A)
The aim of this print based advert is to promote the film production 'Silent
Captive', a psychological thriller short film, to an audience so that they
are more likely to see the film when it's released. The objective of this is to
intrigue the audience and get them to ask questions to what the film is about
and what will happen. The target audience to this film and who should be
targeted by the print based advertisement will be in the general age range of 16
to 21, this is because of the idea of ideal self in which the majority of
the characters in the film are this age. This also goes the same for the target
audience's gender which for the majority would be male, as this is the majority
of the cast of characters are also male, again creating an ideal self for the
audience to relate to. The print based advertisement will be aimed to an
audience on a local scale due to the low budget nature of the film, the social
grade that the print based advert is aimed at are of people in the social
grade as low as Grade D, which is about a 92% frequency of the UK, this would put them in the working class, on average
they earn at most £47,000 a year, this would give them enough spending power to
see the film. The campaigns message that will be portrayed in the print based
advertisements is the idea of loneliness, or even loss as this is the theme of
the film I'm advertising. the story follows a brother, who had recently lost
his brother, unsure if he's missing or if he's dead. He ventures into a forest
that people have suspiciously been going missing in, he has constant illusions
of his brother and things take a turn for the worst in the forest as the
brother realises that his brother is gone and he can't help that, his
hallucinations get worse until he finds the body of his brother, this is when
his mind is relieved of a guilty consciousness. I think the theme I'm
trying to portray in the print based adverts will fit in well with the story of
'Silent Captive', the loneliness relates to the fact that he is on his own, not
just because his brother is dead (Which would associate with the idea of loss),
but also because he is on his own in the forest, specifically a place where
people mysteriously disappear. I am planning to feature the two main characters
in the film, this being the two brothers, I will also use photographs took at
the shooting of the film, the photographs will mainly consist of the forest
setting, this will be an establishing photo took from outside the forest, there
will also be medium shots of the characters and close-ups, this is seen a lot
in print based adverts that are associated with the genre. These print based
adverts will be distributed and displayed a month before release, I feel as
though this would give the film's advertising enough time to be exposed
to the audiences it's aimed at.
B)
Gantt Chart:
Task
Month 1 (November)
Month 2 (December)
Month 3 (January)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Research into existing Print Based Adverts
Plan my production of the print based advert
Aim and Objective
Campaign Message
Target Audience
Gantt Chart
Relevent Legal/ethical issues
Create a draft and mock up for the logo
Create a draft and mock up for the print based advert
Finalise the logo design
Plan the film poster photoshoot
Recce Form
Risk Assessment
Call Sheet
Model Release Form
Location Release Form
Photoshoot
Finalise the print based advert
Calculate the campaign cost and budget
Get Feedback for improvement
Launch date and distribution of Print Based Advert
Launch Date of Film (29/01/2017)
Milestones:
07/11/2016 - Plan the Print Based Advert
14/11/2016 - Create logo
01/12/2016 - Photoshoot
08/12/2016 - Create the Print Based Advert
26/12/2016 - Distribution of the Print Based Adverts
29/01/2016 - Film is launched
C)
When creating my print based advertisement, I will have to oblige to ASA,
also known as Advertising Standards Authority, and its requirements which
make it suitable for advertising to the public. They also act on complaints
about advertisements from consumers too. It associates with the obscene
publication act as this covers the negative influences of something that could
be in the advert, on the audience, meaning it's ethical. This means it can't
show nudity, bad language, violence, drug use and alcohol in the
print-based advert. Copyright is a legal factor I will have to look out for in
the print-based advert, this means we cannot use another person’s intellectual
property, due to it being protected by copyright. Copyright usually means you
can't use things like music, photos and videos, in this case it will only be
photos due to it being a print-based advert, there also may be a few logos
which might be involved in the print-based advert too, so anything we
do use will need permission from the owner of that intellectual property,
usually by sorting out a deal to pay them for using their own intellectual
property. Model release forms are another key component in making the
print-based advert as I will need the consent of anyone used in the photos of
the print-based advert, this is so I have their consent to use their identity.
M2:
In the audio-visual advert I will use shots from the short film, I will also
use certain shots to help emphasise on the idea of loneliness and loss, the
audio-visual advert will also be none linear to help keep the story and film a
mystery. The shots used in the film will have been filmed at a few locations,
such as a local park, a forest and a bedroom. I plan to have the
audio-visual advert to be promoted on social networks such as Facebook and
Twitter, I'd also have it distributed across multiple on demand sites, such as YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion which is an easy way to
get the film known nationally as it can be seen globally through websites.
