Synergy TaskOn The Run Productions

What is Synergy?

• Synergy is used in the movie industry in order to create a greater buzz for the movie using it. For example, a movie may use other media organizations or forms in order to help advertise itself and create more of an awareness for audiences so that in the long run more people are likely to be interested in going to see that particular film. The three main sources that the film industry refers to when going about this approach is the trailer for the film which is more often than not targeted at mass audiences, posters/billboards that’ll be placed throughout different areas to attract local or visiting people and often a magazine cover (such as empire) to give a more detailed description into what the movie is about and what the audience can expect, as well as trivial facts all of which are targeted specifically at movie-lovers as those are the people who are most likely going to be buying those types of magazines to begin with. A common link that all of these types of promotional campaigns use is that they’ll all share many distinct features about them which is key to the movie and notable in each of them. i.e. an action movie may have a trailer which could incorporate explosions, violence and car chases, and then the posters and magazine covers may have these aspects somewhere in the background etc.

Public Enemies, the 2009 Gangster movie is the film that I have chosen to analyse. The reasoning behind this is because its of a similar genre to the movie that we will be creating (gangster), as well as it having an extensive advertising campaign, one of which has it featured on the front cover of Empire magazine, the most acclaimed and well-known movie devoted magazine out.

Its trailer, posters and magazine cover all had very similar vibes to them and all in all gave fans a good idea of what to expect from the movie as well as re-assuring lovers of that particular genre that this is the type of movie that matches their interest. All of these combined helped to make public enemies a reasonable hit at the box-office despite the fact that movies of this particular genre are not made as much now or as well-received as they previously once were.

Important Info• Potentially the most important information that fans need to

know about a film are the people behind it and the date of its release. Firstly, the people behind a movie deserve the recognition for the creation of it. Without this, the hard work that people put into making these films would go unrecognised and may potentially result in less motivation from the cast and crew. Also, a very large percentage of the time, people go to see movies because of the people that have worked on them, whether it be the director, actors, producers or maybe just the studio in which it has been released from. Therefore, to make these aspects unclear whilst promoting the film would lower the amount of people going to see the movie substantially. The release date is important so that fans are capable of seeing when the movie is due to come out, this allows them to plan around going to see it, or maybe allows for them to book tickets etc. Both of these aspects are well engrossed in the promotion of the film through the trailer, posters and magazine cover that it uses. For public enemies this can be seen here

Props/Settings• A film like Public Enemies relies heavily on props and

settings in order to correctly portray the genre and time period of a movie of such. So in order to have this apparent throughout the promotion of the movie, it also needs to be identified in not only live action clips but still framed shots of the movie which wold be used for covers and poster shoots. This would then keep up the continuity of the films style so that fans don’t get confused as to what the movie features in it. Also, it helps the fans identify what they should expect when going to see the movie.

• For instance, in this circumstance it is clearly apparent that the movie of the gangster genre due to the heavy notability of weaponry in the trailer and on the poster. This gives the audience an insight into the movie and therefore they’ll know that the movie delves into a violent nature at at least one point during the film.

• Also the costuming seen in the movie dates back to the 1930’s, therefore fans should be able to guess, without being directly told that this movie is of a recent historic perspective, and combining that with the genre they should come to the conclusion that it’s a classic gangster film similar to the likes of The Godfather etc.

Also, features such as the setting, and the props that lie within it are probably the greatest indication of when the movie is set. What Public Enemies does well is that they have managed to make each set look authentic and have paid attention to detail. They have then made this apparent in their promotional campaigns when making use of their representation of 1930’s American city life and the subjects that it features, for example the cars that they would drive.

• The type of vibes that are given out when promoting the film are also incredibly important in order to foreshadow what is to come. To do this well, it must remain somewhat unnoticeable at first glance the majority of the time. This is so its not glaringly obvious but fairly subtle and therefore becomes something that audiences really only notice subconsciously. This then goes on to portray the genre and theme of the movie in other ways rather than just shoving it in your face or telling you plain and simple. For instance, when analysing the film posters and the magazine cover, something you may not take note of at first is that there is very little use of colour and it all remains very generic in that the different media forms stick to the blacks and greys etc. Also, it incorporates a light mist in some of the below images (i.e. below Johnny Depp on the magazine cover). These choices of representation suggest very dark and airy vibes which in turn help sell the film to those more in favour of that type of movie theme.

How we are going to use Synergy• The most important part of a campaign is promoting a film correctly. You have to put potential audiences in the right mind

set in order for them to expect a certain type of movie. You don’t want to advertise a false product so it is key that each type of promotional strategy used contains the correct features so that the movie stays true to itself. Therefore using key ideas and concepts that are vital to the movie are what the audience are going to expect. Considering our movie is of the gangster genre, we we’ll feature crime ridden things in the trailer, on the poster and magazine cover. This could be weapons, clothing or anything else often associated with violence or gang culture etc. The same characters must be used in each form of promotion so that the audience know who they are going to see and in order to avoid confusion. Also, the correct information must be displayed each time or else the purpose of synergy is defeated.

• Important plot details that may be displayed in the trailer will also have to be translated on the magazine cover/poster. i.e. considering our movie will be potentially revolving around the chronicles of one or several robberies, it may be worthwhile to show the location in the background, or something relating to the idea of a robbery such as a bag of money or guns etc. to keep the same theme fluent in all the different media promotions This then not only highlights the genre but also a general plotline of the movie, which may further entice fans to come and see it.

• Finally, a tagline or feature that is unique only to our movie, would give the campaign its own identity, distinguishing it from other films of the same genre consequently landing our film on a wider, more diverse audience.