Creative Critical Reflection: #2

"How does your product engage with daudiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"

Representation makes it easier for a wider group of people to identify with characters. Even if they lack similarity in race or gender, people can still identify with character traits, goals/ambitions, ideals, upbringing, etc. It is seen as refreshing to have diversity, and there is a demand from minority groups to be represented in media; creating a fairly untapped market. A clear of example of tapping into this recently increased demand can be found in the two major franchises of the super hero genre: DC and Marvel. DC Films recent Wonder Woman was met with mass support for its portrayal of a strong, heroic woman as its main protagonist. Its advertising campaign was much more subtle, but its use of the Facebook filter was targeted mainly at women. There was also a partnership where Wonder Woman promoted a diet bar (which was met with controversy, as it was considered sexist to target women with a product meant to help with weightloss).
 Marvel's Black Panther had an unprecedented grass roots marketing campaign, with countless communities of African Americans coming together to discuss the movie. A Boys and Girls Club in Harlem, NY managed to raise enough money to buy tickets to see the film for 400 children. There were also multiple comedic promotional videos on social media to create hype for the movie. It showed the actors in a more down to earth, relaxed manner that made them seem charismatic and likable. By doing so, viewers were able to connect with the actors and their characters more easily, creating excitement.
The elements to take away from these advertisements are to target advertising heavily at the minority groups being represented, while also encouraging them to create excitement and momentum within their own communities. Our group can also learn from their mistakes, and avoid topics that would be viewed as a harmful stereotype of the minority group. For example, we would not show our protagonist (a female hero) with humorously poor driving skills in a car commercial.

A studio that has produced successful action films is Millennium Films. I believe this studio would be best for our film because it has released films about action heroes that are not affiliated with Marvel or DC (the major comic book hero companies). They have produced (and are producing a new movie) of the comic book protagonist Hellboy, who was published in Dark Horse Comics. Because they have dealt with similar subjects and are one of the longest running independent studios, it would work well with our film and help it to gain notoriety while also having the resources to create a quality film as well as launch an extensive advertising campaign.
Millennium Studios will also have connections with theaters, and our film will take the traditional route and run in theaters for about two months.
After its run in theaters, our film will be distributed in DVD and Blu Ray format, available for rent at kiosks like Redbox or for sale in a variety of big-box stores (i.e. Walmart, Target, Best Buy).
To follow the rising trend of digitization and streaming movies digitally, our film would be available to rent or buy on digital stores such as Google Play or or Apple's App Store. YouTube has a new, similar function where users can pay to rent or own movies through the YouTube website. Our film would also be available on popular streaming services such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.