January 12, 2002

Old Hobbits Are Hard to Break
Learning About the Marketing of Motion Pictures on the Web

Grades:  6-8,9-12

Subjects:  Language Arts, Media Studies

Related New York Times Article
"'Lord of the Rings' Taps the Net to Build Excitement for Film, By RICK LYMAN", January 12, 2002

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students will role-play advertising executives in an exploration of how films are marketed on the Web to distinct audiences.

Suggested Time Allowance:  45 minutes

Objectives:
Students will:
  1. Write about their experiences with movie-based Web sites.
  2. Learn about the Web marketing of the "Lord of the Rings" films by reading and discussing the article "'Lord of the Rings' Taps the Net to Build Excitement for Film."
  3. As a class, choose a fairy tale upon which to base a feature film, and brainstorm possible audiences for the film.
  4. In groups, create a page on the film's Web site that will appeal to a specific target audience.
  5. Write a letter to the Webmaster critiquing the site as member of their group's target audience.

Resources / Materials:

Activities / Procedures:

  1. WARM-UP/DO NOW: In their journals, students respond to the following prompt (written on the board prior to class): "Have you ever gone online to learn more about an upcoming film that interests you? Do you think that the Internet is an effective way for filmmakers to advertise to people your age? Why or why not?" After giving students a few minutes to write, conduct a short discussion based on the journals.
  2. As a class, read the article "'Lord of the Rings' Taps the Net to Build Excitement for Film," focusing on the following questions:
    1. What are the features on the official "Lord of the Rings" Web site?
    2. Why is New Line Cinema putting so much time and effort into Web marketing of the films?
    3. Why are movies with "superhero, sword and sorcery, science fiction or teenage horror themes" marketed so heavily on the Web?
    4. What happened when the movie-makers announced that some of the characters from the novels would not be in the films?
    5. How have sales of Tolkein books benefited from the making of the "Lord of the Rings" movies?
    6. How does Laura Ziskin's approach to Web marketing differ from that of Joel Nimziki's?
    7. What three audiences are the filmmakers of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy trying to "woo"?
    8. What is one feature that the "Lord of the Rings" site will not have?
  3. As a class, choose a fairy tale with which the whole class is familiar. On the classroom board, write a list of main characters and a brief plot summary. Then present the students with the following scenario: "You are advertising executives for a major film studio. You have been asked to come up with various marketing campaigns for the film adaptation of this fairy tale. Each campaign should appeal to a distinct movie-going audience." As a class, use the audiences mentioned in the article (in the paragraph beginning "The filmmakers are wooing three audiences...") as a starting point to brainstorm a list of different types of movie-going audiences. Write the list on the classroom board. Divide the class into groups of four. Each group selects an audience and creates the page on the film's Web site that would appeal to members of this audience. Each group should consider the use of graphics, color scheme, interactive programs, information, and links in the design of their page. The page should also include explanations of scenes from the film in a way that will appeal to the target audience (groups are encouraged to creatively slant the plot to suit their advertising needs, as long as the general plot structure agreed upon as a class is kept intact). Each group renders their Web page on poster board. Display the different Web page designs in the classroom, indicating the target audience next to each page.
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Write a letter to the Webmaster of your film's Web site from the point-of-view of a member of your group's target audience. Express your opinion about the sites accessibility and appeal to you, and whether the content of the site makes you want to see the film.

Further Questions for Discussion:

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated on completion of a journal entry, participation in class discussion, creation of a page for the film's Web site, and completion of a letter to the Webmaster from the point-of-view of a member of their group's target audiences

Vocabulary:
trilogy, hobbits, orcs, black riders, evoked, fervid, fervent, viral, connivance, nuance, demographic, rabid, canon, exploitation, epic, exponentially, evangelist, wariness, augmented

Extension Activities:

  1. Read one of the books in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Then look at the "Lord of the Rings" Web site and critique its representation of the events, characters, and themes of the book. Write a letter to the Webmaster expressing your views.
  2. Explore the Web site of one of your favorite movies from the past year. Create a chart comparing this site to the "Lord of the Rings" site. Some aspects to compare include: target audience, types of features, and average number of hits per day.
  3. Adapt an excerpt from one of the "Lord of the Rings" novels into a movie scene. Prepare costumes and props, and act out the scene for your class.
  4. Throughout the book "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien, characters and events are describes through poems and songs. Read "The Hobbit" focusing on the poems and songs, then write your own poem in the same style about a person you know or an event from your life.
  5. In "The Hobbit," Bilbo Baggins finds himself lost and engages in a riddle contest with Golum in order to learn the way out. Read this section of the novel and write your own riddles that have the same solutions as the ones given by Bilbo and Golum.

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Fine Arts- Many people complain that movie versions of books reduce the creative power of the reader by ascribing images to the text. After reading one of the books in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, create a drawing or painting of one of the characters based on the way they are described in the book and how they appear in your imagination. Divide the major characters up among classmates and create a "Lord of the Rings" character mural in your classroom.

Geography- After reading "The Lord of the Rings," create a map of Middle Earth and plot the locations of important events from the story.

Math- Conduct a survey of trivia questions about the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, both the book and film version. Ask questions about the plot and characters of the story itself, and also questions about the making of the film (such as which actors are in it, where it was filmed, and other trivia accessible through the official Web site). Survey people of different ages and create a graph comparing age groups and the knowledge people have about the books and the film. What does your data suggest about the target audience for the film? Write a short analysis of your findings.

Social Studies- Learn more about the field of interactive marketing (Web advertising) and business development. Ask a professional in the field to speak to your class about the types of projects he or she works on and the tasks he or she is asked to perform. Then create a resume for an imaginary interactive marketing executive, listing prior experience and skills that would make this person a successful Web marketer.

Copyright 2002
The New York Times Company

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