IMDb is also a suitable website to advertise the film with an
audio-visual as it's based around the media of films, this would make it easier
to reach specified audiences. I plan to have the audio-visual adverts promoting
the film a month before release, I feel as though this would give the
film it's advertising enough time to be exposed to the audiences
it's aimed at. OFCOM, also known as the Office of Communication, is a government approved regulator authority that makes sure the UK audience get the best from communications services on TV. OFCOM would come into use when I plan to distribute the trailer to multiple channels such as Film 4 and Sky Movies as these channels are specific to broadcasting in the UK.
The Kingsman: The Secret Service Advertisement Campaign
Print-Based Adverts
The Billboard Poster 1:
The Billboard Poster 2:
The Film Poster/ Magazine ad:
The Website Banner Ad:
The Film Website:
Audio Visual Advert
The Trailer:
Aims and Objectives-
The aims and objectives for these
print-based adverts and audio-visual adverts are to get the audience to see the
film, it does this by advertising and promoting the film 'The Kingsman: The
Secret Service'. The film is an action thriller with spy elements with a BBFC
Certificate of 15 and to target and attract audiences that like that kind of
film to the print-based advert, by having interesting photos from the film that
the audience would find intriguing and entertaining to see in the film. The
audio-visual on the other hand uses shots from the films as a preview to the
audience to try and intrigue them to see the film in theatres or buy the DVD
for example.
Target Audience -
The target audience for these print based
advertisements and audio-visual advert are teens above the age of 15 and up to
about the age of 50. I think that the lowest age it would be aimed at would be
15 as the BBFC certificate claims it's a 15. The teens will be intrigued by the
spectacular action shots (most notably the film poster/ magazine advert) and
other interesting shots like the one used for the film's website which uses a
shot with interesting gadgets and weapons on display, this may look exciting to
teens, these things are also shown in the audio-visual advert to appeal to that
audience. The older audience on the other hand may be intrigued due to seeing
spy films as they grew up watching films like James Bond. The target audience
may also be more on the male side compared to females, as Action films are
stereotypically a male interest. There are also main characters that are the
majority male and so the male audience are more likely to have an ideal
self and relate with these characters. The ABC1 demographic
is used to classify people of different social grades and spending powers.
The social grade of the target audience these print based advertisements
are aimed at are people who are in the social grade D and above, as the cinema
tickets were around £9 on average, this can easily be afforded by the working
class (Social Grade D) on at least a monthly basis.
Representation -
A constant theme that is represented in
The Kingsman: The Secret Service print-based advertisements are the characters,
mostly the 'Kingsman' who are a secret service. The Kingsman themselves are
represented as posh, intelligent and very formal and this is shown in the
print-based advertisements through the text and images. The golden and black
colours used connote a very deluxe feel to the ad's and adds to representation
of the Kingsman, which, as I said, are posh and formal, this representation is
also shown through images as you see on the films website for example, there is
an array of 'gadgets' that are in the form of formal accessories and attire,
like the shoes and Rolex Watches. There is also a representation of danger and
action shown on the print-based advert's images, the danger is shown with the
explosions in the film poster, and multiple times with the weapons on the film
poster, the website banner advert and the film's website. The woman with the
prosthetic legs equipped with a blade also represent danger as well as action
as she is shown in an action looking pose in both the billboard posters and the
film poster/magazine advert. All of these themes are also shown in the
audio-visual, an example for the representation of the Kingsman being posh
would be when one of the agents before an action scene says "Manners
maketh man", this can be seen as a very formal thing to say and something
most people wouldn't say. An example of action being represented follows the
last example where the agent fights a couple of people, this scene shows
multiple shots with plenty of action as well as a few slow motion shots that
emphasises on the pain being dealt. A final example of representation is danger
and this is shown in a montage part of the advert where the new agents are
being tested and one of the shots used is the protagonist being tied down to a
train track and you can see the frustration and fear in the character’s face,
the next shot is then the train heading towards the camera, this gives a bit of
tension to the audience as you don't know what happens next although you know
he is in a lot of danger. The representation of the location is also shown in
the print-based campaigns, but only in the film poster/magazine advert and
the website banner advert, they represent Britain and its heritage by using
some location shots of the London bridge and they also have a shot of a
mansion, which are typically seen in England. The people on the other hand
are represented well in all the print-based graphics, the British
characters are represented well as British stereotypes, such as the
younger main protagonist, who's attire, a sort of tracksuit and cap
resembles the stereotypical style of the youth from the characters
location, South London, it is a very youthful thing to wear, and although
he is young, his facial expression shows that he is serious, which may be
foreshadow his character develop from an immature character to a more
mature one. Another stereotype of a British person, is a posh and well
educated, this is represented by the much older character in the film, as well
as the characters accent in the trailer, the character wears a suit and tie,
this is typical of posh and very formal people to wear, it also associates with
the name of the secret service in the film, The Kingsman, which sounds like
it's associated with royalty, which could relate to the character being
dressed posh and formal, as to look respectful enough for royalty.
