My answer to Q2 of my media coursework questions.

1. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary
texts?
Q2

2. Main product (top) &
Ancillary texts (left and right)

3. The 3 pieces of work.
I have created a package of work, designed to
work together and advertise one main thing,
my trailer. If I were actually trying to sell my
upcoming film, these 3 things would be
essential in promoting my product. In this
presentation we will explore how they work
well together and whether they would be
effective.

4. So how do the 3 link together?
• Obviously, each piece of work displays the title
of the trailer, ‘The forgotten ones’.
• There are smaller ways in which an audience
would be able to connect the trailer, poster
and magazine cover.
• These include the colour scheme, images,
font, graphics and USP (unique selling point).
• We will now explore these.

5. Colour scheme.
• There is a clear colour scheme with my
products; Burgundy, white and green.
• The burgundy is the colour of the
costumes worn by the actors, therefore
its noticeable in the trailer. They wear
the same clothes for the magazine,
instantly making the audiences
subconsciously link it to the trailer. Our
main female character also wears it on
the poster for the film. Burgundy is a
dark red/purple colour, which may
represent a number of horror genre
elements, like blood. Because we
decided to not change the outfits when
preparing to create the ancillary texts,
we have kept up a theme and therefore
not confused the audience. They can
then familiarise themselves with the
actors, making them remember who
they are and what film they are in.

6. Colour scheme.
• Although white is normally a colour that is
seen on products, without a real purpose, I
feel white is a main colour connected to our
film.
• Again it has a link with the genre, as it can
represent ghosts and spirits, which our film is
based around anyway.
• On all 3 products, even the transistions in the
trailer, the colour of the font is white. We kept
this as an ongoing theme, so that our
audiences wernt confused by various colours
on each product. Although this may not be a
noticebale theme, we believe its a subtle
theme of the promotional items that would
add to the audiences memory of our trailer
and its supporting texts.
• White is also very crisp and clear to see, so the
audience would be able to remeber the name
of the trailer from each product, as it is
displayed very well for them.

7. Colour scheme.
• Green is the final colour I would connect the 3 products by. This is used
mainly to represent our location, the woods.
• We can see woodland all around our trailer, which is a dark green colour,
due to the foliage. The background of the poster, is a photo of those
woods, therefore the same colours apply in the poster, which is our first
clear link of green. Now, in our magazine, the green may not be as clear. In
the bottom right corner, there is a still from another film to represent an
‘inside story’. The costume the person is wearing, is green. This is a tiny
detail, that would trigger a subconscious reaction in the audiences mind,
reminding them that this is the same film as they have read and seen
about before.
• This would happen due to them seeing the combination of all 3 colours.

8. See below the 2 elements of green
from the ancillary texts.

9. Images.
• All 3 elements, have the same 2 characters featured in/on
them. Within each product, these characters are displaying
the same facial expressions, ones of fear and tension.
• It is easy to remember faces, especially if you see them in
the same clothes, feeling the same emotions.
• This a clear connection between the 3, which shows clear
synergy. If were to have alternate images on the products,
the 3 combined may not have worked as well together.
• In a way our characters are the brand of the film. If this was
a real film coming out, they may develop a following, with a
‘fan base’, only to heighten the viewership and attention on
the film coming out. Using the actors on the products has
proved a success for other films (see examples next).

10. Example of this: Twilight built up a massive following, even before it was due to be realeased.
This was done by cover/poster images of the 2 main characters, being posted everywhere for
people to see. This is something we have trieed to do in our work.

11. Our cover/poster images.

12. Font.
• The font used in each of our 3 products, is
not the same, but is very similar.
• We have stuck with traditional fonts/serif
fonts, which take you back to an older age.
This was done to represent the ghost
element of our film.
• All 3 pieces of texts, have white font, the
only difference being the boldness of them.
• From the trailer transitions to the magazine
cover, the font gets thicker, due to the
purpose of it on that text. For example, the
font of the magazine is very large, bold font,
as then it is clear to see by passing
consumers.
• Although they are not all the same, we can
see a trend, due to all the white font saying
the title. Its like a big white statement,
telling you ‘this is our film’.
• The audience will then connect the white
font to our title.

13. Graphics.
• Graphics link maining to our ancillary texts.
• We have puffs and plugs on our magazine covers, all centered
around our main cover story, which is our trailer. On the poster, we
have ‘clone’ ghostly images of our main girl, which work well in
representing the genre and the fear involved in the trailer. These
both work really well, in emphasising the film and contributing to
the overall promotion of the trailer.
• Although our trailer doesnt really have any graphics apart from our
transitions, both ancillary texts do the work for it, by boosting its
attention. This is how the 3 work together, by helping eachother to
bring up audience numbers and attention to the film.
• So altough we may not have graphics on all pieces of work, they
have a clear marketing synergy, that helps promote the trailer and
get the pieces of text known and remebered by consumers.

15. Unique Selling Point (USP).
• As I stated before our main ‘brand’ is represented by our actors.
• I also believe our characters are our USP. This is due to their age,
popularity potential with a target audience of 17+ and the fact they would
be ‘fresh actors’, never being seen before in a film.
• Due to them being featured on all 3 pieces of work, their faces would be
known and audiences would start connecting their faces with ‘The
forgotten ones’, as this would be their big break.
• We have seen this with other films, where we have a fresh set of young
actors, who gather up popularity by being something new and exciting for
the audience to lap up.
• The actors would help sell the film and even as years go on, the film would
be rememberd for starting them off on their carrerrs.

16. This has been done before, with films like The Hunger Games and The
fault in our stars, building up a fan following for the actors, boosting
success for the film and its ancillary products.

17. Overall..
• I think our 3 products have provided a good,
thorough link between them, representing our
trailer and its genre, in all 3 forms.
• There is a clear connection, for audiences to
understand and recognise as advertising and
promotional items for ‘The forgotten ones’.
• Our actors would also provide us with a USP, as
they are featured on all 3 products, creating a
brand image, boosting the following for the
upcoming film.

18. What else could we use to market our
main product?
If we were really trying to market our trailer, we
have the foundations, by using a poster and a
magazine front cover. However there are
others ways to promote a product, that
audiences would like.
We have seen a number of existing films do this
in the past, to build anticipation for the films.

19. Additional promotional ‘products’.
• Over the years, films have realeased merchandise
and ‘add-ons’ for consumers, to prepare them for the
upcoming films and to build a following.
• These can include clothing with the brand name on,
toys, kitchen ware, stationary and a many number of
others things.
• If the upcoming film already has fans, they will try
and get their hands on any or all of the added
merchandise!

20. Example of other promotional material
used by films.