Below are examples of surveys carried out by past students. You are welcomed to do paper copies or use survey monkey or google surveys to design and distribute your questionnaires, just remember to make it clear the date in which you expect them to be returned.
Unit
2, Assignment 2: Film Promotion and Marketing
Controlled
Assessment Task - Analysing Trailers and Website
1.Examine your general emotional
response to the trailer and website (or at least the response they’re intended
to evoke). It can tell you a great deal about what kind of film it is. If it
leaves you smiling, it's likely intended to be a comedy. Horror films work for
a sense of foreboding and dread. Summer blockbusters aim at getting the adrenal
glands pumping; romances work to evoke a sense of yearning and passion. With
those basic emotions as a guide, you can analyze the specific means the trailer
uses to create them.
2.Watch for a sense of story within
the trailer and the details it provides you about the plot. Though very short,
trailers still deliver a basic dramatic arc: who the characters are, the
obstacles they face and their development between the start of the film and the
end. After seeing a trailer, you should be able to briefly describe what the film
is about and the overall tone it will set.What does the website tell you about the film? What kinds of experiences
does it offer?
3.Look at the methods both texts
use to lure you into the cinema. Trailers ask unanswered questions, prompting
you to buy a ticket on opening day in order to find out how it all comes
out.Websites try to get you to engage
with the world of the film so that you feel part of it.Like you have contributed to it somehow.Trailers do this in many different ways: set
up the storyline and then decline to discuss the finale; stress the spectacle
on display through shots of the visual effects; emphasize the threat or danger
the characters will face. Ask yourself what the trailer is selling you and
whether that's an effective means of persuading you to buy a ticket.Websites will offer you hours of interaction
through a host of other products and services.
4.Check for the presence of certain
actors present. Big-time movie stars are often selling points alone, and will
often be prominently featured throughout a given trailer. (Trailers sometimes
make it appear as if an actor is the center of the movie, when he just has a
cameo or supporting part.) Actors can further clue you in on the nature of the
film itself: ensemble pieces will feature numerous different actors spread
across the whole trailer; more intimate movies will center on just one or two
in theirs.The website may use pictures,
posters or even galleries.There may be
videos and special features.
5.Pay careful attention to the use
of montage editing in a trailer. Montage is an editorial technique whereby
multiple shots are strung together to create a unified meaning. Trailers often
use them because they can achieve a given emotional effect very quickly. Watch
the way the shots are assembled, the pacing of the cuts (more cuts imply a
faster and more exciting film), and whether the assembly illuminates the film's
subject matter or simply obscures it behind empty images.Look at the combination of images used on the
website.Think about where they are
positioned, the use of background images and colours as well as text colour,
size shape and vocabulary.
6.Listen to the sound and music in
a trailer. It's often used to indicate the mood: Like montage, music can cue
specific emotions very easily. Most trailers don't actually use music from the
film itself. (The score is the last thing to be inserted into a film.) Whatever
you're listening to likely comes from another film or a piece of classical music,
so you may not hear it in the film.Does
the website offer any audio clips or sound effects?
8.Look at all of the different
links available on the website.How do
these help to promote the film?Do any
of them go beyond the immediate world of the film?If so, how do they and why do they?
USE
THIS AS A GUIDE TO WRITING YOUR ESSAY
Point 1
Write about your emotional
response to both the trailer and website and link this to the genre of the film
and the expectations that the two texts have set up in your mind about the
film.
Point 2
What do the two products
tell you about the plot of the film?Who
are the characters, what obstacles will they face and what is the film’s
overall tone?Write about how both
products create a sense of narrative – through use of characters, mise-en-scene,
colour, visuals, music, key moments of dialogue, special effects, special
features and other links available.
Point 3
What questions have been
set up in your mind which the film should answer?Which particular elements makes you want to
go and see the film?Choose at least two
examples from each product.
Point 4
Who is involved in this
movie – any big name actors?What
expectations do they set up in your head (eg. Which previous films did they
do?)What about the director and the
company that made the film?Are they
well known to you and what do you expect from their type of movie?
Point 5
How is the trailer
edited?Is the montage fast paced or
more dreamy?Describe how the editing
sets up the film’s tone.Compare this to
how the website is constructed.How is
the website set out?How does it use colour,
image and text?Is there a sense of
unity with the film/trailer?Are they
clearly recognizable as belonging to the same film’s marketing campaign?
Point 6
Write about the use of
music, dialogue and sound effects and how the film’s atmosphere is evoked
through sound from both products.
Point 7
Finally, what else is
there that is similar or different between the two? is there a tagline
used?What does it say about the film’s
genre and how effectively does it sell the movie.What other services does the website offer
that the trailer cannot?
