How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My final short film, poster and double page spread all interlink and present a certain depiction of our film. The poster and double page spread succinctly present the stylistics of our film, in that they are also original in their design. Our film is anything but stereotypical in a sense and is, as said in my double page spread almost 'David Lynch-ian.' In saying that all three aspects did of course incorporate a good amount of conventional aspects also, in order to have a certain appeal and still remain within the bounds of the genre, while gearing towards a niche audience. We did this in order to accommodate to Steve Neale's genre theory wherein we repeated certain genre traditions in order to remain within the realms of horror, while remaining unique enough in order to gain interest from an audience.
For one, our poster and double page spread both use direct screenshots from the production itself, presenting an obvious narrative which is then presented through our film. A story is told in our poster which replicates that of the film; with both Edward and Mary on either side of the poster, we can assume that something wrong will happen between the two characters. With Mary's outfit and makeup it is also made clear that this is of the supernatural sub-genre, of which will appeal to a certain audience. We also maintained the mystery of our story and plot by incorporating images of meat, as well as the black and white image. The meat throws the audience off as to whether this is a perhaps gory movie- they are already assuming the worst possible outcome for the baby depicted on the left. The black and white image reinforces our auteur style of a mix of different editing techniques that are unusual of the genre. The tagline 'a mothers love never dies' brings in the main themes of our film simply yet effectively by incorporating both the supernatural aspect and the idea of motherhood, which links to the images depicted of baby and poltergeist.
The fact that this is a poster set out in this way, in a landscape portrait with the different single images also tells the watcher of the stylistic aspects of our film. This is unusual to see; many films, particularly horror films pick one frame or close up and put it on the cover of the poster in order to create that mystery while still making the genre obvious. We maintain the mystery by incorporating multiple images in a bizarre order and frame in order to confuse an audience that is unused to seeing such a detailed poster. Images continued to play a huge role in our double page spread also. The blurred, distorted mixture of images at the side of our double page spread also plays into this idea, in that you are not sure what to focus on, while still gaining the understanding that this is not a happy film, but one that contains that uncertainty. We did mostly use images of the main characters however, as is usual in film posters to introduce them to an audience, but did so in a way that tells the story that you assume will happen: Mary is the malevolent force after the baby. We purposely did not want to give anything away towards the twist at the end in any of our products, but in saying this did not present much clear lineage towards the narrative of the film. Instead we play upon the audiences expectations, which in itself is very unusual of the genre.
Red, white and black are a part of our house style and colour scheme as these show the mixing of ideology. Red, meaning danger and perhaps blood, white presenting purity and black presenting evil. These colours present the idea that it is difficult to place Mary, or the film, into a box. Both Mary and The Mother are wearing white which shows how subtly similar they actually are. The question as to whether The Mother is evil for allowing her baby to play with Mary is also raised by the end, and as mentioned before, this questioning of morals is made clear in the end, thus presenting our own end goal of leaving the audience wondering what just happened.
The font is also quite simple in our products, this was done in order to give all the attention to the characters and the actual bulk of the writing. The font is quite gothic and impactful however in order to present the genre and film and stand out against the page. We used the font 'Accord' in all caps in both of our double page spread and poster to make them link to one another and again, present that boldness, of which using all caps is not uncommon in articles, most notably in fashion. The main font of the entire product that is seen in all of my pieces is 'beautiful horror', the 'Baby Mine' font. This font again appears realistic and professional and connotes the typical typography you are used to seeing at the forefront of other horrors, with implication of the supernatural. A feature that I liked when making this was the crossing over of text across the double page spread. With 'success' coming onto the next page written in red, it reinforces the statement itself, particularly that word, and makes it that much more standout. This adds dynamic to our spread, making it not akin to the simple article presented in newspaper- this is definitely something you would see in magazines such as 'Empire.' This professionalism is also coherent in all of our products. We included all the aspects typically seen in the credits at the end of our film, as well as a title page, in order to make it more succinct; an actual short film. The film credits and BBFC rating is also important and therefore included in our film and the layout of our double page spread is typical yet professional. The actual contents and wording of our double page spread is also to be noted; I wrote it in a way that I would enjoy reading, incorporating journalese aspects as well humour and actual information on the film. The sub-heading is stereotypical of the baiting journalists use, by noting formidable directors and the daunting 'sure to make you keep the lights on'- this film is a must watch, and as piece of promotion, and synergy, does its job.
All three of my products work well together by linking to each other and remaining synergetic. These aspects work together in order to create a better product- each part adding to the last in order to create a greater conglomerate, with each promoting the other. Ultimately my ancillary tasks effectively serve as advertisements for my film. They both use the title of the film in the same font, and in a modern world where only the title of the film is needed in order to find out yourself everything about a film this was important to include. Reinforcing the title is important for low budget, short films that are not based on a large franchise, for instance Marvel's never ending list of superhero films are always going to have an audience, and perhaps their best known accolade 'Iron Man' needn't have title in the poster for every person on the earth to recognise the signature look.
An effective review was also essential is order to actually sell my product. In the case of such a small film good reviews are important in order to tell an audience whether or not they would enjoy it and promote the film. My double page spread, as mentioned, does this continuously without spoiling anything; 'as bizarre as it is brilliant' leaves the audience believing that this must be the best horror film for the past decade. This exaggeration and specific word choices are important to think about when selling a product like this, which is also presented in our poster with The Times giving us 5 stars and saying 'this will haunt you' which for horror fans is sure to excite.
