P4(b) Advertising

Meaning and Purpose

Advertising is key to the film industry and was very successful in the case of Django Unchained, trailers are a very popular pastime for film fanatic and watching out for new films becomes very easy in the cinema when new films are playing trailers before your movie.

Forms of Advertising 

Trailers are by far the most commonly used form of advertising in the film industry however posters and interviews are also very well used. The trailer shows the story of the film in around 2 mins and gives the viewer enough information to know what to expect without knowing the ending. While Interviews and posters can be more vague as actors rarely know what the film is actually like and are sworn to not give away too much information any way. As if the movie is spoiled a lot of people might not want to go. Posters obviously cannot tell much of the story however they do give the consumer an exciting frame of the actors and can give a good message about the films style and genre.

Trailers

The first trailer released by The Weinstein Company was the teaser trailer (shown below) this was shown at events such as comic-con and was released online, currently only having 100,000 views on youtube since its release in 2012. the teaser trailer does just what it suggests, it doesn't give much of the story away and may even mislead from the true order of the plot.



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The second trailer was the official trailer (shown below) which had a much wider release. It was also released on youtube but with a much more excited amount of support and views...

A few months after the official trailer, which provided more detail about the characters and a firmer idea of the story, we were introduced to the second official trailer which had a less wide release but took advantage of the attention starting to arise about the film due to its controversial use of racist language among other racially fuelled topics.

Interviews

It was not only trailers that TWC (The Weinstein Company) used to raise attention for Django, they also used interviews on shows, especially with the director, Quentin Taarantino. An example of one of these interviews is shown below.

Another more famous one in media showing a controversial argument between Tarantino and the interviewer. This was very useful in promoting the film as the interview hit the news and became viral over the internet, very quickly receiving hundreds of thousands of views on Youtube.



Posters

Posters also appeared around the world to show the release date of the film to raise interest in the film and make audiences more interested in the movie.

P5(a) Product Impact and Effect on the Audience

Meaning and Purpose:

The audience is the market and group of people that might see the film produced. This can be people in a large range of groups, it is important for film makers to ensure they are meeting the audiences needs so they can sell more and more copies.

Influence on Audiences:

The film had a large range of influences on crowds and as it became a very popular film going onto win an oscar that year for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Shultz. The film is obviously very influential in both good and bad ways,  it depends very much on who is watching the film and in what circumstances it is viewed.

Positive Effects:

The film for one changed the way a lot of people thought about race and racism in general, as the black man gets revenge on his captures the audience sees the metaphor for the social change experienced at the moment, as the races are becoming closer to equal.

The audiences that attend Django in america were (respectively to other film releases) highly populated with black film-goers. This was explained by reviews through the idea that it 'wasn't a slave film about white guilt but rather black vengeance, its a film that gives black people power for once instead of one that gave them an apology for slavery'.

The film went down as a very big success, a very large amount of people went to watch and in all reviews it was rated very highly. As shown below with the three main reviews for the film as shown on Google.com.

Negative Effects:

The negative effects would most likely be the blatant violence and swearing throughout the film including profane words connected to race and oppression.

Both of these issues would give concern to most parents as Quentin Tarantino has been complained about before Django in suggesting children are capable of understand the different between violence and swearing on film and real life, he argues that watching his kind of material and watching a large range of film at a young age can help produce genius in children with that ability inside of them.

Previous Examples of Problematic Behaviour:

Examples of films in media have not been positive with stories such as the Sandy Hook shooter having played video games like call of duty nonstop for days before going on his massacre.

Another story would be the film Child's Play 3 in which the violence and horror of the 3rd instalment of the Chucky series damaged and traumatised 2 children so much that they brutally killed another child much younger than them in an attempt to appease the spirit of the evil baby doll, 'Chucky'.

Another example being the mentally ill man that went into a movie theatre claiming to be the Joker from the Dark Knight series, the man then went on to shoot and kill a large number of people in the cinema.

Although these examples exist directors such as Quentin Tarantino would say that violent people are going to act violent no matter what, the vector of which they release this energy is an excuse, not the route of the problem, the real problem is that of mental health. Tarantino and directors like him would also say that the age ratings on their films haven't been decided by them, the companies that distribute film do that rating and this should be respected, too many parents allow their children to get away with watching horrific material that the children aren't actually ready for and this can leave them traumatised or scarred till much later or their whole life. Tarantino would also argue that his films act as a release for violent people, that a number of his films might have stopped a news story like Sandy Hook from happening.

Audience Theory

Desensitisation

Desensitisation is a theory which states that audiences and individuals who are exposed to blatantly sexual or violent imagery in media may desensitise them to violence and make acts of violence less powerful and sexual experiences less pleasurable. This theory has been used constantly to aid the argument of lowering the volume of violence and sex in film and media however with the recent expansion of the internet, a largely non-restrictive field of information, the dangers of desensitisation are becoming a more and more realistic concern in the modern society. Tarantino's work has been commonly criticised through this theory.

Copycat/Modeling

The Copycat Theory is a well argued and growing theory of research which suggests films related to crime glorification and murderous protagonists make audiences more likely to copy the crimes committed on screen and kill people without hesitation or regret. This has been suspected of Django: Unchained as the amount of racially fuelled crime began to increase after the films release although there is no real evidence to suggest this was related to the film.

The writer and director of Django, Quentin Tarantino, has also come under the spotlight before due to the frequent criticisms of his work states it is too violent and graphic, a number of his previous works have been accused of glorifying crime and murder such as Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown and Natural Born Killers. Natural Born Killers has been at the front of a very large argument that film and media causes copycat violence, the crime and murder stricken love story has been suggested to have lead to the shooting of William Savage and Patsy Byers, The Heath and Columbine High School shootings, the Richardson family murders and 10 more separate events each with evidence to suggest the people who committed the crimes watched Natural Born Killers previous to the events with belief that the film caused some kind of violence in the viewer.

