Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The Hobbit Bus Advert

Source: Warner Bros.

Audience: any passers-by

Benefit: reaches a large number of people 

Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Martin Freeman on The Graham Norton Show

Source: The Graham Norton Show

Audience: middle-class, well educated adults

Benefit: reaches fans of Ben Stiller and Jamie Oliver as well as Martin Freeman 

Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Ed Sheeran Tweeting About Opening Night

Source: Ed Sheeran - Warner Bros.

Audience: fans of Ed Sheeran

Benefit: can reach his millions of followers who could potentially go to see the film as he has contributed to the soundtrack

Kill Your Darlings

I went to see Kill Your Darlings on Sunday 8th December - the opening weekend.
It was showing in Screen 3 in the Southbury Cineworld, in a 234 seat screen.

Before the film, these adverts were shown:

• McDonalds coffee
• 3 phone service
• Barclays
• Drambuie
• Audi
• Tesco's
• BOSE Earphones
• Wonga
• Coca Cola
• HTC
• Morrison's
• Sony Xperia Z1
• Cider
• Waitrose
• Johnnie Walker
• EE phone service

Then these film trailers were shown:

• The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty
• Mandela; Long Walk To Freedom
• 12 Years A Slave
• August Osage Country
• The Wolf Of Wall Street

These adverts are mainly aimed at middle-aged, educated adults. This was proven by the other people in the screen; mostly middle-aged couples. However, there wasn't that many people watching the film; there was about 15 other people.

The film itself was visually stunning; the camerawork was perfect, and the editing and colouring completely portrayed the 1940s. It was intense, with some troubling scenes, but I found these to be tastefully handled. I learnt a lot about the poets of the Beat generation, and left me contemplating their theories and work. I found I didn't sympethise as such with the characters, but I felt glad for Ginsberg when he freed himself of Carr's grip, and sorrow for Ginsberg when his mother was taken away. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and would watch it again, but only if I was fully focused on it, as this film requires concentration and engagement.

Marketing Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings Quotes and Hashtag

Source: Killer Films

Audience: any passers-by

Benefit: can potentially reach thousands of people 

Marketing Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings Review

Source: The Culture

Audience: middle-class adults and film fans

Benefit: targets specific audience, and persuades them to see the film as it is a mostly positive review

Marketing Kill Your Darlings and The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Kill Your Darlings Review On BBC Film 2013

3rd December 2013

Source: BBC Film 2013 

Audience: middle-class adults and film fans

Benefit: raising awareness and targets specific audience

The Hobbit; The Desolation Of Smaug Review On BBC Film 2013

11th December 2013

Source: BBC Film 2013 

Audience: middle-class adults and film fans

Benefit: raising awareness and targets specific audience

Marketing Kill Your Darlings

Daniel Radcliffe on The Graham Norton Show

6th December 2013

Source: The Graham Norton Show 

Audience: Graham Norton fans, or middle-class adults

Benefit: reaches a large audience, and uses star name

Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Free tickets with Sky

Source: Sky Movies 

Audience: Sky Movie users

Benefit: raises awareness of the film and reaches a large audience

 

Live World Premiere

Source: Peter Jackson's Facebook page - Warner Bros. 

Audience: Peter Jackson fans

Benefit: can reach a specific audience (Jackson fans) as well as having a global reach

#AskSmaug Twitter Trend on @TherHobbitMovie

Source: Benedict Cumberbatch fanblog - The Hobbit Twitter page - Warner Bros. 

Audience: The Hobbit fans

Benefit: can reach a specific audience (Hobbit fans) as well as having a global reach

Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Smaug on the side of a plane

Source: Benedict Cumberbatch fanblog - Warner Bros. 

Audience: Benedit Cumberbatch fans

Benefit: can reach a specific audience (fanblog) but the plane itself can reach global audiences

The Hobbit Front Of House Poster

Source: Cineworld - Warner Bros.

