Media evaluation question: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

1. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE
COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY
TASKS?
Kayleigh Rogers

2. Information

3.  For my course work my group and me had to create a
film trailer https://youtu.be/yKAZ8LMpX0c along with
two ancillary tasks, which consisted if a film poster
and a magazine cover for the film. Our genre was a
sub-genre known as psychological horror,
http://kayleighsmediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/0
9/horror-and-their-sub-genres.html so we had to
research into all the different conventions associated
with this genre in order for it to appeal to the
appropriate audience. So I had previously researched
codes and conventions of a psychological horror in
order to make sure that my media products consist of
the appropriate aspects you would often consider with
this genre.

4.  Firstly I wanted to include phallic symbols within
my magazine, poster and trailer due to this being a
key convention of a psychological horror. So the
main prop used within our trailer was a knife, so I
ensured that this was included within my ancillary
tasks. This is effect because the fact that the exact
same knife is used throughout suggests that its
campaign like and they are linked. For example in
‘Leatherface’ in Texas chainsaw massacre
http://kayleighsmediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/201
5/09/texas-chainsaw-massacre-trailer-
analysis.html is always associated with his
chainsaw. The knife also suggests a sinister side to
the trailer. Within the trailer you see Elliot being
attack with a knife, the poster and magazine have
two shots on the antagonist holding a knife to the
protagonists face. This adds enigma because we
don’t know who will lose their life.

5.  For our trailer our characters where many different attires
(costumes)
http://kayleighsmediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/antag
onist.html throughout to represent past time and to represent
different events such as work, dressing gown, and day to day
clothing. However on the magazine and the poster, costume
isn’t very visible as I fade the images so I could overlap them
on the dominant main image. However the characters
costume in the poster is slightly visible as the protagonist
(Maddie) is wearing a black top which gives of the
connotations of mystery and death, these are typical
conventions that you would expect to see in a psychological
horror. Again in the magazine you can only see aspect of her
black top. This gives them that automatic link as the samee
costume is used within both my ancillary task; the magazine
and the poster. Costume was important as we wanted it to
connote typical conventions of a psychological horror such
as; death, blood, and violence. This is effective because the

6.  For my colour I used three main colours on my ancillary tasks; these were
black, red and white.
http://kayleighsmediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/psychological-
horror-research.html This is because red had the connotations of blood
and violence, white suggests purity, which is remaining within some of the
characters, and then we had black, which connotes death and mystery.
Within my poster I used black and white images, this was so I could create
shadowing. This was effective as both the magazine and poster contain
shadowing, which suggests that the darkness is taking the light. As the
majority of my image is consumed by darkness, which suggests there is
no hope. This then mirror the narrative of our trailer because Maddie is
constantly under attack, we are hinted that something bad as previously
happened when she has been taking medication, something not good.
This hints at the darkness consuming her, the cult constantly come back,
nothing is going right for her, which suggests it’s easy for her to turn to the
darkness. However the white suggest purity in my ancillary tasks it
suggest there is hope and again it does this in the trailer. As the first
costume the protagonist wears is a shirt that is black and white, this hints
at the possibility her fate hangs in the balance, she can go either way. The
fact that white and black are equally distributed suggests that she can
save herself or go to the dark side. This is effective because black and

7.  For our fonts
http://kayleighsmediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/typography.html
one main theme I have kept to it being bold, this is effective as it stands
out whether you’re close to it or far away from it. Its eye catching which
makes it more prominent for you to want to watch it or look at the
poster and buy the magazine as it looks intriguing and catches the eye.
Our font had to be effective for it to appeal to our audience so it had to
be picked carefully, so for my poster I picked a distorted text, this was
effective as it connects it with the trailer as the protagonists thoughts
are distorted through her medication, or a cult sending her insane.
Then for my magazine I used a dripping blood font for my magazine as
this fit with the make I had done throughout the trailer. I had put special
effects make up on the actor to fit in with the conventions of a
psychological horror. Plus I used dripping blood when a knife is
approaching Elliot, so this joins the link between the pair. This is
effective because they blood hint at blood with is a convention of a
psychological horror and they subtly link to each other like a campaign
would.

8.  Finally the characters are key for the ancillary tasks
and the film trailer. So I ensured that my masked
antagonists were included within the poster,
magazine and the film trailer. This was effective as
is it obviously that although they use different
images they are all linking together. The characters
on the poster, magazine and in the trailer all
recognizable as they continually appear on the
different synergy platforms; magazine, poster and
the trailer. This is effective because this make the
target audience associate them together, so again
they make a campaign.