Why we're watching the Watchmen?

As many of you now know, today is the day Watchmen officially opens in theatres. As I write this, thousands of rabid fan-boys across the continent have already fought off sleep, jobs and, quite possibly, normal human contact to attend as many Watchmen screenings as possible (As I write this, the thrid screening of Watchmen is now taking place in Cineplex Odeon theatres across Canada). Oh rabid fans. So hilarious.

I wonder how many are wearing costumes to the theatre?

Anyway. I personally have been waiting for this film to come out since I saw that brilliant teaser trailer when The Dark Knight opened last year. For those not familiar, it's the one using The Smashing Pumpkins "The End is the Beginning is the End" remix, aptly titlted "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" (get it?). The song's been out for a while. I believe it first appeared on the Batman Forever soundtrack. It's also the first song I ever "downloaded" using Napster, way back when. Those were the days!

Zack Snyder's decision to use this track in the teaser was brilliant. It's a moody remix of a semi-popular, catchy song, and it provides an excellent glimpse into what the overall tone of the film will be: dark, brooding, and devious. It also foreshadowed the kind of publicity push this film was going get between then and now. Again, while I've been eagerly awaiting Watchmen's release, I'm absolutely amazed at the amount of publicity the film has generated.

I work in communications, with most of my experience being on the entertainment industry side. I've worked on enough entertainment-related brands to understand the challenges involved in landing mass amounts of publicity on a given project, let alone doing so in a concise manner using several different types of media. One thing I've learning through my experience is the importance of having a concise and well-thought out communications plan in place. A properly constructed plan will allow the execution of tactics to flow smoothly, while the absence of such a plan can lead to a jumbled, mixed-messaged mess. What the Watchmen communications/marketing team has done is mind-boggling, and I'm certain it's because of an excellent plan. 

The advanced coverage this film has received - especially during the last week - is just crazy. I haven't seen all the press associated with this film, but suffice to say, it's a massive amount. The Canadian press alone is staggering. A quick coverage scan shows over 150 print and online hits, including the five-or-so wire stories picked up by many papers across the country throughout the past week. From general film reviews to cast and crew interviews to the inevitable how-does-this-relate-to-Canada story, our homegrown press has been gobbling up anything and everything to do with the film.

I've also noticed the frequency at which print publications have been posting Watchmen sidebar and spinoff stories (check out those linked to the Katherine Monk CanWest piece - shown above, in the "More On This Story" section). I'm certain a publicity team had a hand in generating and facilitating this direct and ancillary press.

The National Post also ran an interesting illustrated history of The Watchmen screen adaptation (Who makes the Watchmen?) in it's weekly Avenue spread. Papers all over the continent have been printing features like this all week. I'm certain publicity teams all around the major markets have been working night and day to generate this kind of press. Kudos!

The Watchmen brand has also been steadily promoted using a bunch of different marketing techniques. These ranging from lengthy television ads to attention-grabbing events, including the innovative Manhattan-on-Thames stunt, featuring a 7-story-tall Dr. Manhattan rising out of London's famed river. They also created a fake newscast from the '70s that went viral in January. Wow. 

Perhaps the greatest press achievement has been the film's ability to settle so firmly within the realm of social media. Of the 25-or-so film blogs I follow, all of them have consistently posted on The Watchmen throughout the past two-weeks (see right for a few examples ->). The case can be made that a large portion of this online interest stems from the deep, religious-like interest many blog-enthusiasts have for Watchmen in general. However, I've noticed a large number of film-blogs posting original content, including direct interviews with actors/crew, behind-the-scenes features, advanced screening reviews and a slew of press material they could only have received directly. This suggests the direct influence of a publicity team, which also suggests the innovativeness on the part of this team to reach out to non-traditional media types. Again, kudos!

I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface of what has been done to promote this film. In general though, everything publicity and marketing teams around the world have done to promote this film is indicative of a well-thought out, well-researched and well-executed plan. It's amazing what a thoughtful and innovative plan can do to etch a brand so permanently in the minds of the general public.

While reading through Kofi Outlaw of Screenrant's disection of Watchmen today, I came across this quote... 

Seriously though, I’m getting a little fed up with these critics who have their heads so close up" to the movie screen they seem to miss what’s going on beyond the screening room, in the theater of the public. Watchmen is our cultural fixation of the moment–but that fascination won’t last long. I realize that. However, the Watchmen craze WILL last long enough for Snyder and Warner Bros. (and Fox) to turn a very pretty profit for all their hard work, distilling Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ great achievement into mass consumptive form.

