R&P: Cross Media Advertising Inception Analysis

Inception and Cross Media Advertising
I have chosen to analyze Inception because the film and my groups teaser trailer will be of the similar genre. Also the actual campaign is interesting to look at as they used techniques such as viral marketing which was very successful. 
Inception's advertising used many different texts to promote their film, and the result was a successful advertising campaign for the film, resulting in a worldwide domestic gross of $773, 686, 362 (Box Office Mojo). This shows us how important your advertising is to be certain of attracting the right audience and building up hype for the film - something which Inception had a lot of. 


Inception Teaser Poster:

www.impawards.com

Analysis: This was a teaser poster released a year before the films release, and it began much speculation about the films plot. The posters dominant image is the text of 'Inception', the title of the film, and this allows audience to begin discussing the film and by word of mouth the name will get around and intrigue people. Also, note the diagonal shape which connotes to us that something is not quite right, and gives a sense of drama. The main colour is blue, which doesn't seem a like a bright-attention-grabbing colour, but instead gives a more neutral, realistic feel. Again, this could draw people in because of the normality - nothing is been given away about the plot line. However the poster does give us lots of information through use of white text. The actors are listed at the top, which will immediately attract a pre-determined audience and capture the audiences attention. The tag line "Your mind is the scene of the crime" gives no logic explanation or clue to the film, other than hinting this film may have psychological elements. Based on this, I think the target audience will be 16-24 the age group of young adults. Some audience will recognise that this film was from the same director of The Dark Knight, a successful film and by mentioning it will hopefully engage those fans to see Inception too. Secondly, we get the date - Summer 2010. The audience will have long to wait, so they will have plenty of time to spread the films secretive existence to others and consequently, build the films hype and potential audience. Finally, the main image is the landscape - a cluster of city high rises. From a semiotic approach we can presume that the setting of this film will be largely placed to urban environments and involve a type of business. I like this poster because it is very effective in using images and text together, something that is not usually done because of the skill/money needed. Overall, I feel that this poster directly addresses potential audiences and does so in a sophisticated way.


Inception Teaser Trailer:

Analysis: This trailer does not give much away, but it certainly shows promise for a thrilling, unexplained film which is certain to entice audiences. I have mentioned the music before, as its low tones build up the tension. There is a wide range of camera shots which shows they have high technical experience and good facilities.We see this especially at 00:38 as the special effects are very well done. Inter-titles are used to attract the audience to the films director (Christopher Nolan - 'The Dark Knight') which will bring in an audience that already enjoyed his past films. Also, by showing DiCaprio it uses star appeal, again attracting more people.I think that this teaser trailer is very effective as I personally followed the Inception advertising campaign and was very excited when I saw this trailer - It shows the audience snippets of the film, but keeps any major plot clues hidden and keeps people guessing. There was a lot of debate about the films theme, which I found on lots of blog sites like Nolan Fans. This increased the audiences want to see the film at the cinema.
 

Inception Empire Magazine Cover:

http://www.movieweb.com/news/NErqhxtvNf6Zuz

Analysis: The image is of the Empire Magazine Inception issue, which uses another advertising technique to expose the public to the film. The cover uses bold colours to catch the readers eye, with the Red/Blue/White/Black complementing each other to draw attention to different parts of the page. Red can connote danger and perhaps violence (blood) and this will attract fans of that genre, the blue is a neutral colour which is the basis for the cover, also it has become the main colour for the Inception campaign. DiCaprio is dressed all in black, emphasizing his importance on the cover. The title Inception sits across the page in horizontal parallel to the name of the magazine Empire. This is the most obvious text and is the first thing a reader would notice, and by being horizontal it connotes a 'strong'  and 'bold' feel. The image of Leonardo DiCaprio has been placed into the center of the page, which will draw any of his fans to look at this magazine. The diagonal text is especially placed to draw the eye to DiCaprio which really adds dimension to the magazine and make it stand out - even the gun in his hand points directly to him. This attention to detail has created a well-made magazine cover in my opinion.
He also sits in front of the header, which shows how important and 'dramatic' DiCaprio is being portrayed. However, he is not looking directly at the camera so the mode of address is less personal and more formal. This could be seen as his characters personality, distant and mysterious which would entice a reader to buy the magazine to try and find out more about him or the film.