Blog Entry 7

For my fifth annotated bibliography, I decided to choose an article discussing the marketing strategies of movie studios to reach their target audience because this will be a significant part of my research project.  Although there are not many articles and studies perform about this topic, I was able to find an article with indepth research and examination.

Although many companies use demographics, attitudes, and other categories to separate audiences into specific, profitable audiences, the movie industry has a much more difficult task because of the vast range of behaviors and preferences, as well as competition between studios.  As Thomas Kim Hixon explains in his article "Mission Possible: Targeting Trailers to Movie Audiences," there is hope and better technology to help increase the effectiveness of movie trailer advertising.  Recently, marketers have discovered that there is a correlation between genre preference and reaction to movie trailers.  Using this tactic, several movie trailers are being produced for each movie in order to meet the needs and expectations of the target audience, taking movie marketing to the next level.

Blog Entry 6

Recently when searching for an article for my fourth annotated bibliography, I stumbled upon a growing trend that I have witnessed.  Movies are becoming more and more violent and racy with each passing year.  And because these films need trailers, the trailers have followed side by side in terms of violence, lanuage, etc.

With all the strict regulations by the MPAA or Motion Picture Association of America, studios are using innovative methods to reach their intended audience, as explained by Becky Ebenkamp in her article "Movie Mantra: Happy Trailers to You, Until We Bleep Again." The Internet, cellular phones, and satellite radio are the most popular methods of showing adult rated trailers to the general public. This makes me wonder if there will ever be a limit to how much can be shown in feature films and movie trailers, themselves.

Blog Entry 4

For my third annotated bibliography, I decided to research the marketing of movie trailers because, at this point, I am going to include the effectiveness of movie trailers in my research project.  In the article "No, But I Saw the Trailer" by D. Foote, marketing problems as well as marketing techniques were addressed.  Although I knew beforehand that trailers greatly added the overall success of the feature films, I did not realize trailers accounted for about 50% of the total sales for the studios.  This means that creating the perfect trailer and finding the right marketing strategy are key.  In order to create the perfect trailer, studios sometimes use outside advertising companies that specialize in movie trailers.  The end result is an eye-catching teaser that leaves the audience wanting more and willing to pay the movie theater price to watch the film.

Blog Entry 3

For my second annotated bibliography, I decided to select an article that describes a current trend in movie trailers.  The article entitled "Parental Guidance Suggested" by Barbara Lippert examines the recent movement of movie trailers geared toward children.  These movie trailers have grown scarier and quite misleading, such as the film Alice in Wonderland that could be mistaken for an adult film cross-marketed to a younger audience.  Although parents can control which movie their children watch, they have no say in what movie trailers are shown before the feature film. 

Although I have seen this trend recently, I have not thought much about it until now. 

Blog Entry 2

When researching different articles for my first annotated bibliography, I had a general idea of my research project topic: movie trailers and there effectiveness.  I chose an article called "Triumph of the Trailers" by Jess Cagle that gave the general overview of movie trailers, the techniques used by studios to attract viewers, and the direction they are headed in.  While reading the article, I learned about the Annual Golden Trailer Awards that honor the year's best movie trailers, including 30 second teasers and 2 and a half minute reels.  Interestingly enough, trailers are mini-movies in themselves and although they may not take an entire production team to create, there are many factors that go into each movie preview.

Blog Entry 1

Hello and welcome to my blog.