Campaign Message -
The message of this campaign was to show
that the film is going to be action-packed with the idea of action, secret
services and the fight between good and evil, this fits well into the genre of
the film, being an action film, it's also a comedy film but this wasn't shown
through the print-based adverts. This helps the advertisements achieve their
purpose, which is to promote the film to their target audience, which are a
younger audience who are intrigued by action and spectacles. They emphasise on
the action with guns, explosions and the characters on both the print-based
adverts and audio-visual adverts, which clearly shows that there will be plenty
of action scenes in the film, guns and explosions can connote danger which
gives the action a bit of tension, the characters on the other hand are mostly
in action poses that again shows there will be action in the film, most notably
on the film poster/magazine advert where nearly every character on there is
holding a gun or using a weapon, like the woman with the prosthetic legs has a
blade in those legs and she points it towards the camera as though she is
striking someone. The idea of the Secret Service is shown a lot in the
print-based adverts, like the film's website which has the words "Become a
Kingsman Knight" on it, a secret service can connote that the characters
are specialists which can make the audience see that they are good at what they
do, this can make the action scenes look great to the audience as they see
these specialists winning in a fight with ease. Finally, the last idea is that
good prevails over evil, which can be shown in action scenes as they fight
each other, this can be seen a few times in the audio-visual advert.
Print-Based Advertisements Used in The
Campaign -
I have chosen to analyse three printed
adverts; A horizontal billboard, a portrait billboard poster and a film
poster/magazine advert. Firstly, the horizontal billboard poster’s typography
is a mix between the serif and sans serif font type, the main title ‘Kingsman’
and the date of release uses serif as you can tell by the flicks on some of the
letters whilst the subtitle and other information is in sans serif as you can
tell by the bold text. They may have chosen to use a serif type font for the
‘Kingsman’ as the serif font can connote to being fancy, which is what the
Kingsman in the film are represented as. The photography used in this billboard
are of the characters in the film, they all have been took at the same angle
and shot type, although some of them may vary, such as the woman above the
title who was likely took with a wide shot, to show the action pose she is
doing, instead of the medium shots that were took for the rest. The photographs
were placed symmetrically as two characters are placed to the right with the same
shot and angle, which is then the same on the left too, the woman is then
placed dead in the middle as well as the text. The colours used, disregarding
the photos, are very simplistic with the colours only being white, gold and
black, I’d say these are very deluxe colours that could connote richness and
fancy, which again relates to the Kingsman being very royal and rich. The
colours also juxtapose well with each other making it easy to read the text.
The bleed between the photos vary on the billboard poster as two photos on each
side don’t even have a bleed as they are right next to each other, although on
each side there are two photos, the bleed between both sides is as long as the
horizontal billboard, whilst the middle photo of the woman is equal between the
two sides and also raided a bit higher. The kerning of the text on the
billboard poster are actually quite wide, this may have been done so the text
isn’t all clustered together, making it easier to read for audiences passing by
the billboard. The leading varies on the billboard poster, the small text above
the main title is very close whilst the subtitle below the main title is quite
wide, this may be because the subtitle text is much bigger as to get the
composition right so it is just as wide as the main title, the leading is also
very wide because of the low hanging ‘G’ in the main title, so to make the
poster look more attractive they would need the leading to be wide. The leading
between the date of release and the title text is quite wide too, but to avoid
a lot of white space they include a line with the films icon in the middle.
There is quite a bit of white space on the film poster, but this makes the
photos and text stand out much more easily and the whole poster look less
clustered.
The portrait billboard poster has the same
contents but a very different layout as it has to work with a portrait
orientation. The only difference other than the layout was the photography, it
uses the same angle but a different shot as the photos show the full body of
the characters and not half of them like it did in the horizontal poster, this
shot is more of a long shot than the medium shot. The photos use the same kind
of layout as the horizontal poster, as two are on each side, with the woman
character, again, striking an action pose in the centre between the two sides,
the photo of the woman also extrudes from the billboard poster itself and
extends out, this gives an idea of 3D as it looks like her foot is coming out
the poster. The bleed between photos also vary as it is much closer between all
the photos than it was in the horizontal poster, this is because the width is
much shorter so it has to fit all the photos on, and because of this, not only
is the bleed smaller, so are the photos, this might not be good as it looks
less attractive to the audiences that see it. The typography, colours (which
appear to be a house style for the billboard posters), kerning and leading all
appear to be the same as they were in the horizontal billboard poster.
