Film Marketing Campaign on the Film 300 by Zack Snyder - Essay Example

Film Marketing - Marketing Campaign on the film 300 (2006) written and directed by Zack Snyder. This paper assesses the potentiality of the animated film 300 on the marketing agenda with necessary marketing tools. It also investigates the factors for its accomplishments in the box office. The study of this particular film and its production analysis intends to find out the factors of its grand success on its strategic marketing tools. As the marketing strategy the incorporating elements as diverse as print designs for instance, posters, trailers and show-reels, publicity, advertising, promotion, and merchandising are discussed thoroughly. Order#: 200824 Deadline: 2008-01-11 00:37 Style: Harvard Language Style: English UK Pages: 12 Sources: 20 Writer ID: 6746 INTRODUCTION: STORY THAT BLENDS HISTORY INTO MODERN TRICKS OF BETRAYAL AND HEROISM The three-digit figure, three hundred is a film adaptation of the graphic novel o f the same title by Frank Miller, and is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, which was directed by Zack Snyder. The story narrates how Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight to the last man against Persian King Xerxes and his army of over one million soldiers, while in Sparta, Queen Gorgo attempts to rally support for her husband. A voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios frames the story. Various fantastical creatures display in the electronic three D motion picture waves that attracted the spectators worldwide. The story traces back the historic element when in 480 BC, King Leonidas of Sparta gathers three hundred of his best men to fight the upcoming Persian invasion almost in a suicide mission. Their allies plan to stop King Xerxes' invasion of Greece at the narrow cliffs of the "Hot Gates" Thermopylae. The terrain prevents the Greeks from being overwhelmed by Xerxes' superior numbers. Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan, begs Leonidas to let him fight but is rejected due to his hunchbacked form before the battle starts, which prevents him from lifting his shield high enough for the phalanx. The Spartans and their allies successfully hold off the Persians for two days and nights. During a break in the fighting, Xerxes meets with Leonidas and offers wealth and power in exchange for his surrender. Leonidas declines and battle continues. In his depression, Ephialtes betrays the Greeks by telling the Persians about the existence of a small pass that allows Xerxes to attack them from behind. Learning of the Persian maneuvers, the Greeks realize their position is indefensible, but the Spartans and a few others refuse to retreat. On the third day Xerxes has the Spartans surrounded their remaining allies Thespians already dead. He gives Leonidas one final chance to surrender and kneel to him. After some hesitation, Leonidas finally complies and throws down his arms. This, however, turns out to be a ruse and Leonidas throws his spear at Xerxes, intending to kill. However, he only wounds his face. They killed Spartans to the last man by arrows. The story then shifts about a year later and ends as now-Captain Dilios relates the heroic sacrifice of Leonidas and his Spartan comrades to his troops before the Battle of Plataea. Miller, in the letters page of the original series, admits the inaccuracy, and angrily defends it. He insists that the Spartans were not scholars themselves, and that the offending passage was intended to portray the Spartans as hypocrites. The Spartans, he argued, so maligned the Athenians that any Athenian action was worthy of scorn. Miller states that their hypocrisy is a character flaw, but not unrealistic. 1. Marketing Strategy: Information of the postproduction scripts should be released through press meet and literature reviews. Journalist and magazine houses must have request letters to extend their helping hand on the promotion PRODUCTION PROFILE: A JOINT VENTURE OF SEVERAL TALENTS IN THE HUE OF ART AND SCIENTIF CRAFT Nunnari and Mark Canton jointly produced this film 300, and Michael B. Gordon wrote the script. Director Zack Snyder was hired in June 2004 as he had attempted to make a film on Miller's novel before making his debut with the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Snyder then got Screenwriter Kurt Johnstad to rewrite Gordon's script for production and Frank Miller was retained as consultant and executive producer. Snyder photocopied panels from the comic book, from which he planned the preceding and succeeding shots. Like the comic book, the adaptation also used the character Dilios as a narrator. Snyder used this narrative technique to show the audience that the surreal "Frank Miller world" of 300 was related from a subjective perspective. By utilizing Dilios' gift of storytelling, he is able to introduce fantasy elements into the film, explaining that "Dilios is a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth." Snyder also added the sub-plot in which Queen Gorgo attempts to rally support for her husband. Two months of pre-production were required to create hundreds of shields, spears and swords, some of which were recycled from Troy and Alexander. An animatronics wolf and thirteen animatronics horses were also created. The actors trained alongside the stuntmen, and even Snyder joined in. Upwards of 600 costumes were created for the film, as well as extensive prosthetics for various characters