Audience Profile: Mood Board

Film Marketing Analysis: Gangster Squad

Film Marketing Analysis: Johnny Depp and Public Enemies

Although trailers, posters and magazines are the most common ways of marketing a film, there are a multitude of ways this could happen and the film industry are taking advantage of this. One form of this is television. As it is one of the most widely watched mediums, it will guarantee a huge audience watching and hearing about the movie from their favourite actors or directors and are more likely to go out and watch it.

An example of this is Johnny Depp on David Letterman which is a very popular Late Night show and therefore is a good way of marketing (skip to 2:17).

And although in some parts of the interview the film is only brushed upon briefly, the sole reason for the interview is for the promotion of the film which continues to be mentioned throughout. Additionally, David Letterman telling the audience to watch the movie on the release date is the closing statement made at the end of the interview.

This sort of promotion not only appeals to fans of the big stars themselves but also fans of the television show who didn't initially plan on watching but then decide to upon watching the interview.

Magazine Analysis: Empire

Magazine Analysis: Empire

What is the name of the magazine? Why do you think it is called that?

The name is 'Empire' and this word connotes power, control or domination. The magazine could be called this to establish itself as 'the next big thing' which it now is.

What can you say about the sell lines? 

As this is the 'crime edition' of the magazine all the sell lines are features on other gangster, heist and crime films including mentions of the Coen brother Fargo and No Country for Old Men, Scarface and Eastern Promises. 

What can you say about the layout design (fonts, colour scheme)?

The layout is slightly unconventional but all the components of the magazine are very conventional as Empire is known for changing the layout and look of their magazines for special feature issues. Instead of the sell lines being on the sides of the magazine framing the main image, the are centre bottom of the cover which leads your eyes to the sell lines after reading the headline in order to get the audience interested in this issue. 

Empire's general colour scheme is white, black and red but with this issue they used accents of gold taken from the actual image like the tan, but gold-looking, Russell Crowe is wearing as well as slight hints of gold from the background.

What genre of film does it cover?

This issue is a crime edition and therefore covers crime and the appropriate sub-genres under that.

Who is the target audience?

As Empire commonly features sic-fi, comic and sometimes dystopian films the target audience would be as follows especially with promotion of free posters inside from The Blade Runner and so on which is a futuristic, dystopian film. However, with this edition it would obviously be targeted at those with are fans or crime movies whether it be a thriller, gangster or heist through the main image story and sell lines. 

Who are the major competitors of the magazine?

It's competitors are the other monthly film magazine's such as Total Film and Uncut which received roughly the same circulation however Empire is steadfastly the top film magazine.

What is the magazine's mission statement or slogan?

The slogan is 'The World's Biggest Movie Magazine'. This with the title 'Empire' solidifies the magazine as a 'great power' within the movie magazine industry.

What sort of film stars or directors are featured?

The Coen brothers are mentioned who are Academy Award winning directors of Fargo and No Country for Old Men and Michael Man credited with such thrillers as Thief and Manhunter.

Poster Analysis: The Departed

Poster Analysis: Infernal Affairs

Trailer Analysis: The Long Good Friday

Poster Analysis: Casino

Movie Analysis: Goodfellas (video)

Movie Analysis: Goodfellas

Goodfellas in the 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese who co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Pileggi. The film was based in New York and based on the true events of the Lucchese crime family. 

From my research I concluded that Goodfellas conforms to almost all conventions of gangster movies. It is based in a urban city with the main character building there way up just to have it taken away again. Traditional values and faith and family are distinct as well as extreme violence.

There were elements of faith during this film (particularly Catholicism for the majority of the mob members) and Scorsese uses this trademark as a way of portraying guilt through religion. Henry (Ray Liotta) wears a cross necklace around his neck through the duration of the film to portray this.

The fancy gangster lifestyle was heavily emphasised through the mise-en-scene. Every mob member was extremely well dressed in suits with expensive jewellery. They would dine in the fanciest restaurant and were served the finest wine without having to ask.

The mob members also conformed to the stereotype of gangsters playing poker, smoking cigars and having a large amount of disposable money.

The cinematography also to an extent conforms to the conventions of gangster movies - although there isn't many. When digging up the body of a "made man" of another crime family, the scene has a dark, murky red hue to set the atmosphere of a situation that is very dangerous and potentially life threatening.

Scorsese has a trademark of using long tracking shots in his films. Although this isn't a convention of gangster films its effective in showing the magnitude of the luxurious lifestyle and respect given to members of this mob. They know virtually everyone and are respected by everyone and that is why they were able to get away with so much throughout this film.

Director Analysis: Martin Scorsese

Conventions of Gangster Films

History of Gangster/Mob Crime Films

Click this or the link below to be sent to my timeline!

http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/347177/History-of-Gangster-Crime-Films/

The Departed Film Trailer Analysis

Are the director/producer/stars name given to us? If so why or why not?
Martin Scorsese is given to us to let fans of his films and the audience know the style of movie if they are familiar with his work. Towards the end of the trailer the most familiar actors of the film such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg to, again, entice fans of these actors and attract them to go and see the movie in cinemas.

What can you say about the voice of the person delivering the voiceover?
The voice is only present in the first few seconds of the trailer and is given by presumably the head of the gang/mob. It sets the scene for the audience and let's us know that the cop doesn't act much different to a criminal when put in a particular situation. It let's us know the genre of the film of a police crime movie.

What can you say about the use of music?
The music in this trailer isn't consistent as different types of music and moods are set. The music towards the end of the trailer is a ballad over action scenes compared to the music towards the beginning which builds tension captures the audience.

What can be said about the editing and therefore the narrative?
There are continuously short, quick snippets of clips are rarely long takes however the shots selected manage to portray the narrative through dialogue and the voice over.

What dialogue from the film do we hear and why?
The genre of a police crime is recognised through the dialogue through phrases like "state police", "elite unit"and "special investigations unit". There is dialogue throughout to keep the audience engaged and help them understand the story as the short clips do not give much away.

Who is the film's target audience? Explain why?
Males 15+ who are interested in action and crime movie. It would mostly draw in fans of both the well known actors and director.

Does the film have a unique selling point?
The USP in this trailer is cop being the mole in a gang/mob and working from the inside instead of trying to take the gang/mob out through a private investigation. The cop falls too deep before he's given the chance to take them down with his life on the line.

Group Profile

This is our group profile which consists of Favour (left), Farida (centre) and Filip (right). We are known as 'F Studios'.

Favour is the costume and props director. His role includes organising the miss-en-scene and making sure it's appropriate to our trailer as well as providing fitting locations. 

I (Farida) am the director or cinematography. This role consists of supervising the actors and staff in the film to ensure the shots that I take will be well-suited for our trailer.

Filip is the head editor. He will provide the essential editing for our trailer and will aid and oversee any editing made by staff. His role involves picking sound that will give the desired effect and putting together the shots I take to convey the narrative of our trailer.