Finally, the film poster/magazine advert
is very different to the billboard posters. There are tons more photographs
used in this poster than the billboards, this may be because the audience can
see it up close over a longer time, than they would in car driving past a
billboard. The six main photos that catch your attention first are the six
characters, they are much bigger photos than the ones you see within the film’s
icon, and are layered over the icon to come outside it. Four of the shots are
medium shots, the central top photo is then a close up of the protagonist and
then there is the other protagonist who is shot in a long shot, showing him
walk towards the camera, connoting that he may be coming after someone. The
smaller photos within the icon are of action scenes, as you can tell by the
attack helicopter and explosions, and some of the location scenes, which would
have been took as an establishing shot. There is no bleed between the photos as
they are all packed together inside the icon. The typography for the most part
is sans serif as all the text is bold and stands out, the only text that is
serif is the main title ‘Kingsman’ and this may be used throughout the posters
because it’s the house style for the title. Both the text and photos are centred
on the poster and are quite symmetrical too, this makes the poster look
organised and clean. The colours used in this poster are different to the
billboard posters house style as it does use black, gold and white, but with a
different proportionality, the black overtakes the white in this poster, which
helps juxtapose the gold theme the icon uses, as well as some of the text that
has always been gold due to it being a house style choice for the main title
‘Kingsman’. This poster does use some logos from companies associated with the
making of the film, this being 20thCentury Fox and Marv Films, these are
placed at the bottom and are small, they are next to the films date of release,
website address and other information. The film’s title and subtitle use the
same kerning as it did in the billboard posters, whilst the rest of the text,
like the date of release, cast names and other information have a closer
kerning. The leading between text on this poster are quite wide too, this may
be because it has much more space than the billboards did to work with, the
text can be further apart because it’s on a smaller scale, so it’ll still be
easy to read in a magazine or on a smaller portrait billboard. Finally, there
is the white space, there is much less than there were on the billboard
posters, this time the white space is black too, and the reason there is much
less is because the icon is centred in the middle, much bigger and so takes up
most of the film poster.
Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues -
The Copyright law is a law enforced by the
government so that a creator of an intellectual property i.e. music, photos or
videos doesn't get their property stolen. This can be relevant because the photographer
for example rightfully owns the images that feature the actors, but they may be
paid by the production company to use those photos, giving them a right to use
it.
The obscene publication act would also be
relevant on these print-based adverts as it covers negative influencing to a
viewer, so anything obscene, like nudity, bad language, violence, drug use and
alcohol. This is also regulated by the ASA. From these print-based adverts I
have chosen they do not show anything obscene, it may show things that could be
counted as violent such as the explosions and guns, but they do not appear to
be causing harm to anyone in the print-based advert and so can be used.
Regulatory Bodies -
The Regulatory body that regulates the
print-based advertisements are ASA or the Advertising Standards Authority; they
are an independent regulator that controls all advertising all media in the UK.
The ASA takes action against any adverts that have harmful, offensive or
misleading content to the audience. They do this so that the advertisements are
suitable to people seeing it every day, and so that an audience that the
product isn't targeted to, such as a younger audience, don't see anything
obscene.
Another regulatory body is the BBFC (The
British Board of Film Classification), they regulate the age certificate given
to a film, in this case the film was given a 15. This means that it cannot
endorse discrimination, although it may contain language that may do so. It may
show people taking drugs, but cannot encourage it. It can show dangerous
behaviour, such as self-harming, but must not dwell into it. There can be
strong language but only with an acceptable contextual reason. Nudity can be
shown, but not in a sexual context, sexual activity can also be shown but not
in detail. There can be a strong sense of threat and horror, although sadistic
and sexual threats are mostly unacceptable. Violence also may be show but like
dangerous behaviour, cannot go into detail about it. The film advertisement
campaign I am focusing on could be affected by the strong language
(audio-visual), threat and violence in its marketing. Due to the audio-visual
advert being a TV spot and most likely being shown in the day, the advert
doesn't contain any strong language, this makes it so it can be viewed in the
day, where it's mostly likely to get a lot of exposure to its audience. Threat
is shown on the pint-based adverts as some characters hold a gun, the reason it's
acceptable to be in the adverts is because the gun is not shown killing anyone,
the characters look like they hold it to show what role they'll be playing in
the film, although if the gun was being used to kill someone it would have been
classed as violence and would not have been able to be shown in the advert,
because it doesn't it is allowed to be shown on billboards and in magazines.
