RESEARCH: WHAT SETS A FILM APART

To learn more about what sets a film apart, I looked at http://thefilmspace.org/fda100/distribution/what , which shows Kezia Williams and Chris Besseling who go into the topic more deeply.

Kezia Williams starts off by highlighting that distributors need to pick out the key themes, and to find what will interest your audience. This will shape the marketing campaign, whether the distributor is there through the scripting of the film, or when the first footage is filmed, or even in the editing room, as the distributor is able to get a sense of what might excite or emotionally captivate an audience.

Chris Besseling then explains the distributor needs to market and find the unique selling point as well as the target audience. Selling points include how the storyline differs from other films, the key elements of the story, the talent, the talent's latest works, the source material, the vfx, key crew and team, and whether it is part of a franchise.

Taking these into considerations, the distributor has to choose what will intrigue an audience on a poster, in trailers and advertisements.

HOOKS:

The hooks of a film will help the audience understand what they should expect when seeing a movie. The visual campaign should emphasise these to give the audience a narrative image.

GENRE:

An understanding of genre is shared by the audience and the film industry, which will mean the audience will expect certain tropes and conventions within the movie. These elements are expected so the creative team with draw on those during the production, writing and casting. However, the promise of a genre film is to provide the familiar whilst still providing something new.

CHARACTERS:

Some genres like romance require an audience to feel an attachment to certain characters and wanting to see them take on new challenges. In franchises especially, it is important to have those sort of characters so that the franchise will remain popular due to the return of certain characters. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Baby Groot, the child of Groot from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, is a fan favourite as he was introduced as a child and many of the audience wants to see Baby Groot grow up throughout his involvement in the franchise. The audience likes to come back to the familiarity of the character, their behaviour and attitudes being revisited as well as offering something new. This can be challenging, however, and costly. The involvement of Baby Groot and his popularity means a heavy amount of CGI, and that is a financial burden. The storylines cannot repeat either, which means constantly bringing in new creative teams.