The document discusses the effectiveness of a film's main product and ancillary texts in combination. It describes trying to achieve a film with a twist ending that subtly hints at mental illness struggles. Posters for the film aimed to intrigue audiences without revealing the twist. Feedback indicated the film's ending still surprised viewers despite hints. The radio trailer conveyed enough information to interest audiences while avoiding spoilers. Overall, the ancillary texts helped spread awareness of the film more widely and portrayed its genre successfully while keeping audiences engaged.

1. 2. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE
COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
PRODUCT AND THE ANCILLARY
TEXTS?
BY MELISSA MINSHULL

2. WHAT DID WE TRY TO ACHIEVE IN OUR
MAIN PRODUCT?
• For our main product we wanted to achieve a film with a twist at the end
that would catch audiences off guard despite being subtly hinted at
throughout the film, and that would highlight the struggles of mental
illness.
• We tried to do this by showing Charlotte’s face before the gun shot,
showing Charlotte appearing in each room despite never seeing her leave
the previous one like when Georgie leaves Charlotte in the bathroom yet is
sat at the table downstairs. This hints at the final twist which reveals that
Charlotte is a figment of Georgie's mental illness.
• I feel like this worked well as when we asked people whether they enjoyed
and understood the film the answer was an overwhelming yes and when
talking to friends after watching the film they asked if we meant to
foreshadow the ending as he only noticed the hints after watching so the
ending still caught him off guard.

3. HOW DID OUR MAIN AIM REFLECT IN OUR
ADVERTISING PRODUCTS?
• When designing our posters we decided that we only wanted to hint at the plot of the film
so that we wouldn’t give away the twist at the end and to intrigue the audience into
watching our film.
• We did this by creating a teaser poster and a main poster. The teaser poster features
Georgie facing away from the camera peering around a tree. The fact that we don’t see her
face creates a sense of mystery as to who she is and the fact that she is peering around
the tree suggests she’s hiding from something and that something is wrong.
• The final poster also features this shot of Georgie but in the foreground is Charlotte
looking into the distance, this was created by stitching two shots together. The colours in
this poster are more saturated than in the teaser poster to exaggerate the green and
brown theme indicating the army, the contrast was also heightened to make the picture
darker to hint at the darker themes of the film. The fact that they are hiding behind the
tree suggests that they are in danger. The title itself hints at what the film is about, the
aftermath of the pictured situation. The title is in the centre of the poster to indicate that it
is an important piece of information. I chose the font as it looks formal yet it isn’t too bold
matching the tone of our film which is more about subtlety. We used white as it contrasts
with the darker background image as does the flashback with the main film. The names at
the top are all uniform indicating routine and order as there would be in the army.
Teaser Poster
Final Poster

4. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE FILM POSTER IN
SELLING THE FILM?
• Posters are an effective way of selling a film as they can be shared world wide
on billboards, buses, buildings, and online adverts. These are all things that
most people see everyday meaning that the message of the film will be
spread effectively. They can also be shared around social media sites such as
Twitter and Facebook which would create hype for the film and raise
awareness to a larger audience than could be reached with other forms of
marketing. Cinemas also display posters to advertise upcoming releases
which means more people go and see the films.
• As posters are so popular we wanted ours to stand out from the crowd. To
achieve this we researched what posters in our chosen genres looked like as
we wanted to actively portray our genre but also stand out. During research I
discovered that often posters for films in the drama genre often feature the
characters but also often doesn’t show their faces, such as the poster for The
Fleeting Little Life of Peter Wright which features the backs of the two main
characters. The colours on the poster are both bright and subtle at the same
time and the text is simple which helped to inspire our poster.

5. WHAT MAKES OUR FILM POSTER DIFFERENT
TO ANY OTHER?
• After looking into film posters, specifically the poster for The Fleeting Little
Life of Peter Wright, I decided that I liked the fact that the poster was simple
and ambiguous. I decided to put my own twist on this by stitching two shots
together to get both characters in the poster, one with their back turned to
the camera and the other facing the camera showing her face to keep it
ambiguous. This is unique a s usually either both characters are facing the
camera or neither are. However we didn’t want it to be too ambiguous as
that might have a negative effect on views. To counteract this we included
positive critics reviews to show the audience that it is a good film that they
might enjoy. These were written in a different but similar font to draw
attention to them and to make sure they were read. This is also unique as
usually the critics reviews are in the same font as the rest of the poster

6. ANALYSIS OF OUR POSTER
One character is facing the camera
whilst the other is facing away
suggesting a disconnect between
the two
The saturation and
contrast have been
heightened making the
uniform stand out and
Charlottes complexion
pale and ghostly
Critics reviews entice
audiences
Certificate tells
the audience
who can see it
and what type
of film they can
expectInformation written in SteelTongs font to replicate
professional posters
Simple yet
contrasting
title brings
attention to it

7. WHY ARE RADIO TRAILERS AN EFFECTIVE
FORM OF ADVERTISEMENT?
• Radio trailers are no longer than a minute long. As they are so short they also have to be
straight to the point to convey the information. The contain music and dialogue from the
film they are advertising alongside a voice over giving details about the film such as
actors, star cast, critic reviews, and when and where it will be available. As the name
suggests they are most commonly found on the radio but can also be heard in other
places such as music streaming sites like Spotify. This means that the radio trailers reach
a wide demographic due to the multiple types of radio stations and the wide accessibility
of music streaming services.
• In our radio trailer we included the music from the flashback scene as well as the sounds
of combat as it created suspense and intrigue, whilst also setting the scene of where the
tragedy. We also included dialogue from the bathroom scene and the table scene which
hint at Georgie’s mental health issues along side a recording of Jasmine giving the
information about the film. We felt that our radio trailer gave enough information to
capture an audience whilst not giving away the twist at the end whilst also giving them
enough information so that they can find and watch the film.

8. OVERALL SUCCESS OF OUR ANCILLARY
TEXTS
• Overall I feel that our ancillary texts are successful at spreading awareness of
our short film to a wider demographic than would be possible with just the short
film. This is because they can be shared easily across social media and other
more conventional platforms. I also feel that that the ancillary texts are effective
in portraying the genre of our film and what to expect when watching it. This is
backed up by the fact that when receiving feedback on the ancillary texts we
were told that “It told [them] what to expect whilst not giving everything away.
• The fact that the radio trailer and the poster contrast in how they are consumed
means that they can be spread even further than if they were both visual or both
audial. This is because as they are both different they appear in different places
where different people will encounter them.
• I also feel the poster, radio trailer and film link together well as they all have
common themes of subtle darkness and combat (both physical and internal).