How and Why the Movie Transformers: Age of Extinction Achieved Commercial Success - Essay Example

A Speech on How and Why the Movie Transformers: Age of Extinction Achieved Commercial success and What the Producers can Do to Capitalize On That Success To Make The Franchise Even More Profitable [Name of Student] [Name of Institution] [Date] [Word Count] Introduction A Transformers franchise movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction is a 2014 movie, which has attracted quite many negative criticisms of its length, directing, acting and writing. Nonetheless, some reviews gave the movie credits for its action scenes and visual effects (Wilding, 2014a). It is worth noting that the movie recorded an impressive commercial success. In fact, it received a gross of more than $2 billion in revenues worldwide. In this presentation, I will analyze why the movie had such commercial success and what the producers need to change to capitalize on this success to make the franchise more profitable. The speech is divided into the first section, which highlights the reasons for the movie’s success and the second section, which discusses the strategies by which the producers may capitalize on this success to make the franchise more profitable. The Commercial Success of the Movie * “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” has some of the most renowned names of film directors and producers. *Directed by Michael Bays, the film is executive produced by Steve Spielberg and screen written by Ehren Kruger (Goldberg, 2012), the film is the fourth in the Transformers series and sequels the “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” movie. *The film was released on June 27 2014 and contains an entire new cast of human characters with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role (Vieira, 2014). *Although the initial response was rather negative, the film has recorded commercial success for the following reasons: *The marketing initiatives prior to and during its release: * A notable marketing strategy was the televised advertisement during the Super Bowl XLVIII. *After a poll by Fandago showed that the film was the most anticipated by that time, the producers started a vigorous and viral marketing campaign. *Later in March, a shorter version of the film was screened during the 2014 MTV Movie Awards, increasing the publicity of the film. *In addition, the producers allowed the use of clips from the movie in a commercial by Chevrolet in a motor show for General Motors vehicles (Wilding, 2014b). This advert also played a significant role in the campaign for the film, contributing to its commercial success. *The producers, through Hasbro also contributed to the success of the movie through the creation and releases of an app for Android devices. Through this app, Android device users could access information about the film prior to, during and after its release. The information included characters’ biographies, interviews and images. *A video game based on the film was also constructed, in which a marketing campaign for the film was initiated (Couch, 2014). *Unlike other Hollywood studios, Paramount used the FIFA 2014 World Cup to market the movie in a multi-layered campaign. *In this campaign, the film was tied to big advertisement buys during key games in ESPN and Univision. The campaign also saw the creation of a spot with Optimus Prime and soccer stars for global use. *The commercial success of the movie could also be attributed to the fact that Michael Bay understands his audiences and their taste. Thus, he delivers to the audience what they want: same action and plot, and this is what he gives them (Eisenberg, 2014). *The movie also has inherent strengths, which worked in its favor. *For instance, the producer/director, Michael Bay creates a hyperkinetic imagery, portraying a lot of Americanism. This imagery is characterised by scenes of waving flags and slow-motion explosions, which are some of the known phenomenal Americanism. Notable slow-motion effect in the movie is that of a car taking out a CIA agent. *The other strong selling point for the movie is magic and industrial light effects (Freeman, 2014). In fact, in this movie, Bay creates the best ever magic and industrial light effects amongst all his movies. *Nonetheless, the magic effects do not eliminate the designs problems associated with the film, especially the transformers. *In this film, the transformers look a bit photo-real. However, they are still composed of noisy interlocking parts, making it difficult to differentiate them. *Transformers: Age of Extinction also scores highly in the area of product placement as Bay devotes a lot of attention on product placement from the start (Goldberg, 2014). *In addition, the film exploits the existence of region-specific products from China and other regions. For an illustration, there is a scene portrayed in Beijing where Chinese-language branded cups are perfectly captured. *This strategy really captured audiences from other regions. Conclusion *Despite the fact that the movie recorded commercial success through Bay’s appeal to his loyal audiences who prefer is action-oriented movies, there are numerous avenues by which the franchise can be made more profitable. *Luckily, with the reported box-office performance, the movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” has some, if not most of its failings ignored. *Although the film has been held in low critical regards, it has managed to rake in more than $2 billion dollars (Ma, 2014). *Because of the commercial success of the film, the producers could be having little or no incentives to change or improve it. Luckily for the producers, the audiences are likely to continue watching and buying the movie. *Nonetheless, the film could be improved a great deal. Although there could be a tendency by the producers to encourage the audiences to enjoy the movie, it would be counterproductive to ignore criticism and recommendations for improvement (Masand, 2014). *For “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the producers could combine compelling characters with an epic story, amazing visuals and action sequences. * These changes could make the film smarter as well as a commercial success, making the deserved movie rather than merely the wanted movie. *The producers should also eliminate or reduce the awkward shifts and sways to make it more cohesive and wholesome. That is, the mysterious change of location by characters throughout the action sequences should also be addressed. The characters also change their moods in rather fast shifts and random intervals. This character and scene randomness should thus be addressed to ensure the movie remains in context. *Finally, the movie’s producers should also address the thematic and tonal inconsistency that permeates its scenes and characters. This inconsistency could make it difficult for the audience to keep track of the events in the movie. *Instead of emphasizing human interactions, the movie seems to focus more on explosions and robotic interactions. If corrected, the emphasis on human interactions could make the movie more successful. References Couch, A. (2014) “Transformers 4 Unleashes New Trailer (Video).” The Hollywood Reporter. Eisenberg, E. (2014) "Transformers: Age of Extinction CinemaCon Footage Brings Dinosaurs, Explosions and More." Retrieved on August 8, 2014 from Cinemablend.com. Freeman, M. (2014) "Transformers: Age of Extinction’: Meet Lockdown & the Dinobots." Screen Rant. Goldberg, M. (2012) "Ehren Kruger Returns to Write Transformers 4." Collider. Goldberg, M. (2014) “The Collision: Episode 95-The Transformers: Age of Extinction and Michael Bay.” Retrieved on August 8, 2014 from http://collider.com/the-collision-podcast-transformers-4/ Ma, K. (2014) "Transformers Breaks Records in Greater China." Film Business Asia. Masand, R. (2014) "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction India Box Office Collection". India Box Office. Vieira, A. (2014) "Transformers: Age of Extinction’ Toy Images Reveal New Characters." Screen Rant. Wilding, J. (2014a) "The Rules Have Changed In New TV Spots for Transformers: Age of Extinction.” Comic Book Movie. Wilding, J. (2014b) "The Dinobots Head into Action in New Transformers: Age Of Extinction TV Spots." Comic Book Movie. Read More