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rsadelleThe January 19 issue of The New Yorker has an article by Tad Friend about movie marketing. The article itself is interesting. He talks about the marketing for W., The Fast and the Furious, Saw II, and New In Town. He also talks about how marketers see people and how they make films relatable. He tells us that "the most common form of partition is the four quadrants: men under twenty-five; older men; women under twenty-five; older women." When I read that to my mother over the phone, she was incensed that they would leave out baby boomers and perplexed that they would lump her and me into the same category. Interestingly, when I read his descriptions of the four quadrants, my actual likes fall into both the young women and older women categories, and I've spent some time enjoying the same thing as young men, although not so much recently. (Exception: horror movies, which I've never really been into, unless it's of the so-and-so fights the devil variety. "They go to horror films as much as young men, but they hate gore; you lure them by having the ingénue take her time walking down the dark hall.") I don't like movies for older men (the examples marketing consultant Terry Press gives Friend are Wild Hogs and 3:10 To Yuma) at all.
Friend outlines five rules marketers have "for making their films seem broadly 'relatable.'" My favorite quote from them, from the section on movie posters: "Because stars are supposed to open the film, and because they have contractual approval of how they appear on a poster, the final image is often a so-called 'big head' or 'floating head' of the star. Every poster for a Will Smith movie features his head, and for good reason: he is the only true movie star left, the only one who could open even a film about beekeeping monks."
It's an interesting article that really does tell you a lot about how the movie industry works. What's even more fascinating to me is how well the article itself works as a piece of marketing. One of the movies whose marketing development Friend follows is New In Town ("a title no one actively disliked"). When I saw the trailer, I thought it looked awful, although the premise is the kind of thing I like. The article, though, with how it talks about how they twist trailers to make movies seem watchable and how Tad Friend says he liked the movie and that "Blanche (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), Zellweger's administrative assistant at the plant, had got many of the biggest laughs. 'Droll and folksy reads as quaint, reads as art house,' Palen said. 'I love Blanche, but I can't sell her.'" actually made me think the movie might be worth seeing. It also made me think that The Proposal might be better than its ghastly trailer, although that might just be wishful thinking - I love a good they have to get married story, and I'm at least mildly fond of both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.
Friend outlines five rules marketers have "for making their films seem broadly 'relatable.'" My favorite quote from them, from the section on movie posters: "Because stars are supposed to open the film, and because they have contractual approval of how they appear on a poster, the final image is often a so-called 'big head' or 'floating head' of the star. Every poster for a Will Smith movie features his head, and for good reason: he is the only true movie star left, the only one who could open even a film about beekeeping monks."
It's an interesting article that really does tell you a lot about how the movie industry works. What's even more fascinating to me is how well the article itself works as a piece of marketing. One of the movies whose marketing development Friend follows is New In Town ("a title no one actively disliked"). When I saw the trailer, I thought it looked awful, although the premise is the kind of thing I like. The article, though, with how it talks about how they twist trailers to make movies seem watchable and how Tad Friend says he liked the movie and that "Blanche (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), Zellweger's administrative assistant at the plant, had got many of the biggest laughs. 'Droll and folksy reads as quaint, reads as art house,' Palen said. 'I love Blanche, but I can't sell her.'" actually made me think the movie might be worth seeing. It also made me think that The Proposal might be better than its ghastly trailer, although that might just be wishful thinking - I love a good they have to get married story, and I'm at least mildly fond of both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.
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Date: 2009-01-21 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-21 07:52 pm (UTC)