2: COMBINATION OF MAIN AND ANCILLARIES.

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

Part of our A2 Media project was to plan and produce ancillary products to support our film. We decided we would individually make a poster and make a radio trailer as a group. In order for the ancillary products to work as promoters for our film, both the film, radio trailer and poster must work together in order to gain recognition among the wider audience and perspective viewers, therefore linking the main and ancillary products.

The poster relates to the film by the way in which the three central characters from the film are displayed on the poster. The way in which sticky notes were used in the design of my poster link to the fact that the sticky notes were left for the protagonist of the story, an idea which is carried on throughout all three of our products, this is a common way of communication in quiet settings and fits with the idea of the film being set in a library with the male trying to get the attention of the female. The poster that I created also includes a tagline which the audience will recognise when they view the film therefore developing the relationship between the main and ancillary products further. The genre of the film is clearly portrayed through the way in which the poster has been designed with the protagonist staring at her lover and him looking in the opposite direction, this also gives the audience a brief idea of the sort of characters involved within the story.  The gaze is broken by the third character that is seen as a silhouette, he stands centre as he is the real lover that left the sticky notes for the girl, however within the film his identity is not revealed until the end, therefore I wanted to ensure that there was continuity of this idea throughout the making of my poster. The setting in which the characters are seen on the poster is the main setting for the film and it will be recognisable for the audience and the viewer’s when watching. Overall, the poster hints towards the pot line and intrigues the viewers through the way in which it has been designed, this makes the viewer want to come and see the film and find out who the real lover is, how the plot unfolds and the story develops.

We based our film around our target audience of females between the ages of 15 to 25. The poster is successful in attracting our target audience by the way in which the main character is of a similar age, suggesting that it is a plot that they may be able to relate too, intriguing the viewers and making them want to view the film. Having the protagonist in the poster will help our target audience decipher as to whether they can relate to the young girl and her position, through a similar experience they may have been through. If the target audience relate to the young girl the film is brought down to a more personal level. In the film the male makes many romantic and suggestive gestures towards the female, which can become a distraction or diversion from reality, this is one of the many reasons that people watch films. The other reasons include surveillance, values and relationships all of which are displayed within our film. Surveillance relates to our film by the way in which the viewer is able to make their own decision as to whether they have been in a situation that is similar to that of the protagonist. Values are represented by the way in which the viewer can make their decision as to which male character they would choose whereas relationships are made if the viewer can relate to the protagonist forming a deeper relationship between them. The genre of our film is romance and this is made obvious by the flattering notes that are left for the protagonist by her lover, immediately proving that the genre of our film is romance.

The poster works effectively in promoting the film by the information that has been included, the release date can be seen on the poster creating a hype among potential viewers. The logos of popular social media sites such as Instagram, facebook and twitter are also included giving them the chance to discover more inside information, this further helps in promoting the film as it enables potential viewers to connect over social media and stay up to date with the information published. The institutional information is also included at the bottom of the poster, this includes the names of directors, editors and actors, those who were prominent in the making of our short film.

The radio trailer works effectively in promoting the film. It starts in the formation of a typical fairytale story and is then interrupted by the tag line "shhh quiet in the library".  Within the plan we made we included sounds from the film and the institutional information is presented at the end of the trailer, typical in many radio trailer. The script for the radio trailer was the orginal plan and what we followed in order to recieve the desired result. Below is a copy of the plan we made for the radio trailer.

Narrator: Once upon a time... 

Librarian: Shh quiet in the library 

Narrator: There lived a girl who was young and looking for love 

Audio from our film: "Why can't real guys be like the men in my stories?" 

Narrator: When one day love found her.... 

Audio from our film: "I see you got my sticky notes" 

Narrator: But not all is as it appears to be 

Audio from our film: "I love romance stories" "Ours is a better love story though, right?." 

Narrator: The ultimate feel good film, a modern fairy tale. CHECKOUT. coming July 2015 This is the plan for our radio trailer. 

The way in which the radio trailer ends with a rhetorical question intrigues the listener, making them want to know more, this is the effect we wanted the trailer to have. The music that plays underneath the radio trailer is a typical code and convention for the genre of romance, by the slow pace and the stringed instruments.  It is important to note that the music playing underneath the radio trailer features within our film, the audience will make this link when they are watching it, together with the reference to the sticky notes. 

 The way in which all of our products link help them to promote each other and the film as a whole.