coursework

1. How effective is the combination of your
main product and ancillary texts?
By Zayn Sattar

2. The use of ancillary texts or in simpler terms a poster and magazine for any sort of film
production are important aspects of advertising as these get the film exposure from potential
audience members intentionally or unintentionally. However the effectiveness of this all
depends on various factors, for example is the poster capturing and is it something that
provokes thought as essentially these texts are like forms of art whereby if people are attracted
they will tend to observe what's going on in detail. The magazine cover that has been designed
keeps to the norms of the typical “Empire” magazine format in terms of what has been
included, for example the title makes it clear to existing and new audience members that this is
a certified corporation and the real deal when it comes to reviews and the latest news in the
world of media, another thing is the date and magazine edition as this helps collectors keep
track of all the releases but even from a barcode which is typically located on the left hand side
of a magazine is an important feature as this is what enables purchases to be made and
registers with the company what edition was popular and what wasn't so popular affecting the
decisions made by Empire in the future. Just from these norms themselves it can be seen how
different aspects of a magazine can attract different audience members, from collectors to
casual readers so bringing this all together in one magazine can be influential in promoting a
new film to a wider base of audience members.

3. In terms of the combination between the ancillary texts and my media production i feel that
before the idea of any sort of ancillary texts even came about i felt that the trailer alone was
something which was unique and not so common within the industry so could potentially be
something which attracts audience members as this UK influence though is quite niche
could be our Unique Selling Point. From this it was quite clear to work out that with the
trailer alone it would be difficult to break into the industry as smoky productions is newly
established and has no previous filming history so would take a while for audience
members to come on board. I still believe the film is something which will be the catalyst in
the development of smoky productions but it's just a case of people actually seeing Parallel
choices and being aware of our production as this is where the real word about Smoky
productions will begin to get out. However This is all going by the trailer alone, with the
introduction and use of a visually capturing poster and magazine i think this changes things
significantly.

4. The Magazine (Left) and the Poster (Right) are the Ancillary texts behind our Production.

5. The benefit of this is through having a newly established company like ours being on the front
page of not just any magazine, but Empire, which is referred to as the Bible for film lovers and
the biggest movie magazine in the world is something which gives our production slightly
more exposure than we had anticipated, reaching out to a global audience. This particular
magazine as mentioned briefly before follows the general conventions of any other Empire
magazine with the issue number, barcode, date, website, price and overall layout being like that
of the others. But compared to all of the past magazines this edition is categorised as “Limited
Edition” as specified in the bottom right hand corner showing the importance this edition has.
From observing this front cover and comparing it to the past editions that have been released,
it's clear to see their is a different feel to the whole magazine and this is capturing for the
audience. The film name is clearly displayed in the stem of the magazine on the left and this is
clear to see, being in bold black letters on a white background gives it a bit more emphasis
from a design perspective and this overall fits in with the whole colour scheme of the
magazine. All the information that is included follows the colour scheme of a mellow yellow but
yet still stands out whether the main text being written is in white, black or gold.

6. For the poster a different look altogether has been given with the colour scheme making use of
the gray scale. Through various adaptations and play on images this final poster was the result
and something which was visually capturing, not keeping to the usual clear ways posters are
made. By having the main character with the back towards the audience leaves a mysterious
feel as to what is really going on and the blend this has with the layer of a car not only fits in
with the main image of the protagonist but gives the audience an insight into what the trailer
could potentially consist of capturing the attention of not only those who appreciate
automotive masterpieces but anyone who casts their eyes on it. The general tendency of
humans will draw us into wanting to find out what it is that is exactly said in the poster, as
though the tagline which is displayed horizontally on the edge of the page is distort from a
distance, it is something that will draw the attention of the audience in, linking not only the
poster, the magazine and most importantly the production together as this along with the film
title is something which is shared by all pieces, attaching them all with one another. So overall
i feel the use of ancillary texts and has been very beneficial in communicating our main
product which is the film “Parallel Choices” through our trailer to the masses that are waiting
out there.