http://www.slideshare.net/ellesullivan310/the-dark-knight-production-marketing-and-audience
Batman - The Dark Knight (2008):
a) Aims
and objectives
The aims
and objectives of this advertising campaign was to promote the film in clever,
different ways as well as regular film posters. The main aim was to promote the
film, but another aim was to generate interest in small, succinct ways. To gain
and maintain the attention of potential viewers, the campaign started over a
year before the films release. Every so often, little details or 'easter eggs'
would be released online.
b) Target audience
The target audience for this advertising campaign would be 25-35 year old males who have an interest in the Batman series or DC's films/comics. The campaign will also appeal to people who are generally interested by the clever means of advertising These people could then be drawn in and they could start to research the film and the franchise itself. If the film appeals to males and females who have children, they could bring them along to watch the film and potentially spark their interest in the film. The film is rated a 12A by the BBFC. This doesn’t limit these younger children from watching the film as their parents could allow them to watch the film by bringing them to the cinema or purchasing the DVD or Blu Ray. According to the ABC1 demographic scale, the social grade of people that would most likely be the target audience for The Dark Knight would be B (middle class), C1 (lower middle class) and C2 (skilled working class). This is because the A (upper middle class) might not be interested in the Batman series and they might have not have time to watch the film as they are in very busy administrative and professional jobs.
c) Representation
Something that is repetitively used in the advertisements for The Dark Knight is the red smile of The Joker and the colour red in general. The smile appears on lots and lots of the posters and promotion that is related to The Dark Knight as it is an iconic part of The Joker's appearance and it's something that people would associate with the Batman series. Another thing that is represented in the promotion of this film are the characters. Batman, The Joker and 'Harvey Dent' (Two Face) are repeatedly the focus of every single film poster that was released for The Dark Knight. The stereotype that is generally associated with people who are interested in comic book heroes such as Batman and The Joker are that they’re weird, live alone, spend all their free time reading comics and playing computer games and that they dress up as their favourite heroes, attend events and socialise with other people who do exactly the same thing. There is so much more to those people than just those stereotypes. All of what I just mentioned previously are hobbies that they do in their spare time.
d) Campaign message
The campaign message for the film wasn't very clear. As I have previously mentioned, 'easter eggs' were released online and in person at unexpected times. The main campaign message that I can infer is that the promoters wanted to promote the film and generate excitement for what was going to be released. The 'easter eggs' that were released generated excitement, building up the suspense of the release of similar hints and the film itself.
e) Print-based advertisements used in this campaign
The main
print-based advertisement that was released for The Dark Knight were film
posters. In total 24 movie posters were released for The Dark Knight. These
ranged from the characters in the film to clever editing of an original poster.
An example of the clever advertising was the edited Oscars poster, where red
writing had scribbled over 'The Oscars' writing and changed it to 'Do You Wanna
Know How I Got These Scars'. The contents of the poster juxtapose each other,
as the main basis of the glamorous award ceremony The Oscars is graphitised by
the graffiti of The Joker. The house style of these posters remains the same
throughout, the colours red and black and heavily used, the character on the
poster in in the centre and if the release date and credits are on the poster,
they are at the bottom of the poster as this is the part that the reader is
likely to read last. One more clever way of print based advertising used in the
promotion of The Dark Knight was the Joker dollar bills that were given out at
the San Diego Comic Con in 2007. The bill set fans on a scavenger hunt,
following clues to lead you to a plane with a phone number written on, which
led to more clues and 'easter eggs'. The costumes that the characters are wearing in the posters correspond to what they wear in the actual film. The way in the which the characters look in the posters express the kind of characters that they are in the film. The angles that have been used in the shots, such as in one poster the viewers are looking up at The Joker, implying that The Joker is more powerful.
'The Oscars' Dark Knight Film Poster.
One dollar bills given to fans at the San Diego Comic Con in 2007.
f)
Relevant legal and ethical issues
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of
the United States to authors of "original works of authorship." In
terms of The Dark Knight, any material not protected by copyright is available
for anybody else to use without asking the owner. So for example the dollar
bills can't be copyrighted, as their trademark has been added to something that
is already owned by someone else. But the film posters that they have created
with their own designs and characters can be copyrighted and can't be
copied or printed and resold without their permission.
g) Regulatory bodies
The
Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator of
advertising across all media. They apply the Advertising Codes to all of their
cases, which is written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Their work
includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action
against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.
h) Method
Print Based
The print based method that this campaign uses the most is film posters.
They are able to be displayed on billboards up high or down low, in public
spaces such as bus shelters and train stations and inside such as cinemas and
shopping centres.
Audio-Visual
The most common types of audio-visual promotion used in this campaign
were trailers. These trailers were released on viewing sites such as YouTube
and Vimeo, shown on TV in the advert breaks and shown in cinemas in the
trailers before the start of films.
M1:
The trailer for The
Dark Knight includes many different camerawork techniques that makes up its overall quality. All three shots in the introduction and the first two shots in the main body of the trailer are overhead shots from helicopters or drones. This is so that the viewers have a wide variety of things to look at and feel like they are above, watching the scenes unfold. An editing technique that is used throughout the trailer is 'dip to black'. Rather than jump cutting the scenes the trailer uses quick 'dips' to fade each scene and introduce a new one. This is so that viewers aren't confused by the quick cutting, and can understand the story more easily. Sound effects are used heavily for suspense to create a dramatic diegesis. An example of this used in the trailer is The Joker's laugh that is used straight after he says '....Kill the Batman'. The laugh sound effect is used over clips of a busy crowd panicking and screaming, to create this fear of The Joker. Dramatic, theatrical music is used over the main body clips of the trailer to create spectacle and to excite the viewers, encouraging them to watch the film when it is released in cinema. The way in which the actors, actresses and items/scenery are arranged in the scenes brings the whole trailer together. The mise-en-scene helps defeat enigma and makes the characters and what goes on in the trailer a lot simpler. All of these techniques help create an advert for the film because they help express key scenes in an enticing way that will encourage the viewers to watch the film.
