Producers and Audiences

9. The major selling points of films

Objective

• Understand what the major selling points of films are, and how institutions like film companies use them to make the film more appealing to the public

Let’s look at a film poster

How does the poster sell the film?

Let’s look at a film poster

Villain of film

Love interest in the background – she’s not too important

Watson’s cane and haughty expression

indicate pride/contempt

Holmes and Watson centre; Holmes has a smug smile (he

will win)

Credits tell us finer details

Tagline – play on words

Stars at the top – famous!

Film posters are the end product

• They are made long after a film is cast and are therefore a feature of post-production

• Pre-production is where a film is deemed to be viable by a studio

• We will look at this process first before returning to post-production and marketing

The film pitch

This is when the idea of a film is presented to commissioning executives at a film company. Someone might have a very short time, sometimes 5 minutes, so the pitch needs to contain all the details of the film:• Brief summary of the plot• Similarities to other films• Potential stars for the filmMerchandising and franchise opportunities might be discussed too – depending on who is pitching the idea

What might a studio executive go for?

• We will look at the possible selling points of films in depth now

• Be aware though that this might not always be a guaranteed formula for success (we will see why films fail in a later lesson)

1. “[Star] is in it!”

• Believe it or not, film stars often decide they want to do a project before the film is actually made.

• Their agent will send them a script.• Sometimes, a star just being on board makes it

more likely that the film will be made (especially if they are a big box-office draw like Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp)

2. “It’s been written by [writer]!”• Writers are usually the last to get paid, but

depending on how successful they have been in the past, they might guarantee success

• Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby)• Joss Whedon (Buffy/Angel)• Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob, Dogma)• Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (Oscar!)• Joe Eszterhas (trashy hits – Basic Instinct, Showgirls)• Nora Ephron (romantic comedies with Meg Ryan)

3. “It’s just like [mega-hit]”

• The public know what they like, and they like what they know

• That’s why so many films are similar to one another

• Vampire films, horror films, romantic comedies, pirate films, wizard and magic films. Christmas films…

4 “[Director] has made it”

• Some directors get on board very early; they may even write the screenplay under a pseudonym

• If the director is known, he or she will often sell the film because the public has a track record of seeing their films

• Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher…

5. “[Famous person] likes it and is willing to put their name to it”

• Necessary when you are trying to sell your film in America

• “Ben Stiller presents” [Submarine]• “Steven Spielberg presents” [Super 8]• Use a bigger name to sell a smaller name• You often make more money as a producer or

through a production company

6. “Everyone else is watching it.”

• Word-of-mouth (particularly when your ‘mouth’ happens to be the Internet and your Facebook page!) is a great way of encouraging other people to watch a film

• Of course, this can also generate negative publicity around the film so those who are doing so often work within the parameters of the film and production company.

• Twitter hash-tags; Facebook pages; BBM?

So, what’s next?

• Once the film is made, film studios create marketing materials (like film posters)

• Often a film company sets aside an equal amount of money to that of the film’s budget to market the film

• Usually it works…• Sometimes it doesn’t…

Marketing Strategy

• Film posters• Personal / press appearances• Television appearances• Websites• Press interviews• All of this will emphasise the selling points of the

film• But this doesn’t necessarily mean the film will sell

tickets!