Method -
The Print-based Adverts I have chosen to
analyse span across different media, the first two is both billboards,
billboard 1 is placed on a landscape billboard and was probably placed on the
side of the road, this is so that people driving by see the advert, the
billboard would also be placed near traffic lights strategically so that when
drivers are waiting for the traffic lights they can look at it. Billboard 2 is
on a much bigger scale and is on the side of a building, this building may be
on the side of a busy road to have the same effect as the other billboard and
more exposure to an audience. The final print based advert is the magazine
advert that is a film poster, this would either get more or less exposure
than the billboard posters depending on what magazine the advert is placed on,
because it's a blockbuster film it could easily pay to be marketed in a
well-known magazine, it would most likely be placed in a magazine that's main
focus is films, such as Total Film, this would then likely get exposed to a
more specific audience that would watch a film such as "Kingsman: Secret
Service" than if it was a billboard poster. There is also the web
banner and webpage that advertise the film, the web page would be on its own
website, so the audience who see it would maybe have had to have known about it
before hand to have found the website. The web banner would possibly be placed
on websites and just like the magazine ad, would probably be placed on websites
that relate to the target audience, to get the correct exposure, such as
on some website like IMDb and Facebook.
On the other hand, the audio-visual advert
would be able to be seen on YouTube, as I found it this way, it would probably
come up on the recommended section of someone who watches trailers similar
to this film. The advert would also be shown on TV as the trailer I
analysed was a TV Spot, which is an advert in breaks between shows, this means
that the advert could have been marketed to be see on many channels, likely
popular ones like ITV and Channel 4.
M1
The TV advert for 'Kingsman: The
Secret Service' is an audio visual advert that aired 17th January 2015, a few
days before the film came out in theatres. The mise-en-scene is made up of the location,
costume, props, lighting, and gestures. Firstly, one of the locations used is a
bunkroom in the place the recruits train to be agents, this shows that they are
only amateurs in the
film and might show character development. An example of costume in the trailer
are some soldiers
wearing white cammo and wielding a gun, this connotes that they are the
antagonists as well as seeing them fighting the protagonists. A prop seen in
the trailer several times is a gun; this connotes danger as it can be used to
kill someone, and to show this in the trailer quite a few times may suggest
there will be a lot of action and danger in the film, which may intrigue the
target audience. An example of lighting in the film trailer is low-key
lighting; this is seen in the establishing shot of a mansion in
the early dawn. The final example of mise-en-scene are gesture, an example of
this is when the protagonist is shown in an action match shot and with a
calm face, manoeuvres over an enemy, this may be connoting that he's a
professional at what he does, this is also the theme they were going for the
Kingsman. The next feature in the trailer is the camera work; this contains the
angles, shot types and movements. An example of angles in the trailer is a low
angle, this is seen in a shot of some characters skydiving and the angle looks
up at them as they descend. An example of a shot type would be the close
up of a military like drone, this connotes that it's dangerous as it would be
equipped with military weapons which would be able to kill someone
and if it's dangerous then it means it may be used for an action
scene in the film. The final example of camerawork is movement, an example of
this in the trailer is a pan to the left and a tilt upwards, this is again
seen in the shot of the protagonist manoeuvring over an enemy,
the amount of movement in this shot helps keep the pace of the action when the
shot is in slow motion. Next is editing and a few examples in the
trailer would be jump cutting, which is a typical editing technique in a
trailer, as a trailer is a montage of clips from the film that gives a
preview to an audience, the other editing technique would be title
graphics and tag lines, another typical feature of a trailer, these would
give information to the audience about the film, such as the name and
the day it is released in theatres, such as when it says "February
13" which is over layered over the final shot at the end of the trailer, tag lines on the other hand could be placed across the trailer every few seconds to build up to the title graphic, in between each tag line segment there was be a climax building shot that leads onto the next, this builds up the suspense to the title, which would probably intrigue the audience. The final
feature of a trailer is the sound; this would include both
diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound would be sound that can be
heard within the story world, an example of this would be dialogue, which
is heard throughout the whole trailer, sometimes it would also be
narrated over some of the clips. Another example would be the sound of
blades on the prosthetic legs when the woman is fighting the protagonist with
them and they make a metallic clashing sound with the protagonist's
weapon. On the other hand, there is non-diegetic sound, this is sound not in
the story world and is most likely added during post-production. An example of
this would be the incidental music, this is the soundtrack playing over
the clips, sometimes the incidental music would be synced with
the diegetic sounds, which would sound rhythmic, and example being the
beat syncing up with the metallic clashing sounds.
