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Viral Advert Idea - Radio

An idea for a radio advert. It could be played on radio stations, Spotify and etc:

Bar noises in the background

MAN :Are you a magnet cuz im attracted to you.
WOMAN: Uhh get lost you freak!
VOICEOVER: Wow, that was embarrassing, I bet you wish you could do-over? Or maybe rewind time and try again? Well now you can with the new Time Controller from JNL! only £9.99! Order now from all good stores"

Many radio adverts are aired on the radio everyday, for films or products. But for a viral advert idea for our 5 minute film we could do a mock advertisement for a product that is used in the film. The Remote control that is used to rewind time. We can make a radio advert for the remote control to make people think and advertise the film.

I have done some research about radio advertisements and found some interesting ideas to involve in the advert. For instance one of the most important things is the opening line, this holds the audiences attention. Another one is making sure the picture created coincides with the advert. For example the background could give the idea of something contrary to what the voiceover is talking about, a childrens hospital advert with little children doing their ABCs in the background may seem like a good idea but the listener comes away thinking of a nursery, not a hospital.

In my Radio advert i can make sure that the background music / noise actually goes with the message of the ad.

Remaining Pre-Filming Posts Checklist

Group
Group Photo

Amy
Film Title Sequence Idea


Jade
Animated Logo Idea

Jen
Storyboards
Analysis of a short film (Finish)

Joe
Viral Advert Idea
Photo Storyboard
List of difficult shots with practice footage
Filming Schedules

Written Audience Questionnaire

We made a Written Questionnaire and distributed it to seven other people. Here are our findings.

The people we interviewed had ages of about 17 - 19 years.

People we interviewed

Overall the questionnaire tells us that:
Everyone we asked were students and watched films. Out of the people we asked most peoples favourite genre was comedy. People normally watched films at home or the cinema. Out of the 7 people asked 3 of them said yes or sometimes to whether they watch any short films. Nearly all expect to see a short film on youtube. 3 people thought our story was interesting, one excellent, one said it has potential and the last said 'it's not bad'. Asked when given the option whether they would watch our short film 6/7 said yes. Most people described our film as comedy or a romantic comedy. They all said if they were to watch it they would see it on youtube, and they wouldn't change anything about it.


From this questionnaire we can see that our audience upon hearing our film would want to watch it. Which is encouraging when we are on the verge of filming it. If we were to do it again we would make it a wider audience than just students. Whereas students were a wider demographic, if we were to do it again we would ask people of different ages and jobs.

Viral Adverts Research

Viral adverts help to spread the release of a new film or event and as the advert gets shared from person to person, interest in the film grows. They are an effective and modern way of gaining an audience and usually help establish what type of themes may be included in the film so that the audience know if the film will suit them or not. It is good for advertising lower budget or independent films as it does not necessarily involve the company spreading the advert around, but leaves it up to modern technology and the audience themselves. They can be spread through mediums such as social networking sites, emails, youtube or on actual fake websites created for the specific purpose of creating a buzz around the film. Merchandise can also be created linking to the film which will also help to garner interest, however the most effective way to use viral advertising is probably through youtube or email as youtube allows the advert to be publicised and is probably the quickest way for it to be seen or made famous while email means that it is sent from person to person in a chain that could go on forever. Some past viral adverts include:

Toy Story 3 "Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear" Advert
With the release of Toy Story 3 came many well publicised adverts, yet there was a rather effective viral advert that seemed to advertise the release of a cuddly bear with an uncanny resemblance to the evil Lotso from the film. The advert appeared to be from the 1980's and it was said that someone had uploaded the video from an old VHS tape; it looks like a real advert and the only way to tell that it isn't genuine is that it does not feature the 'Mattel' logo at the end. It was uploaded to Youtube and the fascination of why this bear looked so much like the character from the film sparked interest and gained it over a million hits. The idea of creating an advert to advertise a prop from the film is really interesting and I think it could be effective for both creating interest in the film and creating interest in the product if it was to be turned into merchandise, as the bear was. I believe that this type of viral advertising would be best to promote our film as we could use the remote to capture the audience' interest.

Contagion Bacteria Growing Window Display
Contagion used a literally viral advert to promote the release of the film, they used two giant petri dishes and filled them with bacteria in appropriate places so that the fungi would actually spell out the name of the film once it spread. They installed the petri dishes into the front of a store window in America and left them for the public to realise what was being spelt out. The petri dishes acted as a special kind of billboard and was a very unique and interesting way of introducing the concept of the film to the public. Since the film itself is about a virus spreading around the world and affecting the population, the billboard completely fits the film. The fungi also created hazard symbols and was really in detail whilst the billboard itself only featured the date of the release of the film. I think this is a really good way of making a statement about the film, and it did gather a lot of views on Youtube. If we could do an advert that literally related to our film, it would be really effective; the idea of doing a QVC style advert would mean that we could incorporate the biggest theme from our film, the idea of rewinding time, actually into the advert.

