Synergy is the term used to describe the simultaneous (or near simultaneous) launch of promotion or materials for a product or product line.
Indie Game: The Movie is a very unique and effective film when it comes to synergy. The documentary focuses on the creation of 3 different games. Prior to release it released these posters as well as a trailer on YouTube.
When it released, it became available on a multitude of formats such as DVD and digital. These were available for purchase on the film's website.
However, it was very unique in that it was the first movie to ever launch on Valve's digital game distribution service, Steam. Not only this, but it was available for purchase in bundles that included the games featured in the film. This is significant since it was able to reach its demographic audience in a very effective way, since a majority of people who have heard or bought these games prior to the film will have seen the film featured on the store.
Indie Game's store page on Steam
The product was also featured on social media through sites like Facebook. As seen this features promotion for Steam as well as bundles available with the film to further provide incentive to buy the film even after release.
Prior to this, the documentary was also shown at film festivals to increase awareness and hype, which was further helped by the awards it won. It also featured a limited theatrical release for the die hard fans of the documentary to see, with showings that inconsistently continue to this day.
Throughout this entire process of marketing, a brand name and symbol became steadily apparent. The light hue of blue with the white text is iconic of the documentary, and so basic attention to what the product the consumer is looking at. This along side with the shot of the Super Nintendo controller hanging on the electric wires and the poster art of a Super Nintendo hanging from an unknown position also brings with it instant brand recognition. This is taken from a shot from the film, where this iconic symbol derives from.
Screenshot from film opening
The film also features games that are part of the "pixel art" style, and so fits with the style of everything being blocky or angular. This is even reflected in the types of shot which are often heavy with symmetry or rules of thirds, making sure every "block" in the shot is filled.
The pixel game "Super Meat Boy"
The pixel game "Fez"
Development of "Super Meat Boy", shots have object of interest at each point in the rule of thirds grid
This is the term used for raw film footage of factual and existing events as opposed to dramatized ones.
Voice Over
Commentary by the filmmaker spoken over footage for exposition or information. This example opens with Voice Over to give a brief overview of what the documentary is about.
Direct and Indirect Interviews
Interviews allow people to speak about events with the prompt of a question, The interview may be on or off screen, possibly with a set. Interview segments are merely clips from a longer interview, addressing relevant issues and topics in the documentary. This helps add a sense of realism to the documentary as well as an opinion to consider or share for the viewer. This example uses both, with a set for an interview as well as clips of relevant topics played over the dialogue:
Archival Footage
This is footage from an archive or film library inserted into a documentary to show historical events, or add detail without the need for extra filming. This example has a voice over of archival footage of trains and railroads.
Reenactment
This is a dramatization of an event, acted out so that the viewer can see the event and better understand it even though the cameras did not film it. Reenactment is often indicated through visual effects or a disclaimer.
Montage Sequence
This conveys ideas through a visual order of shots in the film.Narrative montages involve planning of a sequence of shots used to indicate changes in time and place within a film. Ideational montages link actions with words. Montages are usually linked to words characters say. This visual representation makes it easier for the viewer to understand and retain the information being given.
Exposition
This occurs at the beginning of a film and introduces important themes. This is vital as it creates the audience's first impression of the film. This example opens up with exposition, both in text form and through recorded audio from the event.
The style in which we've decided to make our documentary is participatory mode. We've decided there is no possible way we can create a documentary about a subject we are passionate and informed about without slight, if not major, bias. We've agreed the best way to deal with this is by going with this style, as it accepts these terms.
The Participatory Documentary I've decided to analyze is called" Free to Play", and is a documentary about the DOTA 2 Championship in Cologne, Germany, and the members of the teams participating. It was made and produced by Valve, the Game Developer behind the game featured.
The documentary opens with an establishing shot and exposition in text form telling the audience what the subject of the documentary is about. It builds intrigue and curiosity in the viewer, and each establishing shot brings us one step closer to seeing the location of the competition, as well as the competition itself. The music is subtle at first and becomes more intense as more is shown, building up excitement for the reveal. The footage is sped up and the shots are changed frequently to hold the attention of the viewer as well as create the same tension and the excitement the music is.
A sequence of shots establish Cologne as the location of the competition, as well as create and idea as to the scale of it.
When the convention center is finally depicted, it is with a sped up shot of the sun rising as well as with the company name. This signifies the beginning of the documentary from an informative side as well as the beginning of the day of the competition.
This is then followed by shots of the convention center, showing the mass of crowds and further making clear the scale of this event. The crowd is eager for the day to start, and this anticipation is infectious to the audience, despite the presumed lack of knowledge to what the actual event is. The voice of an announcer is heard claiming the first place prize is $1 million.
