The document discusses the effectiveness of combining a film with ancillary texts such as a poster and radio trailer. It describes creating a poster using a still image from the film and incorporating common psychological thriller conventions like a dark color scheme. A radio trailer was made using audio clips from the film and a script to last 30 seconds. Feedback indicated the poster and trailer were successful at drawing interest and reflecting the film's genre.

1. EVALUATION QUESTION TWO: HOW
EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF
YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND THE
ANCILLARY TEXTS

2. OUR MAIN PRODUCT:
Before we started to create our film, we completed some pre
production tasks including; researching into our genre, and planning
our film e.g. writing the storyline etc. We researched the conventions
of psychological thrillers, as we wanted to find out the codes and
conventions that are used in psychological thrillers to draw in the
attention of the audience as well as to shock them. We wanted to use
the codes and conventions of psychological thrillers to help build
both tension and suspense to our audience e.g. we used silhouettes
and shadows/ darkness to build tension in some of our scenes
making the audience feel more anxious to find out the enigma of the
film (who the person is behind the mask/ how is the silhouette).
However we wanted to make it clear in our film that ‘Jane’ (one of
Deb’s friends) had left, and wasn’t present during the art storage
scene. This would be a major clue for the audience, as Jane would be
seen as the main suspect in the plot.

3. MAKING ANCILLARY TEXTS:
Ancillary texts are crucial in the process of making a film. Ancillary
texts are used to effectively advertise and promote media products
through a variety of media platforms. Even though there are a range
of different media platforms we decided to create a poster and a
radio trailer to promote our film. We decided to create both a poster
and a radio trailer, as we wanted to promote our film with a visual
and an auditory way. Creating our ancillary texts was fairly easy, as
we all knew exactly what we wanted from this film. This is because
we were all clear on our chosen genre the coders and conventions we
had to incorporate in order for our film to work properly. We wanted
our ancillary. We wanted our ancillary texts to create suspense and to
shock our audience, therefore we didn’t want to give away too much
of the storyline and plot of our media text, so that our audience
would still have the shock factor when they saw the film.

4. RADIO TRAILERS:
Radio trailers are one of the oldest forms of advertisement and are
still a relevant form of advertising in modern society. However it has
been found that the majority of radio stations within the UK are
owned by the BBC, as the BBC receive most of their funding from TV
license's paid by the public, so they don’t advertise anything other
than their products. Whereas other radio station receive funds from
companies in return for advertisement. Radio trailers include audio/
dialogue clips from the film, these clip would give the audience a
quick insight on what the film is about without giving the full plot
away, but would still make the audience feel interested in the
product. Radio advertisements are an effective way of advertising as
the audience would be able to hear it in the shops, in their car, in the
comfort of their own home, or maybe in a educational environment
such as a school college or university.

5. RADIO TRAILER RESEARCH:
Radio trailers are relatively hard to find on the internet, as the best way to hear a radio trailer is directly from
a radio/ radio station, however I managed to find a radio trailer for ‘The Book of Eli’. From listening to this, as
well as listening to trailers that have been aired on the radio directly, I was able to pick up some common
conventions of radio trailers, as well as how they are used to draw in an audience. One of the common things
I found about radio trailers, is they often include clips from the film, such as sound effects, and quotes that
make the film sound interesting and appealing to the audience. Radio trailers also often have voice overs that
give information on the film, and promote it e.g. The Book of Eli had a quote saying “absolute must see” this
would convince the audience that this is a good film to watch. They also include information on when and
where the film can be viewed, so the audience would know exactly where to go to view the film. For our film
trailer we wanted to stick to these common conventions, so we used a sound clip of the dialogue used in the
knockout scene for Deb, when she is reunited with Tina. We thought this would be a good clip to put into our
film, as it will give the audience a quick insight in the more action filled parts of our film. It would also draw
our audience in as they would want to know exactly what happened. We also thought this would be a good
clip to use, as it gives the audience the chance to identify the protagonist in our film, before they watch it. We
also stuck to common conventions of radio trailers, as we stated the release date of our film, and where it can
be viewed. Also we wanted to make sure that we still incorporated the genre of our film within our trailer, so
we decided to do this by adding ‘eerie’ music to our trailer so that tension could be built within our film so
the audience would be more drawn in to our film. Also eerie music is a common convention used in
psychological thrillers to make the audience feel ‘on edge’ and well as to connote to the audience that
something is quite right in the film, making the audience want to keep watching.

