1. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma In Creative Media Production
Task - Unit 26 Film Studies L03
Producer and Audience
Introduction
A films success is measured by how much profit it makes. Profit is made by the number of people
who go to the cinema to watch the film; the number of DVD sales made and any TV rights sold. In
film terms this is the gross figure and it is part of the producer’s job to target and market the film
making it attractive and worth watching to as large an audience as possible. I will describe in this
article the way that producers use publicity and a marketing strategy to try to win over the public by
using big stars and big stories to support their aim.
Captain America First Avenger
The film Captain America First Avenger is a science fiction adventure. It is targeted at young film
watchers who like superheroes, anybody who likes a good action adventure film and older people
who remember the Marvel comic stories. It was produced by Marvel Enterprises in 2011, directed by
Joe Johnston and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film which was released in the UK on the
29th July 2011 was successful with a budget of $140,000,000 the worldwide takes were
$368,608,363. So good that they are now creating a sequel ‘The Avengers’ which is expected to be
release in May 2012.
The film is set during World War II, when a military
reject Steve Rogers, who is sickly but determined, is
accepted on to a new secret project Rebirth and the
Super Soldier program. After taking part in a number of
experiments Steve becomes super human, physically fit
and strong. After the success of leading the Rebirth
project Dr Erksine is assassinated by Nazi Johann
Schmidt (Red Skull) and the project is lost. The army
don’t want to loose Steve so decide to use him in
costume to increase troop morale around Europe.
When Steve hears of a Nazi plot he gets involved and
becomes the First Avenger to help save his country.
Back home everybody loves him and he gets known as
Captain America. Later when on a mission against his
archenemy Red Skull he sacrifices himself to stop
rockets being launched against the troops ending up
frozen in ice for decades. After recovering he realises
that he must find and join forces with other heroes to
make a difference.

2. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma In Creative Media Production
Task - Unit 26 Film Studies L03
Chris Evans helped market Captain America by appearing on television channels worldwide providing
an overview of the basic synopsis of the film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEGkp-yhvZc
The film was also available for file sharing and videos were posted on youtube such as trailers and
interviews which were shown on TV, this allowed the audience to catch up with the show which was
on TV in case they missed it. Also as recently youtube has gone HD, viewers could visualise what to
expect properly. Social networking sites also provide encouragement towards watching films
sometimes, say if a lot of people post about it being great this will make you want to see it and
sometimes there is actually a page dedicated to reviews on the movie. Cinema is probably the most
useful for advertising as whenever you enter a cinema you will see billboards and posters all over the
place for films that are upcoming or already out or just when you are online checking film times for
the local cinema there is bound to be a banner in the corner or at the side of the screen of the film.
Even before a movie is shown, the trailer for the film will most likely be played and as the film isn’t a
high certificate it will have been shown across a wider range of screens in the cinema. Billboards will
have been put around city centres for Captain America as it was quite a big film, when I was in my
town centre a while back I saw the huge billboard advertising the movie before it was actually
revealed to the public properly as behind the huge billboard was an actual filming set for the movie,
the picture below is the street I saw. Billboards were also shown at a high point so you could
visualise at the motorway as you were driving down. Captain America was mentioned in magazines
and newspapers mainly a review or an interview it will have been shown in film magazines or other
media magazines.

3. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma In Creative Media Production
Task - Unit 26 Film Studies L03
The film uses the Star Theory by introducing
famous film stars using their fandom to bring
success. Samuel L. Jackson even if just in a
small role draws in his followers who believe
in his reputation that his films such as The
Exorcist (William Friedkin – Warner Bros.
Pictures, 1973), Star Wars :Episode II Attack
of the Clones (George Lucas - Lucasfilm,
2002), Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg –
Universal Pictures, 1993) and Die Hard: With
Avengance (John McTieran – Twentieth
Century Fox, 1995), etc.
Another actor which is quite well known to be in the film is
Tommy Lee Jones, he is well known for his role in the men in
black films and other films such as No Country for Old Men
(Ethan and Joel Coen – Paramount Vantage, 2007), Under
Siege (Andrew Davis – Warner Bros. Pictures, 1992), Batman
Forever (Joel Schumacher - , Warner Bros. Pictures, 1995),Men
in Black (Barry Sonnenfield – Amblin Entertainment, 1997),
etc.
The film also uses the fact that comic book superhero films are successful films like Superman and
Spiderman
Politically for the American market even the name Captain America makes for a good film the
American people become patriotic believing that the superhero is one of their own and a real
success for the country.
Chris Evans plays the role of Steve Rogers, it was important target of the producer to make sure that
Captain America was a good looking, muscularly, clean cut type of man to create an attraction for
the female audience. Attracting the female audience makes the film more acceptable to couples
looking for a night out increasing audience figures.
The film dates website shows a strong marketing synergy, informing the target audience that the
film already has a sequel in the pipeline which will contain all their favourite characters.
“This production will be followed up two months later with The Avengers, teaming the character
with other Marvel screen heroes from their catalogue.”
It tells the audience that they need to watch the first film in order to understand the next film
which promises to be bigger and better than the first.

4. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma In Creative Media Production
Task - Unit 26 Film Studies L03
To find out information about the target audience prior to production, the producer should use
reception theory on other superhero films, looking back at the success of release dates through
out the year and what the overall takings were. They would also have to review the certification of
the film to judge how a tamer film rated U would compare with those that are PG or 12 rated.
I would start with Spiderman (Sam Raimi – Columbia Pictures Corp, 2002) and Ironman (Jon
Favreau – Paramount Pictures, 2008) both certified as PG the typical age that would go and see
this type of film.
The Thing vs 50/50 – Star and Reception Theory Analysis
The Thing (Matthijs van Heijningen Jr –
Morgan Creek Productions, 2011) is a horror
film based in the Antarctic where an alien
spacecraft has been discovered,it was
released on 2 December 2011. 50/50
(Jonathan Levine – Summit Entertainment,
2011) is a black comedy based around the
diagnosis of Cancer and the struggle to beat
it, it was released on 25 November 2011. The
Thing was more successful during its opening
weekend than 50/50 but was less successful
overall. This is because The Thing was
advertised more than 50/50 when it was first
being shown.
The main reason it went on to failing to maintain it’s initial success was because it had no well
known actors or actresses, that people would recognise from previous huge box office movies
whereas 50/50 did, meaning that people would be drawn to watch the film and tell their friends
about it instantly.
More people would be convinced to watch
50/50 since it has the actor Seth Rogan being
in it. He is a well known star actor amongst
the teen age group. People of the 18 – 19 age
range when looking at cinema trailers would
be more convinced seeing one of their
favourite actors who virtually guarantees
laughter, than they would be seeing a horror
that was originally developed before their
time. It totally failed when it comes to Star
Theory.

5. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma In Creative Media Production
Task - Unit 26 Film Studies L03
Being certificated as an 18 meant The Thing was available to a smaller portion range of the
viewing audience market. The film was also a remake/prequel, the people who would enjoy the
film the most being the people who have seen the John Carpenter’s version from 1982. As The
Thing and 50/50 were released around Christmas time, this is more a more festive period a time to
be happy and full of joy so when a horror is trying to compete against a comedy that during this
time more people would rather see the lighter film rather than the dark. The Thing ignored
reception Theory.
50/50 was a success because using star
theory a famous actor was included in the
cast, they also used reception theory by
targeting a larger proportion of the available
audience by certificating the film as a 15 and
releasing the film during a holiday period.
The Thing would have been more popular had they introduced at least one famous actor or actress
and chosen a different release time, such as Halloween, when horror movies are more popular. It
would also have increased its audience had it had a lower certification class but this might have
ruined the film.
Conclusion
Using the Start and Reception Theories helps market films to the correct audience increasing sales
of cinema tickets, DVD, TV rights, etc. This boosts the gross figure for the film increasing profits.
Captain America Articles
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Captain-America-Takes-Down-Harry-Potter-at-the-US-Box-Office-
213245.shtml
http://tjbrearton.com/2011/07/29/captain-america-film-review/
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1667551/captain-america-chris-evans-hayley-atwell.jhtml
http://www.filmdates.co.uk/films/402-captain-america-the-first-avenger/