Learner Response for mock exam

Grade B 23/32
WWW: good attempt to include narrative/audience/political theory.
EBI: Q3/NDM could have contextualised the impact of the internet - quotes from theorists and your own evaluative conclusion.

Question 3:
 Do you think that official and unofficial websites contribute to a film’s box office success? You should refer to other media products to support your answer.

Some may argue that official websites contribute to a film's box office success, as it gives the audience an insight of the film. For instance, the official website for the Hollywood block buster Eclipse includes a variety of features such as, the trailer, downloadable photos, an online store and a community link to social networking sites. This would be significant in promoting the film to their target audience, as the different features allows the individuals to actively interact and to feel more involved with the film. Significantly, the Eclipse website sells a range of merchandises for its fans which also contributes to the film’s box office success, as fans of this franchise are more likely to purchase an item and watch the film.

In comparison to the official website for the film Let the Right One, Eclipse includes a link to social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. This would be fundamentally important in promoting the film further to the audience globally, as individuals can be actively involved with the film through following the cast on Twitter or posting messages virally to their friends, which encourages more people to watch it. According to Pluralists, this establishes that the audience are no longer passive consumers of texts, but are now distributors as well through the development of technology. The emergence new smartphones, tablets and social networking sites, has given individuals the opportunities to distribute their own media products. As a result, this highlights that official websites does contribute a film’s box office success, as it can build a fan base which makes the audience feel more connecting to the stars and creates a peer to peer marketing.

Additionally, official websites also contributes to a film’s box office success by showing trailers. Through the use of synergy, Eclipse and Let the Right One contain official trailers which would certainly be beneficial in giving the audience a better insight of the narrative. In relation to Katz and Blulmer uses and gratification theory, both of the trailers may give some of the audience a sense of escapism as they can divert from their everyday routine and feel entertained with the narrative. On the other hand, from watch the trailers others may identify with the certain characters and form a personal relationship. As a result, this establishes that trailers included on official and unofficial websites would promote the film further, as the audience are more likely to watch it if they have been intrigued by the narrative.

In relation to this point, using Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding model the audience can actively interpret the messages being promoted in the film trailers. As a result, if the trailer fits the audience’s needs they are more likely to watch the film which would increase its revenue in the box office. Moreover, the British low budget film Ill Manors is another example in showing that official websites contributes to a movie’s success in the box office. Ill Manors was a low budget film and their promotion strategies did not work well through traditional media and therefore using social media helped to promote to the film further. The official website included the trailer, links to social networking sites for individuals to stay connected with the stars and also to download Plan B’s songs or album. All these factors contributed to the film’s success, as the audience and fans of Plan B would be fully entertained with the content.

Similarly, the official website for the Hollywood blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises provided their target audience with a great amount of features. The fact that the website included a teaser trailer contributed to the film’s success, as fans of the trilogy would be more eager to watch the film. However, it can be argued that official websites no longer help a film’s box office success because people can watch the film trailer through YouTube. Thus they no longer need to visit the film’s official website and they can receive exclusive information though unofficial website.

Furthermore, unofficial websites are less influential on a film’s box office success compared to official websites as could provide links to illegal downloading. As a result, this could risk ruining the films brand image in the industry and the company may lose profit. Notably, as unofficial websites are not controlled by the distributor there could be a high chance of inaccurate information about the film or biased views about it. Thus this may put off some people from watching the film if they do not like the reviews and therefore this would damage the film’s success.

Overall, it can be concluded that official websites contribute to a film's success to a greater extent compared to unofficial websites. This is because, official websites includes more interactive features for their audience and update instant information about the film. The fact that the film distributor controls the website is beneficial, as they can avoid any inaccurate information which is not regulated on unofficial websites. As a result, all these factors contribute to an increase of a film's success in the box office.