For my final blog post, I will be comparing and contrasting the marketing strategies between one event and one independent film, both released after 2005. Firstly, I will be focussing on the event film and since 2012 was such a significant year for superhero films, I have chosen The Dark Knight Rises (Director: Christopher Nolan). Before we begin, let’s think why exactly The Dark Knight Rises can be considered an event film.
Preceded by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises is the finale to an epic trilogy that began in 2005. Derived from the visionary pen of Christopher Nolan, it’s the culmination of seven successful years on top of the box office ladder. Infamously known as The Dark Knight Trilogy and produced with a budget 585 million, Nolan’s three films became the highest grossing franchise in modern cinema, bringing in a total of 2.463 billion dollars. The film was marketed like crazy ever since the announcement of the title in October 2010 and just about managed to surpass the creative marketing campaign behind The Dark Knight throughout 2007. The sinister images of demented clown make-up and the eerie tagline, ‘Why so serious?’ evoked anticipation for months even before principal photography had wrapped. To ensure the third and final entry was a success, Warner Bros. was pressured into creating a visually provocative marketing campaign.
Principal photography on The Dark Knight Rises commenced in May 2011, scheduled to conclude at least through November. Two months into filming, Warner Bros. released their first teaser trailer in July, one year before the film’s scheduled release date. Just over a minute long, its contents were visually stunning with graphics stating ‘every hero has a journey’ and ‘every journey has an end.’ Simplistically, the trailer also utilized supporting footage from the first two films, culminating with fresh filmed scenes of Batman and Bane’s standoff in the final seconds. The trailer abruptly concludes with ‘the epic conclusion’ overwhelming the screen and a sombre, heart-stopping audio track encouraging the demographic to crave more.
Preceded by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises is the finale to an epic trilogy that began in 2005. Derived from the visionary pen of Christopher Nolan, it’s the culmination of seven successful years on top of the box office ladder. Infamously known as The Dark Knight Trilogy and produced with a budget 585 million, Nolan’s three films became the highest grossing franchise in modern cinema, bringing in a total of 2.463 billion dollars. The film was marketed like crazy ever since the announcement of the title in October 2010 and just about managed to surpass the creative marketing campaign behind The Dark Knight throughout 2007. The sinister images of demented clown make-up and the eerie tagline, ‘Why so serious?’ evoked anticipation for months even before principal photography had wrapped. To ensure the third and final entry was a success, Warner Bros. was pressured into creating a visually provocative marketing campaign.
Principal photography on The Dark Knight Rises commenced in May 2011, scheduled to conclude at least through November. Two months into filming, Warner Bros. released their first teaser trailer in July, one year before the film’s scheduled release date. Just over a minute long, its contents were visually stunning with graphics stating ‘every hero has a journey’ and ‘every journey has an end.’ Simplistically, the trailer also utilized supporting footage from the first two films, culminating with fresh filmed scenes of Batman and Bane’s standoff in the final seconds. The trailer abruptly concludes with ‘the epic conclusion’ overwhelming the screen and a sombre, heart-stopping audio track encouraging the demographic to crave more.
The soundtrack, Batman and climatic graphics are key signifiers of the event movie and generate impact amongst international audiences. As well as the finale in Nolan’s trilogy, summer 2012 witnessed the popular release of The Amazing Spiderman and The Avengers, major distributions associated with the event movie category and reputation. Therefore, one year before its initial release, The Dark Knight Rises is already widely promised and anticipated to be an epic movie. Despite initial excitement, critics hammered the trailer for being more of an announcement than an official teaser trailer. Screen rants’ Kofi Outlaw wrote:
‘To be honest, I’m not a big fan of The Dark Knight Rises teaser. A lot of it had to do (in my opinion) with what was actually shown. The scene with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) was overly dramatic, his dialogue was hammy, with that cringe-inducing line (..and now the evil rises..), and his speech was garbled and difficult to make out.’
Overseeing the mixed reaction, the trailer received 12.5 million views twenty fours after its release, blowing the previous record held by The Avengers out of the water. One week after the debut of the teaser and a cryptic black and white image is leaked across film sites.
