HUGE is a short-film, directed by SP Krause, written by SP Krause & Shayne Armstrong and produced by Charles Mitchell, SP Krause, Lachlan Madsen and Mark Eyers. It is an offbeat Hollywood ghost story mixing dark satire and subtle unease and creepiness, grounded in movie history, folklore and a few rumours.
ADVERTISING PROBLEM
Film festivals are highly-competitive environments to a) enter and b) draw an audience for the screening of films. Currently, the various target markets are unaware of HUGE as a film.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
To increase awareness of HUGE among the target markets. To generate high interest in the film, resulting in a) selection for film festivals and b) strong audience attendance and support at those festivals.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Primary target audience: Film festival goers. Males and Females 18-45. Tertiary educated. Largely professionals. Interest in cinema in general and short films in particular. Many will be attending genre film festivals such as Screamfest, A Night of Horror, Puchon etc but many will also be attending more mainstream festivals such as BIFF, MIFF and SIFF. Huge will most appeal to those who are film literate and movie buffs as well as those who are interested in offbeat, subtle horror and black comedy.
Secondary target audience: Film festival selectors and programmers. They are generally an older market 30+. These are the gatekeepers for getting films into festivals in the first place. Highly film literate and hard to please.
SINGLE-MINDED PROPOSITION
HUGE is a creepy, darkly comic short film that is a must-see and must-screen movie at a film festival.
TONE OF ADVERTISING
Creepy, dramatic, darkly humourous.
RESPONSE
When Barry Branch decides he wants to be huge, he knows exactly what he’s in for – but the audience doesn’t need to.
At least, not until they actually see the film. This advertising campaign for HUGE guides the audience along the dark fringes of Barry’s sealed fate. By revealing just enough to pique a typical film festival-goer’s interest, the campaign practically leaves a trail of Ding Dongs straight to the box office.
Through three different types of media the design concepts for each are closely linked, with Ding Dongs at the centre of it all.
As the main feature of the postcard, the mouldy, maggot-infested innards of an otherwise delicious-looking Ding Dong represent Barry’s bittersweet journey down a dark path of sacrificing his health for fame. The tainted chocolate contrasts against the pure white tiles it sits upon; the overall image gives the viewer a sense of unease and suggests that there’s more than meets the eye about HUGE.
The campaign’s poster gives the viewer the point-of-view of Barry Branch as he looks down to his feet upon the weighing scales. Automatically, the sense of unease is present, as it often is when we step upon our bathroom scales. The Ding Dong in his hand perpetuates this tone as it reflects that of the postcard; maggots writhing through mouldy chocolate. While the poster’s overall colour scheme and Ding Dong presence tie it in with the two other mediums, the poster is differentiated by a subtle but slightly more sinister aspect – the scale’s red pitchfork indicates Barry’s weight but also the deal he has made with the devil.
The Australian audience’s lack of awareness of Ding Dongs as confectionary only strengthens the intrigue surrounding the campaign. Despite the unappetising cake pictured on the postcards, the non-traditional concept of the ‘Ding Dong Giveaway’ is expected to appeal to any crowd’s inexhaustible desire for free samples. The packaging, able to be tailored specifically to any film festival HUGE screens at, will act as a reinforcement of the film’s promotion by instructing audiences where and when they can see the movie. As a result, the packaging stays with the audience member who will not feel obliged to simply to throw it away as with ordinary confectionary wrappers.
To be huge means many things to many people, just as it does to Barry Branch. The concepts will prepare potential audiences with just enough encouragement to see HUGE and still be impacted by its dark suggestions and subtle humour.
Concept Artist: Siobhan Browne
ADVERTISING PROBLEM
Film festivals are highly-competitive environments to a) enter and b) draw an audience for the screening of films. Currently, the various target markets are unaware of HUGE as a film.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
To increase awareness of HUGE among the target markets. To generate high interest in the film, resulting in a) selection for film festivals and b) strong audience attendance and support at those festivals.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Primary target audience: Film festival goers. Males and Females 18-45. Tertiary educated. Largely professionals. Interest in cinema in general and short films in particular. Many will be attending genre film festivals such as Screamfest, A Night of Horror, Puchon etc but many will also be attending more mainstream festivals such as BIFF, MIFF and SIFF. Huge will most appeal to those who are film literate and movie buffs as well as those who are interested in offbeat, subtle horror and black comedy.
Secondary target audience: Film festival selectors and programmers. They are generally an older market 30+. These are the gatekeepers for getting films into festivals in the first place. Highly film literate and hard to please.
SINGLE-MINDED PROPOSITION
HUGE is a creepy, darkly comic short film that is a must-see and must-screen movie at a film festival.
TONE OF ADVERTISING
Creepy, dramatic, darkly humourous.
RESPONSE
When Barry Branch decides he wants to be huge, he knows exactly what he’s in for – but the audience doesn’t need to.
At least, not until they actually see the film. This advertising campaign for HUGE guides the audience along the dark fringes of Barry’s sealed fate. By revealing just enough to pique a typical film festival-goer’s interest, the campaign practically leaves a trail of Ding Dongs straight to the box office.
Through three different types of media the design concepts for each are closely linked, with Ding Dongs at the centre of it all.
As the main feature of the postcard, the mouldy, maggot-infested innards of an otherwise delicious-looking Ding Dong represent Barry’s bittersweet journey down a dark path of sacrificing his health for fame. The tainted chocolate contrasts against the pure white tiles it sits upon; the overall image gives the viewer a sense of unease and suggests that there’s more than meets the eye about HUGE.
The campaign’s poster gives the viewer the point-of-view of Barry Branch as he looks down to his feet upon the weighing scales. Automatically, the sense of unease is present, as it often is when we step upon our bathroom scales. The Ding Dong in his hand perpetuates this tone as it reflects that of the postcard; maggots writhing through mouldy chocolate. While the poster’s overall colour scheme and Ding Dong presence tie it in with the two other mediums, the poster is differentiated by a subtle but slightly more sinister aspect – the scale’s red pitchfork indicates Barry’s weight but also the deal he has made with the devil.
The Australian audience’s lack of awareness of Ding Dongs as confectionary only strengthens the intrigue surrounding the campaign. Despite the unappetising cake pictured on the postcards, the non-traditional concept of the ‘Ding Dong Giveaway’ is expected to appeal to any crowd’s inexhaustible desire for free samples. The packaging, able to be tailored specifically to any film festival HUGE screens at, will act as a reinforcement of the film’s promotion by instructing audiences where and when they can see the movie. As a result, the packaging stays with the audience member who will not feel obliged to simply to throw it away as with ordinary confectionary wrappers.
To be huge means many things to many people, just as it does to Barry Branch. The concepts will prepare potential audiences with just enough encouragement to see HUGE and still be impacted by its dark suggestions and subtle humour.
Concept Artist: Siobhan Browne
