Katie Collins

A2 Media Studies Evaluation – Question 2

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

Although the coursework consists of three separate tasks, it was important for me to remember that the tasks had to create a promotion package- they had to tie together well and work with one another to advertise the film effectively and reflect the comedy genre.

The purpose of the trailer is to tell the audience about the plot without revealing too much or spoiling the ending- hence the name ‘teaser’ trailer. The poster advertises the film in general rather than the plot- the poster must make the genre clear in order to appeal to target audience members. The magazine cover must be created to entice the audience to read the magazine and find out more about the film.

Although all three platforms serve slightly different purposes, I had to ensure that they tied together well and appealed to my chosen audience. I had to create an ongoing theme throughout the three products that gave the film an easily identifiable corporate image. Therefore, I had to consider colour schemes, text and images

in great detail in order to bring the three products into one package.

Ancillary Tasks – Poster and Magazine Cover

The main image of both texts was an image of George and Dan stood together. On the magazine cover, they stand shoulder-to-shoulder. On the poster, they stand side-by-side. This establishes them as being a team, and also as the main characters of the film. In both cases, they make eye contact with the camera, appearing to make eye contact with audience members. I shot it this way to create a direct mode of address, creating the impression that the characters are enticing members to find out more about the film.

In both images, the characters hold water pistols. This allowed me to reveal the elements of action that will feature throughout the film. I also created comedy here by providing the characters with such childish weapons, undermining their

serious facial expressions. Here, I also create links to other films that cross the action-comedy boundaries, such as Pulp Fiction.

One decision I made when creating the text on the magazine cover was to focus more on the actors rather than the characters they portray. The feature is advertised as being an interview, as I write: “Party Police stars on last minute filming, awkward celebrity encounters and why water pistols should be taken very seriously”. Along with referring to George and Dan as “The new kings of comedy”, this creates the impression that the two actors will be extremely popular in the comedy genre, which in turn will make Party Police seem like a must-see film and appeal to fans of the genre. I tied this in with the film poster when I quote Seth Rogen (an extremely popular comedy writer and actor) as saying “This film is wet-your-pants funny”. Through my use of text within the ancillary tasks, I aimed to make the film appear to be an unmissable comedy that audiences will find extremely funny.

I stuck to the colour scheme of red and blue throughout the ancillary tasks, for two reasons.

Mainly, I wanted to tie in with the fact that my main characters are some form of “police”. By using red and blue, I aimed to create links to the

Seth Rogen has written and starred in many comedies.

lights on police cars, and the connotations of action and danger that come with the colour red.

I also believe that the colours of red and blue create an image of ‘Britishness’ linking with the film’s British origin. However, it could also be linked to the American flag, hinting at the film’s similarities to American comedies such as 21 Jump Street and Superbad.

The poster and cover do differ in the fact that the film poster features an orange and brown background, straying away from my red and blue colour scheme. I did this because I feel that the poster will have to be even more attention-grabbing than the magazine cover, as the magazine has other features on the cover that will entice readers to buy it. However, the poster must stand alone. The background’s pattern creates something close to an explosion effect, with my main characters in the middle, drawing the audience’s attention to them. The orange and brown colours also create a pattern that appears to look quite retro, linking the film to 70’s cop movies such as Driver and Coogan’s bluff. This is similar to the effect created by the Superbad

poster.

When creating my teaser trailer, I was faced with the challenge of maintaining the links with my ancillary tasks. To do this, I had to include visual elements that would link them together and maintain the interest of my audience.

In my teaser trailer, George and Dan are often seen side by side, as they are in my ancillary tasks. This reinforces the fact that they are a team, and the film will largely feature the two characters together.

As I do in the ancillary tasks, I make use of large, capitalised font during the teaser trailer. This reinforces the excitement and urgency of the film, especially when the text flies in from the sides, adding to the fast-paced feeling of the party scenes.

Between the party scenes, the words ‘Unarmed’, ‘Undercover’ and ‘Unprepared’ fly onto the screen. This creates strong links with my poster’s

tagline that reads: “They’re unarmed, they’re undercover, they’re totally unprepared”. I feel that this tagline is catchy and describes the plot well. By using it on my poster and in the trailer, it will become familiar to my audience.

The hashtag ‘#PartyPolice’ that appears on my poster also appears at the very end of the trailer, reinforcing the fact that I want audiences to discuss the film on twitter. Providing a central hashtag would allow Party Police fans to exchange information and opinions about the film, as well as letting me keep track of exactly what audience members think. By including the hashtag in both my main and ancillary tasks, I set up the foundations for Party Police to become a viral success.

In conclusion, I feel that my main product and my ancillary tasks contain elements that link them together as a strong promotional package, allowing audiences to easily identify with the genre of comedy and recognise my two main characters, as well as a rough idea of the plot.

Although the three texts differ in some ways, I have created similarities in others in order to

create a corporate image for my film and appeal to my target audience, giving them various recognisable signs that they would associate with Party Police. This would hopefully allow me to grow a strong fan base for my film.