Overall the thematic aspects are presented in both my ancillary texts in the same way as they are in my film in a way that promotes and advertises the main medium. I have stuck to the conventions that appear in double pages spreads and posters in a way that also introduces our specific style of film, thus making the combination across all three mediums coherent and successful.
For one, our poster and double page spread both use direct screenshots from the production itself, presenting an obvious narrative which is then presented through our film. A story is told in our poster which replicates that of the film; with both Edward and Mary on either side of the poster, we can assume that something wrong will happen between the two characters. With Mary's outfit and makeup it is also made clear that this is of the supernatural sub-genre, of which will appeal to a certain audience. We also maintained the mystery of our story and plot by incorporating images of meat, as well as the black and white image. The meat throws the audience off as to whether this is a perhaps gory movie- they are already assuming the worst possible outcome for the baby depicted on the left. The black and white image reinforces our auteur style of a mix of different editing techniques that are unusual of the genre. The tagline 'a mothers love never dies' brings in the main themes of our film simply yet effectively by incorporating both the supernatural aspect and the idea of motherhood, which links to the images depicted of baby and poltergeist.
The fact that this is a poster set out in this way, in a landscape portrait with the different single images also tells the watcher of the stylistic aspects of our film. This is unusual to see; many films, particularly horror films pick one frame or close up and put it on the cover of the poster in order to create that mystery while still making the genre obvious. We maintain the mystery by incorporating multiple images in a bizarre order and frame in order to confuse an audience that is unused to seeing such a detailed poster. Images continued to play a huge role in our double page spread also. The blurred, distorted mixture of images at the side of our double page spread also plays into this idea, in that you are not sure what to focus on, while still gaining the understanding that this is not a happy film, but one that contains that uncertainty. We did mostly use images of the main characters however, as is usual in film posters to introduce them to an audience, but did so in a way that tells the story that you assume will happen: Mary is the malevolent force after the baby. We purposely did not want to give anything away towards the twist at the end in any of our products, but in saying this did not present much clear lineage towards the narrative of the film. Instead we play upon the audiences expectations, which in itself is very unusual of the genre.
Red, white and black are a part of our house style and colour scheme as these show the mixing of ideology. Red, meaning danger and perhaps blood, white presenting purity and black presenting evil. These colours present the idea that it is difficult to place Mary, or the film, into a box. Both Mary and The Mother are wearing white which shows how subtly similar they actually are. The question as to whether The Mother is evil for allowing her baby to play with Mary is also raised by the end, and as mentioned before, this questioning of morals is made clear in the end, thus presenting our own end goal of leaving the audience wondering what just happened.
The font is also quite simple in our products, this was done in order to give all the attention to the characters and the actual bulk of the writing. The font is quite gothic and impactful however in order to present the genre and film and stand out against the page. We used the font 'Accord' in all caps in both of our double page spread and poster to make them link to one another and again, present that boldness, of which using all caps is not uncommon in articles, most notably in fashion. The main font of the entire product that is seen in all of my pieces is 'beautiful horror', the 'Baby Mine' font. This font again appears realistic and professional and connotes the typical typography you are used to seeing at the forefront of other horrors, with implication of the supernatural. A feature that I liked when making this was the crossing over of text across the double page spread. With 'success' coming onto the next page written in red, it reinforces the statement itself, particularly that word, and makes it that much more standout. This adds dynamic to our spread, making it not akin to the simple article presented in newspaper- this is definitely something you would see in magazines such as 'Empire.' This professionalism is also coherent in all of our products. We included all the aspects typically seen in the credits at the end of our film, as well as a title page, in order to make it more succinct; an actual short film. The film credits and BBFC rating is also important and therefore included in our film and the layout of our double page spread is typical yet professional. The actual contents and wording of our double page spread is also to be noted; I wrote it in a way that I would enjoy reading, incorporating journalese aspects as well humour and actual information on the film. The sub-heading is stereotypical of the baiting journalists use, by noting formidable directors and the daunting 'sure to make you keep the lights on'- this film is a must watch, and as piece of promotion, and synergy, does its job.
All three of my products work well together by linking to each other and remaining synergetic. These aspects work together in order to create a better product- each part adding to the last in order to create a greater conglomerate, with each promoting the other. Ultimately my ancillary tasks effectively serve as advertisements for my film. They both use the title of the film in the same font, and in a modern world where only the title of the film is needed in order to find out yourself everything about a film this was important to include. Reinforcing the title is important for low budget, short films that are not based on a large franchise, for instance Marvel's never ending list of superhero films are always going to have an audience, and perhaps their best known accolade 'Iron Man' needn't have title in the poster for every person on the earth to recognise the signature look.
An effective review was also essential is order to actually sell my product. In the case of such a small film good reviews are important in order to tell an audience whether or not they would enjoy it and promote the film. My double page spread, as mentioned, does this continuously without spoiling anything; 'as bizarre as it is brilliant' leaves the audience believing that this must be the best horror film for the past decade. This exaggeration and specific word choices are important to think about when selling a product like this, which is also presented in our poster with The Times giving us 5 stars and saying 'this will haunt you' which for horror fans is sure to excite.
Overall the thematic aspects are presented in both my ancillary texts in the same way as they are in my film in a way that promotes and advertises the main medium. I have stuck to the conventions that appear in double pages spreads and posters in a way that also introduces our specific style of film, thus making the combination across all three mediums coherent and successful.
Comments
Post a Comment