Monday 5th March Lego Movie
Intertextuality and TA
L.O. to explore the intertextuality of The Lego Movie and the target audience; to apply Propp's theory.Postmodernism
Postmodern films often contain the following characteristics:
- Challenged genre conventions: might be a mixture of many genres; challenge typical character roles etc.
- Pastiche: imitates other texts, humorous take on society/culture.
- Hyper-reality: makes the audience aware that they are watching a movie.
'Postmodernism questions what is real and what is absolute.' (Palmer 2014)
Explain how The Lego Movie is a postmodernist film:
- The Lego Movie is a postmodernist film because it is a mixture of genres. Some genres included in the movie is action/adventure, fantasy, romance, sci-fi and comedy.
- The Lego Movie also challenges character roles. For example, the hero of the film (Emmet) is not a typical hero and he is just an ordinary man. Another example of the movie challenging character roles is Emmet's sidekick Wildstyle, as she is not the typical female sidekick, she is an emo and is stronger than the hero of the movie.
- It also uses other films in a simpler form, like The Matrix.
- It uses pastiche to get across that society lacks in imagination.
- Hyper-reality is also used when characters break the fourth wall and speak to the audience.
Intertextuality
- The Lego Movie focuses on a character called Emmet who is just a regular man and a builder. One day Emmet falls down a hole and finds out he is the prodigy by Vitruvius and is given the piece-de-resistance. Emmet then meets a girl called Wildstyle who is Batman's girlfriend, and they travel through many different worlds to try and keep Emmet and the piece-de-resistance safe from Lord Business from his destructive weapon 'The Kraggle' (which is human superglue) that can end the world. Lord Business has locked the super-builders away to use their bran power for his weapon and then he locks up Emmet's friends as they are super-builders. The movie ends with Vitruvius dying and Emmet jumping out of Lord Business' top floor office window and into the real world. Then Emmet is a normal lego figure controlled by a boy and his Dad in their massive Lego city. Then Emmet manages to come to life in the real world and the human boy puts him into the tube which sends him back to the Lego world and Emmet saves the world from the Kraggle with Wildstyle and they fall in love.
- The main themes of The Lego Movie is that creativity and imagination in society is not as strong as it used to be. Another message is that you don't have to be a stereotypical hero to be a hero.
- The Lego Movie also references to other Warner Bros by using Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Dumbledore, Gandalf, Han Solo, C-3PO, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Lando and relates to The Matrix film.
- Lego Duplo, Lego Ninjago and the different worlds are all different Lego products within The Lego Movie.
Propp's Spheres of Action
Vladimir Propp says that characters take up the role of narrative 'spheres of action'.
He identified character roles necessary to make up a narrative.
Thursday 8TH MARCH 2018
LEGO MOVIE: TARGET AUDIENCE
L.O. identify the target audience using demographics and psychographics.
The movie targets a FAMILY AUDIENCE
That could be split up into 3 groups:
- Young kids who played with Lego
- Parents who played with it when they were young too
- Young adult cinema goers
How?
- Young kids who play with Lego = based around Lego, vivid colours, catchy song, obvious humour aimed at children, different worlds and characters, recognise the characters, and children would understand the basic narrative.
- Parents who played with it when they were young too = classic lego figures (e.g. Benny), Lord Business' relics, subtle adult jokes, family bonding at the end, big name actors (e.g. Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman), references to other films, message to get across the importance of creativity, more complex story line for adults.
- Young adult cinema goers = references to other movies, references to other movie characters (e.g. Superman, Batman), both childish and adult humour, supposed love story between Emmet and Wyldstyle, age of characters similar to cinema goers age.
- Both genders = mix of different characters gender, different worlds appeal to different genders (e.g. Middle Zealand or Cloud Cuckoo Land), humour appeals to both genders, love interest between Emmet and Wyldstyle.
