A2 media James Dewar-Tomlinson 0057

Q.2 How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

For my A2 media coursework I and my group were required to a film trailer and two print products for our ancillary task. The two print products were a Film poster/ Billboard and a magazine cover. The genre for the film was a romantic comedy so I began research on the different forms and conventions that surround the genre. This will help give an idea of the selling point for each product I created. The reason for doing this is that it will help me attract my audience and try and keep them interested into the film as a whole.

Magazine cover
For my Magazine cover, I researched different real media products to help give me ideas on the sort of conventions magazine covers have. So I looked at the main coverlines, tag lines, titles, image used, pugs and house style. The magazine companies that i researched was Empire and Total Films as those two were the most popular. I compared the two companies through the magazines and saw similarities as well as differences. Here are some examples I analysed.

Empire

Total Film

With what I analysed I produced plans on the design of the magazine cover. It had to sell the audience be attractive and important of all connected to the other products. Below is my analysis of my film magazine.

Billboard poster
For the Billboard I did research on movie posters to see what the common conventions are. The selling points are the same but it gives the audience a glimpse at what's in store in the film. I looked at any poster from any genre. As the magazine I looked at the house style, the image, the tagline, the title, the production credits and actors. I also looked at similar posters for my chosen genre to see how they put the conventions together.

With this research I produced a a design which has all the conventions I have researched. Below is my billboard poster with all the appropriate conventions. This is best design I could do to attract my audience. I think this is a very effective movie billboard as it relates to the movie trailer The image overlaps to create an effect. Plus to interest the audience the the watch is there to be the object of significance. This will show what the film is about.

Movie trailer
To research about movie trailers I looked at teaser trailers for other Rom coms to see how the different shots are sequenced together to produce an interesting and attractive. It must have a good plt but enough to attract. Too much will give it away and will spoil the film. I looked at the different camera angles, intertitles, voiceover and the sequence. I also looked at the relevant colours that represent a Rom com. The trailer focuses on the main character throughout so for my trailer I had to focus on that. Length is another important feature as if it was too long it will bore the audience. This is the important product as the other media texts will connect to this.