HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN

PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Sujata Gurung

The main purpose of a film trailer is to inform the audience of the film and its plot but more importantly to leave the audience with a feeling of anticipation and urge to want to see the film. The main point is to promote the film to get great box office hits. I have done this in my trailer by using the conventions of film trailers such as building up to a climax, using music, titles and different shots and pacing to create buzz for the film release. For example in my film trailer I have included more than one soundtrack with sound effects such as the clock sound to follow the conventions of film trailers and be able to emphasise the important parts, e.g. when there is a close up of the protagonist holding the time turner necklace.

The main purpose of a film poster is to promote an upcoming film, to let people know a about the release date. It helps to raise awareness and in turn aims to generate the hype. A film poster provides the following information; the name of the film and the actor and actresses. I have included these conventions of film posters in my own design. As a result making my film poster look more professional and realistic. Furthermore I used special editing from Photoshop to make the poster more appealing to the viewers.

The genre of the trailer should be easily identifiable, this is done in my trailer using the codes and conventions research I did on the sci-fi genre. The genre for R3 is sci-fi and adventure and this is made identifiable by the use of props e.g. the time turner, the variety in setting and special effects. Using these media techniques the main product identifiable as a sci-fi trailer. I have applied the similar codes and conventions from the trailer onto the magazine, for example the magazine focuses on the main protagonist. The costume of the protagonist is the same in the magazine and the time turner is used as a focal point in trailer and magazine. This has created connection between the main product and magazine cover and has created synergy.

In my magazine cover I complied with these conventions and used an image of the protagonist to establish character. To portray the genre I used cover lines such as “Top ten tips for time travelling” and used other adventure sci-fi films such as the Hunger games to establish the genre. Furthermore using similar genre films such as hunger games and divergent, which has strong female leads, it’s able to effectively promote the film to similar target audience.

The main link between the 3 media product is the title and the key image of the protagonist. The main similarities between the film trailer and the film poster is that the narrative and characters is established as the main aim of the two media products is to promote the film. Whilst the main aim of a magazine cover is to use the film as another key factor other than cover lines and promotional gifts to sell the magazine cover. Therefore there is a different focus in magazine covers compared to the 2 other media products. In magazine covers, the main information that is emphasised in the character and genre.

Other elements similar between my main product and ancillary texts are the themes, title, props and costume. These similarities are able to form a link between the products in promoting the main product which is the film. For example the prop is used is the time travel necklace and the costume is the same across the 3 media products, this uses the iconography of sci-fi films to effectively portray the sci-fi genre.