Monday 12th March 2018
The Lego Movie: Marketing
L.O. explore marketing & promotion of The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience.- Newspaper
- Magazine (appearances on covers, adverts, articles)
- TV adverts
- Trailers (teaser, theatrical)
- Posters
- Advert on side of buses, taxis and trains
- Social media (adverts, accounts)
- YouTube advertising
- Pop up ads
- Billboards
- Website
- Computer games
- CD or soundtrack
- Collar with other brands
Synergy
- The simultaneous release of different products to boost both.
Lego Movie Merch- Clothing
- 16 Collectible Mini Figures
- Bags
- Lego Movie Video Game
- Sticker and Activity books
- School Supplies (lunch boxes, stationary, etc)
- 17 Lego World Sets
- Happy Meals at McDonalds
Other ways The Lego Movie was promoted - - Website - trailers, short movies, a website enabled fans to make Lego versions of themselves.
- Events - film premier (14th February 2014), free accessory packs available in store, video game released on 4th February, video game released on Feb 4th.
- Posters - ⇾, in every week in January a new character poster was released
- Links with global partners/ brands - On Feb 7 McDonalds released 3D collectible toys in Happy Meals.
Horizontal and Vertical Integration -
Q - The advantages for a parent company of each type of ownership is that all the profits will go to them because they won't have to share the profits with other companies. It also means you don't have to outsource work.
The Guardian
- The Lego Movie's building blocks of success is that the content is a gripping adventure for kids, but also fun for adults to watch. As Lego is a product aimed at kids, they had to appeal to all ages as parents are the ones who will be paying and taking their kids to the cinema, so the movie is a great adventure for kids, but also really fun for adults.
- What they did right - The Lego Movie is very appealing to children the limit of your imagination is endless, but it also appeals to adults because it shows the endless creativity, and if parents like the movie, they are more likely to buy other Lego products.
- The Lego Movie has laid foundations for future success by making a sequel to the movie because the first one did so well. When the children who have watched The Lego Movie grow up, they may feel nostalgic and show the movie to other children, and therefore starting the cycle again.
- The Lego Movie 'has heart' because when people go to the cinema, they want to laugh, cry, etc, and The Lego Movie does all of these things to people by including an emotive storyline that explores the meaning of love, creativity, relationship and humanity.
- The Lego Movie is all about 'you' because the core themes of the movie is those who create and those who build (those who lead, and those who follow) and the difference between those who choose to be themselves or a part of something bigger. We constantly question which one of these 2 categories we fit into - and the underlying discourse within The Lego Movie generate questions we ask not only about the characters and storyline, but about ourselves. The result is a resonance that drills the brand into a deep level of our psyche that’s rarely visited by commercial content.
- The Lego Movie knows it's audience as it has a very clear idea of who they are talking to, as it bids to increase it's standings among kids (the players), parents (the buyers), and other adults (the nostalgics). Film critics laud this movie’s ability to offer ‘something for everyone’, with a healthy dose of slapstick for the kids, cultural savvy for the teens, and hilarious social commentary for the grown-ups.
Write 300 words explaining how the marketing of The LEGO Movie exploits a range of platforms - print, film, e-media - to construct an effective marketing campaign.
The LEGO Movie constructs an effective marketing campaign by exploiting the movie onto different platforms like print, film and e-media.
The movie is marketed using print to help create an effective marketing campaign. Before the movie’s release, 6 movie posters were created to help market the film. These posters had pictures of the LEGO Movie characters, including their names and the people who voice them. These posters were included in newspapers, magazines and out and about to help market the film. This helps construct a good marketing campaign because it helps get the attention of the people who want to watch the film. It targets kids because they get an image of what characters will be in the movie. The posters also target adults by putting the actors/actress names on the posters, as the adults may see the name of an actor/actress they like and want to see their part in The LEGO Movie.
The movie also uses film to construct a marketing campaign. The LEGO Movie had trailers that were shown to make people aware that the movie was coming out. Before films shown in cinemas, a theatrical trailer would be shown. This is effective because it targets movie-goers who may be interested in seeing The LEGO Movie. Teaser trailers were also shown in the adverts of family programmes, which would draw families (the main target audience) into watching the film.