Tarantino and like-minded individuals would argue against these theories by saying that different people have different perceptions of danger and risk, one person may be horribly offended by movies such as Natural Born Killers while others would find it lighthearted entertainment, Tarantino would argue that some people would watch it and go out and murder people but that is not the fault of the media, that is the fault of the individual.

P5(b) Relevant Issues of Representations

Relevant issues of representation

Issues such as violence, racism and sexism:

This film has been referred to in many reviews as "excessive" in both violence and profanity, especially racial profanity. The film features the 'n' word a whopping 110 which broke box office records in a number of countries for the words usage in film and media.

Social groups:

A large controversy has been created by feminist groups claiming that film has been a 'man's world' and that it needs to change, while this is true for most of hollywoods and this film in fact, the works of Tarantino have largely been equal with films like Kill Bill and Jackie Brown being lead by actresses as the protagonists. No controversy surrounding sexism was created however due to the taboo subject of race being the most influential of this film.

As the film features extremely hateful and racist language there was worry that African Americans wouldn't take kindly to the film, as the film is written and directed by a white man after all. However after the films release and advertisement it was shown the opposite reaction and in fact the film gained huge support from black people around the world.

Stereotypes:

Stereotypes in Django are broken in part and supported slightly in other parts. While the stereotypical slave image has been changed dramatically to make the slave the protagonist instead of the villain or extra character. Tarantino is a big fighter for the changing ideals towards racism and sexism.

The Slave

Django Unchained features slaves with far more power to the story line and also socially than any other film produced on the subject. Being the first revenge film or simply the first action film with a slave as the protagonist. Especially of any film set in the Wild West this was an incredible achievement for the Director Tarantino and Django launched his career and fame to even more heights of respect.

The Slaver

Calvin Candie in Django Unchained breaks the spaghetti western archetype in part as he is far more vicious and cruel than original cinema suggested.

The Side Kick

The German sidekick, Dr. King Shultz, also in part made an issue of representation as the bounty hunter character was not usually German and well kept, a rustic Eastwood and Wayne appearance was expected of the role and a lot of people were surprised by the use of Christoph Wultz who a couple of years previous had won an oscar for playing a nazi in Tarantino WW2 film 'Inglorious Basterds".

The Love Interest

In Django Unchained the representation of the archetypal spaghetti western woman is slightly shifted as the role is now a slave, which in the time that the original spaghetti westerns were being made would have been simply unthinkable as slaves in westerns were either villains or very small characters.

P5(c) Legal and Ethical Issues

Meaning and Purpose

Legal issues revolving around the film industry are becoming increasingly important as copycats and copyright becomes an increasingly abused subject, while piracy and copyright infringement are becoming more and more common, every major film being released last year is now available online under titles such as "watch ... online for free". This misuse of the media is becoming more and more damaging to the industry as the general belief that it doesn't damage profits inclines more and more people to stop buying the film and simply watching it online.

Relevant Ethical and Legal Issues

Legal

Copyright

Django originally was the title character of the 1966 western of the same name, this creates a small controversy through copyright but as the characters, story and plot is completely different from the 1966 film there is no sign that anything was copied except from the name.

Royalties

Because almost all of the music in the film Django is either taken and used with permission or created for the film there was no major issues with royalties although a lot of the music used tat didn't belong to the production company was paid for in full either through percentages of ilm profits r a set fee.

Ethics

Accuracy

Accuracy in all slave films is a very important issue however in Django the matter of accuracy was slightly overlooked to match the fantasised and almost pantomime-esc style of the film. Accuracy however was still criticised as the film's blatant use of the 'n' word was captured in the news and made the film an international news story.

Offensive Material

Tarantino has been commonly criticised due to his use of offensive material and Django was no different, the use of racist language, blood and graphic imagery made it very controversial. Violence especially is becoming worrying as Quentin Tarantino claims children from 12 and up should be allowed to see his movies, this request has commonly been blocked however by parents and governments around the world and his movies stay at a 18 rated, which Tarantino wears proudly as an achievement.

Censorship

As Django Unchained is a very violent film there is a large difficulty with censorship as to appeal to the larger family market the film would've needed to be less bloody however the creative side of the film decided it was necessary. As Tarantino does not like to censor his material, due to him feeling it cheapens the content, it can be very difficult for his films to appeal to these demographics and censorship then becomes a larger issue when the films are released online, where anyone can access it.

P5(d) Role of Relevant Regulatory Bodies

Meaning and Purpose

A regulatory body ensures that all content released is sent and viewed by the correct people, a child under 10 for instance should not be watching anything viewed as pornographic.

The aim of a regulatory body such as BBFC is to match the product with audience expectations in the case of Django which was the proved as a 18 rating. An 18 rating on films means they are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 rated film at the cinema or buy or rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

Django was given a 18 rating, the BBFC stated "DJANGO UNCHAINED is a western set in the late 1850s about a bounty hunter who engages the services of a slave he purchases. It is rated 18 for strong bloody violence."

It is important for films to have the right certification as particular conations are raised between different age group ratings of films, for instance as Django Unchained is rated as an 18/R it will appeal more to adults and late-teens. This is important as people expect to see a film with the correct viewing and many film critics find films that aren't rated 18 boring or uninteresting. Legal and ethical issues can be very harmful to a film's profits and revenue, for example it can give a company a bad reputation if children were allowed to see a more intense film or if an intense rating of a film turned out to be disappointingly subtle and calm.