RESEARCH: DISTRIBUTION COLLAGE

We went onto the Film Distributor Association's website and watched the video presentation by head of the theatrical distribution, Kezia Williams on how a successful marketing campaign is created by professional distributors. 

I chose Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, as this is a long awaited sequel in a very successful franchise within pop culture. Everyone everywhere knows who Godzilla is so I'd like to use the aforementioned video to find out how this movie rode on that and both pure spectacle and previous successes to impress fans, long time and new, once again. The plot of the movie revolves around the titanic battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah and how humanity copes with the appearance of 17 or more giants just like them, the ending of the film sees Godzilla defeat Ghidorah and bring an uneasy peace as one of Ghidorah's heads survived (although in a terrible state), Ghidorah is known for his regenerative abilities in this universe and so he likely will be saved for one of the planned sequels. 

Spending on digital marketing has significantly increased, it is becoming common for trailers to be uploaded in a portrait format in order to accommodate social media platforms besides YouTube according to Matt Smith of the FDA. This provides an effortless synergy for the distribution and exposure of the movie to audience's worldwide. 

POSTERS

There were three types of posters that came out accompanying the trailers for Godzilla, there were ones that are purely artwork and followed more closely to earlier concept art of the creatures and then ones that were stylized art work and 3D effects. The final type was a flagship poster for the movie and featured not only an actual, incredibly impactful scene in the movie but Godzilla's actual 3D model.  

TRAILERS

The trailers unlike most do a stellar job of keeping the mystery of the plot under wraps while emphasizing the marvel that is the Kaiju featured in this film they do not give too much of the plot away and are not very long. The covers of famous and beautiful songs like "Claire De Lune" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" are emotional and nostalgic for the viewer and cause you to be drawn to them. This paired with beautiful editing to the music The profound quotes dubbed over the scenes of destruction add to the majesty and loop back to the themes of environmental crisis and how we should respond to them. 

ONLINE MARKETING

 Legendary's Monsterverse franchise has two websites that have helped it's publicity, from the moment Godzilla 2014 was launched there was a countdown on one of them to the next official release date. There was also a website that was launched to tease fans about the next movie and inform them a lot more about the in universe situation, from a lore standpoint this website was launched by Monarch. On said website you can learn more about the movie's characters from Godzilla himself to his nemesis and his allies, things like their confirmed heights and speeds in the air and the sounds they make. You can even observe "sightings" in our world of them and track them down through a satellite, this was a tactic to keep the hype going during the filming of the movie and it's sequel. Whilst this is mostly to appease hardcore fans, this helped in the long run to keep the movie relevant on the youtube scene with many memes spawning from shots from trailers and theories about the plots and possible monsters that could eventually be involved. The Godzilla movies website acts as a medium for fans to get information and discuss the events of the movies, there is almost constantly something knew happening on it which offers a convenient way for someone to connect to others and get answers you couldn't find on the movie's Twitter , FaceBook and Instagram.

PUBLICITY

The Godzilla: King of Monsters publicity team mainly aimed for cooperation between two companies countries outside of Japan (where Toho handled the publicity there as they own the rights for godzilla), such as Johnny Rockets serving an exclusive drink for the movie's release, the "Monster Shakes" made their debut not too long before it came out accompanied by an avocado menu or Xbox creating limited edition consoles designed akin to the flagship monsters of the film. 

OVERALL

The publicity for the movie was more geared for fans of the original 2014 movie and the original franchise, they banked on world building for those who have seen the other monster verse movies and the numerous other monster flicks out there. Overall it was quite successful as the movie did better than the previous and has earned enough to have the director contemplate pursuing more of the franchise after his contract with Toho has ended and the next film Godzilla Vs Kong has been released.

RESEARCH: SCOOPIT!

 Our Prep was to create a page on SCOOPIT! filled with film openings and trailers in order to have a reference pool for genre and tones of openings for our projects. (A link to my page: https://www.scoop.it/topic/media-by-ronnae-d), 

I'm aiming to reflect what my own piece will be with this board, evidently the rom-com genre. Some of these movies lean towards one or the other but that is the whole purpose of a mood board after all. 

RESEARCH: Art of the title: Godzilla

For my third Art Of The Title research I have chosen my long time favorite, Godzilla (2014). This story contrary to the one my partner and I have decided to go with this story has a very serious tone and a lot of messages for the audience. 

The music is meant to sound ominous and intense, it's almost jarring to the audience as we fade from a black screen to a cave painting of Godzilla. The other miscellaneous illustrations that we crossfade into and are overlayed on the screen are either meant to represent monsters that will appear in the franchise in the future or they are to give context to the story, to represent the fact that Godzilla has been present throughout mankind's fleeting history. He is inevitable. The credits appear on the screen in a typewriter print font and some words are promptly blacked out or circled in the style of a classified government document that the audience has no clearing for. This gives the hint that the story is told from a militant perspective. Whilst the movie itself doesn't cover all of the backstory itself, the opening brings the audience up to speed through newspaper clippings and titles about mysterious phenomena around the world.

 Just as the music swells we get our first glimpse of the movie's main character before cutting away, leaving the mystery as to just what he is for later and teasing the audience.To the beat of the faster tempo, the short collections of shots flicker back and forth between each other to give a quick mini story within the opening, the story of Casa Bravo to be exact. The director treats this topic very delicately, as he should, as the shots are very precise and aren't gaudy or sensationalized grossly. The first message of the movie is being played before it even starts and continues throughout it, the dangers of nuclear power, we this through the shots of the nuke being prepared trading with shots of children and innocents.

