A Case Study Into Horror: Structuralism and Feminism in Horror Films

Hello, readers! I hope that you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and that you will also have a great year in 2015 – I know that I will! I’m back on the blog again today to talk about horror films and the conventions and theories which appear in such films. Though they’re not my usual genre of choice (superhero films and comedies are my personal favourites), it was fun to branch out and experience something a bit different as part of my media studies.

A Case Study Into Horror: Structuralism and Feminism in Horror Films

The horror genre is one of the most popular in existence today; many people enjoy a good scary film every now and then, though I can’t say that I’m one of them! The genre was first developed in the 1890s by Georges Méliès, whose silent film Le Manoir du Diable is often credited as being the first horror film ever made. The horror films which I will be talking about in particular in this post are much more modern, all being produced in the last century – Halloween (1978), Scream (1996) and Cherry Falls (2000). These are all horror films which I would consider to be ‘mild’ – that is to say that they are not too overrun with extreme violence and gore – and they provide excellent examples of the traditions of their genre. I can’t promise that I won’t discuss spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the films and don’t want to be spoiled for them, read ahead in this post carefully and cautiously!

So what makes a horror film what it is? What is it about them that makes people enjoy watching them so much? Well, it doesn’t take a genius to recognise that there are some common features throughout the horror genre – known as ‘codes and conventions’. ‘Codes’ refer to how the film is actually put together in terms of its cinematography and editing (etc), and has two types: symbolic (e.g. music) and technical (e.g. lighting and camera positioning). Conventions are those aspects of the films which are generally expected by viewers – so in superhero films, for example, you expect the hero to wear some kind of costume which symbolises them and their alter-ego. Codes and conventions are the two components generally associated with structural theory (the idea that meaning is conveyed through systematic ideas and rules) and as such structural theory in itself is applicable to the horror genre. Developed by Michel Foucault and Jacques Lacan, structuralism is still an important film theory now, and others such as Ferdinand de Saussure have also impacted how structuralism is perceived by incorporating elements of semiotics.

The codes and conventions of horror are often considered to define what a horror film is, and should be, and they are therefore used to determine whether a film is a horror film or just a gory action film. Some of them I am sure you will be aware of, even if you don’t realise it: suspenseful music leading up to key scenes, excessive blood and gore, giant bloody knives as weapons, women being slain for their sexual promiscuity, male killers... The list goes on. In addition, there are some more subtle codes and conventions which might not be as obvious to you: have you ever, for example, realised that there is always side and back lighting which serves to emphasise what is happening on-screen? It’s something that you see, but might not necessarily always realise is there. Cool, huh?

Viewers and critics often look for these codes and conventions for a number of reasons: in order to predict the endings of horror films (because if they follow the conventional structure, it is usually likely that they will end in a conventional way, e.g. with the usual single female lead surviving to tell their horrific tale), to see if films are controversial and contrast the conventions by having unexpected twist(s), to decide whether the film is worthy of the title of ‘horror film’ – etc. Essentially, the codes and conventions are seen as ‘defining’ horror. All three of the films I am discussing (Halloween, Scream and Cherry Falls) exhibit at least some of the codes and conventions of the horror genre, and I am soon going to point seven of these out to you, whilst also incorporating the theory of feminism – which is also hugely prominent topic throughout almost all, if not all, horror films.

Feminist theory within the horror genre shows the female characters to take two primary roles: that of the victim, and that of the main, victorious character who survives until the end (the 'final girl'). The female victims are weak, often characterised as 'dumb blondes' - girls who focus more on partying or drinking than sensible activities like studying. These girls are therefore shown to lack common sense and are ignorant, giving ample 'reason' for them to die. In contrast, the female protagonists who work to try and defeat the male antagonist are shown to be virginal and pure, with innocence and intelligence that puts them above others. They are shown to have the positive qualities which support their success, even if they are lacking in physical strength and courage.

