Unit 26, Assignment 3: Fandom Post

Film: The Hunger Games.
*improvements in bold.

Movie Posters:
There were quite a lot of posters designed for the release of the film, there were group and individual photos taken for the press. The posters are all very simplistic, but effective. All of them include black and shadows that cover the majority of their faces, it represents the harshness of the story and how those in further back districts literally are kept in the dark and ignored. 
I think they're used to target a certain audience, for example the poster of Effie has pink in it and from that we can see that she's a very girly character which will attract women to watch because they can see them feminine touches.




The poster of Gale and Peeta is targeted at young girls, because it's showing teenage boys who're good looking with a seemingly flawless face, it will attract them to watching it.
The poster of Rue is what targets the aspirers label in the psychographics best in my opinion. We can see she's a young girl who is reluctant to going into the games but the audience can look up to the fact that she is going in and she's going in strong. Young girls will see the picture and want to see the film because they want to know what will happen to her and whether everything turns out alright.





Like I said the posters are simplistic and similar, the font is kept the same throughout so anyone can easily recognise the poster as one that's advertising the Hunger Games. The designers struck the balance of keeping the font simple yet interesting as it's written in a fiery colour and there's also the films trademark logo on fire so it all links and makes sense.
For the majority of the posters with the characters on, the photos were taken from a side angle so that the character is the focus point.  All posters made were successful in my opinion because they appealed to a wide audience, they're easy to read and remember.

The individual poster of Katniss was probably the most different from the rest, it stood out because it's a full face shot and there isn't much use of black whereas the others do. The text at the top says 'the world will be watching' which is attention grabbing and makes people question it and want to know more about the film.



The Hunger Games trailer: (X)
This is the only trailer I can find on YouTube, no others were made by the marketers of the film so that the content wasn't leaked and more people would go to watch it because the trailers were compact and didn't give too much away. The trailer was very well made in my opinion because it's interesting, you see all the characters on the posters and there is use of audio tracks on the top of the footage and also text. The trailer generally uses small sections of the film at once using simple a simple cut transition and the music will speed up or down depending on what's happening in the trailer. Just as we see the beginning of the games, the trailer finishes leaving us (those who haven't read the books) on a cliff-hanger.
This relates to the psychographic labels because it shows that it's an easy going film that isn't too edgy and has something for everyone so can be a family film. It also shows the 24 tributes being brave and the beginning of going out and fighting for their lives in this instance they're not materialistic because they're not "showing off" but it fits the description that during the games and even before it when we see the natives of District 12, they still look attractive whilst being the poorest District and despite not being well off the characters all still have their own style and persona.


Movie Stills:

The Hunger Games is an action, adventure and thriller movie based on a series of young adult novels so the target audience for the film is the same age bracket, around 12-17 years. The films are gender neutral as the main character is a girl but the storyline includes violence which would appeal more to boys so there's something for everyone.

Plot of the movie:
"In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives." - IMDB plot summary.
The psychographics are mainstreamers and aspirers.

Marketing & success.
The Hunger Games targets its psychographics labels because the characters are portrayed as heroic - Katniss volunteering to save her sister and protecting younger tributes. The characters can become role models for the younger generation, they want to have their bravery and a sense of fearlessness just like them. It also fits into the Mainstreamers label because of how Katniss is around her little sister, she's very comforting as you can see in these pictures.

There is also a fan made video (X) of how she is always thinking of Prim while she's away. It's comforting for some people, especially a younger audience to see a girl who is quite family orientated and really cares about her little sister.

Unscripted interview: (X) Interviews like this are good because they're different and all the questions aren't all about the film, the usual generic questions. They're different and audiences can see their personalities and although they play a character seeing them being themselves can make them want to watch it.
Full cast interview: (X) Anyone who wants a sneak peak can watch videos like this to see who the characters really are. For example, fans of the books will want to know who's playing their favourite character in the movies and if Jennifer Lawrence or Liam Hemsworth are their favourite actors, they know that they will enjoy the film and will go and see it.   


The fans have their own website: (X) where they can read about new cast members/new sneak peaks.
There's also a website with new photos and interviews: (X)
Website full of The Hunger Games merchandise for fans to buy: (X)



Link to a current competition to win tickets to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiere: (X)
A soundtrack was released and the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, having sold 175,000 copies in its first week. Taylor Swift featured with the song "Safe & Sound" this and two other songs of the soundtrack were actually used in the film, in the credits. It was clever to include an artist like Taylor Swift in the soundtrack because she already has such a huge worldwide fanbase and some idolise her so much they would go and see the film just to hear one of her songs included, even though it didn't make it to the final cut. It made the film appeal to a wider audience because it had a range of songs by different artists.