Examiner Comments This is a very successful storyboard for a film trailer, working very closely with the
ideas set out in the candidate's pitch. Within the ten frames, the candidate
confidently utilises a range of storyboard conventions, using a range of camera
shots, edits and sound effects. In doing so, the response demonstrates an excellent
knowledge and understanding of the codes and conventions of action adventure film
trailers. The design itself is persuasive and has flair, using a range of techniques.
For example, there is skilful integration of voice over with clips from the film. This
candidate has an excellent understanding of promoting a film to a given audience.
Marks awarded: 15
It's really important your drawings are as accurate as possible in terms of sizing and angles. For those of you who are less confident drawers, the examiner is happy to accept 'stick people' as long as the sizing and angles are drawn to the right scale. For example a extreme close up (ECU) of a character's face should be drawn so that some of the face is cropped.
Image copyrightThinkstockImage captionGeneration gap: Young people are switching off conventional television channels
Young people are spending more time playing and socialising online than watching television programmes, according to an annual survey tracking children's media behaviour in the UK.
Staff at research agency Childwise described it as a "landmark change".
Among those watching TV, the Netflix on-demand service was more popular than any conventional television channel.
There was also a surge in children's ownership of tablet computers, up by 50% compared with last year.
The annual media monitoring report, based on a sample of more than 2,000 five to 16-year-olds, has been following children's viewing behaviour since the mid-1990s.
On demand
This year's findings from Childwise are being claimed as a tipping point with children switching from conventional television to spending time online.
The average time spent online is now three hours per day, compared with 2.1 hours watching television.
Young people online
3 hours
amount of time 7-16-year-olds spend online each day
4.8 hours
time 15-16-year-olds spend online
2.1 hours spent watching TV each day - down from 3 hours in 2000
60% watch TV via a phone, tablet or laptop
38% do most of their TV viewing on demand
Thinkstock
Among older teenagers in the survey there is an even more pronounced switch away from television, particularly at the time when it is broadcast.
Among 15 to 16-year-olds, less than a quarter would typically watch television as it is broadcast, rather than on a catch-up or on-demand service or through YouTube.
Among this age group, 32% had no favourite television programme.
And across the whole age range, none of the programmes identified as favourites, such as Hollyoaks and Pretty Little Liars, had been seen by more than 2% of young people in the previous week.
Boys had a preference for sport, such as Match of the Day, while girls preferred reality shows like Made in Chelsea.
Rise of tablets
Among television services, Netflix emerged as the most popular choice - overtaking all the conventional channels.
Asked about their viewing in the previous week, 50% had watched programmes on Netflix, compared with 47% for ITV1 and 46% for BBC1, the most popular television channels.
Young people still showed a clear preference for watching television on a television set - with only a relatively limited number watching programmes on mobile phones.
Image copyrightThinkstockImage captionMobile phones are the most typical way of using the internet
The study shows how much young people's lives are immersed in online activity and computer devices and how these forms of media are overlapping.
While the average time for online consumption is three hours per day, among 15 to 16-year-olds it rises to almost five hours.
The most common way of accessing the internet is the mobile phone, which is described as "near universal" among young people.
But particularly among younger children, there has been a sharp rise in access to tablet computers, now owned by 67% of youngsters, with the iPad by far the most widespread.
For the first time, tablet computers have overtaken other types of computer, such as laptops or desktops.
Children go online to watch videos, listen to music, play games and research their homework - and older children use it for social networking, particularly among girls.
The study reveals that however young people are accessing the internet, YouTube is the dominant destination.
The video-sharing website is used every day by almost half of all five to 16-year-olds, most often through a mobile phone or tablet, to watch video clips, listen to music and use games-related material.
They particularly want to see "funny" content on YouTube, but about a third watch "how-to" videos, including how to play computer games.
YouTube is also a popular way of watching television programmes, used by 74% of young people, compared with about 40% of this age group who watch programmes through the BBC iPlayer, which is the most popular of the broadcasters' on-demand services.
End of the CD player
Apart from YouTube, other popular online destinations are Snapchat, Instagram, Minecraft and Facebook.
The study also suggests the technologies that are disappearing. A shrinking number of young people listen to music via a CD player, with mobile phones now the leading medium.
It also warns that printed magazines are losing their appeal, with diminishing numbers of regular readers.
Simon Leggett, Childwise research director, said that this year's survey showed that "TV viewing has been redefined".
"Growing access to the internet at any time and in any place, and a blurring of television content across channels and devices, brings a landmark change in behaviour this year.
"Children are now seeking out the content of their choice. They still find traditional TV programmes engaging but are increasingly watching them online and on-demand or binge watching box sets."
Thinkstock
Thinkstock