Now then, shall we begin talking about those codes and conventions I promised you?

#1: FEMALE VICTIMS, MALE VILLAINS

Perhaps one of the most prevalent conventions of the horror genre is the fact that most victims are female and the villains male. It is something that you can’t really ignore – it is an extremely prominent tradition throughout the horror genre. It was only around the 1970s/1980s that women began to gain more of a substantial role in horror films, sometimes even taking on the role of the villain themselves, predominantly due to the rising feminist movement which demanded, amongst other things, a fairer representation of women in the media in all its forms. It is therefore unsurprising that, in all three of the films I am discussing (Halloween, Scream and Cherry Falls), the protagonists are female and with male pursuers – in Halloween it is Laurie Strode being hunted by the psychotic Michael Myers, in Scream it is Sidney Prescott running from the mysterious and terrifying ‘Ghostface’, and in Cherry Falls it is Jody Marken desperately trying to escape from her revenge-obsessed English teacher Mr Leonard Marliston. This set-up between the sexes has been criticised massively in recent years, with feminist ideals working to overturn the overwhelming number of female victimisations in horror films – but for now, all of these films match the current ‘convention’ of female victimisation and male dominance and villainy.

Something else I’d like to mention is the ‘final girl’ trope which features often in horror films. This term was coined by Carol J. Clover, an American professor of film studies, rhetoric language and Scandinavian mythology, in her book Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. What the term signifies is how throughout a horror film where a group of girls is present, all but one will be killed off – leaving the ‘final girl’, who is then the one to either vanquish the killer by taking up a weapon and defeating them, or else escape alive. This is seen very clearly in Halloween, where two of Strode’s friends are murdered and she remains as the ‘final girl’ of their trio. Clover argues that at this point, where only one girl remains, the female protagonist automatically goes and adopts ‘masculine’ characteristics in order to survive – this is again seen clearly when Strode tries repeatedly to kill Myers by stabbing him with a knitting needle, a hanger and a knife, none of which does the trick but does enough to allow her to escape when he is shot and falls from the balcony. The entire concept of the ‘final girl’ therefore coincides with the portrayal of women in horror films, and also the feminist film theory – it is a convention of the horror genre in itself.

A final aspect of female victimisation to mention is the classic portrayal of promiscuous women as automatic victims. It is a huge trend in horror films that those girls who focus more on having a ‘good time’ (e.g. by partying, drinking, drug-taking and being sexually active), more so than those who, say, act sensibly and are studious and hard-working (like Strode), are likely to be the first to be killed – or are else the exclusive group to be killed. Feminist film critics slam this trend due to the fact that it does, amongst other things, undermine women and portrays them in a hugely derogatory manner. Taking this into account, Cherry Falls is one film which massively contrasts with the norm; it is the virgins and the inexperienced that are targeted by the killer in this film rather than those with copious amounts of sexual encounters. In this way, Cherry Falls does not conform to this particular misogynistic convention of the horror genre.

#2: YOUNG/TEENAGE CHARACTERS

This second convention of the horror genre ties in nicely with the first. Not only are most main characters female, they are also young; the majority of horror films focus on teenage, or at least young, protagonists. Why this is is not very clear – perhaps because young people are more susceptible to being scared, and therefore the ‘horror’ in horror films becomes more realistic and believable? Perhaps because it is most likely that young people will watch horror films and the characters need to be easier to empathise with? Who knows? Anyway, the point is, horror films predominantly focus on young people – and Halloween, Scream and Cherry Falls are no different. Strode is a seventeen-year-old student in Halloween – Prescott and Marken are similar in Scream and Cherry Falls respectively, both also being teenage students. This is therefore another convention of the genre which the title characters in all three films adhere to – they are young teenagers.

