The document discusses research done for various ancillary texts created to promote a thriller film titled "Offline". It describes analyzing posters, trailers, and magazines for films like Candyman, Requiem for a Dream, and movies in Empire magazine. For the poster, they were inspired by Candyman's use of an eye to represent mystery and danger. For the trailer, they drew from techniques in Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Ghost Writer to build tension. The magazine took cues from Empire and X-Men: Apocalypse in its portrayal of characters. Audience feedback on the magazine led to changes in layout and colors.

1. How effective is the
combination of your
main product and
ancillary text?
By Fatima Abdi Mohamed, Salma El-Sayed and
Elay Rahmane.

2. We were influenced by the thriller movie candyman 1992. Its simplicity
was beyond mesmerizing along with is iconic man (candyman) inside the
eye. Which shows the element of mystery In thriller as well as danger. It
inspired us to make an eye as the Centre focus point on the poster. The
colour used for the copy of the posters black throughout since black not
only is the boldest colour but it represents the evasiveness of the thriller
genre which correlates to what the character Marcus is all about.
Moreover, the white background gives an element of simplicity which
enables the audience to see the the title and slogan clearly. Also,
simplicity connotes sophistication which is what we aimed for in our
Offline poster. We admired the way this poster conveys the genre of
thriller through the use of the colour red filtered in the eye connoting
danger as well as the villain (candyman) ambiguity.
The candyman poster had inspired us to place Tyler’s eye in the middle
in order for the character Tyler to remain mysterious. This is because the
audience does not get to see Tyler’s full facial features in the trailer.
Instead of placing the villain inside of the eye, we thought about placing
the main character Abigail, whereby she would be transparent inside of
Tyler’s pupil. Abigail’s facial expression would be scared as she is being
watched by mysterious man. Hence why it would be better to place
Tyler’s eye as he is stalking Abigail which expresses the convention of
Candy
Man
What media text did you look at to
research your ancillary text? (poster)
Whilst researching drama films, we also came across
Requiem for a dream -2000. This has successfully
represented its drama conventions with the use of the
diluted eye indicating that the person is on drugs, which
inspired us to place pictures of drugs on Offline as drugs
was given to Abigail by Amanda in order for her to calm
down (as shown in the trailer board). However due to the
recent changes we made due to the audience feedback
from our focus group, we had decided to cut that bit out
from the poster.
By the layout of the images, it seems as if the audience is
seeing his point of view, watching the lady from behind.
This captures the convention of stalking, despite the fact
that this is not what this film is about, either way we
intend to express ‘stalking’ on our Offline poster.
The merging of the colours with his blue eyes and the
sea completes the poster. Although we would like the
idea of having blue as a background, it would take the
focus away of Abigail inside the eye. Also, the colour
blue does not connote the genre’s drama or thriller.
Therefore, we had stick to a white simple background.
Requiem
For a
dream

3. What media text did you look at
to research your ancillary text?
(Magazine)
We were influenced by many media text (magazines) during our ancillary task. The
magazine that stood up for out for us was the Empire magazine. The magazine was
diverse and was presented colourfully which was exciting. The professionally of the
magazine is seen through the finish products, thus informing us of the standard of the
magazine.
The close up of the Joker’s face and body from ‘Suicide Squad’ in the magazine was
concept that we had adapted in our own magazine. This is due to the portrayal the
audience would get because only characters with key role are inserted on front pages
of magazines. We enlarged Salma’s picture so that the audience can read her body
language and her facial expression which emits fear.
Another reason we like the Empire magazine is the fact that they challenge the
conventions of a typical magazine where the character featured is a male. This is
seen in the ‘X Men: Apocalypse’ edition where Jean Grey is featured on the
magazines front cover. We had also adapted this concept as it was unique selling
point. Furthermore, we also challenged the codes and conventions of a typical
magazine by inserting the antagonist in the magazine and covering his identity, this
will keep the audience questioning his identity and make him mysterious.
In both the magazines that we had chosen, they relate to the characters and that’s
why we chose a black background because the colour black is considered a mystery

4. What media texts did you look at to
research for you trailer?
In order to expand our understanding and knowledge towards the thriller/drama
genre, we researched many various thriller and drama trailers so that it could use
when creating our own. The trailers we have researched include ‘Psycho’, ‘The
Ghost Writer’ and ‘The Silence Of The Lamps’
- From the trailer ‘Psycho’ we were inspired by the storyline and the
idea of being watched by a stalker, that’s why we chose to include this
feature in our trailer so that it adds up with the thriller genre. We
thought this would be a perfect idea as having a stalker or being ‘cat-
fished’ is a regular issue that our target audiences could go through.
- From the trailer ‘The Silence Of The Lamps’ it came across as
very jumpy due to the sudden music that was played throughout
the trailer. This builds up tension for the audience as they are un
aware of what is going to happen next. In order to achieve a
similar affect we also included sudden load music in parts of our
trailer this is effective as it would attract the audience to the story,
and they would want to know what will happen next.
From the trailer ‘The Ghost Writer’ we liked the idea that the there was a
mystery person behind all the drama that is happening throughout the
trailer, and that the source of communication was through social media.
This has then inspired us to have a mystery man that’s creating all the
dram in the trailer, we also have our mystery man communicating though
social media with our main character/victim Abigail. This keeps the
audience wondering who this mystery man is and why he is causing this

