How effective is the combination of your main task and ancillary tasks?By Laura Young

My main task?

My main task was to complete a short film within a small group of people that was around 5 minutes long

We had to have a significant object

We had to incorporate the idea of time

We had to have at least 5 different locations

My short story was a romance tragedy, which had a flashback scene at the beginning. The film revolved around three characters, all involved in a love triangle. The only actors in the film were people in my group. In the film the female was having an affair, and in the end this character ends up dying in result of a car collision.

My Ancillary Tasks?We had the choice to choose out of three different things, being: a poster, a double page spread and a radio trailer. I decided to go with the idea of creating a poster and a double page spread.

To cerate my poster I had to look at different film posters of the same genre, and of other genres, to pick up on different codes and conventions and to see what was eye catching and what didn’t work so well. I had to look at things like imagery, colours, text, and style in relation to genre.

For my double page spread I had to look at a large number of examples because I originally hadn’t seen many before, therefore didn’t know what worked well and what didn’t look so good. I looked online and through various film magazines to get an idea.

I feel that it is important to have a look at other pieces to get inspiration and to see the codes and conventions, but I also feel that an original idea is definitely the more effective route.

Functions Of The Ancillary Tasks?I think that the two things I created (poster and double page spread) and both

very important in film advertisement. When a film is coming out in the cinema, the only way that the general public will be aware of it is through: trailers, adverts, posters, magazine articles, radio trailers and hear say.

Posters are useful because they can be placed almost anywhere, and forms of digital media such as computers or TV’s are not needed to reach the audience, they are free accessible to anyone. They can be placed in schools, at bus stops, on bill boards, and the list goes on.

The poster’s job is to: tease the public into wanting to see or know more, introduce the characters/actors of the film, show the actors names, give ratings, entice us into going to watch the film, and generally get the name of the film out there. Posters need to have a clear layout and must be eye catching in order to be effective – otherwise there is no point in having one.

Double page spreads can be used to promote a film post or pre release, and are essential in different parts of the public, and reiterating the advertisement of the poster. Double page spreads can be used to describe the synopsis of the film and focus around the story line and production, or be used to interview people involved in the film, or portray actors that are in the film. The double page spread gives the audience an assumption of the film before they have seen it, so it is essential that it is successful in creating a positive image.

My PosterIn my poster I wanted to portray a feel of what the film included, and link them together. Firstly, I made sure that there was a dark and eerie look about it, which had relation to the dark deed the female has done (cheating) and the ending which ends in death.

The red on the poster also relates to the film, in that red is related to feelings on both ends of the spectrum: love, anger, passion, danger and perhaps even death (all of which are highlighted in my short film).

All of my main characters are shown on the poster, immediately making the audience familiar with them. This means that when they do see the film they will recognize them, and will have more of a relationship with them as they have seen their faces before.

I made sure that I involved the actors names in a clear and eye catching way as the actors in the films are often an advertisement in themselves. Plus, I spoke highly of them in my double page spread, therefore this is essential.

I places the characters in a triangle formation to show the audience how the short film is going to unfold.

Double Page SpreadIn my double page spread I decided to keep the themes continued. I kept the red colour scheme flowing and made sure that the characters were centre of attention once again. Because in the other poster the centre of attention was me (the female) I decided to have this double page spread imagery based around the two males of the film.

I one again used the triangle to explain and show the audience more clearly the characters the actors are going to play.

I have a screen shot of the poster on the double page spread as it links the two pieces together, and means that if a member of the public has seen the poster somewhere they will be able to put two and two together and make the connection, or vice versa. This would inspire them to read, or to go and see the film.

In the writing I have sections that are a sort of interview style and I have descriptive parts. This ancillary task is essential in selling the film, and giving a good impression in order to convince people to go and see it.

Without this advertisement, it is certain that the film would not be as succesful.