Audience: fans of The Hobbit

Benefit: can reach a large audience as cinema is a public place

 

The Hobbit Free Giant Poster

Source: The Mail On Sundays - Warner Bros.

Audience: fans of The Hobbit and middle-class well educated adults

Benefit: can reach a large audience

Online Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Week 2

The Hobbit Sidebar Advert on YouTube

Source: Warner Brothers

Audience: tech-savvy audiences

Benefit: can reach a large audience as YouTube is globally used

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Game

Source: Warner Brothers

Audience: fans of The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings franchise, and tech-savvy fans

Benefit: audience involvement - they can explore the setting of the film

Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

SFX Front Page

Source: SFX magazine

Audience: SFX fans, Hobbit Fans

Benefit: can reach large audiences

SFX Feature

Source: SFX magazine

Audience: SFX fans, Hobbit Fans

Benefit: can reach large audiences

Empire Front Page

Source: Empire magazine

Audience: film fans, Hobbit Fans

Benefit: can reach large audiences

Empire Front Page

Source: Empire magazine

Audience: film fans, Hobbit Fans

Benefit: can reach large audiences

Online Marketing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Week 1

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug New Trailer

Source: The Telegraph - Warner Brothers

Audience: educated middle-class adults

Benefit: audience involvement - the comments

Benedict Cumberbatch Becoming Smaug - Behind Scenes Hobbit Images

Source: cinemablend.com - Warner Brothers

Audience: tech-savvy fans

Benefit: direct reach to a specific audience

The Hobbit UK Facebook Page

Source: Warner Brothers

Audience: fans of The Hobbit

Benefit: global and national audiences

Online Marketing Kill Your Darlings Week 1

Kill You Darlings Venice Film Festival Review

Source: The Telegraph

Audience: educated middle-class adults

Benefit: global and national audiences

Kill Your Darlings UK Trailer

Source: Daniel Radcliffe Fansite - MSN Movies - Killer Films

Audience: fans of Daniel Radcliffe

Benefit: reaches a specific group of people (fans)

Kill Your Darlings Facebook Page

Source: Wikipedia

Audience: fans of Daniel Radcliffe

Benefit: global and national audiences

Kill Your Darlings

1) UK release date?
6th December 2013

2) Institutions behind the film's production and distribution?
Production:

• Killer Films
• Benaroya Pictures (presents)
• Outpost Studios (post-production)

Distribution:

• Future Film (2013) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Lumière (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2013) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2013) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Works UK Distribution, The (2013) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paris Filmes (2014) (Brazil) (all media)

3) What's the film's production budget?
n/a

4) Nationality of the film?
American

5) What kind of production is it?
Low budget indie film

6) Any connection with other films?
No

7) Who's the director?
John Krokidas

8) Any star names in the cast?

• Daniel Radcliffe - Allen Ginsberg
• Dane Dehaan - Lucien Carr
• Ben Foster - William Burroughs
• Michael C. Hall - David Kammerer
• Jack Huston - Jack Kerouac

9) What's the film about?
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs

10) Who will this film appeal to?
Audiences who like drama, romance or biographies, as well as those who are fans of Daniel Radcliffe

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

1) UK release date?
13th December 2013

2) Institutions behind the film's production and distribution?
Production:

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• New Line Cinema
• WingNut Films

Distribution:

• Cocinsa (2013) (Nicaragua) (theatrical)
• Forum Hungary (2013) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (2013) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2013) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2014) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2013) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2013) (USA) (theatrical)

3) What's the film's production budget?
$250,000,000 and funded by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and New Line Cinema

4) Nationality of the film?
America and New Zealand

5) What kind of production is it?
Big budget Hollywood blockbuster

6) Any connection with other films?
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) is the first film of the franchise

7) Who's the director?
Peter Jackson

8) Any star names in the cast?