Another way The LEGO Movie was marketed was by using e-media. E-media is a way to advertise something online, and this is one of the ways The LEGO Movie was advertised. Adverts for the movie would have been placed on the sides of social media, and adverts for the movie may have been placed in YouTube videos. This is effective because young cinema-goers use social media, and these are the people who are likely to go to the cinema and watch the film.
(315 words).
Thursday 22nd March 2018
The Lego Movie: TV Advertising
L.O. evaluate the methods used to market The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience.
- On peak time ITV to get the message to families.
- UK advertising one of the most regulated in the world.
- All made out of LEGO.
- 5 days before release, Dancing on Ice at 7:27pm on Sunday 9th Feb 2014, ITV broadcast a world first - an advert made entirely of LEGO.
- Adverts made of LEGO to help market the movie: British Heart Foundation, Confused.com, BT, Premier Inn, The LEGO Movie.
- Each ad interrupted by 2 second stings of each character and title and the ad ended with a 40 second trailer for the movie itself.
- "We've assembled a very special ad break" - ITV introduced the break using assembled to relate to the movie.
- Same time it was shown live, it was released on YouTube for people who missed it to watch.
- After it aired, media went mad and # thelegomovie tweets increased by 5.
- Reached 6 million people on ITV, 1.1 million watched on YouTube in 1 week.
- Ad so popular it was written about in over 60 publications.
- No 1 in UK box office charts, so the best performing film of not only kids movies, but any movie kind.
Explain how The LEGO Movie broke boundaries with branded marketing; how it targeted the different sections of their target audience; and whether or not is was successful or not.
The LEGO Movie broke many boundaries while promoting the film. An example of this is the ad break on ITV during Dancing on Ice at 7:27pm on Sunday 9th February 2014. The advert was remakes of previous adverts by the British Heart Foundation, Confused.com, BT, Premier Inn and finished with a 40 second trailer of the movie itself. This was a world first as no other advert was made entirely of LEGO. This targeted its audience because the advert itself was aimed at families, like the movie, but was also on a channel and aired at a time that families would be watching. The marketing of this movie was very successful, and after the advert aired # thelegomovie tweets increased fivefold. The advert on TV reached 6 million people and the advert reached 1.1 million views on YouTube in just a week. The movie ended up being the number 1 in UK box office charts, not just for a kids movie, but for any movie - proving very successful.
Thursday 22nd March 2018
The Lego Movie: Video Game
L.O. explain how vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using Uses & Gratification theory.
Film/video game releases:
- Pirates of the Caribbean 1
- Alice in Wonderland
- Resident Evil
- Spiderman 1 & 2
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Profit maximised
- Familiarity
- Extends the pleasure of the film
- The game promotes the film, the film promotes the game
- Entertainment - offers 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 others.
- Information - new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing.
Why companies release films and games simultaneously:
Uses and Gratifications (U&G)
Blamer and Katz researched how and why people choose certain media products over others. They came up with 4 main uses:
Explain how this product - The LEGO Movie video game image - is constructed to appeal to its audience.
The LEGO Movie video game cover is constructed to appeal to its target audience by including all of the main characters of the movie. It includes the male characters which will of course appeal to boys, however putting Wyldstyle on the cover will also attract girls to buy the game. As Wyldstyle is a strong female character, she will make girls who want to be like her buy the game, this links to the U&G of personal identity.
The video game cover has also been constructed with a colour palette of mainly blue, red and orange. These colours will appeal to its audience because there will be immediate recognition just from the colours that link the game to the film. This appeals to people in the target audience because the typical person to play the game will like these colours and in their head, relate it to there movie.
The way Emmet is holding the spanner also relates to the film as it helps convey the theme of creativity. This has been constructed to appeal to the target audience because it will make people wanting to play the game as they will want to be creative and be a master-builder like Emmet.