and the corpses of Persian soldiers. Employing the digital back lot technique, Snyder shot at the now-defunct Ice storm Studios in Montreal using blue screens. The film was an intensely physical production, and Butler pulled an arm tendon and developed a foot drop. Montral's Meteor Studios handled post-production and Hybrid Technologies filled in the blue screen footage with more than 1500 visual effects shots. Visual effects supervisor Chris Watts and production designer Jim Bissell created a process dubbed Various computer programs including Maya, Render Man and Real Flow, were used to create the "spraying blood." The post-production lasted for a year and was handled by a total of ten special effects companies 2. Marketing Strategy: the young generation, school and college youth must be made aware about the production through leaflets and occasional quiz completions on the story. PROMOTION AND RELEASE: FOR THE MULTI MEDIA CAMPAIGN The "conceptual art" and Zack Snyder's production blog were the initial attractions of the site. Later, a recently launched website added video journals describing production details, including comic-to-screen shots and the creatures of 300. At Comic-Con International in July 2006, the 300 panel aired a promotional teaser of the film, which was positively received but despite stringent security, the trailer was then leaked on the Internet. Warner Bros. released the official trailer for 300 on October 4, 2006 and later on it made its debut on Apple. com where it received considerable exposure. The background music used in the trailers was "Just like You Imagined" by Nine Inch Nails. The trailers have been credited with igniting interest in the film and contributing to its box-office success. Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment announced its intention to make a PlayStation Portable game in April 2006, 300: March to Glory, based on the film. Collision Studios worked with Warner Bros. to capture the style of the film in the video game, which was released simultaneously with the film in the United States. The National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced a series of action figures based on the film as well as replicas of weapons and armor. Warner Bros. Pictures promoted 300 by sponsoring the Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, who made personal appearances and participated in other promotional activities. The studio also joined with the National Hockey League to produce a 30-second TV spot promoting the film in tandem with the Stanley Cup playoffs. The American cable channel TNT bought the rights to broadcast the film from Warner Bros. 3. Marketing Strategy: Tailors and Short clips must overwhelm the potential markets about the launch of the film highlighting the technocraft such as 3D animation and other design oriented craft. BOX OFFICE RESPONSE: ON THE BID OF A HIGH COMPETETIVE BUDGET AND THEIR DYNAMIC REVIEWS. The 300's opening weekend gross is the 24th highest in box office history, coming slightly below The Lost World: Jurassic Park but higher than Transformers. It was the third biggest opening for an R-rated film ever, behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($83.8 million).The film also set a record for IMAX cinemas with a $3.6 million opening weekend. Studio Executives credit the movie's stylized violence, the strong female role of Queen Gorgo which attracted a large number of women to the movie, and the MySpace advertising blitz. Producer Mark Canton said, "MySpace had an enormous impact but it has transcended the limitations of the Internet or the graphic novel. Once you make a great movie, word can spread very quickly." The movie has received generally mixed reviews. While it received a standing ovation at the public premiere, it was reportedly panned at a press screening hours earlier, where many attendees left during the showing and those who remained booed at the end. The two major industry trades published generally positive reviews. Variety''s Todd McCarty describes the film as "visually arresting, "while Kirk Honeycutt, writing in The Hollywood Reporter, praises the "beauty of its topography, colors and forms.". It was nominated for Best Movie, Best Performance for Gerard Butler, Best Breakthrough Performance for Lena Headey, Best Villain for Rodrigo Santoro, and Best Fight for Leonidas battling "the Uber Immortal".It eventually won the award for Best Fight. 300 won both the Best Dramatic Film and Best Action Film honors in the 2006 Golden Icon Awards presented by Travolta Family Entertainment. Director Zack Snyder stated in an MTV interview that "The events are 90 percent accurate. It is just in the visualization that it is crazy.... I have shown this movie to excellent historians who have said it is amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is." He continues that the film is "an opera, not a documentary. That's what I say when people say it's historically inaccurate". However he is quoted in a BBC News story that the film is, at its core "a fantasy film." He also describes the film's narrator, Dilios, as "a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth." Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at Cambridge University, advised the filmmakers on the pronunciation of Greek names, and states that they "made good use" of his published work on Sparta. He praises the film for its portrayal of "the Spartans' heroic code," and of "the key role played by women in backing up, indeed reinforcing, the male martial code of heroic honor," while expressing reservations about its "'West' versus 'East' polarization." Ephraim Lytle, assistant professor of Hellenistic History at the University of Toronto, states that 300 selectively idealizes Spartan society in a "problematic and disturbing" fashion, as well as portraying the "hundred nations of the Persians" as monsters and non-Spartan Greeks as weak. He suggests that the film's moral universe would have seemed as "bizarre to ancient Greeks as it does to modern historians.." Victor Davis Hanson, formerly professor of Classical history at California State University, Fresno, who wrote the foreword to a 2007 re-issue of the graphic novel, states that the film demonstrates a specific affinity with the original material of Herodotus in that it captures the martial ethos of ancient Sparta and represents Thermopylae as a "clash of civilizations." Prior to the release of 300, Warner Brothers expressed concerns about the political aspects of the film's theme. Snyder relates There was a huge sensitivity about East versus West with the studio." Media speculation about a possible parallel between the Greco-Persian conflict and current events began in an interview with Snyder that was conducted before the Berlin Film Festival. Outside the current political parallels, some critics have raised more general questions about the film's ideological orientation. However, Newsday critic Gene Seymour stated that such reactions are misguided, writing that "the movie's just too darned silly to withstand any ideological theorizing." Snyder himself dismissed ideological readings, suggesting that reviewers who critique a "graphic novel movie about a bunch of guys...stomping the snot out of each other" using words like " 'neocon,' 'homophobic,' 'homoerotic' or 'racist' " are "missing the point." Various critics, historians, journalists, and officials of the Iranian government including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the film. As in the graphic novel, the Persians were depicted as a monstrous, barbaric and demonic horde, and King Xerxes was portrayed as androgynous. Critics suggested that this was meant to stand in stark contrast to the masculinity of the Spartan army.Steven Rea argued that the film's Persians were a vehicle for an anachronistic cross-section of Western stereotypes of Asian and African cultures. The film's portrayal of ancient Persians caused a particularly strong reaction in Iran. Azadeh Moaveni of Time reported that Tehran was "outraged" following the film's release. The Iranian Academy of the Arts submitted a formal complaint against the movie to UNESCO, labeling it an attack on the historical identity of Iran. The Iranian mission to the U.N. protested the film in a press release, and Iranian embassies protested its screening in France, Thailand, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Similarly Slovenian philosopher and author Slavoj iek defended the movie from those who attacked it as an example of "the worst kind of patriotic militarism with clear allusions to recent tensions with Iran and Iraq." He wrote that the story represents a "poor, small country (Greece) invaded by the army of a much larger state (Persia)," suggesting that the identification of the Spartans with a modern superpower is flawed. The studio developed this film purely as a fictional work with the sole purpose of entertaining audiences; it is not meant to disparage an ethnicity or culture or make any sort of political statement." 4. Marketing Strategy: One of the hidden agenda of the promotion could be creating more controversy over the historic elements for more the controversy generates more interest among the people. Wide publication of press releases and instilling sentiments for the critics to write reviews help the purpose. CONCLUSION: THE SUCCESS STRATEGY WORKS IN LAYERS OF PROMOTIONAL POLICIES Fantasy film 300 was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters in the United States on DVD, Blue-Ray and HD. The film broke box office records, although critics were divided over its look and style. Some acclaimed it as an original achievement, while others criticized it for favoring visuals over characterization and its controversial depiction of the ancient Persians. The 300 Spartans who are alleged to have held a mountain pass at Thermopylae against an advancing army of tens of thousands of Persians. On the one side, King leads the Spartans and some not-so-great-at-fighting Acadians. On the other side, a veritable horde of mad things, beasts, immortals and archers led by the God-King Xerxes. Long story short compiled in a short wave 300 hold out for 3 days until they are betrayed, and die a valiant death defending freedom, honor and oh all that other crap too. Critics allege this movie is not meant to be a historical epic, accurately told; it's more of a spectacle with exaggerations everywhere and lots of 'poetic license' in effect. The battle scenes are handled very effectively though, and as long as you can suspend your disbelief for a bit. Holy crap the music is hard as nails in this flick. It opens with the usual haunting middle eastern Gladiator-esque tones, and then every time a battle kicks off it drops hard and fast into some metal madness, and I'm not sure if it was just the configuration in the cinema where I saw this or not, but the sound was cranked all the way up; loud as hell. The oriental frustrations marked the protesting that this film is an assault of the culture they did with Alexander, apparently it's something to do with portraying them as being 'easy to beat' in a fight, but really - there's nothing to get so worked up about. As for the actual technical process of bringing this to the screen, it's pretty impressive what Zack Snyder has managed to do. The style and delivery of the scenes has graphic novel written all over it, a testament to the source material from Frank Millar and Lynn Varley; and some set pieces are literally ripped straight from the pages of the graphic novel itself. 