FILM STUDIES - FM2 British and American film

Section A 
1. How important are social networks to producers and audiences as a form of film promotion?

Social media has become a very important in the marketing of films mainly due to that people had to go to a cinema to see a film trailer they can now view it on almost any social media. Different social media help promote films in different ways, for example Twitter is vital as films can create a hash tag to cause conversation about the film and when people tweet about the film the hash tag can trend and cause others to get involved with the discussion of the film by simply using the hash tag and also with the use of re tweets which re tweets a tweet to a accounts followers then their followers would re tweet it and so on so fourth eventually advertising the film on a wider scale.

YouTube is also a important factor in film marketing due to it being not only the most popular place to watch videos but also the favorite place for film trailers themselves to be watched which is why films would have links to the website on their official websites as with one click on a link the audience could easily access the trailer.

 Facebook is also very important as over 500 million people use it which makes it a very unique and popular social media which if used properly can be massive with the marketing with films due to the mass amount of people that use it.

 The importance of social media in the marketing of film is clear as those who use social media go the cinema five times more per year than the average film goer, this proves that using social media helps reach a wider audience as it causes them to engage with the film on a platform they are used to as they use it daily and a way of gaining information they find easiest.

The film Avatar is the most successful film there has even been, it also had the most successful marketing campaign which could be a huge factor to the success of the film. The marketing campaign of Avatar created a social media 'Avatar day' in which the discussion of the film reached a all time high across all platforms, it too had a hash tag which trended World wide, they also had their own Twitter account which people would tweet and get a link to the soundtrack and Avatar had their own website which was linked across social media and gave away key information and images about the film upon release. The fact Avatar had the most successful marketing campaign is the key to it being successful as a film like John Carter in contrast that had a very unsuccessful marketing campaign and is considered one of the most infamous film failures.

As well as having a positive affect on the promotion of film, social media can also have a negative affect for example the film Batman and Robin (1997) a film critic named Harry Knowles wrote a bad review on the film slating everything from the Director to the costumes worn, he basically told people not to see the film. Due to his immense popularity people followed what he said and didn't go to see the film which is proven with the film having a -63.30% in gross after he published his review. His review was so pivotal to the failure of the film that the director Schumacher blamed Harry and his website for the downfall of the film.

This all proves that social networks are important for the marketing of a film as positive word of mouth and a good marketing strategy like the one used in Avatar with a international website and a trending World wide hash tag for twitter can cause the film to become a huge success. But also if social media is used wrongly and a film has a bad marketing campaign it can be a negative for the film as in the films John Carter and Batman and Robin.Mainly due to the bad word of mouth spread in the Batman and Robin film as the information spreads like a virus across the internet and can cause the film to fail. A badly done marketing campaign can cause a real loss in money as films may not reach potential customers which is what happened in John Carter.

Section C
16. Compare how far the actions of the main characters are influenced by the times in which the American films you have studied were made.

Invasion of the body snatchers was made in 1956. During which a labelled 'Cold War' was taking place between the USSR and America due to a difference in ideologies and the different view on how their countries should be ran. Each of either country had their own nuclear weapons in which they threatened each other with, this caused people to become extremely anxious as this War would have taken millions of lives. During the time of the film a man names Joseph McCarthy, a keen hater of the communist way of live was taking part in hate campaigns against any Americans who believed or followed the communist beliefs. If McCarthy found anyone who was believed followed the communists he would black list them causing them to become hated by the public and caused them to lose their lively hood and lives as they became seen as the enemy. 

These issues influence the actions of the main character Miles throughout the film, for example in the scene where Miles and Becky are hiding in a office away from the POD people, during which the phone rings and Miles looks down in complete fear. Becky asks whether she should answer the phone as it may be someone they know but Miles tells her not too as it may be one of the POD people, so they both do nothing. This shows how Miles is paranoid to even answer the phone because it may be one of the POD people and wouldn't be anyone either of the two could trust. 

This reflects the issue of paranoia reflects what was going on in the real World during the time of the film. This paranoia was generated from the 'Cold War' which was going on at the time between the Russians who believed in a communist way of live and the contrasting beliefs of the Americans who believed in a capitalist way of life. This caused the people of America to live in fear of expressing their beliefs if they didn't follow the capitalist views as if they didn't they would be black listed and viewed as a enemy to the country they live in. This caused a real paranoid feeling for American society as they became forced to keep their opinions and feelings to themselves and instead follow the status quo.

War of the Worlds was made in 2005. War of the Worlds is considered as post 9/11 cinema due to it being made after the attacks and having references to the day, for example the protagonists daughter Rachel asks after the attack "Is it the terrorists?". After 9/11 a war on Afghanistan and against terrorism began to take place which would last over 10 years. After the 9/11 attacks people reacted in different ways, many people wanted revenge straight away and wanted to attack who ever caused the attack, others wanted to be with their family and close ones and wait for a sense of security others where completely unsure on what to do as they didn't know what kind of threat they were under or what they were capable of. This post 9/11 reaction is shown throughout War of the Worlds.

In a scene Ray's daughter Rachel is abducted by the aliens and Ray tries to find her which causes him to see a field as far as his eye could see covered in darkness and what looks like blood. This shows how Ray is under threat of being completely annihilated as he is against a force that has the means to destroy and cause mass terror.

This links into life during the time of the film being made in which people had a real fear of being annihilated due to the War that was going on around them and the complete unexpected attacks on the twin towers. In the film Ray is unsure on what to do as he hasn't been in the situation in his life before and his reaction to the situation is that he wants to find his daughter, this links to the reaction of people post the 9/11 attacks as they were completely unsure on what to do and wanted to only be close to family. The fear of annihilation in the real world came from the attacks as people became unsure of why the attacks happened or whether they could or would happen again, this caused people to fear that they would be annihilated as the people who took part in the attacks had no motive other than to cause terror.