L.O. explain how vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using Uses & Gratification theory.
Film/video game releases:
- Pirates of the Caribbean 1
- Alice in Wonderland
- Resident Evil
- Spiderman 1 & 2
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Profit maximised
- Familiarity
- Extends the pleasure of the film
- The game promotes the film, the film promotes the game
- Entertainment - offers 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 others.
- Information - new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing.
Why companies release films and games simultaneously:
Uses and Gratifications (U&G)
Blamer and Katz researched how and why people choose certain media products over others. They came up with 4 main uses:
Explain how this product - The LEGO Movie video game image - is constructed to appeal to its audience.
The LEGO Movie video game cover is constructed to appeal to its target audience by including all of the main characters of the movie. It includes the male characters which will of course appeal to boys, however putting Wyldstyle on the cover will also attract girls to buy the game. As Wyldstyle is a strong female character, she will make girls who want to be like her buy the game, this links to the U&G of personal identity.
The video game cover has also been constructed with a colour palette of mainly blue, red and orange. These colours will appeal to its audience because there will be immediate recognition just from the colours that link the game to the film. This appeals to people in the target audience because the typical person to play the game will like these colours and in their head, relate it to there movie.
The way Emmet is holding the spanner also relates to the film as it helps convey the theme of creativity. This has been constructed to appeal to the target audience because it will make people wanting to play the game as they will want to be creative and be a master-builder like Emmet.
Monday 26th March 2018The Lego Movie: Poster Campaign
L.O. explain the effectiveness of the campaign; to analyse using Uses & Gratification theory.
Denotation - what it is showing.
Connotation - relies on personal knowledge and opinion.
How The LEGO Movie theatrical poster is constructed to appeal to its target audience:
- Connotations - The characters are running from the antagonist in the background, there is more than 1 character, there are recognisable figures (e.g. Batman and Benny).
- Genre Conventions - It is an action film because of the explosions in the background, it is a children's movie based on the bright colours.
- This appeals to the target audience because there is something for everyone in the poster, the colours being good for children, and the characters appealing to both adults and children. As the poster also hints it is an action poster, it will appeal to people who like action movies.
Explain the poster campaign and the representations created within it -
make sure you explain how those representations are created and what they suggest:
The poster campaign of the different characters helps people looking at the poster get an understanding of what type of character they are before even watching the movie. Some examples are Emmet, Wyldstyle and Lord Business. Emmet is represented as a scared builder and this is created by his frightened facial expression and his outfit. This may suggest that he is in fact a quite nervous person and his on is a builder. Wyldstyle is represented as a non-typical female character and this has been created by her makeup, hair and clothing suggesting she is not the typical woman in a movie. Lord Business is represented as an angry looking man which has been created by his facial expression that looks like he’s shouting and his clothing. This may suggest that he is the antagonist of this movie.
L.O. explain the effectiveness of the campaign; to analyse using Uses & Gratification theory.
Denotation - what it is showing.
Connotation - relies on personal knowledge and opinion.
How The LEGO Movie theatrical poster is constructed to appeal to its target audience:
- Connotations - The characters are running from the antagonist in the background, there is more than 1 character, there are recognisable figures (e.g. Batman and Benny).
- Genre Conventions - It is an action film because of the explosions in the background, it is a children's movie based on the bright colours.
- This appeals to the target audience because there is something for everyone in the poster, the colours being good for children, and the characters appealing to both adults and children. As the poster also hints it is an action poster, it will appeal to people who like action movies.
Explain the poster campaign and the representations created within it -
make sure you explain how those representations are created and what they suggest:
The poster campaign of the different characters helps people looking at the poster get an understanding of what type of character they are before even watching the movie. Some examples are Emmet, Wyldstyle and Lord Business. Emmet is represented as a scared builder and this is created by his frightened facial expression and his outfit. This may suggest that he is in fact a quite nervous person and his on is a builder. Wyldstyle is represented as a non-typical female character and this has been created by her makeup, hair and clothing suggesting she is not the typical woman in a movie. Lord Business is represented as an angry looking man which has been created by his facial expression that looks like he’s shouting and his clothing. This may suggest that he is the antagonist of this movie.