‘To be honest, I’m not a big fan of The Dark Knight Rises teaser. A lot of it had to do (in my opinion) with what was actually shown. The scene with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) was overly dramatic, his dialogue was hammy, with that cringe-inducing line (..and now the evil rises..), and his speech was garbled and difficult to make out.’
Overseeing the mixed reaction, the trailer received 12.5 million views twenty fours after its release, blowing the previous record held by The Avengers out of the water. One week after the debut of the teaser and a cryptic black and white image is leaked across film sites.
The information we are given is that this individual is Dr. Leonid Pavel, a Russian scientist whose character arc is heavily featured in The Dark Knight comics will be involved in some capacity. Similar to the ‘I believe in Harvey Dent’ campaign, this image would appear upon searching the film in Google. As well as online, the image would also surface in popular film magazines Empire and Total Film with no description of its purpose. Despite confusion, the image contained clear links to the Batman franchise, affirming its significance in the marketing campaign.
The viral marketing fuelled further anticipation on the film’s website as this wanted poster was released, portraying Batman as a threat. The mystique further generated excitement and film executives were capitalizing on the most successful marketing campaign of the decade. Another interesting viral project occurred throughout the film’s website. A list was released in April 2012 including real-world locations engulfed in graffiti relating to Batman’s return. The campaign encouraged fans of the franchise to tweet the locations, with frames of the second trailer being revealed as fans sent in tweets from around the world.
Released in December 2011, the second trailer generated over three million views on YouTube. Unlike the brief teaser, we see clear development in this second offering as Bane is finally revealed as well as other primary characters including Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). As viewers, we are treated to more evident and significant plot scenarios such as Bane terrorising Gotham.
Released in December 2011, the second trailer generated over three million views on YouTube. Unlike the brief teaser, we see clear development in this second offering as Bane is finally revealed as well as other primary characters including Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). As viewers, we are treated to more evident and significant plot scenarios such as Bane terrorising Gotham.
The sequence of the exploding football stadium gained acclaim in the hours of its release for its stunning CGI. Tom Hardy’s cunning villain clashes with Batman in the final frame before the climatic words ‘The Legend Ends’ overwhelm the screen, setting fans up for the third and final trailer. Marketing continued in February 2012 as one of the films most recognisable posters was released via news outlets, the film’s website and dominant, popular film magazine Empire.
Much like the trailer, Bane is prominently featured, portraying a controlling nature over a fallen and shattered Batman mask. ‘The Legend Ends’ headline reappears, signifying the end of the franchise and Bruce Wayne’s destruction at the hands of an indestructible force. The marketing campaign eventually came full circle with the final trailer being attached to the premiere of The Avengers in May 2012. This is effective and genius advertising as fans are being informed of the blockbuster summer movies debuting in the inevitable, coming months. As a fan of the Marvel franchise, I personally attended The Avengers premiere and witnessed the excitement spread throughout the theatre as the screening of The Dark Knight Rises trailer commenced. Individuals have loyally followed the franchise since its inception in 2003. For nine years, people grew up with Nolan’s Batman and with the ‘Summer 2012’ rounding out the trailer, the excitement was unbelievable.
Comparing and contrasting marketing strategies, I will now look at the 2009 independent movie, ‘500 Days of Summer.’ The film contains clear connotations of the independent genre with a budget of 7.5 million, unlike The Dark Knight Rises whopping 230 million. The films simplistic narrative also highlights it as a clear independent movie focussing on 500 days of a relationship. An unknown art-house director also directed the film at the time in Marc Webb, whose efforts propelled into mainstream Hollywood writing and directing The Amazing Spiderman in 2012. Independent films normally highlight the normality of life, representing how everything is not always a happy ending and this is exactly what 500 Days of Summer accomplishes. As the narrator promises in the teaser trailer, ‘this is not a love story, this is a story about love,’ confirming it’s more coming of age than a romantic comedy.
