Evaluation 2

How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

https://youtu.be/6flBnBXtajk 

I've made a voiceover for this task, which will play over the top of my trailer. Included within this video will be images of my final magazine cover and poster. I have given detailed explanations about how my three finalised products have a synergetic link. My final products were proved to be successful in portraying the psychological thriller genre, I know this through feedback from peers.

Script

Stereotypical conventions of a psychological thriller were used when creating my trailer, and common conventions were used to make the other two main products. For example, within my poster and magazine cover the featured images used are very mysterious which makes them intriguing to my audience. Synergetic links between my products help with the promotion to audiences. My products will get recognition from how I have used the same biro font for the title 'Left Behind' on every piece of text. The reminder of the release date & plot line given in the trailer, and promoted on the poster, will increase revenue because audiences will know when the film is out in cinemas as they have the information repeated to them.    

Our target audience is between the ages of fifteen and twenty five years due to our film being certified at a rating of fifteen. This rating is suitable for 'Left Behind' as teenagers will find the psychological thriller genre more intriguing than those younger. Audiences younger than fifteen may not understand the content of our film due to the non-chronological order of the trailer that promotes it. Also, the elderly may not understand the content of the film or find it appealing as they are considered more of a passive audience.    

To create my poster, on Photoshop I used the clone stamp tool to erase unwanted things that are seen under the bed. Consequently, under the bed is empty which allows the viewer to focus on the vodka bottle and feet. Also, it creates an illusion that she's about to be grabbed by someone or something. I added text by taking inspiration from my research on psychological thriller posters. The main image is a mid shot of an unknown characters legs. Existing posters included; a billing block, release date, tagline, actor names, and title so I ensured to present all of these elements. I typed the release date in the same font as the film title to keep synergy throughout the poster. The actors names are shown in the top right corner of my poster as this is a feature used on official professional posters to create star power which gets audiences interested. The socks and the cap on the vodka bottle are both red connoting danger and enhancing the synergy of the poster. I have avoided using lots of red as the colour is associated with the horror genre more so than the psychological thriller genre. I have used white text and dark colours which links back to the research I did on existing posters. I took inspiration from 'The Snowman' poster as they use an image from straight from their film to ensure that their audiences recognise the poster from the trailer. 
  

When making this cover I was referring to my research on existing psychological thriller magazine covers. The red and white font being repeated creates synergy all over the cover, whilst linking to psychological thriller genre conventions. I edited the silhouette so it appears dark to create an eerie and mysterious mood that comes under known psychological conventions. This magazine's composition is not entirely traditional as the image is off-centred. Usually, magazine covers have their main photograph centred as it's the first thing the viewer is drawn to look at. However, I have used this mid shot image of a female looking out of a window because it is synergetic with our trailer. Also, I couldn't use a close up of a character because the characters would not be recognisable enough to be associated with the film. In addition, this cover photo has the conventions of a psychological thriller as it is ominous. I have included pugs and gratifications as well as issue date, magazine price, website and a barcode. These are all features from known magazine covers that I have researched previously. Audience will not necessarily associated the magazine cover and poster together because of how different the featured photos are. However, I purposely used very different images because conventionally film covers and posters don't match completely as this creates more intrigue.  

There is no obvious antagonist within all three products as I wanted it to be left ambiguous, so my audience are made to think about it. This emphasises psychological conventions because not knowing the antagonist creates an eerie, mysterious atmosphere that is unsettling to be a part of.

A synergetic link can be seen between all three products by how we used the font 'Biro' from PowerPoint to feature heavily on each text. On my poster, magazine cover, and trailer the title 'Left Behind' has consistently appeared in this font, meaning it would be recognisable for audiences. I believe that making a synergetic link between the three texts is very important because it has increased the professionalism of how they look, and it's an effective visual aid for marketing.

Institutional information is featured at the end of the trailer and is included on my poster. This is because, it is important to give credit to everyone who was involved in making/starring in our production. I thought it was unprofessional and unconventional to include a billing block on my magazine cover so I did not do so. Release date being included at the end of the trailer is a key conventional element of advertising because it can inform cinema goers when they can view the film. Also, the release date is enlarged on my poster so that it is obvious for viewers to see.

Visual effects were used throughout our trailer to attract the attention to each individual seconds of footage. A range of close ups, mid shots, and long shots were included within our trailer so our audience intrigue increases as the variety of camera shots changes quickly. Mise-en-scene was a key element when creating our trailer because we needed to make sure that all of the clips weren't too bright, as this connotes happiness. Fortunately for us, the weather was quite dull when filming so this enhances verisimilitude. Also, we captured a variety of different angles when filming, as it is conventional for a psychological thriller trailer to be completely non-chronological. This is to exaggerate the psychological aspect of the film. For example, 'The Girl on The Train' includes a wide variety of short, miscellaneous footage.       

In conclusion, I think that I have created a successful combination of products, because I have effectively used synergy which allows audiences to recognise my text. Also, it makes my text memorable. Additionally, I have used stereotypical psychological thriller conventions in my product and ancillary tasks so consequently, I've effectively appealed to the target audience of my film. My campaign appeals to my audience, because, when collecting feedback through Facebook we received positive comments.