#3: CHASE SCENES

Chase scenes are just one of those sections of a horror film, much like in an action film, that you would be more surprised not to see than see. Usually appearing at the climaxes of the film where the killer's identity is revealed and also at the times of direct contact and conflict between said killer and the protagonist, they are a timelessly effective plot device to build tension and apprehension for what is to come. Both Halloween and Cherry Falls feature chase scenes where the victims are pursued mercilessly by the killers with weapons - audiences are made to watch with horror (no pun intended) and they wonder whether the victim will be caught and killed, or if they will outwit the killer and escape.

The chase scene in Halloween is particularly striking as it is Strode who exhibits the most violence. Myers does attempt to kill her, it's true, but she strikes back and stabs him three times - once even with the giant knife that he himself was carrying! This is therefore quite a revolutionary chase scene where the chase becomes reversed - Strode pursues Myers (in a sense) in order to defeat him and be able to escape from him. Cherry Falls on the other hand exhibits the standard chase scene, where Marliston is the one solely trying to attack Marken - and she is saved by others, rather than working to save herself.

#4: EERIE TENSION-BUILDING MUSIC

This is the only code of horror films that I have chosen to mention - predominantly because it is the most obvious, but also because it applies not only to these three films, but all films. Playing music to build up tension is a key device to use and is symbolic of a horror film - without it, audiences would not be as affected by the film's events as they would not be made to feel jumpy, tense, worried... and then utterly terrified when something happens, catching them off-guard. Scream for instance features some quite dramatic and chilling music in various scenes, increasing the perhaps absent fear of the otherwise comical-looking 'Ghostface' (I personally think that mask is hilariously bad, anyway).

Halloween is quite interesting when it comes to the music, as it has the same sections repeat throughout the film, making the overall soundtrack a very familiar and haunting piece. At key parts of the film the same melodic bars drop suddenly into the audio, and you instantly know that something is coming - good or bad, funny or terrifying, you just don't know. That's the terrific thing about the film; you come to associate the music with something chilling, but it infact indicates anything can happen. It is a semiotic effect that we come to associate it purely with the bad things - just because it signals those more than anything else. In this way, the few non-scary occasions the music starts seem very odd and unique - drawing attention to them. Cherry Falls mimics this, with dramatic and familiar music signalling the beginning of key parts of the film - perhaps inspired by Halloween itself? Many of the more modern horror films take inspiration from the 'classics'.

#5: GIANT BLOODY KNIVES...

Barring maybe #7, I don't think there is a more obvious convention of the horror genre out there. The giant blood-covered knives (or blood-covered weapons in general) are a hugely integral feature of horror films - without them, horror films probably wouldn't be horror films. Knives in particular though always seem to be the weapons of choice, getting incredibly gory very early on and never quite losing their terrifying appearance and reputation as killing tools.

Halloween has a double-whammy dosage of giant knives; before the events of the film Myers murders his sister with one, and in the film he appropriates another and proceeds to kill off Strode's two friends with it. From there, as we all know, he chases Strode around and tries to kill her, too. The poster art of Cherry Falls (embedded near the top of this entry) gives away the presence of the giant bloodied knife there too - as does the art of Halloween, infact, now that I look again - which Marliston uses to murder his victims and carve the word 'virgin' into their corpses. Scream is the most discrete of the films, therefore, but does again feature the standard giant knife as a weapon; infact, the knife is iconic of Ghostface, and is his/its signature weapon - proving just how ingrained knives are in the horror genre.

#6: ISOLATION AND ISOLATED SETTINGS

We're nearly on the home stretch now! Horror films often feature the isolation of the main characters and also the isolation of the settings of the films. Take Stephen King's The Shining for example; the hotel in that is in the middle of nowhere, and means that the main characters can't get help easily from anyone when events begin to unfold.

Isolated characters and isolated settings are not mutually exclusive; though horror films often employ the bizarre twist of having an isolated setting but with non-isolated characters in it (like in Cherry Falls where the town is small, but Marken is surrounded by all of her classmates for the majority of the film), or isolated characters in a non-isolated setting (like in Halloween where Strode is by herself in the house, but in the wider scheme of things she is in a fully-populated neighbourhood), the two are seen equally often together. The various combinations are all very common in the horror genre - but particular films put a different spin on the variables in other to try and create a new and unique set-up.

