Research into Digital Film Marketing

Part of the coursework for Media is to design our own website for our new production. Therefore, I've taken screenshots of five websites which are relevant to my own production. I've chosen to analyse the websites promoting the motion pictures 'The Dark Knight' (Christopher Nolan, 2008), 'Slumdog Millionaire' (Danny Boyle, 2009), 'District 9' (Neill Blomkamp, 2009), 'Aeon Flux' (Karyn Kusama, 2005), and '2012' (Roland Emmerich, 2009).

Here is a screenshot of the 'About The DVD' page of promotional website for the film 'The Dark Knight' (Christopher Nolan, 2008). To go to the official website, please click here. The first impressions of this website design is how dark it is. This film is known for its dark and sinister atmoshpere, and the promotional website excellently reflects this. The main villain for this film is The Joker. This page features the joker cards from a pack of cards, which are props seen within the production. Even the 'About The DVD' section of text is layered on top of an image of a joker card. The main image on the page displays the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the production, thus encouraging consumers to go out and buy that product. Showing the products also makes it easier for consumers to recognise the product when they are out shopping.

Here is a screenshot of the 'Synopsis' page of promotional website for the film 'Slumdog Millionaire' (Danny Boyle, 2009). To go to the official website, please click here. In the UK, this production was promoted as 'The feel-good film of the decade'. All of the promotion, including this website, reflects this idea; it is very bright, very happy, and very exciting. It is a very simple website design, featuring an image of a main character from the film on each page - in this case Latika, played by actress Freida Pinto. The text is layered on top of the image, informing the reader with the information they want. The navigation around the site is very simple, making it user-friendly. This is, quite simply, and excellent design, and very appropriate for the film.

Here is a screenshot of the front page of promotional website for the film 'District 9' (Neill Blomkamp, 2009). To go to the official website, please click here. The main image on this website is of the desolate District 9. There is not much movement, or any particular subject within the image, meaning although it gives some information to the consumer, it isn't really very interesting. However, it does show the consumer what District 9 looks like, and show how dirty and desolate it has become. The navigation for the website looks relatively simple; as the consumer moves the mouse, the page moves with it to give the consumer a view of District 9. It is important to note that the institutions and the film's certificate is displayed on this page, and strangely above hyperlinks to other promotional websites; usually, this sort of information is placed at the bottom of the page, to stop the page from looking untidy. The hyperlinks on the page will take the reader to pages with further information. I don't think this would be an excellent template to base my own website design on, as it would be very difficult to create such an advanced template. Nevertheless, it is an excellent website for that production.

Here is a screenshot of the front page of promotional website for the film 'Aeon Flux' (Karyn Kusama, 2005). To go to the official website, please click here. This website features Charlize Theron as the character Aeon Flux as the main focus of this front page. She is in the recognisable costume for the character, and is reaching for her gun, which, again, is in line with the narrative of the production. The background features the city Bregna, as shown in the film. The navigation options are displayed to the left of the page, with information promoting the film's DVD taking the centre of the page. The film is quite dark but futuristic, and I believe that the construction and presentation of this webpage well represents this. This webpage gives the consumer all the options and information they could need making it good for the production.

Here is a screenshot of the 'About The Film' page of promotional website for the film '2012' (Roland Emmerich, 2009). To go to the official website, please click here. This website, similarly to the others shown above, is again a very simple design, very user-friendly, yet still gives the reader all the information they could want. The picture shows the plane used in the film, which those who have seen the production will recognise. The layout and navigation is very simple, with all the controls to the top of the page. All of the images displayed as backgrounds to the pages are of the destruction and carnage caused by the fictional natural disasters, which is consistent with the theme of the film. Moreover, features such as the film's logo are present, which is an absolute necessity. I think that this type of webpage, with the simple navigation options and layout, would make an excellent template for my own production.

Photographic Storyboard

Here is my completed photographic storyboard. Th images are cropped screen shots of the storyboard. I have used my drawn storyboard to direct the photographs taken. These photographs represent the shots planned for the production; however, actual shots may differ to those shown. Moreover, I have used the same actors throughout the storyboard, even though they represent different characters, and a different cast will be used for the actual production.