Digital Distribution Research- Primer

The independent film Primer by Shane Carruth is a sci-fi film about intellectual engineers that build an innovative device that obsess over their creation, discovering dark consequences of their own actions. This movie is similar to our own with the sci-fi aspect and that it is independently made and produced. Part of this films use of digital distribution was for it to be accessed on Amazon Instant Video. On Amazon, customers can choose from Download to Own or Download to Rent purchasing options. With this the film maker receives a 50% cut. This is a good way to make a profit from an independent film and would be a good way to get our own film digitally distributed.

Digital Distribution Research

Digital Distribution is a key element when producing a film. There are many platforms for us to distribute our media content on as independent filmmakers. An example of a platform is YouTube. YouTube uses the videos you watch and recommends videos that are similar. After watching videos that are similar to ours viewers will be led to watch our own. Another example is Gathr. Gathr allows theatrical distribution by letting filmmakers screen their films at Art Houses or Community Theaters. If you can get enough support and sell enough tickets then your movie is able to be shown. This is a very interesting way to get support for a movie, although it can be a lot of work to get it advertise, in the long run it will create a lot of exposure.

Target Audience Research- Black Mirror

Black Mirror is a Netflix original TV show that uses different episodes to show futuristic realities with very advanced technology. A unique strategy of advertising was sending an unsettling message to Turkey's equivalent to Reddit. Across the site, users would receive a mysterious DM from an account named "iamwaldo". The intention of the message was to scare people, which worked. It was later discovered that this was a marketing strategy to promote the new season of Black Mirror. Black Mirror has episodes that relate to our plot of a simulation. Black Mirror is marketing towards the same generation as us. The teen generation is largely attracted to this series because of the use of modern technology. We could use a similar strategy of advertisement for our own film to hopefully reach our target audience.

First Revisions

The idea of a simulation was very confusing when presented to our audience. While revising our film we created a new script and shot list to clear the story line up. The script will address the simulation and what is going on within the film. The shot list will also be changed more effectively than our original. We plan to re-film soon to finish up our film. From there we will make the updates needed involving our shot list, script and story board. With these revisions we hope to better help our audience understand our film and the plot we are trying to produce. Below is an updated cast list.

Advertisement Super Bowl Research

Commercials shown during the 2018 Superbowl were each directed toward specific target audiences. The Tide ad used a celebrity appearance by David Harbour who portrays a main character in the very popular show, Stranger Things. This helped open the target audience to teenagers, adults, and children who watch the show. Tide is normally specified to adults but now by using the more influential actor on younger generations, it is opened up to be more appealing to these younger people. Tide also used its commercial to make fun other basic super bowl commercials to tie it back to their own. Another example is the Doritos and Mountain Dew commercial. These products are normally targeted toward younger audiences but within this commercial they incorporated the use of songs from the 90s/2000s era. These songs opened up the audience to older generations making this product seem more open to everyone. The use of actors like Morgan Freeman also made the product more appealing. Another actor from the very popular show, Game of Thrones was also used. These techniques really helped with the broadening of audience appeal. We hope to broaden our own audience appeal as well within our own film.

Target Audience Research- Ender's Game

In order to advertise for the movie Ender's Game billboards were placed with the movie poster all around the U.S. in major cities. This mode of advertisement attracted many people to the movie because they were constantly looking at the billboards.  The billboards were placed in strategically popular places so that they producers would know they would have people coming to see it.  Ender's Game was marketed towards teenagers but the billboards were primarily seen by adults growing the target audience.  I could learn from the billboards in my project because it would help the advertising of our film.  It would help grow our target audience and help gain attraction to our film.

Target Audience Research Mad Max: Fury Road

In order to advertise for the movie Mad Max: Fury Road a campaign was launched using #MynameisMax. From the movie a very popular quote of 'Mad Max' was him saying "My name is Max." which is what inspired the hashtag. People would post pictures of themselves using this hashtag on popular social media platforms. At the ending of this promotion over 1,500 photos had been posted using this hashtag. Of these, 200 had been chosen to be displayed on billboards in major cities. Others had been chosen to watch a special screening of the movie. The overall reach for this campaign was 8,100,000 people. People were persuaded through social media to see the movie.