• Benedict Cumberbatch - Smaug/The Necromancer
• Martin Freeman - Bilbo Baggins
• Richard Armitage - Thorin Oakenshield
• Orlando Bloom - Legolas
• Cate Blanchett - Galadriel
• Ian McKellen - Gandalf
• Christopher Lee - Saruman
• Stephen Fry - Master of Laketown
• Andy Serkis - Gollum

9) What's the film about?
The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.

10) Who will this film appeal to?
An audience who like adventure, drama and fantasy, as well as those who are fans of The Lord Of The Rings

Director Q+A

When meeting Marcus Markou, I learnt a lot about the process of making a short film, and the industry itself. My top five points were:

1. I learnt about pre-production, and the role of a Line Producer (in this case, Sarah Butler). A Line Producer will read the script and work out a budget for each individual line.
2. Marcus also told about how he ran the sets, and how it differed from big budget films; he tried to create a family atmosphere, and on the first day he learnt the entire crews names, and queued for lunch.
3. I also learnt that the technical crew, such as electricians and boom mic operators, get paid a fixed amount, whether they are working on a big budget set or an indie film. The locations and actors fees tend to be negotiated.
4. Marcus also told us about how he got Stephen Dillane and Georges Corraface to act in his film; he essentially stalked them until they got his script. Stephen Dillane wasn't going to be a part of the film, until he found out that his son, Frank Dillane, was performing the role of Harry Papadopoulos' son. Stephen Dillane then wanted to act in a film with his son, so took the role.
5. I also learnt about how Marcus first asked the actors how they wanted to perform the scene, then asked the Director Of Photography how they would shoot it. Then, if there were any extra set ups, he would check with the Assistant Director on whether or not they had time. This way, he ended up with a more natural looking film, as the actors were more relaxed, therefore giving better performances. 

Papadopoulos & Sons

Papadopoulos & Sons is a British comedy-drama feature film written and directed by independent filmmaker Marcus Markou.

IMDB Synopsis
Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.

Production

The film was inspired by Marcus Markou's own family history and cultural roots, which fuelled his desire to focus on family unit; 

"I came from a very tight knit Greek-Cypriot family. However, as we grew older and grew up, my family, like so many other families, broke apart. I also lost so many of my Hellenic roots. In making the film I reached out to that sense of family that had been lost and I reached out to my Hellenic roots. [The film] is not about being Greek or Cypriot at all. I use that as backdrop. It really is about family unity at a difficult time".

The film was shot in London. The crew found a street with two empty shops in Morden, South London, and took the lease on them. One became the chip shop The Three Brothers, the other one the rival kebab shop. The city scenes were filmed in Central London, the mansion scenes in Croydon. Finally, the Papadopoulos factory was set in a real Greek food factory in East London.

The cast included;

• Stephen Dillane as Harry Papadopoulos
• Georges Corraface as Uncle Spiros
• Georgia Groome as Katie Papadopoulos
• Frank Dillane as James Papadopoulos
• Ed Stoppard as Rob
• Cosima Shaw as Sophie
• Selina Cadell as Mrs Parrington
• Marcus Markou as News Reporter
• Richard Durden as Father Jimmy
• George Savvides as Hassan Ali
• Cesare Taurasi as Mehmet Ali
• Alexander Hanson as Lars

Distribution

The film was self-distributed by Markou's own company Double M Films, and Cineworld initially agreed to distribute the film on April 5th, 2013, for one week only in a limited number of screens across the UK, but due to unprecedented audience demand, extended the run while expanding to more venues. In the Cineworld in Shaftesbury Avenue, the film started in their 100 seat screen and was set to stay there for a week, but after the tickets sold out within hours of availability it was moved to the 500 seat screen where it stayed for most of the four week extension.

The film was also released in France on the 3rd October 2012 (at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema), in Greece on the 7th November 2012 (at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival) and the 20th December, in Ireland on the 5th April 2013 and in Germany on 27th June 2013.

