QUESTION TWOHOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF

YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

By Sarah Spencer

Social Realism Thriller

INSPIRATIONSIn order to reflect my hybrid trailer of

Social Realism and Thriller I wanted to

convey a poster that included elements

of both genres. A characteristic which I

picked up from Thriller was the close up

of the main character’s face in which I

incorporated a typical setting of the film.

This is a trait of Social realism and in

particular, I was influenced by the layout

of ‘Little Birds’. I chose to use a simplistic

text style as it is an aspect from both

styles. I also decided to use the credit

block I created within the poster to make

it look more authentic.

POSTERThis is the poster for my trailer ‘Burnout’

As I stated earlier I was heavily influenced by the layout of ‘Little Birds’ combined with thriller

poster ‘Salt’. I feel that it came out successfully and conveys the atmosphere of my film. With the

aid of Photoshop, I merged two of my photos to create an interesting composition in which I

edited mainly with B&C and RGB curves. The close up of my main actor’s face is some what

distorted due to the overlaying of the same picture in different colours. This was to emphasise a

sense of trouble the film will intel. This could also be interpreted as a fore-coming of the pills the

main character takes within the story and this distortion and blurriness are the side effects.

On the whole, I like the

ending results and feel

that it has a professional

quality and finish The

simplistic writing with

the glow effect looks

very effective and I’m

glad that I created a

colour mood board as

this helped me refer to

a good balance of

colours when creating

my actual trailer and

magazine front cover.

INSPIRATIONSI chose to use ‘Empire’ as my distributing company only

because they seemed to display more niche genres such as

Social Realism when compared to ‘Total Film’. This type of

genre wouldn’t be on highly established magazine due to

the low demand as Hollywood action blockbuster tend to

get the most notice and hype.

However I decided to go forth with a noticeable brand to

look authentic and I really like how the finished product

turned out. I took from ‘Empire’ the main logo and altered

the colour in order to match the theme of my film. In terms of

conventions I used side line tags and noticeable films like

‘Billy Elliot’ to interest existing viewers. I did however take

the red ring of stars from ‘Total Film’. Although I replaced

the wording with an award since this would allow my film to

look successful which would engage film fanatics to go

watch the film.

MAGAZINE FRONT COVERThis is the magazine front cover for my trailer ‘Burnout’

When creating my magazine front cover I ensured to look at my mood board and

poster for inspiration. This meant that both my products would suit and relate to

each other whilst reflect the film. I love the look of the resulting product and feel that

it conveys the strong friendship the two girls share within the story.

Unconventionally, my models do not give direct eye contact to the audience through

the camera. However this could further the idea of the isolated world the pair live

in. Like existing magazine covers from ‘Empire,’ I decided to incorporate a film strip

of movies to engage

existing audiences. I also

included a thumbnail pic

of my first trailer attempt

‘Side Effects’ as it

involved one of my actors.

This would create the

idea that my actor has

appeared in another feature

making her look like a successful

actress.

‘BURNOUT’ TRAILEROn the whole I strongly think that my poster and magazine cover reflects

the film’s plot and concept effectively. As a combination, they create a set

that looks mysterious and exciting. As part of my target audience, I would

definitely go watch this film

purely due to the visuals.

In particular, the glow effect

(created on Photoshop)

works very well on all the

titles of the products and

could potential be the

original trait that most films have as their logos.

If I were to alter my ancillary texts I

would’ve liked to have a change of

outfits. This is a common element that

most advertisements of films would

ensure.

Hunger games poster and

Magazine font cover: