The Avengers Marketing and Promotion

Marvels The Avengers was released on May 4 2012 and grossed a total of $1,515,679,547 worldwide. A large portion of the overall money made was partly due to the use of the films 3D alternative viewing experience,the price of the 3D tickets were nearly doubled in the USA. The film had an extensive marketing campaign that had began years before the film was made. This was made possible by films like Iron man, Thor, The incredible Hulk and Captain America. Marvel had a set slate of films that would act over one overall story arc that has split then Marvel Cinematic Universe into three slates, at the end of each slate an Avengers film is set to be made. Through the use of a large story arc and post-credit teasers, Marvel was able to tease the Avengers film that would be made years after and stimulate fan excitement early on.

As the first slate of Marvel films began to draw to a close, leaving only Captain America and the Avengers remaining, Marvel had begun to tease the Avengers more and more. Fans first saw a glimpse of the Avengers in the form of a short teaser trailer that was presented at comic con with an audience of thousands of people. With the release of Captain America, Marvel used their trademark after credits scene to show the trailer that had previously been shown at comic con. This caused more fans to want to watch Captain America: The First Avenger and it also caused a dramatic burst of fan enthusiasm about the films release. After the release of Captain America, Marvel had began to devote pure focus to promoting the film and began to market more. Marvel had released a trailer that had been released that was downloaded over 10 million times within its first 24 hours of release.

Marvel then took to social media in order to further promote the film. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and more was used to promote and release any new trailers and news about the film. This also allowed fans to become more connected to the film and have some of their questions answered. Marvel had also began a series of partnerships with other brands in order to further promote the film. These include brands like Acura cars. This is an example of a beneficial relationship between the two companies because the cars can be seen being driven in the film by Tony Stark while the car company can further promote the film to a wider audience. When Disney bought Marvel it opened up a new range of possibilities for promotion as they could promote the Marvel Cinematic Universe through theme parks and toys and films in order to reach audiences of different age groups.

Representation of Sexuality

The scene begins with as medium shot of the two women. We can see one of the women with her arms on the shoulders of another woman. This tells the audience that the two are very close since it appears that one is helping the other get changed and it shows the strange relationship between the two. A close up shot is used to show the two characters. As a result we can see the facial expressions of the two characters and from this we can see that something is unusual from the facial expression of the character in the back of the shot. We can see that she has feelings towards the other as a result. We can begin to hear the character as she begins to narrate by saying "she looked so beautiful". This confirms that the woman does have feelings but is trying to keep them hidden. The outfits of the characters suggest that the scenes take place in a time where women were more reserved and dressed in a way that does not reveal much of their body, this explains why the woman must keep her feelings a secret because they were not as accepted during these times. A cross fade is used to transition the scenes into each other as she begins to narrate about the reasons in which she loves her. A medium shot is used when the two are featured on a bed. The camera begins to slowly zoom as the hand of the woman goes further down. This is used to build the tension of the scene as it continues up until the hand can go no further and the scene transitions. Throughout these scenes we can here non-diajetic sounds of music playing. The music is very romantic and it allows the audience to realise the strong feelings that the woman has towards the other.

The scene and music changes as we are introduced into an everyday setting. A close up of the woman shows that she is in the middle of painting while a medium shot of the woman laying down with a reaction shot of the painting character is used to show that her attraction is distracting her. The time between cuts continues to decrease as the music picks up in order to show the tension of the scene rising. The camera focuses in on the on the ground more tightly to show her becoming more distracted. A longer time between cuts is used when focusing on the male character in order to show his suspicion towards the woman. When the woman says "wake her she'll burn" we are shown her caring for the other female character and how she feels protective over her. The tension begins to build as the cut time between shots reduces once again the camera begins to zoom closer onto intimate areas of the woman body as the shots progress. This shows her becoming increasingly distracted until the male character begins to notice her feelings. The tensions builds further as the pitch of the music heightens and the cuts between shots become sharp. A close up shot of the woman's face shows her feelings in full effect as she is unable to take her eyes off her. She eventually notices that she has been caught and the music begins to slow into a suspicious sound. The shots become sharp once more when he grabs her, the short time between cuts show the sudden potential danger that the male is showing to the woman.