5. Marketing Strategy: Multiple campaign methodology yields more than a single mode of promotional campaign. We can have a market survey as illustrated bellow for this objective. Film Three Hundred Marketing Strategies Questionnaire (Queen of Heart Technique) 1. Are you interested in history presented through animations a) Yes b) No c) No idea 2. You prefer to watch historic movie in a silver screen or in a theatre a) Small screen b) Theatre c) CD/DVD 3. What do you expect in a historic movie through animation a) Entertainment b) True Information c) Cartooning 4. Do you think animation film helps to revive our historic heritage a) Yes b) No c) May 5. Do you feel young generation should study wars in order to check the past glory a) Yes b) No c) Don't know 6. What appeals you the most to watch the film 300 a) The armors and costumes b) Weapons c) Ancient Heroes 7. Why should film 300 must be a movie to watch in this year a) For knowledge b) For Technology c) For History 8. Does the film 300 create a racial or prejudice idea a) Certainly b) Never c) Need to think 9. How would you recommend your friends to watch the movie a) alone b) with family c) with friends REFERENCES 1. Rob M. Worley. "Exclusive interview: Producer Gianni Nunnari's epic struggle for '300'", Comics2Film.com, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. 2. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. "March to Glory", Broken Frontier, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. 3. Stax. "The Stax Report: Script Review of 300", IGN, 2004-02-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 4. Stax. "Who Commands the 300", IGN, 2004-06-22. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 5. Susan Wloszczyna. "An epic tale, told '300' strong", USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Gilchrist, Todd. "Being Frank", IGN, 2005-08-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 6. Stax. "Attila Leads the 300", IGN, 2005-08-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 7. "300 Matches Miller Style", Sci Fi Wire, 2006-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 8. Nelson, Resa. "300 Mixes History, Fantasy", Sci Fi Wire, 2006-02-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. Chris Brown (2006-09-30). Zack Snyder on keeping '300' sharp. Comics2Film.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 9. Douglas, Edward. "300: The Set Visit!", SuperHeroHype.com, 2007-01-05. Retrieved on 2007-03-17. 10. McClintock, Pamela; Fleming, Michael. "'300' counts for WB", Variety, 2005-05-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 11. McClintock, Pamela. "Warners bets a bundle on swords-and-CGI '300'", Variety, 2005-10-09. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 12. Lee, Patrick. "Butler Not Too Chafed By 300", Sci Fi Wire, 2006-07-23. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 13. Douglas, Edward. "300's Queen Gorgo", SuperHeroHype.com, 2006-01-19. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 14. Olsen, Mark. "An epic battle is pumped up", Los Angeles Times, 2007-01-14. Retrieved on 2007-04-26. 15. Jonah Weiland. ""300" - ONE-ON-ONE WITH GERARD BUTLER", Comic Book Resources, 2007-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-04-26. 16. Davidson, Sean. "Meteor hits 300", Playback, 2006-03-06. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 17. Sean Davidson. "Meteor, Hybride pumped blood into 300", Playback, 2007-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. 18. Lev Grossman. "The Art of War", TIME, 2007-03-02. Retrieved on 2007-03-07. 19. Epstein, Daniel Robert. "Exclusive Interview with Tyler Bates, Score Composer for The Devil's Rejects", UGO, 2005-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 20. Tait, Robert. "Iran accuses Hollywood of 'psychological warfare'", The Guardian, 2007-03-14. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. 21. "Iranian Academy of Arts to submit UNESCO declaration against '300'", Payvand News, 2007-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. 22. "Iran complains to UNESCO", BBC, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-03-20. 23. Iran's UN mission: Movie 300 is full of deliberate distortions. Islamic Republic News Agency (2007-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-03-23. 24. Embassy of Iran Protests at Screening of '300' Film in France. Fars News Agency (2007-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-03-23. 25. IRI slams '300' show in Thailand. IRIB News (2007-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-03-31. 26. "ran'n '300'e tepkisi sryor", NTV, 2007-03-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. (Turkish) PICTURES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS Persian Uber-Immortal Thunder the valley of death What ails a war: is it a glory of the nation or just a notion to take vanity of pride Read More