The combination of the main film and ancillary tasks of a poster and film review were effective. Similar bright backgrounds, blue color schemes, bold fonts, and inclusion of a web address in both tasks linked them together and promoted the lighthearted action comedy genre of the 5-minute film. Images in the tasks hinted at the action genre without spoiling the plot.

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

2. The Brief
My main task was to create a short, five minute
film.
I then had to produce a poster and a film review
for my ancillary tasks.

3. Both ancillary tasks were meant to promote our
product in different ways, verbally in the review and
visually in the poster. I tried to make sure that the
audience would want to watch our film based on
what they saw on my ancillary tasks through the
use of creativity and text. I represented the film in
the most positive light possible, not only to
promote, but to also establish a connection
between the light heartedness of the ancillary tasks
and the light heartedness of the film itself.

4. How did my poster encapsulate the
action comedy genre?
The poster strongly encapsulates
the action genre of my film due
to the bold font of the title as
well as the slogan and the
credits. The character
positioning and gun hand signals
also make it clear that the genre
is action, as does the image of a
target in the title. The fact that
the background is lined paper
and the slogan tells the reader
that the film will be set in
detention, creates a sense of
irony which therefore has a
comedic effect, as the last thing
the audience would expect is for
an action film to be set in a
school. Therefore this connotes
to the audience that our film is
also a comedy.

5. How did my film review explore my
main product?
My film review really gives the
audience an incite as to what to expect
in the film. It exaggerates the fact that
the film is only 5 minutes long by
saying, “Not just a battle against each
other, but a battle against time...”. The
review is ended with, “...this short film
is definitely a must-see. And at only 5
minutes long, why not?”, again
emphasising that this is a short film.
The review also strongly highlights the
fact that the film is funny and full of
action, to make the genre clear to the
audience. The review is designed to
make the reader want to watch the
film, and awarded it 4 stars.

6. Images
• The images I used for my two ancillary
tasks only consisted of the two main
male actors. I chose not to include any
images of the main female character.
This is because she does not appear
until later on in the film, and I wanted
this to remain surprising for the
Poster images
audience, and not to spoil the
narrative. I believe this was effective,
as the audience are able to look at the
poster and review without them giving
away too much about the characters
Review image and the plot.

7. Images Continued...
• Both of the images were specifically
selected to connote a sense of action to
the audience, signified by the hand
gestures to represent a gun, and the
image of the forward roll. These are
effective as they tell the audience that our
film will be an action film; however they
do not connote comedy.

8. Background
• The lined paper background for my poster was inspired by
‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’. When I typed this movie title into
Google, various images of lined paper came up, which I felt
was a very clear way of setting the scene for the audience for
my film, as lined paper connotes school. This also works hand
in hand with the fact that the characters are in detention, as
during detention, students are often asked to write lines on
lined paper.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid inspired
me to use a lined paper
background in my work!

9. Colour Scheme
• As my production was aimed more so at male
viewers, and part of the sub-genre was
action, I decided to opt for a masculine colour
scheme. I used many blue shades in both
ancillary tasks to appeal to a male
audience, whilst still aiming to attract some
females. This also linked the two ancillary
tasks together, helping to establish a common
theme for my film.

10. Fonts
• I used a very similar bold font for the film title of
both my ancillary tasks. This creates a theme for
my film. The text used is big and bold to signify
action. I also used a bold font for the title in the
credits for my film. I have stuck to a black and
white theme for each title for continuity.
Review Poster Film Credits

11. Web Address
• Looking at existing posters and short films I
found that they include a web address to
promote the film. Therefore I decided to
include one on my poster and credits of the
film. This provides the viewer with another
source so that they can go and seek further
information about the film.

12. Both ancillary tasks have a bright white background which conveys to the audience a sense of light
heartedness. This also links the film which was shot in high key lighting and made brighter during
editing.
The blue colour
scheme is used
in both
ancillary tasks.
A very similar bold font
is used to connote
action.
The web address is shown
in both the poster and the
film so that the viewer can
seek further information
about the film.
The paper background was used not
only suggests to the audience that the Both images strongly
film will be set in school, but also connote a sense of action
directly links to the scene in which Ty to the audience, letting
screws up his lined paper and throws it them know what the genre
at Freddie, who initiates the battle. will be.

13. Summary
Overall, I believe that the combination of my
main product and ancillary tasks has been
effective. I have ensured that each one links to
another in some way, be it through the use of
images, background, colour scheme, fonts or the
web address.