1. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF
YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY
TEXTS?
2. THE TASK
For A2 media we were asked to create a one minute teaser trailer of our
choice and we also had to complete two ancillary tasks which consisted of a
magazine cover and film poster which had to be relevant to each other.
3. The reason for creating a teaser trailer alongside a magazine cover and film
poster is that the two ancillary texts can be used as a form of advertising in
order to gain awareness and generate hype. It also helps to target specific
audiences relating to the teaser trailer and also the advantages of ancillary
texts is that the film is more likely to be mass marketed which helps to target
more people.
4. As we chose the genre of psychological thriller our main focus was to create a
storyline which would consist of the themes of many existing psychological
thriller genre films, however not only did we want to conform to these themes
but also to develop them in order to make our piece unique. Many common
themes we found were : reality, loss of identity and madness. The research of
themes we believed was the best way in order for us to construct the two
ancillary texts effectively and in relation to our genre.
5. Although the three media texts are linked greatly as the film is the main part with
the form of two ancillary tasks for whose purposes are to promote and advertise
the film we did not want to make each text similar at all. We wanted to create
three texts which showed different characteristics and the life of the protagonist,
Emma. We believed this would be an effective way in attracting to audiences
and generating hype as not every text is similar at all. Therefore in every text we
show something different about the film which makes it more interesting.
The film represents Emma’s life from her new beginning but also show her past
is always going to haunt her. The film poster represents the theme of madness
through Emma’s use of deliberate make up, close up shot and low key lighting
and the magazine cover represents Emma’s hope for peace however is
juxtaposed through the image of the old house representing her past.
6. FILM POSTER
We researched upon many film posters in the genre of psychological thriller
which can be seen in the blog. We completed the research in order to help us
understand the conventions of a psychological thriller film poster and how we
can conform to it as we did not want to make the audience confused as the
story line of a psychological thriller film is already confusing or for an
intellectual audience.
8. EVALUATION OF FILM POSTER
The poster we thought fitted in greatly within the genre of psychological
thriller. The use of effects and mis – en – scene makes the poster very
effective and catchy. The use of deliberate make up is used to show the
theme of madness and to really capture the audiences attention. The use of
low key lighting alongside bright lighting helped in order to read the
anchorage as it is a bloody red colour which up against a complete dark
background would be hard to read and as we realised it was a poster the
anchorage is key in promoting the film. Through our research we found a lot
of information on the conventions of a typical psychological thriller film
poster and we conformed to many of them such as the close up shot, using
the protagonist, the dark lighting and no back ground. We wanted people to
understand the genre without being confused therefore we conformed to
many aspects of a psychological thriller film poster.
9. MAGAZINE COVER
We researched upon many existing magazine covers in order to understand
conventions of real media texts. We specifically researched upon many
magazine covers which were in the genre of psychological thriller as we
were able to relate and get ideas from them which we could interpret into
our own work. We also looked at conventions of a specific magazine which
was ‘Empire’ as we noticed during our research they had specific
typography. For example in most of the Empire magazines the logo of
‘Empire’ is always in front or behind the main character. We felt it important
to research upon ‘Empire’ in order to fit with their conventions and make it
look professional.
11. EVALUATION OF MAGAZINE COVER
The picture of the magazine shows Emma in a medium shot holding her
hands together which can represent signs of hope and peace. Also she
is placed in the middle of the cover in order to make sure attention is on
her and the audience are immediately drawn to her rather than the
anchorage. The use of the faded old house within Emma’s body
represents her past and how it will never go away. As we used Empire as
the magazine title we had to conform to their specific typography which
was that the Empire logo is always in front or behind of the head of the
main character.
12. TEASER TRAILER
We researched upon conventions of a psychological thriller film, many teaser
trailers which inspired us were inception and black swan. We wanted to create a
sense of eeriness and be ambiguous in order to keep the audience interested but
not give too much away.
14. EVALUATION OF TEASER TRAILER
The trailer portrayed the genre of psychological thriller as we conformed to
many conventions of a typical psychological thriller such as the themes from
reality to madness to identity. The use of music enhances the trailer and
makes it more effective and interesting for the audience. The music also builds
tension and suspense which should entice and excite the audience. We also
started the film of with the universal clip in order to make it look professional.
15. THE THREE TEXTS
All three texts represent the same film; EMMA. However they differ in the
way they are presented. We wanted to create 3 pieces of text which would
represent different aspects of the story of Emma. We wanted to create
interest through a sense of ambiguity and suspense. We do this through not
giving a lot of information within the film, also the film poster conveys
ambiguity through the use of deliberate make up and mis – en – scene and
the magazine cover portrays Emma and a house which also gives a sense
of ambiguity.