#7: DEATH, DEATH EVERYWHERE!

"Hooray! It's the last one!" you may be thinking - I'm sorry if this has gone on a while! This final point refers to the various recurring themes throughout the horror genre which all three films do display. The one I've picked out as the title for this category is 'death' - the most obvious of all. What horror film can you name that doesn't at least reference a death? I doubt that there are many at all.

The truth is, death is the overwhelming feature of any horror film. Extreme gore, violence and absurdity is present, yes - but death is even more so. Most of the good horror films out there are good because they involve the element of mystery in them - the question of who is the killer behind the mask. Common themes such as death and violence crop up so much because they symbolise the very nature of 'horror' - horrific things being done, and happening, to people.

All three films (Halloween, Scream and Cherry Falls) have numerous incidents of serious injury and death. Halloween of course references Myers' previous murder numerous times - and his new killings are of the same cold, calculated standard. Scream has the character of Ghostface inflict huge numbers of injuries, and cause huge numbers of deaths - whilst still managing to be comical. Comedic horror films are on the increase these days, with the popularity of films such as Scary Movie helping to boost crossover numbers; it seems like an impossible concept to combine the two, but it has been done very well so far and will continue to be. Finally, and I mean finally, there is Marliston from Cherry Falls - he has numerous victims, all with grievous injuries inflicted on them post-mortem and even before. Death is almost overpowering in the film, and the level of violence, mayhem and graphic content is almost off the charts.

So, in summary...

After considering the three films (Halloween, Scream and Cherry Falls) it is clear to see that the codes and conventions of horror which form the basis for the structuralism within the genre are ever-present. It becomes obvious that they centre mainly around the different themes (death, violence, sex etc.), characters' situations and also the settings, and all provide certain 'criteria' which many viewers feel that horror films must meet for them to be any good. Feminism, in turn, is evident throughout the horror genre - though the equality of women is few and far between. Cherry Falls is perhaps one of the most feministically-driven I have seen, purely due to the fact that it does not victimise sexually free-thinking women; infact, it encourages relationships to an extent as being something that is not to be condemned or have people ashamed of.

Cherry Falls is equally the lone film to exhibit any kind of deviation from the conventions of the genre, due to the same reasons stated above. The other two films, Halloween and Scream, developed the conventions and upheld them respectively - and do not appear to go against them in any way. Infact, arguably Halloween is a film which pioneered the horror genre's first codes and conventions - it is considered a classic now, and is clearly one of the first films to exhibit the majority, if not all, of the main codes and conventions of the genre today.

Overall, therefore, it is evident that both structuralism and feminism can easily be applied and found within the horror genre - and I'm sure that you will now subconsciously recognise these elements when you next watch a scary film!

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post. As always, I'll see you in my next one - and information regarding my sources and my references when writing this are left below. Thank you for reading; until next time!

• This piece of writing is for Unit 26 of Edexcel level 3 BTEC Media (Film Studies).

• Bibliography of references/my reading to be able to write this post: here.

Marketing of a Blockbuster Film: Marvel's Avengers Assemble (2012)

Here I am again, back with another media-filled post! This time I am going to be looking at the film Avengers Assemble and how it was marketed to the public, as well as at how the producers and the companies involved with the making of the film aimed it towards a specific target audience. Hopefully you will enjoy reading it, and will maybe even learn something new about the inner workings of the film industry.

Marvel's Avengers Assemble (2012)

Avengers Assemble Poster

Avengers Assemble is a 2012 superhero film directed by Joss Whedon, based on the Avengers comics by Stan Lee. In the film, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth. It was produced by Marvel Studios and then distributed to cinemas by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, its parent film company. The film follows a collection of previous films by Marvel, each of which features a different superhero present in Avengers Assemble (barring Iron Man 2): Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2012).

