1. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary
texts?
Evaluation Question 2

2. Can you explain the genre and style of the film you
produced?
The genre of the film my group produced was a hybrid of a romantic-thriller.
Prior to creating the short film, which we named 'Countdown', we conducted
numerous research tasks including internet research and pitching a
presentation to our target audience in order to see what they would like to
see, and also to get feedback. We used a number of consistent shots such as
point of view and over the shoulder, in order to get across the idea of a
stalker. The point of view shot comes from the male actor, Peter as he
watches his girlfriend, actress Kate (myself). This reinforced the genre of a
thriller. We also incorporated features such as non-diegetic sounds and music
this added tension in some places. The final shot reveals the big twist at then
end of the film where the romantic aspect is introduced. We therefore added
soft and relaxing piano music which enhanced the sense of romance. We also
used the dialogue coming from Peter as he says 'Happy Anniversary' and
reveals to his girlfriend a picnic he has set up, with lights and tinsel hanging
from the trees, a blanket and wine. The props we used helped to identify our
genre and style to the audience.

3. What marketing products did you decide to produce?
I decided to create to published products in order to advertise the short film
my group produced. This included a film poster and a double page spread.
The film poster would be found on websites, places such as Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram. It would also be found in magazines, possibly on bus stops or the
sides of buses and billboards. The poster would be found in places where the
public can see it so that it would catch their eye and persuade them to go and
see the film. This is an excellent way to advertise because a large audience
can access it which means more people are likely to watch the film. The
double page spread I created would be found in a film magazine. It includes
an image, giving an insight into the style of the short film. It also includes a
short article about what the film is about and a short section on what the
producers had to say about their creation. The double page spread would
work well as a marketing product because it tells the audience what the film
is about without them having to watch a trailer. It tells them part of the
storyline without revealing the twist at the end which hopefully will anticipate
them to watch it. It can be found in a place where people with a specific
interest in the film industry, look towards (the film magazine) so hopefully will
address the specific target audience.

4. What decisions did you make when creating the
ancillary products based on the finished film?
In consideration to the final film, my main focus was the audience. I wanted to address the target audience by providing them
with the themes that they would expect from the specific genre. I decided to create two print-based products as I believe that it
would be easily accessible to a wider audience. I decided that because the two products would rely heavily on visual aids, that I
must attempt to enhance the genre within the products. In doing this I used a grey scale image for both products. The dark
colours used help to give the audience the impression of a thriller as it adds a sense of omniscience. For my poster I used a lot of
white space as well. I did this purposefully because it leaves more up to the audience's imagination. They are able to make
assumptions and form their own ideas on what the film may be about or what the storyline may be. I used a large font for the title
of the film as it is the most important poster of the poster. Another important aspect of the poster was the image I used. I took a
photograph of the male actor standing on a balcony with his hands on the railing, looking out of a window. Within the film he can
be seen looking out of the window watching his girlfriend go to work. This stresses the theme of a stalker so I thought it would be
a good thing to include. His body language is very suggestive and suspicious. We cannot see his face as he is facing the opposite
direction to the camera. This adds to the suspicion and tension I wanted to incorporate into the product, as well as the use of a
black and white image. I edited this using the software, Photoshop. I used black and red text all of which was presented in capital
letters. The tagline, 'tick tock' fits in well with the film and gives the audience the idea that time will be a main focus in the film-
referred from the information, 'Countdown' and 'tick tock'. I also placed the logo for the Edinburgh Film Festival on the poster
because it tells the audience that the film has won an award which would tell them that it is a good film to watch. This was an
attempt at marketing as it attracts the attention of the audience.
When creating the double page spread I wanted to address the style of the film. I wanted the two published products to be a
similar style as they advertise the same film. I therefore took a photograph of Peter leaning against a wall and placed this over the
entire right-hand page. To add an impersonal and almost chilling tone, I made sure Peter was not facing the camera. The
photograph was taking from a side view so he was looking forwards and not into the camera lens at the point the image was
captured. I also used white space, similarly to my film poster. This adds a sense of mystery and doesn't give too much away as I
wanted the twist at the end of the film to be a complete surprise. I used the same font on my double page spread, as I used on my
film poster. This makes the two products look professional. I used a large title and a smaller subtitle. I made sure that the font size
I used for my article was a size 10 so that when printed, it wasn't too big, as most professional magazines use a small font within
their magazines. For this product I used black text upon a white background which helped it to stand out so it could be easily read.
For the small section on the left of the page (the producers comments) I used a grey text so that I could differentiate it from the
article.

