Film: The Hunger Games

Words by MPDClick’s guest contributor Selena Marie Norris.

The Hunger Games movie, released on March 23rd is based on the first book in the trilogy by New York Times bestselling author, Suzanne Collins. The film starring Academy Award Winning Actress, Jennifer Lawrence, has reported worldwide sales of over $577 million USD. Here we look at the films key styling attributes and social media initiatives.

The Hunger Games is set in the country of Panem, a nation in the future which grew out of the ruins of North America and is comprised of the Capitol and 12 outlying districts. Annually, one teen boy and girl from each district is forced to be ‘tributes’ and participate in a gladiator style fight to the death, which is broadcast live as entertainment for the people of the Capitol. The film follows the story of one brave girl, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take the place of her younger sister in The Hunger Games.

The contrast between Capitol citizens and district members is emphasized by the films costume designs. The futuristic styling includes surprising and creative combinations that are not too farfetched considering current trends. Capitol citizens are seen wearing decadent, elaborate and colourful clothing with outrageous accessories. The emphasis is on pop colours, shoulder details and brightly coloured or uniquely styled hair and makeup. In contrast the clothing and style of the district members display dull shades and earth tones such as brown, cream, green and faded sky blue with natural hair styles and colours. The main character, Katniss Everdeen is always seen wearing her signature braids with bow and arrows in hand and of course her emblem, the ‘mockingjay’ pin.

The Hunger Games movie has spawned companion books, and has capitalized on its popularity through the sales of official licensed merchandise and a ‘Design your own merchandise’ campaign here. Social media marketing expands upon the film with external sites linked back to the official site. The films interactive fan site, offers a digital tour of the Capitol and includes Facebook fan pages for each district, links to Youtube and Twitter pages, as well as an iTunes game and a Facebook game app with over 800,000 players. For those interested in fashion, there is a style blog; it certainly appears that ‘the world will be watching’ to see what happens next with The Hunger Games.

Image source: thehungergamesmovie.com, photo credit: Murray Close.

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This post originally appeared on MAY 2, 2012 in UNCATEGORIZED on MPDClick.com, a leading trend forecasting company based in the UK.

Update: MPDClick.com and Mudpie Trend Journal were acquired by WGSN in 2013.  All Mudpie and MPDClick links are now void. A cached copy of the original post can be viewed here.

Words by MPDClick’s guest contributor Selena Marie Norris.