The poster campaign of the different characters helps people looking at the poster get an understanding of what type of character they are before even watching the movie. Some examples are Emmet, Wyldstyle and Lord Business. Emmet is represented as a scared builder and this is created by his frightened facial expression and his outfit. This may suggest that he is in fact a quite nervous person and his on is a builder. Wyldstyle is represented as a non-typical female character and this has been created by her makeup, hair and clothing suggesting she is not the typical woman in a movie. Lord Business is represented as an angry looking man which has been created by his facial expression that looks like he’s shouting and his clothing. This may suggest that he is the antagonist of this movie.
Monday 16th April 2018
L.O. explore exam style questions and answer them effectively.
Regulatory Bodies in the UK.
Film - British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
TV - Ofcom
Advertising - Advertising Standards Authority
Magazines and Newspapers - Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and IMPRESS
Video Games - Video Standards Council (VSC)
Question Format
- Likely to be asked FOUR questions in this section of the exam: two short answer and two long answer questions (The LEGO Movie section).
- The first TWO are likely to be general questions based on promotion techniques.
- The longer questions will ask you to discuss The LEGO Movie as an example.
- First question will be a simple fact based answer.
- Second question is a 4 mark question and likely to be a 'give reasons why'. State TWO reasons and explain fully for full marks.
- 10 mark questions - TWO long answer questions and you will be expected to support your ideas using The LEGO Movie as an example. Use accurate terminology, write clearly and consistently and support answers with examples.
Example Question: How have Propp's spheres of action been used to represent the characters in The LEGO Movie poster campaign.
Question: Analyse how The LEGO Movie posters use stereotypes to create representations that are easily understood.
The LEGO Movie posters create stereotypes by using what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. This creates the stereotype in the audience's head about what the characters are like before even watching the film.
In the main movie poster, Emmet is represented as a working class male as he is dressed in a builders uniform. He could also be seen as the main character because he is positioned at the front of the group. His facial expression in both posters create the stereotype that he is quite weak because he looks afraid. His overall stereotype is that he is a working class male, that unlike most of the others, is scared about what is happening around him.
From the movie posters, Wyldstyle has is made to look as if she is the strong female character. She is made to look like quite a stereotypically 'edgy' girl that is not the same as many female movie characters, this can be seen by the way she is dressed and the way she is fiercely running in the main poster. Wyldstyle's overall stereotype is that she is the brave, emo-looking female character, and different to most female characters in other movies.
Lord Business is made to look like the stereotypical 'bad guy' of the film. This can be shown in the main poster where he is looming over the other characters as they are running from him. In his individual character poster, Lord Business looks even more like the villain of the film because of his evil facial expression, and what he is wearing may also make him look like the antagonist. He has the stereotype of the evil villain that the other characters need to fight against.
Vitruvius can be seen as the wise old man of the film, this stereotype is created by his long white hair and facial expression. The way his eyes are glowing suggests that he is not the normal old man and may have magic powers. His facial expression in the main poster makes him look brave even though there is chaos around him.
Batman is represented as his normal brave character in the movie posters. His facial expressions in both his poster and the main poster makes him look like the stereotypical hero that is helping the others fight the villain. What he is wearing also helps bring across this stereotype as most people are familiar with Batman, and will understand that he is represented as the hero.
L.O. explore exam style questions and answer them effectively.
Regulatory Bodies in the UK.
Film - British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
TV - Ofcom
Advertising - Advertising Standards Authority
Magazines and Newspapers - Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and IMPRESS
Video Games - Video Standards Council (VSC)
Question Format
- Likely to be asked FOUR questions in this section of the exam: two short answer and two long answer questions (The LEGO Movie section).