All of these films share continuity with each other and other films have been produced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since, including Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). More films are due to be released in the future, including The Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, Antman also in 2015, and the next instalments in the Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy series, both currently unnamed, set to be released in 2016 and 2017 respectively. This gives Marvel as a film production company great presence and fame, and is known throughout the world as being one of the main creators and producers of superhero films.

So, as I said above, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures was in charge of distributing Avengers Assemble to the cinemas. The company was not responsible for the distribution of any of Marvel’s films prior to Avengers Assemble; their deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment was only completed in December 2009, agreed to at the price of $4.24 billion. Previously, Universal Studios (2008) and Paramount Pictures (2008-2011) had been responsible for distributing Marvel’s films until the deal took effect in 2012, after Marvel Studios’ existing contracts for its films had expired. Avengers Assemble was, therefore, the first film that Walt Disney Studios distributed to cinemas.

Avengers Assemble – what target audience?

As you can imagine, it was quite a surprise that Walt Disney Studios – best known for its numerous animated childrens’ films – chose to buy into a company centred around action, adventure and much on-screen violence and explosions. However, it doesn’t appear that they will be reverse this decision anytime soon – with eleven more films planned for release over the next five years, it appears that Marvel is with Walt Disney to stay. Bearing this in mind, it was especially important for the production team of Avengers Assemble to consider their target audience. The term “target audience” refers to the people whom a film’s production company wish the film to appeal to the most. Appealing to a target audience is key for any large-scale production; it is this audience who will watch the film, interact with it (both before and after release) and perhaps even recommend it to others, thus drawing in more viewers and subsequently more revenue for the company who created it. It is usually the audience, not the film-makers, who generate the most ‘hype’ and attention for a film and make it a success both in the cinema and out of it (especially if it has any kind of merchandising involved with it.)

It was also important for the directors and film companies of Avengers Assemble to consider, as well as the above, any gaps in the existing film market – films are far more likely to be successful when no similar films have been released previously. Opposing this, films which continue a unique series (as with the Marvel Cinematic Universe) are also incredibly successful as audiences want to know what is going to happen next to their favourite characters. They feel almost obliged to continue on with a series to see how it ends. Film companies who create series’ of films therefore try to employ a successful marketing campaign, as it can often make a huge difference on whether audiences feel interested in watching subsequent films, and can also make casual, new viewers more interested in going back and watching any previous films in the series if they have not seen them and also to get involved with the other elements (if any) of the franchise. This is often how ‘fandoms’ ultimately start – communities of fans who come together to celebrate what they like and talk about it and go beyond even the existing ‘canon’ of the film(s), perhaps creating their own fanfictions, fanart, and fanvideos.

Marvel and Disney together conducted lots of market research before releasing Avengers Assemble in order to decide on their target audience. Taking into account the existing market of Disney (primarily young children), and knowing the demographics of the audiences of the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films, they primarily targeted young adults and adults – though Avengers Assemble is by no means exclusive to these age ranges. Young children are also able to enjoy the film, though they may not be able to understand all of the elements involved; this therefore makes it a polysemic film which ultimately appeals to all, much like Shrek (2001) which is primarily for young children but is also enjoyable for the older generations due to its universal themes and underlying innuendos and jokes.

