Seanån Mullan

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN

MEDIA PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Throughout my products, it was vital that I maintained a range of aesthetic properties

in order to create an effective, recognisable brand and a

sense of synergy.

MOVIE POSTER

MOVIE TRAILER

MOVIE MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

MOVIE POSTER - In my movie poster, I utilized the “Stencil” font as I felt that it was simple for my audience to read and understand, yet bold and daring which almost represents the product. I felt that it made my poster

look quite sophisticated which helped make the product more serious and professional.

TEASER TRAILER- Unlike most promotional packages, I used a different font in my teaser trailer. I used font called “Futura” as I wanted the text

featured in the trailer to be very basic, not taking any attention away from the storyline. However, if I was to redo this task, I would consider

using the same font as I feel now that it would create a more recognisable theme for my audience.

MOVIE MAGAZINE - I decided again to use a different font on my magazine cover as my study of the music magazine industry revealed

that successful pieces such as Entertainment Weekly often utilise a font to compliment the rest of their text rather than that associated with the

movie.

FONT

Consistent use of fonts in an approach that is used within the film industry as film brands need to be clear and

memorable so that the audiences will instantly recognise their products. An example of this would be that of the film ‘Frozen.’ This distinctive font was designed specifically for

the film and therefore features on other products connected with the franchise. This makes the Frozen merchandise

instantly recognisable.

I was able to make my combination of products more effective by using a similar colour-scheme across them all.

Further developing the Missing brand. Red, white and black shades prove prevalent; all of the captions in the teaser

feature in white, as does the masthead of the magazine and the text along the bottom of my poster, while much of the other text is featured in a rich blood-like red. The red in

particular stand out across all of the products and connotes danger – a major theme within the movie. Such a

contrasting theme is popular among horror films and thereby instantly helps suggest the genre.

Another key way to create synergy is through the main character. I created a clear synergy between my products by featuring my main character on the front cover of my

magazine and poster, making sure to minimise any dramatic changes so that she was recognisable from the trailer. The ghostly child was initially featured in my trailer wearing all

black with her hair down and dark eye makeup. These elements are repeated in both the magazine and the poster to ensure audiences can link the various products. I really enjoyed incorporating some of the main elements shown in my teaser trailer into my poster and magazine as it felt like it was building the characters profile up more. This creates

a really effective link between the products.

MAIN CHARACTER

My ghost protagonist Roise in my teaser trailer.

Roise in the poster. Roise in the Movie Magazine.

In the beginning, I struggled to find ways to create synergy between my movie magazine and the other two products, knowing that the magazine needed to be of its own identity rather that of the films. Magazines usually utilise a distinct house style, rather than changing their colours in every issue to suit the main film that

they are featuring.

What I done to overcome this was create some key elements of the magazine that did not relate to the other products such as the puff and fonts which helped give the magazine its own identity. Another thing I did was feature the masthead in white, although it matches in with the colour scheme of my poster and trailer,

white is a very common colour that its often used for the masthead of a magazine as it stands out off the background.

Also, the use of rich red was used to create an effective link between the magazine and my other products. The use of the red across the magazine is

prevalent in the other poster and therefore helps build the movies brand for the audiences.

Although the synergy could have perhaps been improved in certain areas, through the use of colour, key images and symbols I feel that I have indeed

created a really effective combination of products. By linking my teaser trailer, movie poster and movie magazine front cover, I have built a recognisable brand

for audiences.

SYNERGY