Tuesday 22 April 2014
Case Study: The Dark Knight Rises Research
The Dark Knight Rises
Director: Christopher Nolan
Budget: $250-300 million
Box Office: $1,084,439,099
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Pictures
Release Date: July 16 2012.
Studio: Legendary Pictures,
Syncopy Films and DC Comics.
How
does the industry promote the film to audiences using?
Print
media:
The first print exmple I have is The Dark Knight Rises teaser
poster. In this poster they have incorporate the Bat signal in the form of
damaged and crumbling building, also there is debris falling towards the
reader/audience. This would promote the film as this is a teaser on the next
film in the trilogy of the Batman seires. This poster would appeal to the the audience
that likes Batman and that know about DC comics, which is the institution that
owns the rights to Batman. The Batman audience consists of 15-30 year old
people. This would appeal to this demographic as there are many teenagers as
there hobbies may include reading comics about superheroes, thus Batman being
one of the major heroes along side Superman.
The
next example of print media is of a medium shot the protagonist Batman, who is
blended in with the background and the gloomy weather conditions. The effects
this emphasises the movie name, the dark knight rises. Also, the background
connotes danger and the darkness creates a sense of the unknown and fear. This
promotes not only the film but the Batman brand, as a part of the
final-instalment of the trilogy. This will appeal to the already present Batman
audience and the tagline ‘the legend Ends’ generates a sense of curiosity and a
link to the film. Along with the rain there is debris falling, this creates
synergy between the posters as the debris can be seen in all of them. The
example on the right is the antagonist whose costume is intimidating along with
the head gear, the rubble along with rain is also present creating synergy.
Furthermore the tagline is present too. The print media is very consistent, as
they use the same background, tagline and font, but change the character in the
poster.
The
magazine cover has the protagonist of the film Batman in an action shot showing
him ready to fire aiming at the reader. The central image partially obscures
the title of the publication, like a stereotypical magazine. The typography of
the title is red, and contrasts with the whole colour scheme of the magazine to
distinguish itself as the publication. The large flash line “The DARK KNIGHT
RISES” is in the bottom left corner, in white, which stands out from the
background colour to identify the main article to consist of the movie. The
cover line ‘The ultimate exclusive’ links to the strap line in the right and
helps promote the film as it is showing on set photos and an interview with the
Director Christopher Nolan. The barcode
and price have been printed relatively small and they are not visible. This is
effective that won’t affect the judgement of the reader, so they are more
likely to buy the magazine.
Broadcast
media (TV/Radio/DVD)
The Trailer promotes the film to the
audience by presenting the different scenes of the film that vary from slow to
fast. The trailer appeals to the 15-30 year old
demographic as it presents alot of violence and special effects. The trailer
itself shows the most action packed sections of the film along with the scenes
the create suspense, for example, the scene with Bane talking down to Bruce
Wayne. This suspense generates intrigue amongst the audience that watches the
trailer and curiosity on what the film will be about. The trailer starts off with 4 major
institutions that have produced the film which are Warner Bros, Legendary, DC
comics and syncopy. The trailer begins with a few cuts that fade in to the next
shot. There are several voice overs from the main characters, which use the
dialogue from the film as a narrative strand. There is non-diegetic music being
played in the background as the narrative begins to unfold. There are several
pharses that link to the next shot, for example Bruce Wayne is thrown down into
darkness and the pharse that come is ‘Hope is lost’. The music picks up in pace
with the narrative. At the end, theres a chanting used to present the
prisoners.
The
DVD helps promote the film as it has a brief of the films narrative, also the
DVD’s cover creates contrast between the front and the back as it shows fire,
debris and light on the front along with the protagonist to portray him as the
only sense of hope. This is because the connotation of light is hope and has
relations to the heroes. Whereas the back it shows rain, a shattered Batman
mask and Bane, the antagonist, which contrasts as the front represents Batman
as hope and with his mask shattered symbolises shattered hope. The Batman brand
is presented here with the same typography and the batman logo creating a link
with the print examples. The tagline ‘A fire will rise’ is in capitals and is
the only text on the page, which emphasises a revolution/uprising, where the
fire represents the antagonist and his followers, this links to the print
examples as they have ‘Rise’ faded behind the central images. The DVD is
provides the certificate for the film.
E-Media
The Facebook page has
4,854,923 likes and the cover of the page is promoting the DVD as it states own
it today; this creates synergy between the print and e-media platform. The Facebook page promotes the film as it first
released the teaser trailer, official trailer and posters. There is evidence of
a competition to be in the film as a part of the chants. This is user-generated
content as they are recording their voice. The Facebook page cross promotes
merchandise and creates synergy, for example the Facebook page promotes an app
in relation to the antagonist.
Twitter
The twitter page promotes the
film, as it gives the audience updates to do with the film’s release date,
along with the DVD’s release date, exclusives, like promotional events, where
the cast of The Dark Knight Rises will appear, along with interviews and press
conference, as well as interviews with the actors. The use of twitter directly
interacts with the film and account to find out more. Furthermore, the twitter
page gives the audience information about the film, for example the villain of
will not be the riddler.