The documentary then goes on to show us the main characters that it will be following. It gives brief dialogue from them explaining a basic background, grabbing the audience's curiosity with what their personality and story is like. The individual character's scenes are interlaced with more footage from the crowds, the brief scenes themselves have multiple shots of the characters preparing for the day. All 3 of the characters are from very diverse backgrounds, giving a unique perspective of the events from each on of them, as one is from Asia, the other from Europe and the last from North America. The 3 segments are edited one after the other so the same level information about all 3 characters is given one after the other and no real bias towards any is formed. The documentary is edited this was so that the audience can make their own opinions on the characters without learning the entire story of one before being introduced to another.
This then followed by a brief summary of their motivations over shots of all of them preparing their gaming setups at the competition. It ends with a shot of Clinton looking at the camera as he puts on his headphones as it fades to the title screen. This signifies the end of the summaries and that the detail of each person and the competition will begin. These two shots are edited consecutively to show the "game" is about to begin, and everything leading up to this was just precursory.
The documentary then builds an emotional connection with the audience by giving each of these characters a personality. This builds tension within the documentary as we care whether these players succeed in the tournament or not, which also creates conflict as all of them are on separate teams and only one can win. This is done through interviews with the people themselves as well as those that know them, giving a history to the character often with archival footage or photographs edited during the speech of an interview to build an image and closer emotional connection.
Information about the character is built with personal interviews with people who knew him for a long time.
While being voiced over by these interviews, images associated with what is being said help create interest and a clearer idea of what is being said.
In between the exposition of each character are also professional interviews from experts in the industry giving a professional background of the character. This helps further build audience opinion with a mix of professional as well as personal.
As well as this, information on the competition through info-graphics which give clear and concise information with comparisons to show what the differences are even to the uninformed viewer. The footage isn't just still frames though, but instead are info-graphics that adjust as dialogue describes it, making it easier to understand both the explanation and info-graphic itself.
Other tournaments are shown with their prize money compared in a simple to understand way, despite the changes in currency.
The prize money for each place is shown as it scrolls down. This shows the vast difference in the places and puts importance into getting first place, increasing tension.
The timing of everything is clearly shown with text as opposed to narration to be quick and concise, with occasional information of import on the screen with it,along with statistics and rankings when relevant during the segment. This lets the viewer know exactly what is going on and the implications of winning or losing that day which increase the tension of the documentary without telling any untruths or shooting an acted scene.
Intrigue and tension is also created by showing the effects and consequences of what the characters are doing, both in and out of the tournament.
The gameplay of the events is also shown for archived footage, with a CGI video creating a more dramatic version of the game to give the idea that you're seeing it from the "gamer's perspective".
Gameplay
CGI Remake
Finally, after the competition, we are shown the aftermath of all the characters whether they've won or lost. This is done through establishing where they are now with an opening shot, observations of their life as well as a personal interview, and a final closing statement by the film makers saying what they're doing now.
This is the most abstract form of documentary. Ideas like continuity and a traditional story went out the window in favor with shots for the sake of association, emphasizing description, tonal/rhythmic elements and form.
2. Expository Documentaries This form of documentary is much more traditional. Its trademark is speaking directly to the viewer to either inform them or create an argument. The idea that a narrator speaks directly to the viewer immediately forms a bias, whether intentional or not.
3. Observational Documentaries
Observational documentaries are essentially the opposite of expository. The idea of them is for the viewer to form their own opinion on the subject by viewing things directly as the camera sees them with no interference from the crew. Bias can still be formed through editing and selecting what information to show and not to show, however the intention of this mode is to create as little bias as possible.
4. Participatory Documentaries
Participatory documentaries stem from the idea that it is impossible for the crew or presence of cameras to create a completely unbiased atmosphere. Instead, this mode embraces it and directly interviews the subjects, with a mix of observational shots. This creates an atmosphere where opinion isn't just obtained through observation, but rather from the direct quotes of the interviewees themselves. The tone and subject of the questions may still create bias, but the interviewer's speech is usually removed to make this effect the viewer as little as possible.
5. Reflexive Documentaries
This mode question the way that documentary film making actually affects the subjects, and increases awareness on how these films construct representations of reality.
6. Performative Documentaries
This mode directly involves the film maker, often as someone on screen and directly involved. Instead of objectivity, this form of documentary favors emotion on screen with the implication of the viewers feeling the same way.
We didn't come up with the idea mentioned in my task outline straight away. We started off with the idea of wanting to create a documentary and created the subsequent mindmaps:
We knew we wanted to convey some sort of social message, but decided on impact of video games so that our topic wasn't one that has been rehashed too many times, as well as is relative and modern.
The social impacts of video games is a very wide subject, and we are still deciding what the particulars of our documentary are. However, we do know that we want a positive message that will inform people who aren't familiar with video games that the popular negative image of them isn't necessarily true.
Our task is to create a 5 minute documentary within a group of 3, namely myself (Adrian) as well as Youssef and Faisa. Our documentary will be focused on the topic of gaming and its social implications. However, we have yet to decide on the actual social issue within that we want to focus on, but we will decide on that after watching and analysing documentaries on similar topics such as Free-to-Play or Indie Game: The Movie.
