Unit 26- Assignment 3 (Film and Fandom)

The Film

The Film franchise I chose was the Harry Potter Saga, choosing just one would be pointless as the films fit together as one story. The films earned millions and has created a worldwide 'Fandom' more commonly known as Potterheads. 

Target Audience 

I would say that the target audience for these films is quite varied reaching to most ages. Stereotypically the film would have more of a male interest because of the action and adventure that Harry and his friends encounter. However in saying this as a woman, I find that women would be interested in it because of the added romance and the possible attraction to a character/actor in the film. The genre is quite action and adventure based, adding an element of fantasy into the film. This helps different psychographics within the fandom itself. Mainstreamers, aspirers and explorers are the main psychographics in the fandom. This is because the merchandise, the posters, the actual films intrigue the audience, they don't stray from tradition. The films offer something to a variety of audiences, the magical quality that fans and viewers want in a film, excitement, something that's different. When I say fans and viewers they mean two different types of people. The people who view the film casually are ordinary viewers however fans are somewhat different. Fans are the people that camp out for the late screening of a film release, the ones who own all the dvds, can quote the films (me!), own lots of merchandise (this will be me!) the people that class themselves as fans are thoroughly involved in the films, they live and breathe the saga. 

Marketing and Success 

I picked this trailer because it shows all of the films side by side. It shows the adventure in the first one, then slowly the films get darker and filled with mystery, more adventure, more action. The trailers are very generic in the fantasy genre, they have bright streets that look wide and long, having a huge castle and forests surrounding it which draws Mainstreamers in as it is typical for a film of that genre. The difference in the films and the plot draws reformers in as the plot is something different to any other film of that genre. The stars featured in the film are all well known throughout the UK this is the feature that draws in Aspirers as they want to be in the star/character's position. They want to be them.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1IbdQ29qKIgWPbFqhP5JI8tgFjNf_QXYcORkypT9knO4/edit

In all of the posters apart from the last one in the bottom right hand corner use the same font, the font is generic for a fantasy genre. It is bold and different to normal fonts. This draws in both Aspirers and Mainstreamers because it is both generic for the specific genre and different to other fonts used on different posters. In the poster for The Deathly Hallows Part 1 the setting is dark, the trees are scary looking which fits the target audience age, this shows that the rating is good and that older teenagers are a suitable target audience for these films. It is clear that image manipulation has taken place in all of the posters, this makes the stars look better and more appealing making the audience want to see the film more because of how the star looks. I think that an ICONOGRAPHIC feature in 4 of the 8 posters is the wand, this is also a prop which provides clues to the genre which is fantasy/adventure. The wands automatically influence the genre of fantasy, as it is different and expected in fantasy mystical films. I think that the posters are a really good marketing tool because there are so many of them that it makes fans want to buy them which is ultimately what the producers goal is and it is how they earned quite a lot of money.

This is one of the official websites. The website is very flashy and it is different. You have bright colours and pictures from the film franchise which is quite different this would be perfect for those aspirers out there. The site is full of logos and filled with bits and pieces from the film this would attract the more materialistic people out there.

In my opinion I think this website if effective in marketing Harry Potter because it is different, it looks quite magical and draws you in like the films do for the fans.

Marketing- Merchandise
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1FBljOkPNfr2aGsy1gR4eO2ZxsXFz3Vh79Z3gWFlcVow/edit?usp=sharing

These are just a few snippets of what merchandise for Harry Potter is available, merchandise is always a brilliant way for films to make money. The merchandise alone creates half of the profit for the film as fans want to buy them, they want their parents to buy them, the fans want more merchandise so this ensures that more merchandise is made which in turn increases the profit and sales levels. The merchandise appeals to Aspirers as they are always looking for a label, explorers like the different types of merchandise that require exploring. This links in with competitions or quizzes which appeal to that of the explorers nature.

Soundtrack

Another thing that markets the films well is the soundtrack. The sound track is another iconographic feature of the films, it is so easily recognisable to the films and it is generic to the genre of the film, it sounds magical and mystical which is part of what the fantasy genre is about. Soundtracks are a good way to gain money as they can be bought on itunes or in shops which earns money for the movie companies.





Press Junkets

Press Junkets also help to market the films, they get the audience staying up to see the live streams of premieres, watching interviews to find out more about the film. You find out more about the actors, the plot and their characters. It draws fans in of the individual actors, of the books as they compare them to the films. It gives a sense of familiarity to the films.