Certain aspects of the marketing of the Hunger Games was quite low key, mainly just talking to the pre existing fans of the book. But then once word got out about the film adaptation, a lot of people were exited.
The budget for the film was $78 million
Worldwide the film made $686,533,290, $408,010,692 of that came from North America alone.
It's the 13th highest grossing film and tickets for the midnight showing of the film on release day were sold out weeks in advance.

Comparison.
I'm going to compare The Hunger Games to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Usually fans of the Hunger Games are a fan of Harry Potter because the content of both films are similar so they attract the same audience.
The final Harry Potter films used a lot of marketing because they're the last two, the films' marketing team used; teaser posters, teaser trailers, a main poster, main trailer, posters with various stills/characters from the film and a website with sneak peaks.

 Some of the Harry Potter posters:  

 



Harry Potter used a lot more promotion because it's more known and this was for the 7th and 8th instalment, the Hunger Games used similar tactics as there was a pre buzz for the film due to the successful book trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

The aim for Tim Palen, Lionsgate's chief marketer was to get the film to be a box office phenomenon so they used old media tricks rather than modern ways of promotion. They gave out 80,000 posters, had almost 50 magazine cover stories and had advertisements on 3,000 bus shelters and billboards. It was a year long effort but it paid off making $691,247,768.

Both films marketed their films by constant use of social media. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr was commonly used to promote the release date and it worked as it got the work out quickly due to the amount of people who use social media.

Audience reactions.

Reviews:

Audience response:
There were a lot of mixed reactions to the Hunger Games, fans complaining that the books didn't translate well into the film.

Movie reviews on YouTube: (X) (X)
This website has 6 fan review videos: (X)

Audience theory:
The Hunger Games has a big fan following, whether they're a fan of the books or films they refer to themselves as "Tributes" which relate to the chosen 24 in the film.
The fans make themselves known on social media, mainly twitter where they "take sides" similar to Twilight they have "#TeamKatniss and #TeamPeeta" and so on. Fans queued up for hours to see the first showing in New York, dressed in outfits inspired by the movie which you can see here (X).

Some huge fans have a permanent love for The Hunger Games, and I mean that quite literally. Despite being on the "ugliest tattoos" list, a handful of men and women have had the symbolic mocking jay pin and the famous movie quote "May the odds be ever in your favour" tattooed on them.

However it's not just in New York, globally film enthusiasts were selling out cinema tickets and books and coming to the Los Angeles premiere in full force - even camping out to get a good spot. But some were so desperate they slummed it for a few hours, "others were not so fortunate, having to settle on the pavement, sitting on blankets and surrounded by takeaway cups." - ContactMusic.com


 I think all these people who queue the streets and have endless support for the film and its characters are like this because they can relate so much to the film and it's very easy to like and go along with.

Most were already fans of the books and enjoy being involved in the release of something new, so go along with the films because they loved the trilogy so much. Also because they are already fans of the individual actors and will support them in whatever project they're involved with, one man told Jennifer Lawrence that his girlfriend read him all 3 books in a bid to make the books win him over, and it worked. Shown in this interview (X)

The Hunger Games as a whole appeals to a very wide audience, including kids and being young they tend to be more enthusiastic about things they like and pursue it by going to see all the films and buy merchandise, to it appealing to older teens who will use social media to help promote the film.  



The fanbase for this film helped its prospects. Danielle DePalma was in charge of running a blog for "tributes" to follow. They were largely included in the build up to the release, 100 days prior to the release fans had to put together a new poster with 100 puzzle pieces. “It was a silly little stunt, but it worked — bam" - Tom Palen, the chief marketer for Lionsgate.

A fandom is a group of people who all share the same interest for a particular thing, whether that "thing" being an artist, band or film. Some have described fandoms as "the future of filmmaking" because they play such a huge role in the marketing of a film.




                                                      The role of those in a fandom has somewhat changed over the years. From the early 1900s fans just had the job of turning up in a small venue to watch local films, however now, fans aren't just local, they're worldwide and the help of all of them is needed to make a film a success. From writing reviews online to camping out to get the first glimpse, those involved in fandoms are loyal - that's something that hasn't changed.
Film makers certainly rely on fandoms to help promote because it's free and they can dedicate their time to it, whereas film makers can't solely focus on that. Also because at the end of the day, whether it's hundred or thousands in a fandom, they're the reason those film makers are making money, so obviously they want to please them so that they are happy and carry on supporting their interest.

Part of a passionate fans job is to help with promotion. Whether this means tweeting or telling people about the new movie coming out, their help is crucial because it's free and can be effective.
Fans like films like this because of the fanbase it creates. People can make online friends who have a mutual interest and it can be a break from the real world.