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

Part 2:
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


When we about designing the film, magazine article and poster, we decided that we should try and link and incorporate them together through the use of different elements. From the fonts we used for the poster, to the colours of the magazine to the characters themselves. These different elements would be exhibited through the three different ancillary texts.

Firstly, the film poster. When making the poster, I wanted to incorporate a style that would fit in with the overall product. The majority of the film uses dark and bleak colours, but I felt that using a different style for the poster, that still attributed to with the themes of the film. I wanted to use a 'blood' styling for the poster, to show the story behind the film, rather than what went on in the films narrative. I used a downloaded font  The poster is unique for it's genre, the typical psychological thriller poster, which normally focuses on the central actor like in Shutter Islands and the Fight Club poster, but this does not really show this, but more of a reflection of what we wanted to show with our film  - the idea of 'shocking' the audience, having a generic poster with dark colour schemes does not necessarily stand out or shock the audience, but a poster that incorporates taboo elements like blood will be more effective on the spectatorship front. The poster brings in the audience because it is different for it's genre and eye catching - we are targeting not just an audience suited to the genre, but ones who are hoping a reboot, a refreshment, and the poster is a clear indication that we are trying to that. 

For the magazine article, unlike the poster where I wanted to somewhat differentiate from the film, for the article I wanted to try and talk about the key aspects of the film, and this includes talking about the main colour scheme, which would be dark colours. The magazine itself may not use dark colours, but the images that we grabbed from the film can used to summarize how we are trying to represent the film through other forms. The magazine style is also reflective of the target audience - it takes a lot of influence from the Empire reviews, who's audience are not exactly niche, and is fact more mainstream, but is not for the 'transformers' crowd, it would be for people who enjoy film for what it is, they may not study it, but they will have an appreciation for what the film is and what it is doing for the audience. 

 





















In terms of the film itself fits in with the elements I have already said. The opening font used for the credits is very plain, unlike the poster, but this was done to fit in the characters of the film. Both Henry and the Psychopath have that manic side, which is what we see in the film, but Henry is also meant to be interpreted as, at least one point, to be normal, shown through the costuming and style of hair used for the film. Henry is very button down, and has a straight 'white collar' look about him, compared to the more rugged Psychopath. This fits in with the way we have set them up in the magazine and poster, yes there is the twist, but we wanted, to not give the plot, set them up with the use of other elements as being more straightforward characters, before challenging this in the film. By showing the characters in their costumes in other media, we have created an icon, something for the audience to reflect on before they had even seen the film. 

The colour scheme and lighting used throughout the film correlates well with the rest of the project, here are two separate shots, one with a very obvious bright lighting effect, and the other more dark. Going back to the representation of the characters before the film, it could said that the bright side is a reflection of Henry, and that the dark would show the Psychopath. This would be typical convention of the psychological thriller, to use contrasting editing and lighting techniques, but fitting in line with the twist ending that Henry and the Psychopath being the same person, the light and darkness in fact the same person. This goes back to us wanting to 'toy' with the audience, not just throughout the film, but through the poster and the magazine article as well.

We set up a typical thriller film, and market it as such, with hints here and there, which was done purposely to draw a reaction from the target audience - a audience who have become accustomed to the norm due to the over saturation of the market. We had an audience in mind, and pulled them in, and we also had ideas and themes we wanted to showcase through all stages of the film, and all elements of further media.