something for everyone, as a result as this is a great way to entice more people to visit your website this has enticed me to try to include media converge and synergy in our film website that we create. As a result for the website that I create for my teaser trailer this will definitely help me and therefore I will look back at this analysis and consider some of these aspects that other websites have used as there teaser trailers will be similar to ours.