The Last Exorcism
For the film, The Last Exorcism, a video was posted on Youtube of a series of Chatroulette videos between unsuspecting men and a girl who was used to represent the point of the film. In each conversation she leads them on and pretends like she is going to undress for them, but as she starts she suddenly turns into a demon and starts screaming at the camera. The video got millions of views and is possibly one of the most watched viral adverts ever. We could use this type of modern technology plug in our film as we intend to create a fake ebay account so that we can use it to sell our remote to Jack. Using a modern site like Chatroulette means that a huge chunk of the population are targeted by the advert as many people know of or use this site, it is also a modern and interesting way of advertising a film.

Viral Advert Idea

Together, we created an idea for our viral advert. We could create a false advertisement for the remote control used by the lead character Jack in our project. The advert could be in the form of a video or webpage or a poster. It could even feature in our production as an "easter egg", as Jack see's an advert for the remote in the film itself. There were several concepts for the advert;

• The Television Shopping Network - an advert which would belong on a TV channel known for shopping, such as QVC.
• Asian advertising - a more "in your face", exaggerated advert, with bright flashing colours ad Japanese symbols. Would have minimal speak and dubbing, to make the remote seem like a novelty item.

Here is an example of each and how we could create a similar advert ourselves.

The Television Shopping Network

Here is an example of the type of sale we could replicate.The advert would revolve around a presenter talking about the remote. They would talk about it's features and how "amazing" the deal was. The price could drop throughout the advert, as well as the number of remote's remaining. There should be a small quantity of remote's to begin with to make it seem rare. It works as an advertisement because it creates a buzz about the remote and gives it reality. It could be displayed on Youtube and shared via email or a social network. It would be easy to film, we could use a studio, which would be ideal and look like a TV studio. It would need to be well lit with a podium to display the remote. We could create a comical play-on-words name for the show like QVC rather than JLM, and would have to create an animated banner for the side to display the logo, remote description and  price. 

Asian Advertisement

This is an example of a Japanese style advert that would really grab the attention of the audience and emphasize how good the product is. If we did this type of advert we would use a lot of adjectives such as, fantastic, amazing or magical to really make the remote seem worth buying and to influence the audience that they need this product. Also, if we used the rule of three, it would show that we are trying to be persuasive and this is what adverts like this are, flashy, in your face and blatantly trying to sell the object to you. An advert like this would involve a lot of flashing pictures and shapes or text. It is basically designed to stick in your mind and really affect your view of the product. Japanese culture is very big at the minute as well, so this advert could be really modern and up to date, it could affect the masses and would definitely be memorable if nothing else; which is what adverts need to be. This type of advertising gets the public excited and makes them talk about it which creates a craze for the object that is being advertised. It could be shown on the TV or on Youtube but would probably gain more attention on Youtube which has helped promote many films through viral advertising. The problem with an advert like this is that it would require a lot of editing and special effects which just makes things more complicated when they don't need to be. The best part about an advert like this is that it is flashy and in your face which means that it will make people laugh and keep people watching it over and over again as it is interesting.

Theory Research

Levi-Strauss' Symbolic Code
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist. His theory focuses on the use of binary oppositions, that films can focus on opposites. This is appropriate in our film which is of the rom-com genre, which usually involves the idea that opposites attract.  In particular, he focused on Science Fiction film and their use oif a series of binary opposites through their narrative such as:

• Earth - Space
• Good - Evil
• Humans - Aliens
• Past - Present
• Normal - Strange
• Known - Unknown

Our film features some opposites such as:

• Man - Female
• Man - Technology
• Female - Technology

These opposites should be recognised by the audience as they could experience them in real life. 

Syd Field's 3 Act Plot Structure
Syd is the author of "Screenplay" and "The Screen Writer's Workbook". His theory focuses on the structure of narratives, and that it takes the form of 3 acts. Each act is diverse and alternates in different films. This is his structure:

• Act One - Set Up. This is where we are introduced to the lead character and places them within a time/place. Usually takes up the first 1/4 of the film in 2 hour features.
• Act Two - Confrontation. This is where the character encounters obstacles that prevent him reaching his goals. Usually the character reaches a low point. This is called the midpoint. It usually takes up the middle 2/4 of a 2 hour feature.
• Act Three - Resolution. This is where the film reaches a climax, usually in a confrontation or twist. There should be a brief period of calm in the plot creating a state of equilibrium. 

I found this diagram which shows the theory on this website. 

Our film features this structure:

• Act One - Set Up. Jack is introduced to audience, and we met Emma briefly.
• Act Two - Confrontation. Jack makes mistakes and uses remote, but audience questions will it all work out in the end if he keeps repeating himself and correcting his mistakes.
• Act Three - Resolution. Everything appears to be ending "happily ever after". But this a twist disturbs the equilibrium, Emma also has a remote.  

I recreated the diagram with our project in mind.