We will be examining theatre/movies and their advertising, as Lizzie is majoring in Advertising and Teigan in Theatre studies. We will be doing this through comparing two movies, The Phantom of the Opera and The Room. The Phantom being theatrical, widely popular and successful and The Room having been labelled ‘one of the worst movies ever’ and due to this has amassed a large cult following. Through these differences in perceived success, we will examine how this came about through the use of their trailers, advertising and word of mouth.
The Room is a melodramatic story of a love triangle between a man, his fiancé and best friend, which has been labeled as ‘one of the worst movies ever made’ due to the poor acting, bad dialogue, plot holes and inconsistencies and numerous, and overly long sex scenes.
It was written, directed, produced and distributed by the lead actor Tommy Wiseau, who also funded most of the 6 million dollars it cost to make the film himself. The movie had no studio support or marketing before it premiered at a Laemmle Theatre in Los Angeles on June 27, 2003. At the premier the audience members were apparently laughing within 10 minutes of the movie starting and by the end some were “rolling around” and “crying with laughter”. The film’s first run was at only a handful of cinemas and made less than $2,000.
After The Room’s initial reception Tommy Wiseau backpedalled and claimed that the movie was always meant to be a black comedy rather than a drama, and had written it for such reactions. After receiving “hundreds of emails” praising for making the film, Wiseau had the confidence to begin midnight screenings of the movie on a monthly basis, where audience members were encouraged to dress up as their favourite characters, throw items at the screen and yell insults and criticisms about the poor quality of the movie. Through these screenings, the 2005 DVD release and the increase of celebrity fans, which include Will Arnett, Alec Baldwin, Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill, the movie began to be shown throughout the United States Canada, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where it now has a large cult following worldwide.
The Phantom of the Opera is the longest running musical in history and is the only one to ever reach 18, 19, 20 and 21st birthdays on Broadway. It is based on the novel by French writer, Gaston Leroux, which was first published in 1909. After Andrew Lloyd Webbers 1986 production, countless stage adaptions and the 2004 film directed by Joel Schumacher, The Phantom of The Opera is now an internation success and one of the largest entertainment enterprises in the world.
The Phantom of the Opera and The Room’s trailers have clearly been used and reacted to in completely different ways, if even in The Room’s situation may have been purely accidental. Phantom of the Opera already had a large following due to its long and popular stage show, so the trailer was used through normal media channels to appeal to people who were already a fan of the show and also attract new fans who have not seen or heard of it before. The big budget movie had a large advertising budget and was able to show the trailer on television screens across the world as well as an audio version on radio. Whereas, The Room, which did not have a budget for advertising at all besides a billboard before its release LA, only released their trailer on the Internet/YouTube. Even through these small avenues of advertising, it still garnered interest. An example of this is how David Cross became intrigued by The Room while filming the 2004-05 season of Arrested Development. Cross and fellow cast mate, Will Arnett, would always see the billboard and often wonder what movie it was advertising, until one day they Googled it and watched the trailer. Soon, both were cracking each other up by repeating one of the film’s signature line: ”You are tearing me apart, Lisa!”. From this they then recommended the trailer and film to other celebrity friends who became similarly obsessed with it.
Phantom of The Opera, Music and Advertising
* 1989 first film adaptation
* Done as a horror film based on Gaston Leroux’s novel
* Focuses more on the darker aspect of the story and less on the spectacle of the opera house
* Large emphasis on dialogue and promotes the name The Phantom of The Opera to the point where it is almost annoying. However this would probably have worked as back then it was a new production and people hadn’t heard of it before
* In the 2004 film version, the tv advert is based solely on the musical score, letting Andrew Lloyd Webbers music encompass the atmosphere of the film rather than any spoken dialogue.
* Phantom of the Opera and the music is now so famous that it is now unnecessary to really put much information into their advertising campaigns.
* People identify with the music and the image more so than the dialogue.
* Looking at many adverts today there is a greater emphasis on musical scores than spoken dialogue.
* Car ads are very big on this. For example the new skoda water glass ad
* Music is very influential and allows the audience to feel whatever they want without being fed information
* Music is also a very popular in advertising as people will identify with their product whenever they hear their song. Eg. Satisfaction. TEDs.
* The Masquerade scene is also one of the most popular images and features in both the broadway and film adverts.
* This scene is one of pure spectacle, amazing costumes and vibrancy and people love to identify with the glitz and glamour which makes it a popular choice.
* Looking back at the reading on night and day, light and dark, these ads really play with those elements. The darkness of the Phantom and his lair, the use of
candles and shadow compared with the spectacle and light of the masquerade ball and the Paris Opera House.
* The Phantom of the Opera brings together music, dance and theatre to produce one creative entity which has enraptured audiences for over two decades.
Both movies gained positive success for different reasons. With media reviews about The Room calling it “the Citizen Kane of bad movies” to “a bad – shockingly bad – romantic tragedy” it is hard to see how the movie can be seen as successful. But it is through this reception that piqued the public’s interest and has gained fans worldwide, where initially expectations were not that high. It also, though for unintended reasons, has made Tommy Wiseau more well known as he intended the movie to be a stage for him to show off his acting “ability”.
Even though reception for Phantom of the Opera wasn’t as successful as it’s stage show, it can still be said that it has been successful. By gaining new fans through the movie medium, and also being able to reinterpret the original with special effects and and a seamlessness that was not able to be done through a stage show. Critics of the film have praised the praised the film for “its sheer spectacle”. It has also broadened The Phantom of the Opera’s empire spanning accross different mediums and to a greater public awareness.
Questions
Have you seen The Room and/or Phantom of the Opera and what was your opinion of it/them?
Can you think of any movies, like the Room, which have become successful because of their failure?
Can you think any screen adapatations of stage shows that have become more popular after the movie? How come they are more popular?
Do you feel more influenced by music or dialogue than watching movie trailers and advertising?
How much influence does a trailer have on your decision to see a movie, rather than word of mouth?
What influences you to see a movie at the cinema rather than wait to see it on DVD/download it?
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/sep/10/cinema-the-room-cult
Lizzie and Creativity 