Institutional Context

When upcoming films are to be released the main priority is to get the film noticed. This is done by the right means of distribution and exhibition. Production companies need to get the film out there and noticed by the target audience. This can be done in various ways through new media aspects which include the Internet, cinema and television. Here are some of the main new media aspects:

1. YouTube
   
   

Most new upcoming films have their teaser and main trailer posted on YouTube by the production company or individual posters who could already be fans of the film. This is one of the first places that the trailer is shown because this will create a following and attract the audiences attention months before the actual film is released. An example of this is Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland trailer which isn't to be released till 4th march 2010 but the teaser trailer was posted on YouTube in July 2009 and has already created a following of people waiting for this film to be released and has had 3, 863,428 views already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWsZ2b_pK4

2. Company Websites

Another technique that film companies use to get there film noticed is by using the company website. This is a good technique because it will advertise the up coming new realise and will also advertise the company and other films they are distributing. For example on the Working Title Website homepage the main advertisement is the new Coen Brothers film A Serious man. On the website it features the trailer, video clips, photographs, Coen Brothers Q & A and News and Information. These will all give the audience what they want to know about this new film and will also advertise the film to people who have never heard of it. They have also included on the homepage 5 star ratings of the film and film festivals that this film has been entered for. Another useful way of distributing the film is by having a Q & A from the film makers and for this film it is the Coen Brothers, they have a large following and this will bring more audience for the film. The website also includes other films in production, on release, a film achieve, trailers and downloads which all will attract people to look at the website. Another way they have used for distribution is to create other media products which fans of the film can use, these include desktop backgrounds, screen savers, online games etc. These are also good to attract younger audiences if the film is for a younger audience e.g below 12. http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/

3. Viral marketing

Viral marketing is vital to the distribution and exhibition of film trailers and short films. Viral marketing includes the use of advertisement on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, video game technologies, video hosting websites and email. But most of these use different ways to advertise up coming films or short films for example the marketing campaign for the 2008 film The Dark Knight combined both online and real-life elements to make it resemble an alternate reality game. Techniques included mass gatherings of Joker fans, scavenger hunts around world, detailed and intricate websites that let fans actually participate in "voting" for political offices in Gotham City, and even a Gotham News Network that has links to other Gotham pages such as Gotham Rail, a Gotham travel agency, and political candidate's pages. The movie also markets heavily off of word of mouth from the thousands of Batman fans. Another example of the use of viral marketing is when the 2008 film Cloverfield was first publicized with a teaser trailer that did not advertise the film's title, only its release date: "01·18·08." Elements of the viral marketing campaign included MySpace pages created for fictional characters and websites created for fictional companies alluded to in the film.

This YouTube video explains Viral marketing further and how it can benefit a persons business.

Teaser trailers and Short films are both very important to the media industry. Short films are new in the industry and don't have as large following as trailers do but are well known in the industry. Film trailers are extremely important to get films advertised and known. These are perfect because they can be shown anywhere, through networking websites, video hosting websites, T.V advertisements, cinema trailers and general websites that include advertisements.