The man is placed above the woman in the scene as he takes her to the tree. This shows that he as a heterosexual male is being presented to have authority over the woman. The music begins to build as the man attempts to force her to marry him to show the tension building within the scene. Her body language within the scene shows that she is repulsed by him as he begins to lean in. This sequence is kept in one shot and uses a tilt to show his movement. The pace of the scene is kept slow in order to reflect how uncomfortable and unbearable this scene is for her character. The music begins to build through the scene in order to further show how uncomfortable the character is. A medium reaction shot is used to show her face as and body language as she is disgusted by the male. The music begins to fade out with the scene into another where a woman can be seen undressing. The soothing music acts in contrast with the previous scene as we can see that the woman is more comfortable in this situation than she was with the man. Slow-motion and long amounts of time between shots are used in order to reflect her comfort with this person. A few quick shot changes are used as she climbs into bed with her. The music also builds to show the tension begin to build as she struggles to hide her feelings towards the other woman. A final close-up shot is left for a long period in order to show how she is resisting the urge to look at her.

Ethnicity

The scene opens with a long shot that begins to track the movement of a character. An extreme long-shot is used to show that the scene is taking place in a hotel. This character acts against his ethnic stereotype as he is revealed to be wearing a suit and appears to be in a high position within his workplace. In a later shot we are shown a character who more accurately portrays his stereotype. The character is wearing chain jewellery and has tattoos appears to be of a lower class than the first character. We can see him use words such as "bro" and "man" frequently and as a result he appears to be less intelligent than the first character who is well spoken. During the conversation, the first character is placed above the other in the shot, implying that he is of a higher class and authority than the second character. A zoom into a close up is used as the first character says "bro", this shows us that the character is becoming more like his stereotype in order to fit in with the second character. The music is very smooth to start with and offers a sophisticated vibe to the scene  and character but as the scene continues to the point where he lowers himself to his stereotype it begins to become quicker in order to show that the character is feeling pressure to fit in.

The next scene opens with a tilt up shot and a different tempo of music in order to help show that the scene and characters have been changed. We are introduced to two new characters who appear to be hotel employees. We can tell immediately that the characters are not English as they speak with foreign accents and use words such as "monsieur" when referring to a guest, this causes them to fall into the stereotype that is assumed with hotel maids which is typically thought to be a low payed job. One of the women reveal that a male character has "payed double for double" this implies that something out of the ordinary is about to take place  as the music builds and it implies the stereotype that these foreign working class women will do anything for money.

The next scene opens with a long shot of an Asian man sitting on the bed. From his body language the audience can tell that he is extremely excited as he gestures towards the money. As the diegetic sound of the speaker begins to play, the women begin to strip. This further shows that the characters are playing up to the stereotype that women will do anything for money and it also highlights the stereotype that Asian men have extreme sexual fantasies. The time between different shots are used with a collection of close-ups that reflect the man's excitement towards the women. The decreased time between shots also combine with the music to show the build up of tension of one of the women as she begins to want to leave the room. This shows the audience that the female character is challenging the stereotype and refuses to continue while the other conforms to the stereotype and carries on.

In a later scene we are introduced to two new characters who are both British. The accent is used to make the characters sound as if they are of a higher class and status than the workers, implying that they work in a managerial position. This is also enforced through their formal attire and their upright body language. Two-shots are mainly used through out this scene and it gives the impression that they are of the same status and are working in the same roles. Their status over the workers can be seen as the workers are forced to walk around them, leaving the two characters in the centre of the shot.

The two characters walk into the kitchen where the audience is introduced to another set of characters. Two main characters are the focus of the scene, one is Italian and the other is British. The audience can immediately tell that the first chef is Italian from his thick accent. This character sticks to his stereotype as he uses a wide range of expressive gestures such as his hand gestures and the way that he kisses the forehead of his co-worker. There is clearly some tension between the two characters as the British character is clearly uncomfortable around him with his body language. Close-up shots are used more frequently when the two British characters leave as the music builds up in order to show the tension that is piling up, indicating to the audience that the two chefs are about to clash. The two characters begin to use stereotypes of each other's characters as insults. These include phrases such as "British pleb", "piggy little eyes","pig ugly English cretin". We can see that the characters are becoming offended by the stereotypes as a close-up of the Italian chef picking up the knife shows that tensions are really building as the time between cuts decrease while the pace of the music increases. The use of a medium two-shot shows the how the smaller Italian chef has changed the balance of power by pulling out a knife even though the English character towers over him. This helps enforce another stereotype that Italians can be aggressive once offended.