Media revision 1
How the Lego movie appeals to its three target audience members:
How the Lego movie appeals to its three target audience members:
For the children, it characters such as Benny the spaceman or Batman are rather funny so children would be entertained by them. Also characters like Batman or Green Lantern offer references to more modern movies which they would understand. For adults the character appeal as characters like Benny the spaceman would be nostalgic for them as they played with characters like that when they were younger. Also imaginative characters like Vitruvius or The unicorn would inspire their children.
Lastly for young cinema goers, a lot of the main characters are played by big names such as Will Ferrell or Chris Pratt so they would want to see these actors in action.
Narrative:
For younger children the narrative is full of funky worlds, consistent new characters and a lot of action which would keep them interested in the story. For adults the narrative offers references to older movies like The Matrix where the story keeps moving between many worlds which they would understand. It is similar for young cinema goers, they will also get this reference.
Settings:
Starting with the children, the constant changing of setting in the Lego, and then the change from the Lego world to the real world offers a sense of action and excitement to keep them entertained. For the adults the change between reality and imagination will again reference to older films like The Matrix which they will understand, also it offers a sense of imagination to their children because they couldn be inspired by this imaginative world. For younger cinema goers they would only understand the references in the film.
Themes:
Themes that could keep children interested and entertained is the theme of the use of vivid colours and awesome lights with action, essentially constant change to keep them on the end of their seat. For adults their is this theme of people who don't fit into society, and the person who doesn't is the hero of the film. This could inspire their children to be themselves and not worry about what other people think. For young cinema goers there is this theme of bad humour that's actually funny which would keep them interested in the film.
What methods did they use to promote The Lego Movie to the target audience?
Poster campaign:
Posters in public areas would target all parts of the target audience as when out in public families with adults and children would see them, children would want to go see it based around the fact its Lego and adults for nostalgia. Younger cinema goers when outside would see the names the characters would play by as the cast features big names like Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell.
TV Advertising:
During a break in Dancing on ice on Saturday the 9th February 2014, 4 days before the film launched, ITV launched the first ever all Lego ad break with 2 second stings to advertise The Lego Movie. Families would have seen this as they would have been sat around the TV watching the show and younger cinema goers would have seen it on social media as it got shared virally and had 1.1 million searches on google the following week.
Film Trailers:
Children would have seen this on TV during the morning and evening when watching TV, younger cinema goers might find it on social media when scrolling through.
Social Media:
Social Media would have heavily targeted young cinema goers as they would have seen the Lego ad break shared virally and they would have seen the social media pages. It was useful for The Warner Bros as social media was free so it was free advertising.
Merchandise:
This would have targeted children as at Legoland they put up a station where you could make a Lego character of yourself courtesy of The Lego Movie.
Media revision 2
Explain why the TV advertising campaign was so successful:
The TV advertising campaign included and all Lego as break during dancing on ice the week before the film was released. This was a world first. It was viewed by over 6.6 million people on live TV and most shared it therefore increasing the amount of people it reached. Families would have watched it on TV as dancing on ice a show where all of the family would sit down and watch it. It was viewed by a further approximately 1.1 million people online which would have most likely been younger cinema goers as they would have been on social media.
What is synergy in marketing?
Synergy in marketing is when you release a product with another around the same release date. They are based on the same thing but are different products like a film and a video game. They promote each other therefore giving the company more promotion.
How did Lego use this?
They used synergy when they release The Lego Movie video at the same time the film was released
Why would a company want to release a video game in tie with a film?
They would want to do this as they would promote each other, the film would promote the video game and the video game the film making the company more money. It also allows the customer to receive the experience of playing in the shoes as a character from the film in the game or giving the customer context of the game via the film.
Media revision 3
Blumer and Katz's four uses and gratifications:
Blumer and Katz researched four reasons why some people choose certain media products over others
- Entertainment - Offers a distraction from the world
- Personal identity - Helps us consider who we are, what ideas and values we identify with
- Relationships - We find things we can share and discuss with each other
- Information - New information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing
How are the uses and gratifications of the Lego Movie Video Game reflected in the cover?
- Entertainment - The absurd amount of colours and different amount of characters distract us from the world around us
- Personal identity - Just from the cover we understand who the heroes and villains are, this makes us consider which ones we would relate to the most
- Relationships - Just from the poster we can gather who the characters are and the themes. Therefore we can discuss with people what the story would be.