6. FILM POSTER:
Before we planned our group film poster, we researched psychological thriller posters
to see the common codes and conventions so that we could try and incorporate them
into our film poster, we also created our own individual film posters and grouped
together to see which elements of our posters were effective and which ones weren’t.
When planning for our film poster we wanted to make sure that we covered every
element of the poster e.g. fonts, font sizes, colours we wanted to use on the poster
e.g. the background colour, and whether our ideas stuck to the common conventions
and codes that we had found. We wanted our film poster to be as effective as
possible as film posters are a good way of advertising a media product, this is
because they can be put up in a variety of locations in a range of different sizes e.g.
on a billboard, on a bus, up at a cinema etc. therefore they would always be in the
sight of the public. So because posters are put up in a range of different places it is
likely that they will attract a large audience, as more of the public would be able to
see the.
Example of how film
posters
can be shown in a wide
range of locations

7. POSTER EXAMPLE:
When planning for our groups film poster I researched psychological film posters so I
used IMDb to look through psychological thriller posters so I could pick out common
codes and conventions that we could use to engage the audience. I found that most
of the posters for psychological thrillers either have the antagonist or protagonist as
a main focus for the poster. Also some posters such as Paranormal Activity have stills
from the film as a main focus, therefore most posters created for psychological
thrillers give the audience a quick brief insight on what the film will be like.
Therefore I wanted to incorporate either the protagonist or antagonist as the main
feature of our poster, this way the audience would have a quick, brief look of the
tone/ storyline of our film. I also noticed that the majority of psychological thriller
posters incorporate dark colours e.g. have black backgrounds and a red font,
therefore I wanted to incorporate these colours in our poster.

8. MAKING OUR FINAL POSTER:
After we all created our own individual posters we came together to create
our final film poster. For our film poster we wanted to use a still from our
film of our protagonist (Deb) running through the corridor. We liked this still
as the light from the camera flash in this still helps separate the darkness
and lightness of the frame nicely, so the main focus is on the protagonist
(Deb). We took some inspiration from Film Noir as we were inspired by the
colour scheme of the film, as we liked how it made the film appear moodier,
and as if something bad was going to happen so we decided to use this on
our poster.
(Film Noir)

9. ANNOTATION OF OUR FILM POSTER:
We took some inspiration from Film Noir for
our poster, as we liked how the black and
white theme made our poster look mysterious, and
this ties in with our film as our film has the main
mystery (enigma) of who is the person behind the
mask. We also like the black and white theme on our
poster, as it creates a shadow effect and this is a
common convention used in psychological thrillers,
Therefore we kept true to our chosen genre.
We decided to use a red font for the title and release
date for our film as we wanted it to stand out from the
rest of the poster, as we wanted these key pieces of
information to stick in the audiences mind. This is why the
rest of the information is in white e.g. the film review
social networking links etc. as the red will attract the eye
of the audience so they will want to read more, and
because the rest of the information is in another colour it
is more likely to stick in the audiences mind. Also another
reason we wanted to use a red font is because red is a
common colour used on psychological thriller film posters.
We also used a red font as red is often used
to connote danger to an audience as it is sometimes
used to symbolise blood as well as death. Therefore
The audience would be able to figure out something
and will happen in the film.
We also included a review and star rating for our film as we
wanted to show that our film had been supported by trusted
sources, this would make the audience trust these review and
make them want to watch the film. We also wanted to add
reviews as they are a common feature on film posters.
We added an age rating for our film as we wanted to make the
audience aware that there is an age restriction on our film, this
way they would be aware on whether or not they would be able
to view our film. Also age ratings are a common feature on film
posters.
We added social network links to the bottom of our film poster
as we wanted our audience to be aware of where they could
get reviews and information about the film from other audience
members. We also wanted to incorporate these into our film
poster to help promote our film, also social network links are
a common feature on film posters.
We also added the release date on our poster so our audience
would be able to see when the are able to view the film.
We also liked the idea of using this still from our film for our
poster as because the light is reflecting off the doors the
audience would be able to see they’re shut, this gives the idea
the idea that ‘deb’ the protagonist in out poster is trapped.
Therefore our poster links well with our film as there is a scene
where Deb becomes trapped by the antagonist. So, our film
poster links well with our film.

10. SIMILARITIES IN OUR FILM POSTER
TO EXISTING FILM POSTERS:When we created our film poster we wanted to make sure that we kept to the typical conventions
and codes used in psychological thriller posters, as we wanted to stay true to our genre. We did this
by putting the following features on our poster:
We placed the steel tongs on the bottom of our poster, as this is a
common place to put steel tongs, however some psychological thriller
posters such as ‘The Butterfly Effect’ have their steel tongs in
different places e.g. around the corners of the poster. Steel tongs are
a typical feature to include on a film poster therefore we felt it was
crucial to include these on our film poster.
We also followed conventions on the title of our film on our poster, as we
wanted to make sure that it stood out against the rest of our poster, therefore
we used a red font. This helped our film title stand out against the black and
white background, as well as the rest of the font as we only used red font for
the film title and release date. Also red is a common colour used on
psychological film posters, as it symbolises death, blood and violence.
We also stuck to common colours for psychological thriller posters as we use mainly black
and white to create a shadow effect, which is also another convention of psychological
thrillers. We also took some inspiration from ‘Film Noir’ as we liked the moody feel the colour
scheme create, so we wanted to use this in our film poster.