 As the main theme finally cuts into the soundtrack abruptly, we see a full shot of Godzilla's back, once again peaking the intrigue around him. A sharp flute, signature of many of Godzilla's battle themes, reaches a fortissimo as the nuclear bomb drops on Godzilla as he rises. This once again obscures the audience from actually seeing him until the time is right and is foreshadowing future events in the sequel movie. The explosion from the bomb engulfs the screen and it is eerily quiet for a moment as the ash settles across the screen, an intimidating bass and choir accompanies the main title as it slowly fades onto screen afore fading off, the ashes form the shadows to the first scene in the movie and it begins. 

RESEARCH: Art Of The Title (Crazy Rich Asians)

For Art Of The Title, I've chosen Crazy Rich Asians as my partner and I have decided on creating a romantic comedy.

The opening features a lot of designs that back the credits,whilst some of these appear to merely reflect the rich motif others seem to depict designs found on traditional Singapore clothing, specifically a traditional woman's clothing called a midi dress. Towards the end there is also a feature of the famous Singaporean merlion. These all give a sense of pride towards Asian heritage and a light hearted tone is emphasized through the upbeat choice of pop music that is quite the trademark for modern comedy movies. 

The abrupt cut from the animated sequence gives a feeling of the moment being framed as the two protagonists meet each other presumably for the first time. The sudden change in volume from the music allows the romantic tension to be palpable for the audience. This quick scene follows a cliche of two people meeting eyes from across the room and everything else seeming to fade away, they both turn away from the center of everyone else's attention to awkwardly look away from each other only to smile at one another again in a medium close up shot. There is then another smoothly animated transition back to the credits. 

Though the animation really helps to give the audience a hint of the themes and genres that will be present within the movie, it fails to introduce us to a lot of the important characters and common cliches and troupes within the movie such as the rich traditional mother that acts as a significant obstacle for the couple and how nervous the female lead is throughout the whole ordeal.

In conclusion, I think that the use of animation (while stylish) didn't really help set up the characters and plot beyond establishing just how rich some of the characters were and the fact that the movie has an all Asian cast. I would've at least included animations that match character themes, e.g, a traditional Singaporean estate for the mother's actress and in contrast the female lead's would be the city she lives in to better introduce the characters. However I do approve of the brief introduction to the protagonists, it was very sweetly done.

PRODUCTION PRACTICE: Camera Angles and Shots

After looking at The Grammar of Television and Film by Daniel Chandler Christina T and I studied and demonstrated the different angles or shots we knew with still pictures.

An Extra Long shot is used in cinematography to emphasize loneliness a vast majority of the time as a lack of other characters and the attention to the background can really help lead into other shots while building that emotional distance. In contrast, an Extra Long shot with a lot of characters within it can help the audience understand a close tie between the group displayed.

A Medium Long shot however is typically used for tense conversation as the audience can watch the body language of both actors, such as a scene between a doctor and their patient's loved ones, the shot technically focuses more on the person but still showcases the background.

A balance between Long and Closeup, Medium shots are typically from the waist up and find a happy compromise between focus on the character and depicting the background for context. These are normally used for commercials or comedic effect as a character addresses an audience.

A Close Up Shot is used for reactions in film and TV, on occasion this will feature another character's shoulder in a Hollywood style of editing called Continuity Editing. This entirely focuses on the actor while still giving a little bit of the background. Close up shots can be from the chest up, chin up or even specifically focusing on the eyes or mouth of the character.

A Medium Close Up is also ideal for reaction shots (as seen by my laughing at Christina's joke), This is usually from the shoulders up and gives the audience a huge chunk of background to view as well as the actor them self in a 5:1 ratio. 

RESEARCH: Art Of The Title (Stranger Things)

The combination of black and red lettering compliments the theme of thriller/horror as red and black are associated with evil or foreboding themes and stories. The font and the heavy synth soundtrack play upon nostalgia to grab your attention, as does the fact the letters appear almost like a neon sign from the 90s. The very slow scroll and tracking shots as the title comes together draws attention to little subtitles and amplifies suspense. The title letters come together almost like how the plot points will after many twists and turns, the letters cross over each other or rearrange. The contrast between the white lettering and the red ones allows the viewer to understand which the main title is and which the subtitle is and what they should pay attention to at that moment in time.  I like it as it demonstrates an understanding of the thriller theme and pays homage to TV shows and movies that played during the time period the show is set in, giving the viewer historical context and a sense of nostalgia. It is very aesthetically pleasing and triggers feelings of mystery and intrigue. I personally would have added cut in shots to keep the viewer more engaged as in an effort to make the title care suspenseful, it is very long and does get boring after seeing it an extended number of times. Cut in shots would cause viewers to speculate about later plot points and developments.

RESEARCH: Topline and The Big Question

During our Lesson today we went over digital story telling with Frank Ash, BBC creative consultant. We observed and analysed his 4 big questions for the film industry and tested our understand by pairing up and creating a brief comic style break down of what the 4 questions. 

This video details how to connect to an audience in an effective way and give an outstanding sense of intrigue and tension. I will create one elegant sentence that sums up the opening of the film's treatment when I start to plan my Foundation Production, or rather I will create a top line. I will also begin to decide and incorporate my big question (Make the audience wonder what will happen next.)