Marketing Plan For short film “Little Red”

My name is Adam Green and I am an aspirating film maker, I have an interest in photography and set design, in addition I also enjoy writing film scripts and narratives. I have written several treatments of my own ideas which I hope to become short or feature length films.

My current idea, a short film based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, sounds mundane, but is so much more than the title suggests. The narrative follows two film makes, unlike myself, who are talking about how to adapt the short story, (little red riding hood) in to a feature film.

As the narrators talk through the story, in a different setting, the story takes place in live action with the inclusion of actors playing the parts. The dialogue from the narrators is played continuously across both scenes, giving the impression that this is a creation from their imagination.

To help the audience along, one narrator asks questions and comments like the audience would, and the other narrator responds, as if the director to the short film he is in. My idea is much more than a short film based on a popular children’s story, it is an analysis of the story, a dialogue between the audience and the film makers themselves.

Introduction for “Little Red”

By taking the story line from a popular bed time story, I am making sure that the audience is expecting the story, they will not be surprised or upset, and they know the story very well. They are familiar with the fairy tale and are lulled into a false since of security. Thinking they know what to expect.

Because of this, there is a large opportunity for a twist mid narrative or an alternate ending, I have written the treatment for the alternate ending which involves the two worlds coming together, the world of the narrators in the office, and the actors playing the roles of little red riding hood. Little Red will jump out of the scene, just before she is eaten by the wolf, and then in to the set of the narrators.

Introduction continued...

I have already created a front page, contents, and double page feature for a popular music magazine. During this project I spent lots of time researching existing magazines, asking the target audience about trends and buying habits, and incorporating that research into the magazine.

Because of this I am aware of how important market research is and am in the process of organizing several test screenings of the rough cut. This, along with my questionnaire, will give me a sound understanding and good feed back about what to improve on, parts to take out or tweak and generally creating a more watchable short film.

The audience

The idea of the narrators, one asking the other about the film, as it plays along gives the audience a closer insight in to the film. This gives them something to relate to, to understand. Because of this the audience will not be caught off guard or surprised by a sudden change in narrative or character, except where the change is coming from the narrator they have learnt to trust during the film.

Sam (the second narrator) plays the part of the confused audience, asking typical questions about the plot, George (the first narrator) explains why the story is this way.

This dynamic continues throughout the short film, until the ending, where Sam reveals that he is unhappy with the story and decides not to film it; George desperate for the job is trying to argue for the film. Sam is clearly the one in control at the end of the film.

This surprises the audience, taking them out of their safe bubble and confronting them with the truth. This will leave a lasting impression with the audience from this short, witty film. Making sure they remember it.

The audience continued...

The particular audience in the case of Little Red, tends to be just over half males, a smaller group of females, because of this there will be an emphasis on action and you could also say that evidence of voyeurism within the short film, shots from the wolfs point of view, gazing at Little Red Riding Hood. T

he audience demographic I am targeting, is the group that will have most access to the short film, be it through cinema previews, the internet, blogs and YouTube, as well as other venues such as advertising space in stores like HMV and Virgin Megastores.

My intended viewers, are mainly in the age group late teens (17 – 19) and early to mid twenties (20 – 25) there may also be a small following of people over this age, as the story of little red riding hood, although being a children’s tale.

My research indicates that there are not many children these days that were read the story when they were young. I am targeting the groups who were born before 1995, not after; these people tend to be too young for the adult humour involved in the short film, As well as not many of them being read the story of Little Red Riding Hood when they were young.

Life Style Marketing

I am targeting the groups born before 1995; these young adults are old enough to remember the classic fairy tales, yet young enough to be “internet savvy”.

This is something I am paying particular attention too as the vast majority of my target audience are familiar with the internet and spend a great deal of time surfing the world wide web.

They are in the middle of the internet generation. Because of these facts the short film will be on YouTube, blogs and other semi-professional short film websites. The internet is a great place for advertisements as well as networking.

Life Style Marketing continued...

For this particular short film there is a vast opportunity for stylized graphics, using shadow and dark colour to give the actors a ghostly spooky appearance. There are a few theme colours associated with Little Red Riding Hood, Red obviously is taken from her hood, it represents love, passion but also danger, a symbol that something will go wrong with Red, that the story will take a darker tone. Black and blues are used to connote the turbulent aspects of the story. The wolf is mostly seen as a dark shadowy light, representing his dark menacing character.