In similarity to Nolan’s superhero epic, the majority of the marketing was driven through twitter. Therefore again, the social network is being utilised as a creative marketing channel. Online content used to promote the film included exclusive clips, online partnerships and promotions and talent interviews. The film’s two main actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel also recorded weekly music blogs entitled ‘The Bank Heist’ where they reprised their characters singing love songs to each other. This publicity stunt accomplished creative promotion and fuelled excitement for the film as audiences witnessed how close the actors were in reality. Prior to its 2009 summer release, both actors also participated in Mean Digital’s Cinemash web series. The controversial rock duo of Sid and Nancy are a major inspiration in the film and to ensure impactful promotion, the actors portrayed the rock couple in a three-minute parody video.
In similarity to Nolan’s superhero epic, the majority of the marketing was driven through twitter. Therefore again, the social network is being utilised as a creative marketing channel. Online content used to promote the film included exclusive clips, online partnerships and promotions and talent interviews. The film’s two main actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel also recorded weekly music blogs entitled ‘The Bank Heist’ where they reprised their characters singing love songs to each other. This publicity stunt accomplished creative promotion and fuelled excitement for the film as audiences witnessed how close the actors were in reality. Prior to its 2009 summer release, both actors also participated in Mean Digital’s Cinemash web series. The controversial rock duo of Sid and Nancy are a major inspiration in the film and to ensure impactful promotion, the actors portrayed the rock couple in a three-minute parody video.
With an August 2009 release date, principal photography commenced ten months earlier in October 2008. This is the first notable difference between the two films. The Dark Knight Rises had been in development two years prior to its release, therefore Nolan’s final Batman entry required a much more challenging and organised marketing strategy. In January 2009, the film’s distribution company, Fox Searchlight developed a website for the film, which can be seen below. Most notably, the website is simple and plain yet intriguing to analyse. The teaser poster is evident, concise and accompanied by an eye-catching, well-constructed synopsis. Whereas The Dark Knight Rises’ website was drenched with colours, iconic film characters and background music, 500 Days of Summer is giving us a brief but effective teaser of what to expect. The phrase, ‘this is not a love story, this is a story about love’ puzzled and generated anticipation amongst film buffs for months, promising them that this isn’t a traditional romantic comedy.
On January 18th 2009, Fox Searchlight released the teaser trailer on Youtube, kick-starting the eight months of marketing. In contrast to The Dark Knight Rises, this teaser delivers more information and certifies its status as an independent film. The title card, ‘500 Days of Summer’ flashes in different colours at several points in the teaser. The changing colours emphasise the artistic approach of marketing company and highlight the differing moods of the relationship.
Between these stylistic flashes of information, a charming narrator introduces the actors and characters. This is in complete opposition to the heart-pounding ‘coming this summer’ motif which The Dark Knight Rises delivers. Background music from popular 1980s band The Smiths accompanies these happy-go lucky images, confirming 500 Days of Summer as a quirky, coming of age drama.
Levitt’s character seeing multiple versions of Deschanel’s character is a nod and homage to avant-garde filmmaking, eliminating any comparison between event and independent movie.
In her trailer analysis of 500 Days of Summer, Beth Urwin writes:
''Overall we can say that although this narrative would fit the type of film it may not follow, fully, the stereotypical love story. The unique selling point of the trailer is, in my opinion, the soundtrack. Usually on film trailers we hear number one, chart topping songs, however, in this one we hear music from artists such as: The smiths, Regina Spector and Hall & Oates. By using alternative music like this it sells the film to a wider audience, a lot of the audience could find this far more attractive than the generic pop song used on so many film trailers. The character has various expressions which enhance this theme that is shown throughout the trailer that she is very unpredictable highlighting more of the storyline to the audience. There is a lot to say about the credits and intertitles of this trailer, we see that in terms intertitles we have numbers which show the amount of days passing by in the trailer; this is interesting to the audience because it is a feature which is not often seen.''
