• The first teaser for ‘Super 8’ was shown all the way back in 2010, a year before the actual release date in 2011. The trailer was shown with Iron Man 2, a long awaited sequel which itself was heavily marketed. This led to the trailer being discussed on internet forums and created a massive buzz. The timing of the teaser and what it contained led fans to believe that it was a sequel to Abrams’ successfully viral marketed film, Cloverfield. The trailer itself is thrilling and had been specially tailored for the audience that Iron Man 2 had attracted. The children were not made to be the protagonists, the scenes shown where mainly the most visually satisfying such as the train crash and the monster breaking through the door. The music is also much more different and is clearly been put in the teaser to create suspense among the cinema audience. See Below
• After leaving the audience to analyse the teaser trailer and make their own judgements as too what the trailer was for, Abrams gave the world another taster of ‘Super 8’ by putting the teaser on television during the ‘Super Bowl XLV’ which attracted around 162.9 million views worldwide. According to Wikipedia, ‘It was the most watched single program of any kind in US TV history’. I don’t believe there could have been a better place to put that teaser. This teaser sent off a contrasting view of the film compared to the last teaser trailer that was shown. This teaser had much more high-key lighted shots of the film and clearly showed the children to be the protagonists rather than just token characters. This teaser also had a voice over, which is a convention usually found in fairytales and movies for more younger audiences. This teaser had become viral, being shared among followers on twitter, leading it to be a trending topic.
• One of the issues with marketing a movie with young actors playing the main roles is that them promoting the film is much harder to do. This is often left to the few older members of the cast one of them being Kyle Chandler who plays the father of the protagonist Joe. He appeared on the David Letterman talk show speaking about himself, amusing the host and audience, and also promoting the film. He begins promoting the film at ‘5:10’ where he says, “Super 8 is, your gona like this movie, comes out Friday 1st, it’s a good movie.”
Print Media
• The poster for the film is simple, but very effective. The main object is the damaged lens of ‘Super 8’ camera that is still filming. The lens is facing the viewer creating the sense of a direct mode of address. The image creates enigma codes for the audience making them question who was filming and why they left it on, questions that are answered once you see the film. The names of the producer and director of the film are places at the upper portion of the poster in a white font which is creating a contrast between the black background. At the bottom portion of the poster, there is brief credits to the companies that have produced and filmed the text.
• There are also various reviews of the film by ‘the telegraph’ and ‘the Metro’ who not only print the text, but also place it on the internet. This is an example of Convergence.
E-Media
• Super 8 was heavily marketed on the internet on sites such as youtube, facebook and twitter, itunes, official websites and unofficially websites created by fans of Super 8. The official Super 8 Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Super8Movie) which has 575k fans, posts links of cast interviews, opportunities to buy Super 8 merchandise such as the soundtrack, tshirts and the DVD. This is also done on the twitter fanpage (https://twitter.com/Super8Movie) which has 16,500 followers and on the official website.
• The official website http://www.super8-movie.com/, allows fans to purchase the DVD, read a brief summary of the story, pictures of the film, cast, crew and notes, and the ability to register for updates allowing you to be the first to know about the anything ‘Super 8’. The site also has an ‘editing room’ which allows fans to construct a trailer from clips of the film allowing them to make their own ‘Super 8’ film. http://www.super8-movie.com/editingroom.html
• On the MailOnline website, they posted an article which allowed fans to enter a competition to win an all expenses trip to ‘Paris though a lens’. This increased the buzz among fans prompting them to enter the competition, which is now closed. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/prmts/article-2026966/Experience-Paris-lens-Super-8.html
• On the Super 8 offical website, there is also a link for views to ‘Read the Super 8 comic online’. The comic itself is free to read and is entertaining as well, however it is not directly related to the film. https://read.dccomics.com/comixology/#/issue/11143
• After fans had analysed the first teaser shown during Iron Man 2, they found a hidden message, “Scariest Thing I Ever Saw”. This led to a fan made website, http://www.scariestthingieversaw.com/, which simulated an old computer and contained various clues to the film's storyline.
• The film was released on June 9, 2011 in Australia, June 10, 2011 in the United States, and August 5, 2011 in the United Kingdom. On June 8, Paramount also launched a “Super 8 Sneak Peek” Twitter promotion, offering fans a chance to purchase tickets for an advanced screening, taking place on June 9, 2011 in the United States.
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