Official Website
The official website for ‘The
Dark Knight Rises’ first shows the trailer, which directly promotes the film as
it shows the trailer as soon as the webpage loads. Once the trailer ends there
is an image of Batman with the typography of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and Batman
logo. The Batman logo creates synergy as it links in to the film posters and
DVD’s cover and promotes the Batman brand.
Underneath the film name is ‘own it now in capital letters, with places
it can be purchased. The top of the website there is a link that states ‘own
it’ and then gives different mediums of where they can be played, for example
Blu-ray combo pack, DVD and digital download. This creates more synergy as the
website promotes the broadcast platform. There are several links across the
top; the first link is the current homepage. The second link leads to special
features; this promotes the film to the audience as it shows exclusive content
from the film that can be bought on the Blu-ray combo pack and DVD. The third
link is to videos, which lead to the trailer of the film. The fourth link is
about the film, this is where is gives a synopsis of the film, along with the
cast and filmmakers information. This promotes the film to the audience as it
informs them about the narrative in brief with giving away the plot and also
gives background to all the characters of the film. The fifth link is to The
Dark Knight Rises FX app, where you can unlock exclusive content by the
audience putting themselves in a cameo tumbler and sharing on social networking
sites. This promotes the film to the audience as it is evidence of
user-generated content. The sixth link
is to the gallery, where it shows stills from the film of the different scenes.
The seventh link is to download posters/backgrounds to different platforms,
like your desktop, phone, etc. The eighth link is to the friends of Gotham,
which promote the different intuitions that have sponsored the film. The ninth
link is to Ultraviolet, which enables the audience to stream movies, including
The Dark Knight Rises. The bottom of the webpage has links to social networking
sites where you can follow/like the film. This promotes the film to the
audience as it opens up the film to a wider platform, where it can be accessed.
Similarities:
All 3 platforms are
consistently using the Batman logo and the same typography to promote the film.
This is effective as it creates synergy and also promotes the Batman brand.
Also, the background that has been used across all 3 platforms is quite
consistent too, as it portrays shattered buildings and falling debris. The
taglines that have been used all link to the rise of a revolution that creates
intrigue.
Differences
The e-media platform is better
at reaching a wider audience as it is easy to access and is fast, so it’s
instantaneous, where as the print platform is becoming obsolete, as e-media is
becoming the easier and better option, and is free to access. The broadcast
platform is the best method to generate intrigue as it leads to the e-media
platform, as the audience is likely to watch the trailer on TV and then access
more on the official website.
Audience experience
The reactions to from the
print platform would create a sense of happiness, especially to the already present
Batman fan base, and create intrigue. The broadcast would further this intrigue
and generate buzz amongst the e-media platform.
Print
The print platform appeals to
the working class audience as they are likely to read magazines/newspaper
articles. The producers are trying to appeal to the section of the audience
that still reads magazines and newspapers. They do this by presenting images
like Batman in his action shots/scenes. This platform does not allow the
audience to participate, however there may be competitions, so it does allow
some interaction to win exclusive content.
Broadcast
This platform appeals to the
working class audience and teenagers. This platform appeals to them as it is
mainstream medium. This platform does not allow the audience to participate.
E-media
This platform appeals to the
majority of the target audience, especially mainstreamers. The producers are
trying to appeal to their main target audience by offering exclusive content.
This platform allows the audience to participate through the website as it
allows them to access exclusive content. The audience does create promotional
material. Also, there is a competition to be voice in the chants in the film,
via user generated content.
Target audience
The theory of uses and
gratification can be applied to this film is diversion, as it takes them away
from their lives and just relax. The social demographic that the target
audience belongs to is C1, C2, D and E, which are the middle class and the
working class.
Representation
Print
Telegraph Interview with
Christian Bale:
The article goes on to talk
about the end of an era with the final scene of The Dark Knight rises. The
article represents how Christian Bale portrays the character in the trilogy.
The Batman Trilogy was a reboot; Christian Bale goes on to talk about how each
film needed to stand out on its own, instead of carrying the previous films
momentum over. This interview was more formal and appealed to the C1 and C2
social demographics.
This article was informal,
where Christian was able to talk a bit more freely.
Broadcast
This link is to interviews of
the cast of The Dark Knight Rises.
E-media
Institutions
Key Institutions:
Ø Warner Bros
Ø Legendary
Ø DC comics
Ø Syncopy
Institutions
use each platform to reach their target audience
Print media
The institutions use different article,
magazines and posters to appeal to a wide audience, so that they are informed
about the film.
Broadcast
media (TV/Radio/DVD)
The
institution uses the trailer to reach the target it audience as the target
audience are C1, C2, D and E, so they are likely to watch day time television,
where they are able to view the trailer.
E-Media
The institutions are able to
appeal to the majority of their target audience, as they are mainstreamers, so
they are likely to be using social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter.
The
film is not likely to be majorly impacted to internet privacy, due to the fact
that the film was released across all three platforms, so it was available to
everyone.
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