Avengers Assemble ultimately appeals to these target audiences for the following reasons (amongst others), all inspired by the directors and producers:

• The Plot/Concept: An on-screen collaboration between many different superheroes had rarely been done before (if it had ever been done at all), and was therefore an innovative idea that people hadn’t ever seen or thought about. It was of interest to both comic enthusiasts and casual film-watchers alike, and was something new that Marvel was willing to try in order to gain more fans and make more revenue.
• The Genre: Fans of the superhero genre were appealed to by the film and its producers, obviously due to the fact that it featured a large number of superheroes! This genre is a universal theme which allowed fans of it to learn about the film and be inspired to watch it when looking into their favourite films in the genre already in existence – looking up those on the internet etc. will have brought up related results about Avengers Assemble due to the very thorough marketing campaign by Marvel and Disney.
• The Actors/Actresses Starring in it: Fans of particular actors and actresses were appealed to by the film because they could watch their favourite stars appear in something new. The film appealed even to those who were not a fan of the genre – therefore introducing them to it, and perhaps inspiring them to go back and watch the other superhero films if they had not already seen them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• The SFX: Fans of special effects and good cinematography will have loved the look of Avengers Assemble. It is a film which uses tons and tons of effects and techniques due to the fact that the powers and abilities of the superheroes have to be shown and the fight scenes, chase scenes and buildings dictated. For example, The Hulk/Bruce Banner’s actor, Mark Ruffalo, was required to wear both a prosthetic suit and a motion-capture suit in order to simulate both the Hulk’s size and movements during the filming process. This is then reflected in the film using CGI and SFX to show the Hulk in action.
• The Fandom: Finally, perhaps the most obvious reason why the film appealed to people is that it continued an already-established series of films – and there was a dedicated fanbase, or ‘fandom’, already in existence surrounding Marvel. This fandom was easily appealed to by the film as it featured all of their favourite superheroes and concepts, and brought to life the comics on which it had been based. This fandom will have also helped to appeal to even more people through online discussions and social media – attracting attention to the film and promoting its release.

How was the film advertised?

Despite the fact that Avengers Assemble was Walt Disney Studios’ first Marvel film, it was a big hit in the box office and a lot of effort was put into its advertisement and publicity prior to, and even after, the release of the film. Marvel Studios received endorsements and licenses from high-profile companies such as Acura, Jads International, Honda Motor Co. and Harley-Davidson, all of whom provided publicity and vehicles for use in the film and its promotion worldwide in exchange for monetary payments. Though this may seem counter-productive, the level of publicity achieved for the film made it a huge box-office success, with the money paid out being easily made up in the revenue produced – and more!

Other companies, such as Lego and Dr Pepper, also became involved with the marketing campaign of Avengers Assemble. Images and videos (see left and right) were made by these companies to help promote it, and created a bigger public presence for the film. Perhaps most amazingly, in Walt Disney World, the monorail was even redesigned to feature the concept art of Avengers Assemble and the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo - pretty extravagant marketing, don't you think? But very, very effective, and very, very successful.

As well as these publicity ventures, the standard measures were also employed. Posters, merchandising by Disney, trailers, teaser images - all of these were released before the film, and afterwards even more methods were used for publicity such as the creation of video games, published reviews and critiques online. Of course, the main result of the film's release was the creation of its personal 'fandom' - people involved promoted the film further and made it have a much greater online presence. Sites such as Tumblr and Twitter in particular feature lots of Avengers Assemble-related content - check out the tags, here for Tumblr and here for Twitter respectively.

Publicity and Marketing: what else did Disney organise?

Avengers Assemble was a massive success in the box office as well as in terms of its home entertainment releases; it grossed $623.4 million in North America and $895.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $1.518 billion. It became the third highest-grossing film worldwide as well as highest-grossing 2012 film, and this was both due to its success with the public as well as its initial marketing campaign. This marketing campaign was successful at attracting not only existing Marvel fans from its previous film and comic fan-base, but the concept of a huge ‘hero get-together’ film also appealed to new fans who had never previously been interested in the franchise. But how did Disney manage this? How did they gain the support of so many fans, both old and new?

Well, as well as the intense advertising mentioned before, many other things were also organised in order to publicise the film and accumulate fans for it. For example, the first thing that happened at all was the announcement of the plans for the film back in 2005 – yes, you read that correctly, 2005! The film had been a long time coming by its 2012 release, being rewritten and the cast updated several times, meaning that it had to be pushed back. It was in 2010 that the film was actually advertised as being close to release, being promoted at San Diego Comic Con International by a panel of actors from the cast including Samuel L. Jackson, who helped to narrate a short teaser trailer which premiered at the Con.

