Evaluation Question 2

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

Part of our A2 coursework was to complete a film poster and a magazine front cover for the film trailer we have created. When creating the three media products I had to frequently consider my target audience. The magazine front cover and film poster had to link to the film trailer, with the genre and with the target audience. I used the same person for the film poster and front cover, so the audience gets an idea of whom the main character of the film is and who is the one they have to keep their eyes on.

When creating my magazine I had to think what the audience want to see, they've seen the trailer already, so I will have to use the same codes and conventions as I did with the trailer. For both magazine and film poster I've used the same character, the font and colour I’ve used creates a more horror outcome, the font is very big and the colours I've used were black and white; I did this because I wanted to keep the horror genre and appeal to the teenager audience. The film is targeted to young adults ages 15 – 25, both genders; I tried to make it pleasing for both genders and make it look interesting and eye catching for the young people.

The ancillary texts are supposed to support the trailer, giving film promotion and advertising. The magazine cover is targeted to a young audience just as the film poster and the film trailer, the business will make more money if they target films to a younger audience, and they have a tendency to spend more money on films and magazines than the older generation.

My magazine and film poster look very dark and gloomy, the fonts are only black and white, making it look more dark and scary looking. I didn’t add a lot of texts or pictures because they will only need a few sentences and one main picture, it makes it more unpredictable, making the people buy the magazine and read what’s it got to say about the film and then this makes them watch the film at the cinema.

I edited the pictures to make them look darker and gloomier, I added shadows and more contrast, and I reduced the brightness; I made the character stand out from the picture, it kind of hits you in the face with all the darkness and then the character looking at you.

The film posters would be placed on big billboards, bus stops, shops, newspapers and magazines. The magazine would be sold in big shops like WHSmith and newsagents around the country.

I can honestly say that my ancillary text link very well with the trailer, I have used the same codes and conventions throughout the making of my media products. I used similar themes with the trailer and the ancillary texts. I could’ve improved by planning everything first and then make my media products, get more of a clearer idea at the beginning.

If you want to watch the trailer of 'Evil Awaits', Click Here!