How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary

texts?
The main product and my ancillary were created to support one another. The
main product which was my short film was created first as this was the main
source of my portfolio and then I proceeded to create a poster and a magazine
review for my product. The poster and the review magazine needed to be
created after as they are both designed using features from the short film. A
poster is created using ideologies, representations and conventions of the genre
in the film.
Short film and Poster
A poster is used to advertise a product, so by creating a poster my product could
gain more recognising. Without the use of marketing the short it is unlikely to be
viewed as the audience had no knowledge of what the film contains. Making the
initial impression of my poster important to attract the correct audience group to
view my short. The poster is needed to explain the context of my film but not
give any vital plot points away. Posters are normally used to inform the audience
of the film so they can research into it further by themselves, this can be
achieved through reviews or trailers. My short film would struggle to gain the
interest needed without a poster. The viewing of my poster could also attract the
audience to read my review.
I created my poster after I had finished the final edit for my short film. I first
looked into professional blockbuster posters which used the same genre as my
poster to pick up conventions. So I could apply this to my own, which would be of
the same style. My poster doesnt contain any images from the film but rather
the main image is a gun. This represents the film is violent and contains
weaponry. This is correct as my main character Isaac is always armed with the
same gun used in the poster. Many posters use an iconic image from the film as
the main source to attract attention an example of this is the poster for
Inception which used the token as its main image. This poster was released to
audiences before the film itself meaning the audience wouldnt understand the
use of the token without them viewing the film. This is the effect I went for with
my poster as only a single image is shown. With my poster not containing a main
character it adds to the mysteriousness of my protagonist. Isaac in my short film
lives in the country to stay hidden which is why his picture is not shown on the
poster. The gun is also grey scaled to represent a blue print, the convention of
using blue prints in action movies is either for an invention or floor plans for a
heist. This links perfectly with my short film as Isaac is a very well planned man
and has committed many criminal activities in the past to reach his position.
The main image in my poster is being blocked by black lines crossing the page.
This is meant to be a representation of when the secret services black list files
and cover up document which further adds to the effect of my main protagonist
trying to stay hidden from the authorities. The effect of blacking out the words
and images leaves the viewers asking why the words are hidden which attracts
them to the view the short. In my research I documented that not many people
view posters and even more dont find them useful. However when film posters
are placed into public areas, unknowingly they are still registered by audiences
which could lead to further interest into the viewing of the film. The creation of a

poster is a pivotal aspect in the releasing of a film. The only colours I used within
my poster were black, grey and white. Granted these colours would not be very
attractive to the eye but it fits well with the genre of the film and adds a thriller
effect. This is a convention that many action/thrillers follow. An example of a
block buster film doing this is Taken. The poster for taken is completely in black
and white but this adds to the depression on the lead roles face.
To gain extra interest into my short film I added film festival awards onto my
poster. Some of these short film awards included Best Short and Best
Cinematography. I thought it would be good to include these awards as they
attract attention for the audience. If a film has won an award it becomes more
appealing for the audience as they want to know why it won the award. This is
commonly seen in DVD sales for films that win Oscars and other awards.
Short Film and Magazine Review
Before a film is released to the general public special screens are set up for film
reviewers to watch the film. During this screening they will take notes about the
film and then write a review on how they perceived the film. Larger film review
magazines such as Empire will send reviewers to these screenings so they can
write a review on the film for the companys magazine. Film reviews are a great
way to gain publicity for a new film. If the review is positive it has the ability to
persuade the readers to watch the film or at least do further research into the
production. The review I created for my production was very positive and showed
my film in a very good light.
My review contains a large image taken from my production. This image is used
to attract a viewers attention when they are reading through a film magazine.
The picture I used for my review is an action shot from the film with a small
annotation explaining where he picture is from. Using an action moment can
make the film look more entertaining to the audience. The main image I
contained the lead actor and the smaller images showed the supporting actors.
With my lead being the main image it shows the audience that he will be the
main focus for the film. Fans of the main actor will also be enticed to read the
review as they enjoy his/her previous work.
The first paragraph in my review was written in a different font as it was a small
overview of the plot and key features. This information is only brief and doesnt
ruin (spoil) any of the plot line. The brief information doesnt go into explicit
detail. The use of this small information box is used to attract the audience to
watch the short film as they will want to know the rest of the plot. The small
information box also contains smaller details such as the run time and the name
of the director. My review also has a short summary box at the end of the review
which contains a star rating. This summary is very positive and the star rating is
very high. This will cause the reader to be more interested in viewing my short
film. The review still contains some small negative points as I wanted to provide
a fair review and one that is not completely biased. I wanted to talk about
positives and negatives. By doing this the audience could make a judgement if
they were interested in viewing the short film.
The review I created for my short film had festival awards placed across the
pictures. The use of these awards were used to attract the reader to find out why
it had achieved these awards. The awards are coloured gold to attract the eye

when a reader is viewing the magazine. Attention is needed within a magazine

review because the audience needs to be interest to read more.