Following this, Marvel and Disney worked together to advertise at many other comic conventions in order to appeal widely to as many fans of the original comics and writing as possible. The cast did not appear on a huge number of chat shows or news shows (though Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. did notably appear on Good Morning America via video link from London to promote the movie) – rather, they focused on their convention appearances in order to try and attract viewers for the film. In August 2011, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Studios presented a look at Walt Disney Studios' upcoming film slate, which included Avengers Assemble, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The presentation featured footage from the film and appearances by the cast members yet again – a technique proven to be effective, as hearing the cast members’ stories is entertaining, and gives you an insight into how the film is being made and why they have chosen to take part in it. It makes the film seem like a positive experience for them as well as a good one to watch – and thus appeals to more people than just the comic fans. In October 2011, Marvel Studios held another presentation, this time at the New York Comic Con that featured new footage and a panel discussion including producer Kevin Feige and several cast members yet again. The first full-length trailer for the film was also released in October; this trailer, which debuted exclusively on iTunes Movie Trailers, was downloaded over 10 million times in its first 24 hours, breaking the website's record for the most-viewed trailer. This has later been surpassed, but is still a record-holding number. The theatrical trailers of Avengers Assemble appeared within many films that were already showing in cinemas, including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 21 Jump Street and The Hunger Games. This further promoted the film as people watching the other films had to sit and watch the trailer beforehand, perhaps being inspired to go and watch Avengers Assemble as well upon its theatrical release in April 2012 (UK & Ireland) and May 2012 (USA).

In January 2012, Marvel Studios held a global Twitter chat. The 30-minute live tweeting event featured writer/director Joss Whedon, cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg and a 10-second tease of the 30-second Super Bowl commercial that would air during Super Bowl XLVI in February. According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney paid an estimated $4 million for the 30-second spot. This was a huge success at attracting attention to the film and promoting its American release date of May 4^th.

What are the product tie-ins with the film?

As part of Marvel and Disney’s continuing collaboration on Avengers Assemble, numerous products and memorabilia have been produced in order to satisfy the inner geek of fans everywhere. As you might expect of a superhero film, t-shirts, DVDs, figurines and action figures are available, featuring and starring all of the primary cast members and characters from the film. Such figures and t-shirts are made available in a whole range of sizes, and with varying character poses and line-ups – plenty of quality items to please even the pickiest enthusiast. CDs featuring the soundtrack and score of the film were also made available, as well as various posters, framed artworks, books and games.

By games, I don’t just mean the board game variety - a video game based on the film was planned for concurrent release. The game was to be a first-person shooter/brawler for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Microsoft Windows and published by THQ, with THQ Studio Australia developing the console versions and Blue Tongue Entertainment the PC version. After THQ closed both studios, the game was cancelled.

In May 2012, Ubisoft and Marvel Entertainment announced that they are partnering to develop a motion-controlled game titled Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth for the Wii U and Xbox 360 Kinect. The game was inspired by the "Secret Invasion" storyline and features 20 different characters. Marvel also announced a four-chapter mobile game titled Avengers Initiative, with one chapter focusing on each of Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Iron Man. This was a hugely successful move for such relatively small games in terms of storyline and playability etc, and has been played by thousands of fans.

Finally, due to the fact that it is a Marvel film as well, in December 2011 it was announced that an eight-issue comic-book prelude to the film, written by Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson with art by Luke Ross and Daniel HDR, would be released in March 2012. In February 2012, Marvel announced the release of a second limited series comic book tie-in, Black Widow Strikes written by Fred Van Lente. Additionally, the title Avengers Assemble was launched in March 2012, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mark Bagley and features the same Avengers line-up as the film battling a new incarnation of the supervillain team Zodiac. These comic tie-ins are one of the most central products produced by Marvel, successfully expanding their already huge universe and giving greater detail to specific aspects of the film itself and beyond.

