Too much, too young...

Whilst listening to the numerous ways to create and market your movie @ AI Day, my mind drifted to a thought that's been following me around for a few months: Is there such a thing as over-saturation when it comes to promoting a movie?

I've been a film fan for as long as I can remember, and as a kid (back in the 80's), the few promotional outlets were:

Barry Norman on Film-whichever year it was.

Bus Stops

Massive billboards on the A13

The cinema foyer

Trailers before movies

Adverts in newspapers.

As my interest in films grew, I would buy Photoplay, Starburst, Time Out, before moving onto the staple diet of Empire, Neon (which lasted for about a year: Shame.), and Total Film.

"With the advent of the world wide web" (tm), access to movie news has reached the point where you can, say, download the script of 'Inglorious Basterds' (or however QT spells the bloomin' thing) BEFORE he even had the finance secured.

Which poses a question: Whatever happened to the mystery?

The first time I knew ANYTHING about 'Ghostbusters': I stood at the bus stop outside Collier Row community centre, seeing the GB logo and the words "Who Ya Gonna Call?". That was it. I had no idea what it meant, but I wanted to know more. Then came the bus stop posters for 'Highlander' and 'Extreme Prejudice'. Again, me: stood there, admiring the artwork, trying to work out what the film was about.

Going back to the start of it all when I was about 3 or 4, I can remember being at a tube station, seeing the poster for 'Moonraker'. Roger Moore in a silver space suit: SOLD! But there was also a downside to this: Seeing Jack Nicholson's sweaty, mad-eyed stare through a smashed-through door for 'The Shining', or the wolf extreme close up for 'An American Werewolf In London' was enough to give me nightmares (hey, I was 5.) Worst offender was a schlocky horror film called 'Rosemary's Killer', which had a huge cardboard cut-out display in the cinema foyer - unpleasant to see at any age. (Another subject I will cover soon) Even up to the point where stepping off a tube train to be confronted by a huuuuuuuge poster for 'The Abyss', with its endless depths of blue was simultaneously awe-striking and dread-filling.

Maybe I'm being a melancholy, sentimental old duffer (ME?) or having some kind of mid-life crisis, but I do miss the days when I felt genuine intrigue and excitement towards new releases. Yes I'm a film fan, and its part of my nature to want to know about what films are being made, but we've all seen those trailers that give away the ENTIRE plot of the film. The trailers ends, and we mutter 'Okay, don't need to see that now'. So much coverage/hype is given to these big movies (Empire, I'm looking at you), that by the time they come around, these essential, must-see movies seem stale. I'm bored of hearing about it. And on top of this, Empire gives the movie 2 stars (End of Empire bashing).

Of course movies need promotion, otherwise we (the audience) wouldn't have a clue. But as Ted Hope related on the AI Day - The trailer for 'The Shining' stuck in his mind for months, because all it showed was a steadi-cam shot of the hotel carpet, reaching those elevator doors... then the doors open and... (no spoilers). The imagery leaves you with a sense of 'What the heck was that about? And when can I find out?'

Same goes for the trailers for Alien (and Aliens - although a direct copy of its predecessor's trailer) - the close-up of the egg cracking, the mysterious light shafting outwards; the haunting, bewildering howls of SOMETHING...

So my question is: Are movies losing their mystery?