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

IntroductionFor my A2 media coursework I was required to make a short film accompanied by a film poster and a double paged spread. The two had compliment each other and the ancillary task had to be able to show the type of genre that the film was. The genre I chose for my film was a thriller. In this presentation I will show how they compliment each other and why.

PosterTo start with I looked at different film posters that already exist so that I could get an idea of what needs to be included. When doing this I realised that the purpose of the poster is to tell the audience what type of film it is and what sort of things are involved in the film;that it can be quite effective on influencing the audience on whether they watch it or not. I ended up analysing two posters one was for a feature film (E.T.) and one was for a short film(Cargo).

Feature film poster analysis

Short film poster analysis

My film poster

My film poster analysisFor my film poster I wanted to mix elements of the short

film poster and the feature film poster. The type of things I included from the feature film was by using an actual image, using quotes from magazines and newspapers which is something that is usually found in feature film posters. When taking ideas from the Cargo poster I decided to keep the poster simple like that one. I didn’t need to mention the actors or the director as that is not the reason that draws in the audience for a short film. I used the same image for the poster as I did for the double page spread as part of a synergy campaign and would remind someone of the poster if they were reading the double page spread. I also wanted to keep the image simple like the simple animation for the Cargo film as that is stereotypical for short film. The image that I chose slightly foreshadows what will happen in the film by showing that someone will be tied up against their will. The title “Saviour” also foreshadows and links to the film as it indicates that someone will have to be saved and that there will be a saviour.

Double page spread

I also analysed a real double page spread to get an idea of how to design mine. I looked in the magazine Empire as it is quite a popular film magazine and it influenced my double page spread as I set mine up in the same style as an article from Empire.

Empire article review

My double page spread

Double page spread review

I had chosen to style it similar to the Empire one through the name of the magazine at the bottom of the page, the page numbers, the Empire website and how to subscribe to Empire at the bottom of the page. I used big bold writing to tell the audience that the film was “In Cinemas” and slightly smaller writing underneath it to show the date so that the two texts wouldn’t clash. I used the colour red so that the audience would affiliate that colour with the article so I used the colour for certain texts and backgrounds for text. The star rating was included as they are usually included in film reviews to tell the audience the quality of the film and whether they are actually worthwhile watching. I also included the key in formation in a separate place on the page to the actual review as this is the style that Empire does it in and they are the key facts that the audience want to know before they properly read the review. I used a text filler I found for the actual review. I also made the image go across the two pages in the same style that Empire does in the article I reviewed. As well as the image the caption signifies to the audience what type of film it will be. The age rating does this as well as it shows the audience that it is not suitable for younger people and shows that their could be violent scenes.