Kofi Outlaw also mentions the hype surround the film as one of the main reasons why it will be successful. Obviously reviews of the film are going to be mixed. However, this quote to me that the Watchmen brand - at least for the moment - has transcended traditional movie status to become the pop-culture talking point du jour. Of course all the hype will fade next week, but to inundate a global population with enough information so as to create a global cultural phenomenon is no easy task. 

A lot of this hype can be attribute to a team of publicists and marketing people. Furthermore, all the tactics and techniques employed to promote this film outlines the utter importance of having a clear and concise plan. I'm certain without a well-researched plan, Watchmen would have been in trouble. Without a bankable star presence, it's quite possible Watchmen would be floundering instead of on the verge of a record-breaking opening weekend.

The IMDB game - An explanation

When I was in University, I (like many) was forced to write a multitude of ridiculous essays. While I generally enjoyed the topics I wrote about in school, I hated the strict, regimented way in which I had to organize (re vomit) information in academic "essay" form. That strict Hamburger method generally left me feeling uninspired to do more than was necessary to finish an essay. Lets be real here; there is no art to University essay writing. If you can figure out the formula (it's not that hard), you can crank out mindless, quote-laden schlock to support your wildly baseless arguments in mere hours. What fun! 

I always found it beneficial to my overall well-being to stretch these mere hours into days. Some would call this procrastination, but I preferred to call it "extra-curricular research time." To escape the monotony of school work, I, like many, tended to drift to the wide expanse of the Interweb. While others spent their time playing mindless flash games on ebaumsworld, I chose to waste valuable essay hours surfing IMDB.com.

Love it or hate it, IMDB is the single best resource for pertinent film news on the web. Of course, IMDB doesn't approach the industry with the same robust intellectualism of a trade magazine or well-informed blog, but its database format allows IMDB to synthesize mountains of key film information easily and in one place. It's ultra-clickable interface also makes it invaluable in determining who worked on what and, more importantly (or so says I), who's working on, or will be working on what in the near future. For click-hungry, film buffs or for those who just don't feel like sifting through a bunch of text to figure out what's going on, IMDB is the place to be.

I spent hours in university foregoing essays in favour of semi-conscious IMDB clicking. I found that by beginning with a particular actor/director/film of interest, I could start on a click adventure and discover what new/exciting projects were in the works while still keeping in the spirit of wasting time. Soon after, I began trying to work my click adventures into full circles; trying to see if I could start and end with the same person/film. And thus the IMDB game was born.

Feel like playing? Here are a few rules I created to make the game challenging and super FUN!!!

1. Beginning with any actor, alternate between individual (actor, director, producer) and film title. When possible, try to keep the loop going using new film projects (the ones with red writing next to them). This way, you'll get a better handle on what's going on.
   
2. Don't be a hero. There are millions of entries in IMDB. If it's been an hour and you still haven't come full circle, just quit. After all, this is supposed to be a mindless distraction from important computer-related things, not a psychotic obsession. If you're feeling industrious though, write out your connections (see below) and pick up where you left off later. 

While the IMDB game doesn't always produce high-calibre projects, it does give you an informative - and potentially hilarious - whitewash of information (you'd be surprised how many actors have starred in now-defunct TV series'). This game also forces you to select people in the industry who are well-know, relevant and most-likely still working and keeps you abreast of many new and proposed major films coming out in the near future.   

So with that, here is my first IMDB game entry. I will be playing it from time to time, then posting my results on my blog. If you'd like to play as well, I encourage you to record your connections and post them in the comments section under the IMDB game blog posts.

I began this IMDB game entry last week, shortly after writing my The Rocker post. However, because of my erratic laptop battery, I lost my original post and was discouraged to reproduce it until now. Don't you just hate when that happens?

Anyway, here's my first entry. I managed to go full circle on this one. I had to trudge through A LOT of terrible one-off TV shows, but it was worth it. Have a look

The Rocker -> Rainn Wilson -> Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -> Megan Fox -> Ironclad -> Paul Giamatti -> The Last Station -> Christopher Plummer -> Up -> Edward Asner -> Trim -> Bruce Dern -> Hart's Location -> Diane Ladd -> American Cowslip -> Val Kilmer -> The Dirt -> Christopher Walken -> Kevin Approaches -> Guy Pierce -> In Her Skin -> Sam Neill -> Daybreakers -> Willem Dafoe -> The Wild Bunch -> Elizabeth Hurley -> The Last Guy on Earth -> Carol Burnett -> The Post Grad Survival Guide -> Jane Lynch -> The Rocker

Happy IMDB gaming!!!