Where was the film premiered? Did it win any awards?

There were two separate premieres for Avengers Assemble; the first was the worldwide premiere at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California in the United States on the 11^th of April, and the second was at the VUE cinema in Westfield, London, on the 19^th of April as the European premiere of the film. Due to the differing film titles across the two continents (the film is known as Avengers Assemble only in the UK and Ireland, renamed as not to be confused with the UK TV show The Avengers) the branding and marketing was done slightly differently as to appeal to as many people as possible.

The European premiere was attended by cast members Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cobie Smulders, and Clark Gregg – producer Kevin Feige also made appearances on the red carpet throughout the night. It was a huge success with numerous newspaper articles (such as this one by the Daily Mail about Scarlett Johannson) and reports being produced about the film, further advertising it to the wider public; on top of this, videos and excerpts from the premiere were uploaded to YouTube by Marvel UK, allowing those who hadn’t been able to attend to at least get a taste of the action that had taken place in London. One such video is here (embedded below also); this sums up all of the events and shows everything from the cast on the red carpet, the audiences and fans coming together to see the film ahead of its official theatrical release, the cast and crew being interviewed, to short excerpts from the film itself.

On May 1, 2012, executives from Marvel Studios, along with actors Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg, rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the film's theatrical release. This signaled the beginning of a very successful run for the film, following its UK/Ireland release and just ahead of its US release. As a result of its high-quality cinematography, acting and effects, Avengers Assemble garnered numerous awards and award nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects and a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Special Visual Effects. The film was also nominated for three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, thirteen People's Choice Awards (winning three), eleven Teen Choice Awards (winning two), six Saturn Awards (winning four), and six VES Awards (winning two), as well as the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form. As you can see, it was a huge success – and continues to be so, even though two years have passed since its release!

Post-release: what is the cultural presence of the film now?

Perhaps the final thing to talk about, then, is how all of this marketing and merchandising by Marvel and Disney has panned out. Has it been a successful with the people? And has the test of time eradicated the success of the film, or has it remained?

The simple answer? The film is as popular as ever.

The online presence of the film is staggering, to say the least. Since the release of the film in 2012, the online ‘fandom’ and cult presence of the film has rocketed. On sites such as Twitter, Tumblr, DeviantART and YouTube, numerous fan works can be found showcasing unique takes on the film and inventing new storylines outside of the ‘canon’ of the Cinematic Universe. Fanfiction.net, for example, is also inundated with Avengers fanfiction; in the comics category, ‘Avengers’ is the tenth most-written for category, having 1.6k fanfic submissions, and in the films category, it is the second most popular with a whopping 27.6k fanfictions, only losing out to the Star Wars franchise which has accumulated 33.1k works. If this isn’t an indicator of cult and critical success with the masses, I don’t know what does!

This also goes to show that a powerful fandom can go a long way, and can contribute huge amounts to the overall success of a film. The fact that people have put this much effort into creating their own stories and works surrounding the Avengers Assemble story is simply amazing. In particular, I’d like to leave you with this: my favourite ever fan-video about the Avengers team, an MV (‘music video’) featuring Fall Out Boy’s My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark. Though the actual picture quality isn’t great, the concept and structure is, matching the song exactly. I think it shows the essence of the Marvel fandom – that we’re a hard-working, dedicated, and motivated bunch.

It is with this that I will now leave you. I hope that this post has been informative and useful in educating you about the marketing and merchandising of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble – understandably I now have the urge to go and watch it, so do excuse me!

Later, fellow Media enthusiasts!

• This piece of writing is for Unit 26 of Edexcel level 3 BTEC Media (Film Studies).
• A bibliography of all of the sources and sites I have used to write this article can be found here.