Articulo_8_EN_Doxa_27

promotions to the current audio-visual production panorama, which is influenced by the evolution of the technology, the narrative forms and the participation of users (Kurtz and Bourdaa, 2017).

1.1. Promotional web pages: an approach to the Spanish cinema

Since the movie Stargate (Emmerich, 1994) launched its web page in 1994, considered as the first official movie website for promotional purposes (Geirland and SoneshKedar, 1999), these spaces have become essential media for introducing any film production into the market. Websites are commonly used as meeting points for the main advertising contents of movies and provide interactive contexts through selectivity and fragmentation (Marín, 2007).

In recent years, the evolution of programming languages has favoured the creation of a new generation of digital pages that, in addition to providing an interactive context, are also able to host interactive, customizable and ludic contents. The most innovative sites are experimenting with contents based on these features, becoming another fragment of the fictional universe that expands the narrative (Villén, 2016) and encouraging the creation of fan communities around the film. Many film productions therefore assign to the web pages the role of creative space, where the original promotional and transmedia contents, together with the classic film paratexts, succeed in generating alternative proposals which may be best suited to the needs and demands of the public today.

In the field of Spanish cinema, websites provide the productions with great communicative advantages, now that they are constituted as configurable spaces based on each production’s needs and promotional possibilities. The reduced cost also enables their active maintenance during the entire commercial life of the films, meaning from conception to arrival in domestic formats or exploitation on online content platforms.

Web pages, just like social networks, can constantly update contents, hence stimulating and feeding the expectations of users, and combine with other commercial strategies of the movie. Nonetheless, many national (and international) productions depend on distributors who take charge of the promotion of the movie and launch their websites shortly before the release, which hinders the building of a more lasting bond that encourages future viewers to repeatedly visit these sites. According to Bretones (2013), these spaces can even be created with the sole purpose of providing material for the press.

Taking advantage of website’s communicative possibilities, rather than a powerful economic investment, requires good strategic planning and a commitment to content innovation, which benefits low-budget films. As stated by Salvador (2013), the impact on the target audience is not entirely linked to the budget managed by the film producers but also to the existence of an investment strategy.

A clear example of the innovation potential of websites is observed in the Spanish film Wrath (Aronak, 2016)1, where there was a section called “Private area” enabling users, through a code obtained when buying the movie ticket in the cinemas, to access transmedia contents that expand the film story, discuss the film with other users, and, on a given date, speak

1 Website available at www.iralapelicula.com