- Information - We get information about the game like the characters and themes
What are the genre conventions shown in the main poster for The Lego Movie?
The genre of The Lego Movie is an animated family/adventure film. We can tell this from the main poster in the poster campaign. Firstly we can tell it is animated by the fact it is Lego. We can tell it will be an adventure film by the setting of the poster. It is set in a sprawling urban area with big skyscrapers and cranes. It also features characters that reference to other film like Superman, who is flying and Green Lantern, these characters both feature in action and adventure films so we must know there will be action and adventure. We can tell who the main heroes are and the villains by where they are placed on the poster. The heroes are always on the front and the villains overlooking trying to take them down. We can tell there must be an adventure to stop this villain. Finally we can tell it is a family film as there are parts of the poster which appeal to all of the family. Overall there is no blood, violence or gore making it eligible for children, you have characters like the unicorn and Benny the spaceman who are rather humourous and the fact it is made out of Lego appeals to children as it is a popular toy. It appeals to parents as you see which characters relationships are good and bad by whether they are placed together on the poster, this could offer a sense of unity with their children. Also it being made out of Lego and an old but popular Lego character on there as of Benny the spaceman it would be very nostalgic for the parents.
How do the following poster features appeal to the target audience?
The genre of The Lego Movie is an animated family/adventure film. We can tell this from the main poster in the poster campaign. Firstly we can tell it is animated by the fact it is Lego. We can tell it will be an adventure film by the setting of the poster. It is set in a sprawling urban area with big skyscrapers and cranes. It also features characters that reference to other film like Superman, who is flying and Green Lantern, these characters both feature in action and adventure films so we must know there will be action and adventure. We can tell who the main heroes are and the villains by where they are placed on the poster. The heroes are always on the front and the villains overlooking trying to take them down. We can tell there must be an adventure to stop this villain. Finally we can tell it is a family film as there are parts of the poster which appeal to all of the family. Overall there is no blood, violence or gore making it eligible for children, you have characters like the unicorn and Benny the spaceman who are rather humourous and the fact it is made out of Lego appeals to children as it is a popular toy. It appeals to parents as you see which characters relationships are good and bad by whether they are placed together on the poster, this could offer a sense of unity with their children. Also it being made out of Lego and an old but popular Lego character on there as of Benny the spaceman it would be very nostalgic for the parents.
How do the following poster features appeal to the target audience?
- Headline
- Tag line
- Main characters
- SettingFirstly the headline would appeal greatly to the children. It is a creatives unique way of presenting it so that the children would be interested. It would interest older people as it may be something for their children to watch. Lastly for young cinema goers it is a unique way of presenting a headline that may give them and extra reason to see the movie, for its creativeness, other than famous actors.
The tagline wouldn't interest the children a great deal, however it would interest the older people as it is quite a good moral story for their children, and they might want to bring them along to the film so they could revive this moral story that anyone can be a hero. For young cinema goers it may interest them to see how this "nobody" saves everyone.
The main characters are all very unique, exciting and creative which would excite children. Characters like the unicorn, Vitruvius and Benny the spaceman look exciting and creative. Characters like Superman and Benny the spaceman would offer a sense of nostalgia when older people look at it back to older movies and older Lego sets. Young cinema goers would want to find out who the actors
are that play these exciting characters and decide if they want to see their performance.
Lastly, the setting is an exciting metropolis which would definitely intrigue children as it reminds them of a fun Lego set or just and exciting place in general. For older people it may be a place of escapism from every day work and life. It doesn't appeal much to younger cinema goers, they might go to see the film to how the setting changes and develops.
How do all of the film posters use stereotypes and representation to appeal to the target audience?
Firstly, the poster of Emmet has a blue and black colour scheme which is rather masculine, he is dressed as a typical construction worker and a typical male hairstyle which represents him as the typical male hero of a movie, that he is strong and brave. However his facial reactions suggest he is scared and afraid of something, this could suggest that he is not brave or a hero and that other
character which is what actually happens in the film. This would appeal to older people and young cinema goers as from the tagline from the main poster it says "a story of how a nobody saved everyone" and this poster suggests Emmet is the nobody and we want to find out his story. The setting of the poster however would appeal to the children as it exciting and intriguing for a younger child.
