Film Website ResearchResearch into a film’s website, focusing on the home page of the website.

Coach Carter• First of all, the website home page follows a very basic

colour scheme of Black, Orange and White. It does this so it does not confuse the audience, with lots of colours, that have essentially no meaning. The colours do create meaning, as it’s the same colour as the clothes the characters on the site are wearing. The colour scheme seems to fit the main image on the site, not straying away from the main colour scheme of the image, this was probably planned to be this way, and if we look at different aspects of the film ‘package’ then we see that the colour scheme is pretty similar across all the media products following the film. In regards to what is actually on the homepage, there isn’t much, in comparison to what we feel there might have been. The main actor and name of the film are the most highlighted pieces of text on the website, and are very easily seen. The reason that text is most apparent on the site, is so people know where they are. However, the text isn’t that huge, and most attention is drawn towards the image. Underneath the ‘Title’ there is text showing the release date, followed by links to take you to other areas of the website. This text is not huge, as there is simply no need for it to be any bigger than it already is. The text is easily readable when scaled to the size of the actual homepage, and although it serves a purpose to let people know where to go to find the information they want, the main information is already apparent, so it can be argued that the text is not particularly important. Also, to the left of the website is a ‘gallery’ that shows images of the film. Although this is not ‘needed’ it does add a certain element of creativity to the website, and helps to make the page look slightly ‘busier’ and like there is more to it than just text. We could say that because it says “Decorate Your Desktop” at the bottom of the gallery, that it adds more publicity, as it’s asking people to add the images to their computer, meaning anyone that used the computer, would see the images. However, this may not have been thought of in development, and it’s there simply to add something more to the website. On top of all this, it shows the developers and people affiliated with the film at the bottom, to look after any legal matters that may be associated with the film.

Rocky• This website is very different to the one previous, but not in all

ways. First of all, the major thing we see is the large video box in the middle, that shows the trailer for the film. This is clever, as it adds a lot to the website, and makes it memorable to an audience. Much like most websites, it follows a very blatant colour scheme, featuring mostly black, with orange and white also. The colour scheme just makes it easily readable, and not confusing for an audience. It also helps to highlight the text, with the white on black, again to make it easily readable.The links to navigate the page are much more prominent on this site, being at the top of the page, and in quite large text. This is used to let the audience know how to navigate the site, and is needed more so than the last site, as the text to this website is smaller and not as prominent as the Coach Carter website. For example, the title of the film is much smaller and doesn’t stand out much at all. This is because the video acts as a title, so the smaller text title is not needed as much. Underneath that is a synopsis of the film, which again is not really prominent, as the website relies on the video as the main source of information. The text is simply there to reiterate that. Another feature on the site is the advert for the ‘Rocky Sound Board’ to the right of the page. This is simply there to try and show people they can purchase ‘merchandise’ for the film. So, just a way to make a little bit more money on the film. It is quite large, as they want people to notice it, and go and purchase it. As it’s quite a large franchise, the makers know they can make money on it from little things such as an iPhone soundboard, as people want to own something like that as a novelty. The production company ‘MGM’ is shown in the top left, but all other companies involved are under ‘Licensing’ to avoid legal conflict. This website is very simple, and there is not a great deal features.

The Blind Side• This website home page is slightly different to the other

two looked at, but not overly. Much like the first site, there is a large image in the centre, that draws most of the attention, but there are things layered on top of it. The most prominent item on this site is the title ‘The Blind Side’ and the most famous actresses name just above it. This is because, unlike the Rocky website, there is no video to show the title, or explain the story, so there needs to be something explaining that. However, we can see in the links at the bottom of the large image, there is a link for “Videos” however, the home page needs to show information, and not just assume people would search through the site to find out what they want to, as an audience often does not have the patience to do such as thing. One thing majorly different is the explanation of what is featured in the DVD/Blu-Ray, in the middle. This is a marketing feature, used to show people the technological aspects of the film, and attempt to market the film, not just on the story, but show an audience that the viewing experience would be good. Also, the images of the DVD and Blu-Ray add more to it, as it shows an audience some basics, such as using the Blu-Ray technology, without an audience having to read the lengthy text. On this homepage, we see good use of modern technology as social norms. At the bottom of the site it advertises the film’s Facebook ‘Page’ and Twitter, along with other social networking sites to follow updates on the film. In modern media, social networking is quite heavily utilised, as it targets a huge number of people around the world, as social networking is a huge modern social norm. The links to the social networking sites are quite large, and stand out, using the easily recognisable logos. This is so people do notice them quickly, and want to use them, almost as following the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory. An audience would feel they are personally gaining something, because of the links. The last thing to notice is where the ‘credits’ are. They are at the bottom of the page, and do not stand out too much, so that people do get their attention drawn away from the main points of the website.

Ted• This website is really quite different, in comparison to the

others looked at. The website for Ted is much ‘busier’ than the others, and features many more items on the page, but they are all relevant. Like all the other sites, this follows a very simple colour scheme to avoid confusion, and generally make the site look professional. On the site, there is one large image in the centre, that takes up most of the attention, that depicts what we assume will be the main characters. This helps the audience to make links with faces they recognise. To back this up, the actors names are in the top right, and are quite easily spotted. This again, helps an audience to create links with names they recognise and spark memories of what the actors have been in before. Also, it helps put names to faces, as many people want, as it would annoy them, if they could not find out the name of the actors shown in the picture. What the author of this site does that is unconventional, is the they put the links around the site in quite random places. There isn’t a great deal of ‘flow’ to where the links are, but it does keep them tidy, by almost bordering where the links stretch to, on the site. This works well, as it’s new and different, but it’s not confusing, as would have been risked when creating the site. The tile is quite bold, but not as bold in comparison to the rest of the page as other websites. This is done as the title, although important, is not needed to be that big, as it’s positioning and colour makes it stand out. This is just a different tactic to many other website developers. This site, although different, works very well, as it’s very easy to follow, and although busy, nothing seems to be out of place.