How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

1. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? By Tyrone Callender - Edwards

2. CourseObjective • There are a variety of ways in which a film can be promoted through the use of advertising in order for audiences to be made aware, these include the use of: • Newspapers • Radio • Billboards • Trailers • Internet • Word of mouth • Posters Within this presentation I will discuss the ways in which our ancillary texts were effective and provide reasons as to how and why we made decisions on various aspects, for example; the colour scheme is predominantly white and blue. This is so audience can follow our film’s synergy campaign as these colours have been used throughout. The objective for our media coursework this year was to either produce a music video or a teaser film trailer. We chose to create a trailer because, we believed that it was much more creative and challenging to construct a trailer within the chosen genre (thriller) as it allowed us to explore the world of thrillers enabling us to build on previously established ideas and codes & conventions. In order to ensure our poster was effective, we had to include elements of thriller conventions in order to allow our trailer to be recognised within this genre. We had to use specific fonts that in order for our film to be easily followed remembered. This was achieved through the use of primary editing on Photoshop. Even though trailers are created in order to attract audiences to watch a film, a trailer isn't always enough to win over audiences. They may need extra reassurance to watch a film in order for it to attract them, this is where the additional ancillary tasks come in (poster and magazine cover) as they strengthen the profile of the film and attract different audiences. The main promotional techniques we focused on we were through the use of magazine cover, a film poster and a teaser trailer. We were able to construct these different ancillary texts through the use of Adobe Photoshop, Paint, Google, Etc.

3. Ancillary Task – Magazine Cover The date in which the film magazine was issued and the price. States that it is amongst the “Top 10 Thrillers Of All Time” - strong inclination to watch the film. Empire (British Film Magazine) is published every month. It is the highest selling magazine on the British market. Beneficial for promoting films great advertisement. URL to visit Empire’s website. Popular duo in previous films for example; Hot Fuzz, good reputation. Do an exclusive for the magazine which is likely attract audiences. Free incentives within the magazine that will attract the audiences as they will be getting more for their money. Title of the film is in a bold font, which makes it stand out much more, it also follows the films synergy campaign (poster, trailer etc) using the same font colours throughout: blue and white. We decided to create a grey background because we believed that it created a mysterious and distinct tone which added to the significance of the estranged killer holding the knife. First image: Interview with the Coen Brothers – this image shows the duo directors in which they are interviewed within the magazine, this will attract audiences because they can then find out new things about what the pair are working on, having recently released the film; “True Grit”. The film includes: A tough U.S. Marshal helping a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer. Second image: The image below containing young below may enhance the fact that it’s a film appropriate for that target audience. Also, pictures make the magazine look more effective. These four images are taken from various points within these recently released films. The films depicted in these images have been reviewed within this magazine so that audiences can acknowledge other films on offer as well as ours. This is also likely to sway audiences because they will find out which films are “hot” and which films are “not”. This knife is probably the most important object within this magazine cover, as it is the weapon the killer uses to murder his victims. The fact that it is held in his hand allows the audience to depict that the weapon is probably unique and significant to the killer, and possibly is heavily used within the trailer. Gloves were used by the killer in order to protect his fingertips from being obtained. Gloves follow the colour scheme and tie in with the films synergy campaign.

4. Ancillary Task – Poster This statement allows the poster to directly communicate with the audience, by posing this question. It also evokes a sense of mystery allowing audiences to wonder if the neighbour is a key suspect within this trailer. This tunnel was used in order to create a sense of isolation for the character. It shows that he works single-handedly and can appear from the most uncomfortable places. These very complimenting quotes allow the audience to depict that the film is extremely worth watching, which is backed up by the solid 5star rating given by “The Guardian”. The white background is effective because it allows the character to appear much more evident and significant. It also allows the audience to ask questions such questions as; “Where does this person appear from?” – due to him walking out from a white light. Again sparks secrecy and provides anonymity for the perpetrator. As you can see the character is now facing the character, whilst still holding the knife in his right hand. This could suggest that the killer is now confident enough to confront his victims face to face and perhaps is not afraid to reveal his identity. The key items that contribute to the synergy campaign include the mask, the gloves and the knife as these are common features across the ancillary tasks. This is probably the USP of our whole ancillary tasks. Here we have the title of the film “THROUGH THE MASK” displayed in block capitals to emphasis the power in which the mask actually has within our trailer. The fact that it is in block capitals allows it to stand out on the poster. Unlike the magazine cover, the title is only filled in with a glowing white font whereas the magazine cover has a combination of both blue and white. The main characters real names have been included in order for audiences to be attracted. For example if a high profile actor is included in a film and the audience recognise it they will automatically assume it is a good film due to the big film star included. The important production information always found at the bottom of film posters includes; the producer, editor, director etc. This is the Fox Searchlight Logo, it allows the film to be advertised to a wide range of audiences, familiar with the production companies previous works. We decided to give the film a certificate of “15” because we believed it was suitable for that audience and predominantly our target audience.