Graphics and Branding

These colour connotations and representations are not only evident in the logos and advertisements, but the film posters, and the short film itself. I have done this by using screen shots from the actual film.

This gives the audience a more in depth look at the film, even if they see part of a trailer, they can make the assumption when they see the same camera shot same costume and lighting in a poster on the side of a bus or on a bill board.

The branding for this product can be likened to the film posters of the works by such directors as Tim Burton, who has a very dark creepy athstetic to his films, using a lot of shadow and experimenting with contrast to give a more moody incandescent look to the publicity and indeed the film itself.

Another reference I am likening it too is the resent surge in graphic novel and comic book adaptations. They all use a very stylized and bold.

 

Graphics and Branding continued...

The typical life of my target audience includes, because of the average occupation, student (sixth form or university) or student with part time work, or full time first job there is much opportunity for advertising at schools, universities and other work-based learning environments.

As well as this, according to my questionnaires many of the target demographics don’t watch a lot of television but are interested in going to the cinema with friends, therefore cinema previews are a good place to put the short film.

As well as intermission breaks during a “Grind House” style double feature evening. This is where short films and more trailers are played during the break in-between features.

Distribution and Retail Strategy

YouTube is an obvious place to start advertising, as I will be releasing a teaser trailer and other TV spots to get the publics interest in the short film. I also hope to advertise in popular film magazines such as Total Film, Empire and Sight and Sound.

These magazine adverts cost money so I hope to start by creating adverts and groups dedicated to the short film on sites like Facebook, twitter and MySpace. Social networking sites are a huge untapped market for getting through to young people, who prefer to interact with their media sores. The vast majority of young people have one or more social networking sites.

Distribution and Retail Strategy continued...

As well as this I have also written a blog, charting the production of the short film. Cast details etc. I believe social networking sites are a key to understanding the market needs. People have a profile of their likes and dislikes, what films and television shows the like, what they did at the weekend etc. From our point of view this is perfect.

So I can aim the advertising in relation to exactly who will see it for example, day time television towards OAPS and the unemployed, Social networking sites to youngsters and early teens. And cinema previews of the short film for the majority of audience members from late teens all the way up to retired people.

Distribution and Retail Strategy continued...

Promotional plans include advertisements on Facebook, MySpace and Bebop, these social networking sites are very popular with young people in particular older teens and early twenties. This is the sort of demographic I want to aim the advertising at.

The short film “Little Red” has a unique spin on the narrative structure. The film follows along two narratives, travelling parallel to each other, the narrators are talking about the story in a linear way starting with the beginning of the story and ending with the ending of the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Meanwhile as the narrators are talking about the narrative, actors playing the characters of little red riding hood. The narrators dub over the actors to reinforce the fact that the narrators are controlling what happens during the rest of the film.

I plan to finance the promotional material myself as I have no additional investors at this moment.

Video Production

October Preparation, creation of script and storyboards. Location scouting, costume

design and developmentDecember Shooting begins, little red riding hood sequences first, then Narrators. Shooting

outside cancelled due to snow January Shooting continues, at first slow due to snow. Actors had problems getting to

locations. February Post production. Editing, photo shoots with actors for promotional material More post production Version 1 of “LITTLE RED” completeMarch RE-shoots for Narrators, due to sound quality Post production editing of version two with improved sound quality. April Version two of “LITTLE RED” complete and put to disk for promotion along with

magazines and poster advertisements.

Video Production Time-line

“Little Red” is a darkly comic shot film based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I wish to advertise this short film online, on particular social networking sites, as well as bill boards in bus stations and film previews in cinema screenings.

This is a “shot but sweet” short film therefore many people within and indeed outside the targeted demographic will enjoy this short. It has good pacing, not too long or audios to watch. This makes it Ideal for placement in cinema previews, due to its short 5-6 minute run time.

I believe this is a worthwhile investment for you as people would want to see it after promotional material such as posters, online advertisements, teasers and theatrical trailers.

Conclusions