Fan involvement

This shows that Fans are incredible, the way they get involved in films is truly fascinating. They could create fanmade videos, reanact scenes, create art, enter competitions, start websites or fan clubs, they really do tend to get involved. An example of this is videos on youtube of puppets of the Harry Potter characters, it is based on imaginary scenarios using the well loved characters.





Here are some examples of fanmade videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bu1lvq4MIU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0UmEUG8bV0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xufng3UXT8Y







Fan sites:

News Stories

Success

The films earned millions worldwide, this happened not only because of the outstanding quality of the films but the franchise from the Harry Potter books wanting to watch the films to see how the novels were remade. The films are the highest grossing film franchise of ALL TIME. The films grossed over 7.7 billion pounds/dollars.

"After the release of the fourth book in July 2000, the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released on 16 November 2001. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $90 million in the United States alone which set a record opening worldwide." 

 Merchandise sales

Opening Weekend (ticket sales)

Comparison

   Another film with a massive fanbase are the Twilight films. The Twilight films earned $142,839,137 in the opening week of New Moon alone. The 3rd highest opening weekend in domestic history. The Twilight Saga used lots of similar marketing strategies as the Harry Potter films. 

• Trailers
• Cast Interviews
• Posters
• Fan-Made videos
• Competitions- the competitions vary as in all film franchises.
• Quizzes/tests
• Tie-ins- e.g. Paramore-Decode

Similar Techniques

1. Using stars- both films use stars to draw more people in, to make them aspire to be like them. 
2. Competitions- both sets of competitions allow the audience to answer questions about the films, winning similar prizes that all audiences would like to have. 
3. Posters-The posters were also quite generic to the genre of fantasy, the low-key lighting in the posters sets the target audience up slightly and the image manipulation of the stars appeals to aspirers (as they want to look like the stars) much like that of the Harry Potter posters. Similarly to the Harry Potter movie posters there are a few different ones to choose from, this makes sales go up as fans want ALL of the posters so they will buy more.
4. Quizzes/Tests- most films have online quizzes and personality tests, this helps the Explorers to feel more involved. Both films have similar quizzes/tests. Using them to involve the audience and encourage them to get more out of the films.

AUDIENCE REACTIONS TO HARRY POTTER

The audience reaction to the films was so outstanding, the fans raved over the films giving lots of their own point of view on the films. Although some reactions were disheartened due to the changes in the film comparing it towards the books. However most responses were positive giving constructive criticism rather than insulting the films. 

      

Reviews 

Responses

The target audience for these films would be teenagers-older teenagers, stereotypically boys as it is a fantasy genre/adventure type of film. It would appeal to Aspirers and Explorers mainly I think as it something different and it has a lot of status. It would appeal to Mainstreamers because it is generic to the genre and style of fantasy. There are lots of forums for fans and different outlets on how the fans can express their opinions on the films and debate with other fans who share different/similar opinions.

Audience Theory

Fans have made different things to celebrate their part in the Harry Potter Community. They've made fan videos, made artwork or drawn pictures. Fans have wrote letters to the actors and designed costumes/models. Fans like these films because they are edgy, exciting, filled with things for all types of psychographics. The fans of the BOOKS watch the movies, the producers hooking on to an already huge fanbase maximising the number of fans for both books and films. The fans do all kinds of things from writing letters to writing songs about the films/books. Fans wear t-shirts and buy Harry Potter costumes, they'd wear them to events and take pictures, this creates more profit because more merchandise is being bought.

Overall I would say that it was a good marketing campaign as it feeds on different pyschographic groups and it makes the fans feel more involved.

THE POWER OF FANS
Fans have a major impact on the film industry, they are the ones that decide how well a film does, it's all about fans. Fans are the ones who buy into the product, fans are the ones that want a sequel and are the ones the marketing is for. Fans create and tap into into fan culture, they are the ones that earn the studios money. They help with distribution- knowing your audience is effective. It is important for producers to create a fanbase for their films because people are the foundation of your productions, when you build a relationship between makers and viewers it creates loyalty with the fans. This loyalty potentially could increase a production's profit. 

Quotes: 

"Fandom's participatory culture 'is always shaped through input from other fan'"-Henry Jenkins 

"Peter [jackson- director] is demonstrating that he truly understands what it means to be a fan of his brilliant property" -Unknown.

"I think what they're doing [the fans] with the fan club is really wonderful...the fan club creates one big, worldwide society of Lord Of The Rings Fans and I am proud to be part of it" -Elijah Wood

So in summary Fans are potentially the most important people in the media, without them you would have no film industry. Their opinion is the final decision.