A Transmedia Archaeology of Film Promotion Online: Horror Ballyhoo and Fantastic Nostalgia

At a time when more films are released annually than there are days in the year, films must compete for audience attention. As a result, promotional budgets have risen exponentially with online becoming the fastest growing sector. Film websites don’t just promote films, they chronicle backstories, map storyworlds, introduce characters and provide spaces for audiences to congregate. Yet as a hybrid of promotion, storytelling and community hub, these sites are ephemeral, and when the promotional work is done, they are often locked, taken down and disappear without trace. This book considers this emerging form: Where have film websites been collected and archived? What forms do these websites take? And how do audiences engage with film websites? Drawing on media archaeological methods as well as developing new strategies to investigate these intriguing media objects, this book suggests that film websites are worthy of consideration as cultural artefacts in their own right.