5. How did the magazine appeal
to the target audience?
Empire is a well known
film review magazine and
that only promotes
successful films, so our
target audience would feel
comfort that our film is
being representing and
being feature in the
biggest film magazine.
The main character in
the film is Abigail and
she is featured on the
front page of the
magazine. Furthermore
the antagonist is also
featured in the
magazine and he is
situated behind Abigail,
this gives the audience
an idea of their
relationship.This gives our target
audience the chance
to win a poster of the
film ‘Offline’ and the
aim of this is to
increase the sales
price due to the free
film poster. This
encourages the
audience to buy the
This informs the
audience on the films
that would be coming
out at the same time as
‘Offline This helps
generate more readers
as its not just focused
on one film. However,
the main focus is still
going to be on the film’
Offline’ as it’s the film

6. Sundance logo, in it saying Winner
2016. This will attract all the film lovers
as they will be eager to watch a movie
that has been awarded by Sundance.
Abigail's face in the eye
would attract Thriller fans
as there has been many
iconic thriller movies with
an subject reflecting on
the eye.
The title ‘Offline’ would appeal to our
target audience as teens and young
adults are familiar with the internet
being offline and online in social media.
Therefore, Offline would be inviting
towards the audience.
In addition to the title, its graffiti like font
would intrigue the target audience as it
is bold and eye catching, and contains a
danger element to it, which represents
the convention of thriller.
Furthermore, graffiti's are stereotypically
associated with our target audience.
The date is easy to remember (two digits being
the same.) This enables the audience to
subconsciously think about Offline’s release
which is crucial.
‘One of the spectacular thrillers
of the year’ sounds genuinely
convincing. The audience would
want to see Offline as they are
assured they wouldn't waste their
money watching this specular
movie. Especially with the fact
that it is from empire which is
trusted by thousands of of
people. Thus, it would
encourage the audience to watch
it.
The main image would entice the
audience as they can engage with
the eye looking directly at them.
The White back ground
is very simple. Not
chaotic for the audience
to be stressed out
about. Thus, it is easy
on the eyes of the
audience, allowing them
to focus on the vital
parts.
The slogan holds a deeper meaning to it,
which implies to the vulnerability of people
using the internet. It also signifies Abigail's
dilemma in the film. Our target audience
recognises the dark side with in using social
media. Hence, it would appeal to the
audience.
How did your poster appeal to your
target audience?

7. How did the trailer appeal to the
audience ?
The characters that are in the film are similar in age as our target audience,
therefore they will be able to relate to the actors in the film as they share similar
interests and go through similar situations. This is essential as they can form a
personal relationship with them, which would allow them to enjoy the film.
Our trailer would appeal to our target audience as it builds up tension and
suspense for the audience and leaves them wondering of what this ‘mystery’ is
going to do to ‘Abigail’ the fact that he has a hidden identity would also interest
the audience as they would want to watch the film to see whether the identity
will be revealed.

8. Synergy
Our Film poster, Trailer and Magazine front cover of the film title are all
the same font as it works in a synergy together and the audience can
familiarities themselves with it.
The colour scheme we used was white and black. For the magazine and the
trailer we used the colour white because it stood out from the black
background. However with the Film poster we used the colour white so that it
stood out against the white background. The colours black and white balance
each other out and gives the work a good finish. The audience will notice the
synergy and recognise our media product easily.

9. Where will the text
appear?Our ancillary text will be displayed in visible places that people are likely too
look, the aim of this to catch peoples ayes and attract their attention easily.
Our media text
package includes:
• Billboards
• Bus stops
• Train stations
• News paper
adverts
• Big red buses
• TV adverts
• YouTube adverts
• Game adverts
• Shop windows
• Mobile-van
Billboards
• Airports

10. Why are these formats
appropriate?
These formats are appropriate because they are easily seen
and accessibly by our target audience. They will connect the
synergy of the Film poster, Trailer and Magazine together and
this will create a wider target audience. Furthermore, the fact
that our media text will appear in places like the sides of
busses and billboards will advertising out thriller/drama film will
help build us a large number of viewers. The film will attract
people who enjoy thriller/drama genre films because it follows
the codes and conventions of a thriller/drama film. When
people see the film poster they will be attracted because we
had used bright colours to attract people and the edited image
of an eye with a girl in the pupil, this will intrigue lots of people
and that’s why theses formats are appropriate media texts. –
Fatima Mohamed
These formats are appropriate as we know for sure that our
target audience would definitely come across at least on of
these forms as they would be places in locations that would
grab their attention. We have found out during our research
that our target audience watch a lot of YouTube videos this
means that if we advertise our trailer using YouTube there is a
very high chance that our target audience would watch and
enjoy our trailer. Another reason why our format is appropriate
is because we chose locations that we knew our target
audience would go to such as bus stops and train stations, this
is effective as a large number of viewers would be aware of
our production. Transport is commonly used by our target
audience so they would definitely come across and recognise
our production. – Salma El-sayed

11. What did you learn from
the audience feed back?
After taking in to consideration our audience feedback
we found out that overall, they liked our final
production. However we did receive some criticism on
our magazine and the colour of the text. The main
criticism was about the layout of the magazine and
how certain features should stand out more than
others. Our viewers said that they would like it if we
moved the layout around and they also wanted
‘Empire’ to be brighter so that it stands out to the
audience. They also highlighted the fact that they
would like the heart beat line not to be white because
it did not fit in with the whole magazine and the
slandered of Empire magazine. With that feedback we
decided to blend the heartbeat line with the
background and it turned out really good. Apart from
that our audience was impressed with the colours that
we chose to include and they stated that the features
where relevant to the film so it fitted it perfectly. We
took their criticism well and changed the layout of the