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

TRAILER Our trailer is very effective, there are very little films which include horror conventions in dystopia films. The fact we’ve included possessed people makes our film stand out and appear unique to other post-modern dystopia films. This is our USP and due to this being shown in our trailer will attract people into seeing this film. The tag-line ‘who will survive?’ instantly gives the audience a very accurate expectation of the films narrative which is that it will include a lot of tension and mystery and that the film will show the characters struggle to stay alive. After researching the target audience for similar films and films we’ve gained inspiration from, such as ‘28 days later’ and ‘Insidious’ we decided our film would have a main target audience of year olds, both male and female. They would be the usual middle class people who enjoy action, horror and dystopia films. Furthermore after researching these films and looking at their classification and looking online on does-classification-work at the guidelines for each certificate we decided our film would have a classification of 15. We chose this because our film will include strong language, and violence which may be alarming to the younger audience. The horror elements may be disturbing to younger children. does-classification-work

TRAILER We have included many conventions that would appeal to our target audience: Due to our film being an independent film we will have a cheap budget therefore the film may not be able to been shown all around the world and would only be shown in the UK. Due to this the characters in our film are stereotypical British teenagers so our British audience can relate to them which acts as an escapism therefore the viewer can put themselves into that position and decide what they think they would do in that situation. Also the props used would entice our audience. We have dressed characters in a stereotypical clothing which the audience can relate to. Furthermore the characters are seen using an IPhone and riding a BMX. Most people own an IPhone which they can relate to and even if they don’t most teens want an IPhone which, again, would act as an escapism as they can imagine what it’s like with these products. Also the fact the audience is set in an urban area give the impression it could happen to anyone which attracts all ages not just the main ages group. The film was shot in autumn and should be released in the autumn thus making it appropriate to the audience and time. At the release of our film we would hire actors to act as possessed people and stand around to make the release stand out and make it more interesting.

POSTER I think our final film poster is very effective and helps promote the film with the trailer. We took an image of our helper looking straight into the camera, this gives the sense she is looking at the audience and attracts their attention. We took inspiration to do this from ‘total film’ magazine which I looked at for research. We also chose to have the helper on the poster not the main character as this shows the post-modern elements of the film. The would amateurish and messy. We also decided to do this as our first poster contained different fonts and it looked unprofessional. The aspects we thought were more important we made them stand out by making them bigger or red font. We chose to make the release stand out as this was a feature used in the ‘shutter island’ poster which we liked as it’s important for the audience to know when it comes out so they can go and see it. We made the title bigger as this is obviously an important feature for the audience to know and we used the same font for this used in the trailer. Finally we made the tag-line stand out as it gives away clues to the narrative and genre and is also memorable for the audience. We tried to make the colours quite dull and drained to show the genre of the film. Also the fact it contains quite dull colours and not bright colours will attract a male audience and the female character will attract the female audience overall design of the poster looks professional due to limited amounts of fonts. We took this aspect from previous film posters we looked at and decided if we used too many fonts it

The rhetorical question ‘who will survive?’ for the tag line makes the audience question and wonder what tragedy has happened and entices them to see the film. Similarly to the trailer, it also gives the audience an insight to the genre. Due to surviving connoting struggle this shows it’s a dystopia. Also the tag-line connotes death with hints at the horror aspects of the film. The fact we’ve written it in red also shows the narrative as red connoted blood and death. Our film poster would be released about 6 months before the film is in cinemas however the film poster will be put up places a few weeks before the film comes out. Due to our main target audience being 15+ we would display our poster on bus shelters around schools, colleges and universities so it will be seen by that age group. We would also put it on bus shelters around town centres where hundred of people would see it. We would also put it on buses that do college/school routes so their likely to see it. Finally we would use our poster image as a link to the film website and it would be found on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. POSTER

MAGAZINE COVER The purpose of film magazine is to promote the film through having good reviews etc. We chose to create a magazine cover for ‘empire magazine’, Normally this magazine only promotes mainstream films however we decided to do make an exclusive independent issue to make it suitable for our film. We were inspired to do this by students at our college who also do media. The cover shows other stories which are inside the magazine (a convention of majority of magazines). We included ‘25 top independent films to see in 2014’ to link in with the independent issue. We used the same image for the magazine cover as we did for the poster to link them together and make it recognisable to the audience. The reasons we used this image is exactly the same reasons we used it for the film poster. Empire magazine is read by people all ages, however they mainly have a male audience. Due to this it’s perfect to promote out film as our film is for both male and female audience. Also empire magazine has a website with an online version therefore this will reach a wider audience.

PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE Overall I think our I think our push advertising ancillary products (poster and magazine cover) relate to our trailer immensely and they all work together effectively to promote the film. We have included the same title font and the tag line in both. Also the we’ve included one of the characters in the trailer for the image on both products. These combined link the produce together and instantly lets the audience know their the same film. Also the memorable tag line ‘who will survive?’ written on each is recognisable to the audience. We also used the same drained, dull colours on each to show genre. Other ways we would promote our film is through pull advertising using web 2.0 such as social networking sites and a website to view exclusive images, videos, interviews with the cast and information etc. This also lets the audience comment creating discussions and reviews which will attract people to see the film and also lets us interact with them as we are able to comment back. Furthermore we would use viral marketing and create a Smartphone app which fans can download and again, get exclusive content about the film. All of which link to our target audience and it’s stereotypically younger people who use social network sites and apps. Also we would hire actors to be possessed people at the premier of the film to get people talking and use word of mouth as a way of advertising. We would try and advertise our film on websites such as Odeon and cineworld and get reviews on our film to attract audience.