The Day After Tomorrow

The internet is increasingly becoming a successful platform to market films by distributors. People can log onto the internet and find out information about the film before it has even been released in cinemas, including the cast and production notes, for example on the website for the not-yet-released Spiderman III, www.sonypictures.com/movies/spiderman3. In particular the young generation, which many films are marketed at these days, is very active in using the web and so film marketers know that if they promote something on the web, their potential target audience is going to see it. Another advantage of using the web to advertise a new film is that unlike articles in a magazine or newspaper about an upcoming film, a website can constantly be updating itself and adding more features and interests as the release dates nears. Furthermore, after the film has been released these websites can keep on going and adapt as the DVD is released, etc, unlike articles which will be forgotten after a few days. It is successful also for big fans who can log on to many movie websites and talk in a forum with other fans about the film, which begins word-of-mouth and discussion about the films, competitions in which you win things related to the film, which creates awareness and excitement, and polls, which help produces to find out where they are going right and where they can improve to attract the widest audience. All of these advantages would be very hard to deliver successfully in other types of media.

www.thedayaftertomorrow.com



This film has already been released both in the cinema and on DVD, and so there is not a lot of need to promote it further on the website, but it still offers many features related to the site.



The website for the action-adventure film The Day After Tomorrow (2004, Roland Emmerich) is very similar to the film itself. The colours are icy blue contrasted with dark skies and storms, suggesting disturbance. They are very masculine colours, which connote the rough and adventurous nature of the film. The setup menu looks similar to that of an advanced computer programme, perhaps used to track weather patterns in a large office. Mood-intensifying music is played when you enter the site, creating excitement and preparing the audience for what is to come. The website does not act as a replacement, but as a back up to the film, with features offering information about the DVD, cast list, info on filmmakers, the synopsis, production notes, picture galleries, montages, downloads and videos. It must also be taken into account the option of selecting your country, which will take you to a specified version of the sight. After exploring these various sites, it is interesting to notice that the UK and USA versions are rather different, with the UK version offering many more features. Perhaps this suggests that Britain are more active in using the internet and that the film industries will benefit more through internet advertising etc in the UK than in the US. Extra features of the British website include Global Weather Alerts and polls asking questions such as ‘What concerns you most about global warming?’ This suggests that they are trying to create more of a statement about the seriousness of the issue of the film, namely global warming, whereas the US and other sites prefer to focus on the film itself.



The internet is a cheap and easy way for aspiring and amateur film makers to promote their independent films or film ideas. Through websites such as www.trickshot-films.co.uk and www.exposure.co.uk, low budget, independent film-makers can be promoted. The exposure website even opens up their website with the suggestion: ‘Ever dreamt of making a movie? Now you can! Everything you need to know to get started shooting your film.’ Film makers can pick up tips about special effects from www.fxhome.com and actually submit their short films, animation, web shows and music videos to www.atomfilms.com. Fans of independent films can also use these websites to great effect, by checking out the latest and greatest up and coming new film makers. Broadband has also helped to contribute to this new type of marketing, because it means videos and short films can be downloaded quickly and watched without skipping every few minutes, whereas dial up internet would have taken hours or even days to download, and then the viewing wouldn’t even be very enjoyable due to the poor quality of the video. The vast size of the internet means that endless videos can be uploaded, a phenomenon emphasised by the increasingly popular www.youtube.com, in which users can upload anything and everything for the world to see!