11. POSTER EVALUATION:
After looking at a range of different psychological thriller posters, and their features, conventions and codes, I believe that our
group has created an effective poster. I believe that we stuck well to the common conventions and features of psychological thriller
as we used a black and white theme with our poster to create a shadow effect on the film still we used in our poster. Black and
white are both common colours in psychological thrillers as they can be used to symbolise both bad and good, black can also be
used to symbolised death. Also shadows are a common convention used in psychological thriller posters, as they help create
tension and interest to the audience, as they would want to find out what the enigma in the shadows is. Also the still from the film
that we chose to put onto our film poster show the protagonist of our film running, this would interest our audience as they would
see the still and want to find out what she is running from, and also because she is running in a low lit environment an eerie tone is
set in our poster, which would be expected of a psychological thriller poster. Therefore our poster would appeal mainly to audience
members that like the psychological thriller genre. Also because we have used a still from our film in our poster we have given the
audience a quick insight of our film, so they would be able to pick up on the tone of the film, so by looking at the poster they would
be able to see whether or not this would be a film that would interest them. Also some of features of our film could be picked up by
audience members that have seen the film would be able to pick up on e.g. the font that we have chosen for our film title kind of
look like charcoal that has been smudged out a little, this can be linked to the first scene in the art room when ‘Jane’ snaps her
charcoal, leading into the plot of the film. Therefore overall I believe that we have created an effective film poster as it incorporates
common conventions and features of psychological thriller posters, and also captures the attention the audience, making them
create an interest in our film as well as encouraging them to go see it.

12. CREATING OUR RADIO TRAILER:
Our radio trailer was created using iMovie as it has a voice recording system that allows you to record from
the speaker directly to the computer, we used this program as we wanted our trailer to sound as realistic as
possible. Our radio trailer is comprised of a scripted voice over, and specially selected clips of audio from our
film. Our radio trailer was specially designed to last within a 30 second time frame. Our trailer was started off
by creating a 30 second blank space as a base for a trailer, this was done to make sure that our trailer didn’t
run over for too long, as most film trailers last around 30 seconds. The audio clips were from our film were
selected and dragged from the film into iMovie were ‘audio only’ was selected, so that the clips could be
converted into an editable audio file that could be changed so it would fit properly in the sections of our
trailer timeline. This process was then repeated for each individual audio clip, making sure that spaces had
been created for our voice over narrator clips. The narrator clips were recorded in a small quiet room to make
sure we didn’t have any background sounds or disturbance of any kind. Once all of the narrator clips were
recorded and fitted properly into the 30 second time sequence, special effects could be added to make our
trailer sound more interesting to the audience. The sound effects used were taken from iLife sound effects,
these sound effects were used to make the trailer sound more lifelike and also to create tension to the
audience listening, making them want to watch our film. The back track for our trailer was then added. The
score selected starts at a slow pace, but increases as the audio clips become more intense. This adds to the
sense/ themes that are often created for psychological thrillers, therefore by listening to the trailer the
audience would be made aware of the genre of our film. All of the audio clips were then adjusted slightly so
they fitted in time with our selected score. After this our trailer was then exported.

13. FEEDBACK:
For our feedback we asked a couple of our classmates what they thought our film
poster and radio trailer and we received verbal feedback. The majority of the
feedback we received for our trailer was positive as one classmate said that our radio
trailer “sounded very realistic and true to our genre as the sound effects help create
an eerie insight of our film”, another classmate said that “the soundtrack we selected
helps create tension, and works well with the audio clips selected from the film”. The
feedback we received for our poster was mainly positive too as one respondent
stated that our poster “looks like a real life psychological thriller poster”. Another
respondent said they liked how the main focus was on the “silhouette” as it created a
“mysterious affect on the poster” and “made the audience want to see the film as they
would want to find out why the girl in the poster is running”. From this feedback we
can conclude that our ancillary texts were effective, as they caught the attention of
the audience and also help create and eerie atmosphere for the audience. Therefore
we were able to achieve reactions from the audience that would reflect the genre of
our film.

14. CONCLUSION:
Therefore to conclude I believe that the ancillary texts created by our group
are effective in their purpose of promoting out media product. I feel that our
ancillary text well represent our film as they capture that eerie atmosphere
that we want to capture within our film. All together our ancillary texts show
that the effort we put into our film was always at a constant as there were no
texts at a lower value than the other, therefore equal effort was put into each
text, including our film. I believe that our ancillary texts as a whole were
extremely effective as they gave a decent amount of information about our
film, without giving away the full plot. Therefore I think that our ancillary
texts complement our film well as they give just the right amount of
information and insight to engage and interest the audience to make them
want to watch the film.