Marketing

The film can be found on both Facebook and Twitter, as well as having a YouTube channel, a Google+ profile and an IMDB page. The trailer was released on the 23rd April 2013 on YouTube. The film also has an official website, and a poster.
The Trailer:

The Poster:

Exhibition and Exchange

The film was screened at Cineworlds, as explained above, and was also released on DVD, and is available online, such as on Netflix.

The film made £40k from just 13 cinemas in the opening weekend. 

Accident Sequence

1) What techniques did you specifically use to create continuity (narrative flow) in your accident sequence?

   First of all we shot the master shot, so as to establish setting (the school corridor) and characters (the two boys, Harry and Kayvon). This ensures the audience knows where the events are taking place.
    We then had a low angle shot of the Harry being angry that he was ran into, followed by a shot of the Kayvon backing away. The low angle shot makes Harry seem more intimidating to the audience, giving the a sense of his character. The fact that Kayvon backs away further backs up the implication that Harry is intimidating.
   This then cuts to a low angle mid-long shot of the two boys, where the Harry hits Kayvon. This cuts to a close up of Kayvon hitting the wall and sliding down it onto the floor. We ensured that Kayvon stayed in the same position from when he hit the wall in the mid-long shot to when he was sliding down it in the close up to make the narrative seem seamless.
   Lastly, we had a ground level shot of Harry fleeing the scene after checking if Kayvon is conscious. The fact that the camera is ground level helps to make the audience feel as if they are seeing the scene from Kayvon's point of view.

2) In hindsight, what could you do to improve the continuity (narrative flow) of the sequence?

To improve the continuity, we should have had Harry on the right of the shot rather than the left in the second shot, as it would abide with the 180˚ rule. We also could have had Kayvon try and placate Harry so he wouldn't hit him to make Harry seem that bit more intimidating.

Film Opening Continuity

• The clip starts with three close ups of a china set and dolls, instantly establishing that the characters are young girls. The close ups also force the audience to focus on the toys, rather than the characters.
• The characters themselves are then shown in a long shot, which also shows the setting; an attic space. This is the master shot.
• Two more close ups showing the girls playing continues to give the audience a sense of character; they are young girls, who enjoy playing with their dolls and tea set.
• Two mid-close ups then show us the girls themselves in more detail, showing the audience their faces, and the fact that they are smiling. This complies with the 180° rule, as two girls stay on the left of the frame, whilst the other girl stays on the right. One girl leans forwards to place a teacup on the floor, and the next shot matches the action by showing her place the cup on the saucer.
• After another close up of the toys, there is a long shot from a different angle, showing there is a bed and three windows in the room. The girls all look towards the camera, implying that there is a character stood 'behind' it.
• The girls then look towards the window in a long shot from a different, low angle, which makes the audience question what they are about to do next.
• The camera then arcs into the windows, increasing the audience's curiosity and uneasiness.
• There is another match on action as the girls stand up, showing them starting to stand up in a midshot, then cutting closer to the girls as they continue to rise to their feet.
• Multiple close ups show the girls treading on and breaking their dolls and tea set, as they walk towards the windows. This implies that there is something different about the girls, as at first they were shown playing with the toys carefully and lovingly.
• A mid shot shows the girls walking towards the camera and the windows, faces void of any emotion, when seconds before they were smiling and laughing.
• The girls then step up towards the windows in a long shot, which establishes the fact that the girls would easily be able to fit through the windows.
• This cuts straight to a close up of one of the girls opening the latch on the window, which is a match on action of the shot before, where the girls are reaching towards the latches. The close up forces the audience to focus on the action, so as to increase their sense of uneasiness.
• A long shot then shows the girls stepping up onto the edge of the windows, before they step off and fall out of shot.
• The camera then tracks back from the empty windows, before cutting to another close up of an unbroken doll. The quick transition from long shot to close up again forces the audience to focus on the doll, and on the fact that the girls suddenly completely changed their demeanour.
• Lastly, there is a cut back to the long shot which is tracking backwards, and a figure appears in the frame, standing where the girls had looked before they looked to the windows. This is to make the audience realise that it was the figure who caused them to jump.