Shante Sharpe
Assignment 26.3 The Publicity Pack
Task 1: Initial research
Film: Cat-woman
Genre: Fantasy/Thriller
Released: 2004
Directed by: Pitof
Introduction
Catwoman is an American superhero film loosely based on the DC Comics character of the same name. About a woman who gains powers that relate to being a cat. The film was released in 2004 by Village Roadshow Pictures and is it set in New York.
Plot
"Artist and graphics designer Patience Phillips is a meek people-pleaser whose main support is her best friend Sally. She works for a cosmetics company called Hedare Beauty which is ready to ship a new skin cream called Beau-line that is able to reverse the effects of aging. However, when Patience visits the R&D laboratory facility to deliver a redone ad design, she overhears a discussion between the scientist Dr. Ivan Slavicky and Laurel Hedare, the wife of company-owner George Hedare, about the dangerous side effects from continued use of the product. Laurel's guards discover Patience and are ordered to dispose of her. Patience tries to escape using a conduit pipe, but the minions have it sealed and flush her out of it, drowning her. Washed up on shore, Patience is mysteriously revived by an Egyptian Mau cat who belches in her mouth; which had appeared at her apartment earlier; from that moment on, she develops cat-like abilities.
Reasons for remaking this film
I would remake this film because although the casting was good the plot could do with some improving and the characterisation. To elaborate I mean that each character could have been developed better and there were a lot of plot points that were started and not finished, to be fair the audience easily forgot about them.
Production
This film was produced by Denise Di Novi. A film producer is the person who oversees film production. Producers plan and coordinate many aspects of film production such as, choosing the script, directing, writing, editing, financing and arranging. A producer oversees every aspect of production from ideas to distribution because without the producer the film wouldn't be happening. Also the executive producer is who pays for everything such as the location, costume, actors and set, so the film wouldn't be possible without them and their budget. This film had a budget of $100 million. The research techniques that were available to the producer were screen testing to make sure that that the actors performing on film were suitable for their particular roles. They do this by giving the actor a scene or selected lines and is instructed to perform them in front of the camera to see if they are suitable. This is how they knew that Halle Berry was suitable for the main role. Another research technique that producers use are focus groups. The focus groups help bring the film production team together and share their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes about the content. They also discuss advertising, products. Ideas are taken into consideration and assessed, this helps provide an insight into the different strategies and how to execute these ideas.
Target Audience
I think that the specific audiences for this film were fans of the DC Comics and superheroes because that is what the film is loosely based on, but unfortunately for many it was a let down. I do think the target audience was correctly selected but the way they executed the film could have been a lot better and the plot line could have been a lot stronger. The audience was targeted by marketing strategies such as trailers and posters. This enticed the audience because fans of DC (who their target audience was) would see it and recognise familiar characters such as Catwoman and be intrigued to see where they are taking her story or if it is the same as the comics and so forth. I do think these strategies were effective because so many people watched it but because of poor ratings the only earned back $40 million of their $100 million budget.
Marketing Strategies As mentioned above the film was marketed by trailers and posters, but hey also had Red carpet interviews and a movie premiere. They didn't have things such as websites and production blogs because at the time of it's release these weren't common things to have with a film. Here is the poster that was released for the film, I think that this poster is simplistic but enticing at the same time, because it doesn't give away much but it still informative as to what the film is about.
How the film was distributed
The distributor of this film was by Home Media, they released it on DVD on January 18th 2005 and on Blu-ray on September 8th 2009. The benefits of selecting the right distributor is that they will do as much advertising as possible and the correct advertising on all the correct platforms such as radio and TV. Other benefits of selecting the right distributor is them being able to shine the film in a positive light even if the film is receiving bad reviews, they won't include it in the ads. Home Media is a big company that distributes films on DVD and such so people are able to enjoy these films from the comfort of their homes. As mentioned above the film accumulated $40,202,379 in the North American box office and $41,900,000 in other countries. Therefore they made $82,102,379 in total against a production budget of $100 million.
Task 2: The Plan
Outline for film
My title: Catwoman
Tagline: You mess with the Cat, you get the whiskers
Synopsis: In Upstate New York, lives Patience Phillips, a young graphics designer for the make-up company Hedare Beauty who is constantly apologising for her own existence. Patient and kind she is your typical quiet girl next door. But when she adopts cat-like abilities everything changes.
Characters Roles and Actors: My main character Catwoman will be played by Zendaya and Laurel Hedare (the chairwoman of the make-up company) will be played by Tilda Swinton. These are the two main characters of the film.
Classification: I think that this film is 12A, because there only minor sexual references and mildly bad language.
Intended audience: My target audience are DC fans
Genre: Superhero
Inspiration Board
Catwoman costumes.
I chose these costume options because there are a range and variety of them. Also the child costume is included because I thought there could potentially be a scene where Catwoman travels back in time and she's a child again but she's Catgirl but doesn't realise because she's young. The other shots are examples of the different takes on the Catwoman suit and how other people would potentially pull it off.
Camera Shots
The camera shots I would include in my film are a lot of of Worms Eye View of the sky and the buildings that Catwoman would be jumping on. Then I'd pan to a birds eye view to give two different perspectives of the same shot. I would take the Bird's Eye View shots using a drone that could capture the architecture of the city well but the focus would still remain on Catwoman
Examples of posters/film scenes
These are different examples of Catwoman film posters. In a few of them Batman is included, I decided to not have him in my film poster, even though they have a relationship I don't want that to take the front seat in my film, the main focus is Catwoman, not Batman.
