The Role of the Distributor

This is an incredibly important factor in film distribution. The techniques used for distribution are essential to how well advertised the film is.

The sets of plans used to do this are distribution plans and marketing plans.

Film making is an art. Cinemas are their showcases. But the film maker's job isn't just to release a film - They cultivate and discuss with other parties to craft their work: producers, exhibitors, partners and other staff and colleagues.

Film cycle

• Producer gains rights to film


• Screenplay is developed


• Production, finance, cast and crew assembled


• Principal photography and post-editing takes place


• Distributors develop a release strategy


• Distributors present film to exhibitors


• Marketing campaign begins


• The films are sent to cinemas


• Film runs to additional marketing and demand


• It is released further - DVDs, TV

Feature films are often released in theatres nationally (In one country), internationally (In several countries) or worldwide (In many/all countries). They may even be rereleased if they were highly successful. Following this, they may be released on DVDs or shown on scheduled TV.

Distribution planners should also note the vast amount of films released every year, and every film wanting to stand out from its competition. In addition to this, certain audiences are more likely to view certain films than others. As a result, target audiences are established. It is essential to attract these audiences.

Often, test screenings and questionnaires are used to obtain audience feedback. This could be seen as risky since some films may start out as "sleepers" but receive bad responses in test screenings.

In addition, films need to compete with similar films in order to look more appealing to audiences. Star power, production values, subject and even more advanced editing can make an audience member change their mind on what they think of the film.

The marketing plans, consist of three categories; advertising, publicity, and promotions.

Advertising is the key marketing theme. It consists predominantly of posters, which includes a main image from the film, production titles and credits. Often several different posters are released. They are generally placed in large public areas such as billboards and bus stops. Trailers are also common forms of advertising and can be seen on TV, the internet, and in cinemas. They contain interesting or exciting parts of the film to catch the attention of the audience.

Publicity is the second category, and is created by means of interviews, reviews and awards won. Publicity is most commonly a way of advertising the film from a source outside of the film production company, in that it creates a hype for the film without directly saying "watch the film!". Additionally a good presentation of the film, cast or crew can enhance the film quality.

Promotions are the synergy within the marketing campaign, consisting mostly of merchandise and sponsoring, such as Happy Meal toys, screensavers or even ringtones. Buy the product and you buy your own ad for the film. Often the images of characters will be used in return for a royalty fee so that the film company WILL make money.

Original Images

These are the original images we used for the magazine cover and the poster, respectively. These were edited on Photoshop to adjust the pictures to suit the conventions of the horror genre.

Shot list

These are some of our shot lists, along with annotations and edits to them. We also included pictures and small sketches.

Storyboards

These are the storyboards from our original design ideas. We decided not to use some of our shots for lack of time and inability to record them. Others we simply changed.

Comparisons between theatrical and teaser trailers

Typically, teaser trailers are released long before normal trailers. They advertise the film or show far earlier than the film's release date (Sometimes up to and over a year before) is announced to tease the audience "hence the name". In some instances, one in particular is The Da Vinci Code, the trailer was actually made before the film was even shot!

Often teaser trailers may include scenes or sequences that are removed from the final cut of a film for whatever reason. They are also generally shorter than the theatrical trailer (Teasers are often around 30 - 60 seconds, whilst theatrical trailers may last around 2 minutes), which sparks the audience's interest. Possibly also because much of the teaser shots may be removed from the final film.

One significant difference between the teaser and theatrical trailer is that the teaser may most likely focus on the theme or genre of the film, whilst the theatrical trailer will focus on the story or characters.

Preliminary sketches for magazine cover and poster

This is my original sketch for my magazine cover. I didn't adapt the image much. Only minor changes were put into place, such as the scale of the picture, which was enlarged to fit the cover space appropriately and effectively. The film reel at the bottom was rotated at an angle, which gave it more of a disorganised feel, similar to that of a reel thrown onto the cutting room floor. The background of the image was changed to a more forest-like area so that it would be less recognisable and have no sense of geographic location, adding to the mystery of the character.

In addition to this the Monk is facing away, which keeps the mysterious figure hidden from the audience, and is in a kind of religious pose to connote the binary opposition theory.

The film poster was kept very similar. Originally the title was below the image, giving the figure more dominance, but this was changed to make the image the centre of the poster.

Group original idea

Our original idea consisted of utilising our audience questionnaire to develop our concepts. As a result, my questionnaire post contains far more detail on how our ideas were developed.


Our original idea was that upon finding a mysteriously interesting book in a library, three teens would embark on a trip to visit a church which was mentioned in the book, with the intent on discovering and investigating the purpose of the book and the mystery it contains. They plan on staying overnight for fun. Once they arrive, they become increasingly nervous as they fear they are being watched by a supernatural spirit who wreaks havoc and terrorises them - this figure is the Monk.