''Overall we can say that although this narrative would fit the type of film it may not follow, fully, the stereotypical love story. The unique selling point of the trailer is, in my opinion, the soundtrack. Usually on film trailers we hear number one, chart topping songs, however, in this one we hear music from artists such as: The smiths, Regina Spector and Hall & Oates. By using alternative music like this it sells the film to a wider audience, a lot of the audience could find this far more attractive than the generic pop song used on so many film trailers. The character has various expressions which enhance this theme that is shown throughout the trailer that she is very unpredictable highlighting more of the storyline to the audience. There is a lot to say about the credits and intertitles of this trailer, we see that in terms intertitles we have numbers which show the amount of days passing by in the trailer; this is interesting to the audience because it is a feature which is not often seen.''
Before the release of the full-length trailer, various film posters for the film appeared throughout social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. In terms of layout, colour and design, the artworks are reminiscent of 1970s popular culture with little information besides the release date and title. Despite the brief advertising, the film developed an early cult following and fan base spanning the 16-35 age demographic. Batman was already a well-established franchise stretching over four decades, therefore any advertising whether it be iconic images of Bane or The Joker or a simple black background with the bat signal and ‘coming soon’ positioned underneath is going to generate a buzz. 500 Days of Summer was a fresh idea, which could have easily failed for many individuals dubbing it as just another chick flick or rom-com. The simple positioning of Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the poster with the film playing out on his t-shirt was an iconic point in the film’s marketing with the idea being that less is more.
The official trailer was released five months before the release on March 7th 2009 revealing similar footage in addition to accolades won by the film at the 2009 Sundance International Film Festival. These revelations and notices of awards are the key to successfully selling the film and ensuring a stance for a money-making and entertaining franchise.
The official trailer was released five months before the release on March 7th 2009 revealing similar footage in addition to accolades won by the film at the 2009 Sundance International Film Festival. These revelations and notices of awards are the key to successfully selling the film and ensuring a stance for a money-making and entertaining franchise.
Bibliography
The Dark Knight Rises
Phillips, Ron. The Dark Knight Rises' awesomely complex viral marketing campaign. May 1st 2012. Publication: The Week Staff
Lippay, Laura. The Most Amazing (Content) Marketing Campaign. Ever. Publication: Built Visible.
Pan, Joan. 'Dark Knight Rises' Campaign: Tweet Graffiti. Get Trailer. April 30th, 2012. Publication: Mashable.
Keyes, Rob. Has 'The Dark Knight Rises' viral marketing campaign begun? December 7th, 2011. Publication: Screen-rant.
Peaty, James. The Dark Knight Rises trailer analysis. July 19th 2011. Publication: Den of Geek.
500 Days of Summer
Urwin, Beth. Trailer analysis of (500) Days of Summer. October 1st 2012.
ADI. 500 Days of Summer, Luck and Viral Marketing. January 9th 2012. Publication: The Horizons Tracker
Zeitchik, Steven. Hipster factor poses challenges for movie marketers. July 2nd 2009. Publication: Reuters
Grierson, Tim. 500 Days of Summer. 19th January 2009. Publication: Screen Daily.
The Dark Knight Rises
Phillips, Ron. The Dark Knight Rises' awesomely complex viral marketing campaign. May 1st 2012. Publication: The Week Staff
Lippay, Laura. The Most Amazing (Content) Marketing Campaign. Ever. Publication: Built Visible.
Pan, Joan. 'Dark Knight Rises' Campaign: Tweet Graffiti. Get Trailer. April 30th, 2012. Publication: Mashable.
Keyes, Rob. Has 'The Dark Knight Rises' viral marketing campaign begun? December 7th, 2011. Publication: Screen-rant.
Peaty, James. The Dark Knight Rises trailer analysis. July 19th 2011. Publication: Den of Geek.
500 Days of Summer
Urwin, Beth. Trailer analysis of (500) Days of Summer. October 1st 2012.
ADI. 500 Days of Summer, Luck and Viral Marketing. January 9th 2012. Publication: The Horizons Tracker
Zeitchik, Steven. Hipster factor poses challenges for movie marketers. July 2nd 2009. Publication: Reuters
Grierson, Tim. 500 Days of Summer. 19th January 2009. Publication: Screen Daily.