Storyboard of the opening of my film
Poster for my film
Task 3: The Proposal
My film poster targets my audience because I used marketing strategies such as use of stars, and I also advertised the fact that it is loosely based on the DC comic to draw my target audience in. This was a good marketing strategy because there are a lot of DC comic fans and if they have approval of the film then people who are not as much of a fan as they are would be intrigued to find watch it and see for themselves. My poster also matches the expectations of the genre because it uses dark themes and my choice of images give away the actors that are included in the film but don't reveal too much, I show this by having the different characters that play Catwoman in the poster but one in particular is the one that is going to star in my film. For the release date I chose December the 14th because this time of year a lot of people are spending time with their families and may suggest that they go and see it together. Also Christmas holidays is a popular time to release films because that's the highest grossing time for films.
The film would be released on many platforms, it would be released in cinemas across the world, a year later it will be released on Netflix, I think this is a smart idea because this way it would reach more people since that is what most people use as a streaming device nowadays, rather than releasing it on DVD because fewer people are buying DVD's now.
I would encourage repeat viewings for my film after it has been released by re-releasing adverts and putting them on social media where most of my target audience is most likely to spend their time. This is a good marketing strategy because I am directly reaching out to my target audience and grabbing their attention the in most effective way I know how. Another way of grabbing my target audiences attention would be by advertising on television and billboards.
"A distribution company are a production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently". The distribution company I would chose are Warner Bros Studios. "Warner Bros is and American entertainment company headquartered in Burbank California. Founded in 1923, it has operations in film, television and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association of America." "The name originated from the four founding brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. They emigrated to Canada as young children with their parents from Poland." "In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company to distribute films." Other films they have produced and distributed are Justice League and other DC films, they have also distributed The Fantastic Beats Franchise, The Lego Movie franchise and some of The Harry Potter Franchise.
I would chose this film distributer because I believe they would be the best advertisers for my film because of how much I see advertised by them and they really know how to sell, giving away some of the plot but not too much. In addition to this, I think that they would be able to to fund it the best. And I think they would want to fund my film because the genre is what's popular in the film industry at the moment because it it a superhero film. Another reason they would fund me is the use of stars in the film. The leading role would still be played by Zendaya. I chose her because I think it is important to have representation especially of a black woman in a superhero film. I also feel like she's a brilliant actress. She is also a rising star in the acting world and if I have her in my film it would give her more recognition. Another thing to consider when and how distributing the film is the relationship it may have with other similar films, to elaborate on this I mean DC films and other films that may be similar that Warner Bros may have released.
The film would be released on many platforms, it would be released in cinemas across the world, a year later it will be released on Netflix, I think this is a smart idea because this way it would reach more people since that is what most people use as a streaming device nowadays, rather than releasing it on DVD because fewer people are buying DVD's now.
I would encourage repeat viewings for my film after it has been released by re-releasing adverts and putting them on social media where most of my target audience is most likely to spend their time. This is a good marketing strategy because I am directly reaching out to my target audience and grabbing their attention the in most effective way I know how. Another way of grabbing my target audiences attention would be by advertising on television and billboards.
"A distribution company are a production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently". The distribution company I would chose are Warner Bros Studios. "Warner Bros is and American entertainment company headquartered in Burbank California. Founded in 1923, it has operations in film, television and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association of America." "The name originated from the four founding brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. They emigrated to Canada as young children with their parents from Poland." "In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company to distribute films." Other films they have produced and distributed are Justice League and other DC films, they have also distributed The Fantastic Beats Franchise, The Lego Movie franchise and some of The Harry Potter Franchise.
I would chose this film distributer because I believe they would be the best advertisers for my film because of how much I see advertised by them and they really know how to sell, giving away some of the plot but not too much. In addition to this, I think that they would be able to to fund it the best. And I think they would want to fund my film because the genre is what's popular in the film industry at the moment because it it a superhero film. Another reason they would fund me is the use of stars in the film. The leading role would still be played by Zendaya. I chose her because I think it is important to have representation especially of a black woman in a superhero film. I also feel like she's a brilliant actress. She is also a rising star in the acting world and if I have her in my film it would give her more recognition. Another thing to consider when and how distributing the film is the relationship it may have with other similar films, to elaborate on this I mean DC films and other films that may be similar that Warner Bros may have released.
Task 4: Evaluation
Based off of my own evaluation of my film I think that my audiences expectations of my film's genre before they watch it will be that it is action packed and exciting and will have a variety of characters. I want my audiences emotional response to be that they feel sorry for Patience because of how everyone in her life treats her before she discovers her power, and once she does I want the audience to feel excited proud of the fact she is coming into her own. I think that my promotion pack is an effective preview of the content of my film (poster and storyboard) and they portray this well. The poster because it shows the different types of Catwoman that there are and how they all feel extremely confident comfortable and slinky once they transform. I think that my storyboard shows this well because it gives the audience an insight as to what's in store.
The strengths of my promotion pack are that it is a clear outline of what's happening in the film and it gives away information on what's happening but not too much. The weaknesses are that I could have added more images for my poster. Changes I would make to make my film more effective is that I would add a lot of character development and not open plot lines and not finish them off.
Bibliography
User reviews
https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/shantesharpe/catwoman-scene/edit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catwoman_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_film_studio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros.
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