5. How have you managed to create a house style for
your product? What information / details have been
repeated from product to product?
I created a house style for my product via using common themes and styles. I
used similar posed images which helped add a sense of omniscience. I also
edited the photographs in the same way. I used Photoshop to crop the images
and cut out any of the background image that I did not wish to be present on
the final products. I then added a grey scale to the images and changed the
colour to black and white. I felt that having black and white images would
enhance the genre because it is cold and rather chilling which I wanted to do,
in order to fulfil the audience's expectations in referral to the genre.
I repeated the same font in both products and also used the same colours for
the text. This was red and black. I used black text upon a white background
for the majority of the writing. I also used red text on the double page spread
for certain parts of the text. The title of the film has been repeated in both
products to tell the audience what the film is called, as well as the tagline.
The tagline is presented under the title of the film poster, 'tick tock'. It is
presented more discretely within the double page spread and in at the end of
the article.

6. How did you consider your target audience, genre and
style of film at all times during the production?
When creating my products my main focus was my target audience as
they are the people who are going to watch the film and would
therefore decide its success. I tried to use a number or re-occurring
themes that you would find in films of the same genre. This is because
by stating that the film is a romantic-thriller to the audience, they will
have expectations of what sorts of things will happen or what themes
will be present within the film. To show the idea of a stalker we used
camera shots such as point of view, over the shoulder and close up
shots so that we could watch the characters actions, body language
and facial expressions. We used both diegetic and non-diegetic sound
which was either faded in or looped using garage band. Audience
expectations are the most important aspect to consider when creating
a film. For a thriller genre we found via our research, that the audience
expected to see a sense of mystery, non-diegetic sound, diegetic
sounds like sirens and a distinction between villain and victim.

7. What did you do in the planning stages to help you design /
create the marketing products to promote your film?
To help me design my products I looked at lots of other professional media products
that were similar to my own. I looked at romantic-thriller film posters and tried to
identify what themes were present in the images and layouts. I also looked at a variety
of double page spreads to see if I could identify and underlying themes. I searched
comparative texts and looked at the level of information and detail that was put into
each.
I encountered a variety of different audience research tasks which helped me identify
what sorts of things I should put into my products. When in the production of my
product, I showed my plans and progress to my peers and asked for feedback to see if
they felt the style was strong. I also decided to show the products to my friends
because I wanted to see if they could identify themes they might see in the film or if
they could identify the main genre, a thriller.
Something else that I concentrated on within the planning stages, was what codes and
conventions to use. For example the audience can denote the connotations of the
tagline 'tick tock' and form an idea as to what this may refer to. I used symbolic codes
like the use of image as they represents the genre of the film. The dark colours are
common of this genre which could be identified by the audience.

8. Did you entice / interest your target audience through
your marketing products?
I believe that I interested my target audience through my marketing
products because I included little information without giving too much
of the story away. I made use of editing techniques and layout to tell
the audience what to expect. This is not a direct process however. The
audience should be able to denote meaning of significant aspects of
the products.
In the article I wrote for my double page spread, I did not reveal the
twist ending. This was so that the audience could be left wondering
what exactly will happen in the final scene. When getting feedback
from my target audience they said that they could identify the theme
and feel a sense of omniscience and wonder as to what will
happen. One person said that Peter looked suspicious on the images I
used because of his body language. It doesn't give much away.

9. How would you imagine the marketing campaign to
take shape? When would the posters and trailers and
magazine features be released?
If I were to do a marketing campaign I would start this a few weeks before the
films release date. I would place the film posters around the community in
order to raise awareness of the upcoming products release. I would attempt
to amplify the consumers knowledge by providing them with the opportunity
to view these products. I would place the double page spread within a
number of different film magazines to tell the audience about the film and
when it will be released.
Another technique I could use to advertise is to post links, images or
information on social networking sites because a lot of people use them, so it
would be seen by many.