- The first TWO are likely to be general questions based on promotion techniques.
- The longer questions will ask you to discuss The LEGO Movie as an example.
- First question will be a simple fact based answer.
- Second question is a 4 mark question and likely to be a 'give reasons why'. State TWO reasons and explain fully for full marks.
- 10 mark questions - TWO long answer questions and you will be expected to support your ideas using The LEGO Movie as an example. Use accurate terminology, write clearly and consistently and support answers with examples.
Example Question: How have Propp's spheres of action been used to represent the characters in The LEGO Movie poster campaign.
Question: Analyse how The LEGO Movie posters use stereotypes to create representations that are easily understood.
The LEGO Movie posters create stereotypes by using what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. This creates the stereotype in the audience's head about what the characters are like before even watching the film.
In the main movie poster, Emmet is represented as a working class male as he is dressed in a builders uniform. He could also be seen as the main character because he is positioned at the front of the group. His facial expression in both posters create the stereotype that he is quite weak because he looks afraid. His overall stereotype is that he is a working class male, that unlike most of the others, is scared about what is happening around him.
From the movie posters, Wyldstyle has is made to look as if she is the strong female character. She is made to look like quite a stereotypically 'edgy' girl that is not the same as many female movie characters, this can be seen by the way she is dressed and the way she is fiercely running in the main poster. Wyldstyle's overall stereotype is that she is the brave, emo-looking female character, and different to most female characters in other movies.
Lord Business is made to look like the stereotypical 'bad guy' of the film. This can be shown in the main poster where he is looming over the other characters as they are running from him. In his individual character poster, Lord Business looks even more like the villain of the film because of his evil facial expression, and what he is wearing may also make him look like the antagonist. He has the stereotype of the evil villain that the other characters need to fight against.
Vitruvius can be seen as the wise old man of the film, this stereotype is created by his long white hair and facial expression. The way his eyes are glowing suggests that he is not the normal old man and may have magic powers. His facial expression in the main poster makes him look brave even though there is chaos around him.
Batman is represented as his normal brave character in the movie posters. His facial expressions in both his poster and the main poster makes him look like the stereotypical hero that is helping the others fight the villain. What he is wearing also helps bring across this stereotype as most people are familiar with Batman, and will understand that he is represented as the hero.
The LEGO Movie posters create stereotypes by using what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. This creates the stereotype in the audience's head about what the characters are like before even watching the film.
In the main movie poster, Emmet is represented as a working class male as he is dressed in a builders uniform. He could also be seen as the main character because he is positioned at the front of the group. His facial expression in both posters create the stereotype that he is quite weak because he looks afraid. His overall stereotype is that he is a working class male, that unlike most of the others, is scared about what is happening around him.
From the movie posters, Wyldstyle has is made to look as if she is the strong female character. She is made to look like quite a stereotypically 'edgy' girl that is not the same as many female movie characters, this can be seen by the way she is dressed and the way she is fiercely running in the main poster. Wyldstyle's overall stereotype is that she is the brave, emo-looking female character, and different to most female characters in other movies.
Lord Business is made to look like the stereotypical 'bad guy' of the film. This can be shown in the main poster where he is looming over the other characters as they are running from him. In his individual character poster, Lord Business looks even more like the villain of the film because of his evil facial expression, and what he is wearing may also make him look like the antagonist. He has the stereotype of the evil villain that the other characters need to fight against.
Vitruvius can be seen as the wise old man of the film, this stereotype is created by his long white hair and facial expression. The way his eyes are glowing suggests that he is not the normal old man and may have magic powers. His facial expression in the main poster makes him look brave even though there is chaos around him.
Batman is represented as his normal brave character in the movie posters. His facial expressions in both his poster and the main poster makes him look like the stereotypical hero that is helping the others fight the villain. What he is wearing also helps bring across this stereotype as most people are familiar with Batman, and will understand that he is represented as the hero.
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