How effective is the combination of the film and the ancillary texts? By Libby jones

The message and purpose of the filmThe storyline to letter for tom was adapted and changed during the planning and research stages. This was mostly due to the changes in filming locations. After we had finalised the plot and storyline we created a treatment that gave an overview of the film.We now had a better idea of who are target audience was, what genre the film was and the appealing aspects of the film.

First and foremost our film is a romance drama. As with all romance films we wanted to show a passionate love story between two characters. The film portrays the common theme of sentimental and to some extent forbidden love. The dialogue and music are practically important in a romance. Our film uses the dialogue to explain the plot and show the personality of the characters to the audience. Eventually the dialogue of the characters is used to tell each other how they feel. The media product purposefully plays on stereotypical codes and conventions found in romance films. Such as the montage editing which shows a passage of time during which hints are given to the audience that suggest the characters are falling love. However our film does subvert audience expectation as the film doesn’t have the classic ‘happily ever after’ ending.

What were we trying to achieve in our production?

Secondly, the film uses elements from costume dramas. We wanted the audience to understand that Alice (the main character) is from a very different time period and also of a different class and status to Tom (the love interest). This was achieved by using deliberate pastiches and parody’s of other costume dramas. For example we used an Edwardian script font for the titles of the film. also we juxtaposed Alice’s costume with toms to show they are from different social backgrounds. The setting locations and props were also carefully considered to make it easier to understand which scenes are in modern day and which are in ‘1910’.

What were we trying to achieve in our production?

Overall we were trying to provide audience pleasure and entertainment. We hope our short film is enjoyable and has an easy to follow narrative that appeals to our target audience (young to middle aged women).

The PosterAfter we had made the film. I started researching and analysing the advertising posters for other films in the romance genre.

The PosterI found that although the posters each expressed the plot of the film they were representing, they still had lots of things in common. These things include:

•The main part of the posters is a photograph or shot from the film showing the two characters in a close relationship. This is done because the main selling point and focus of a romance film is the relationship between the characters.

•There is usually an emphasis on the female as its this character that the audience will most relate to.

My main inspiration was the pride and prejudice film poster. The film pride and prejudice has the same mood and genre as our film and targets a similar audience. I think the layout of their poster design works well so I chose to use the same structure in my design.

How does the advertising poster reflect the message of the film?

We made the release date of the film valentines day. Because the festivities might encourage people to watch a romance movie.

The credits were written in the font ‘steel tongs’ because its similar to the standard text used in all film posters. This shows that it’s advertising a film. it also makes the poster look more professional.

The bottom photo is a screen shot from the film. we chose to use this shot because it looks like a scene from a period drama.

The tagline sums up the message of the film. The same tagline is used in both the advertising medias. This makes it clear that both products are promoting the same film.

The top photo is the biggest part of the image this shows that the relationship between the characters is the main aspect of the film. the closeness of the characters displays that they are in love relationship.

The female character has a more central position in the shot which reveals the story is mostly about her. The characters style of

dress is juxtaposed as one is wearing vintage clothing and the other is wearing modern clothing.

The long shot allows us to see the characters costume. The clothing of the character speak volumes about who the character is. Also the pale pink dress has connotations of innocents and young love.

There is a large amount of black space in the background of the image this could foreshadow the emotion and sadness of the narrative.

The banner in the centre of the poster has a ‘textured paper’ background that links to the idea of an old letter.The title is written the same font as the film titles which keeps the continuity Between the products.

The names of the actors are displayed at the top of the film because sometimes tis can be a selling point of the film. because the actors listed are not well know it suggests the film is an independent production.

The radio trailer Before making the radio trailer I looked into existing radio film advertisements. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any examples of romance films advertised on the radio. But I did manage to find recordings of sci-fi film radio adds.I analyse the star wars radio adverts. Link to video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoPBKc_73qk

Analysing the radio trailer showed me what was put into a professional radio trailer.

We now felt ready to begin drafting up our own scripts for the radio trailer incorporating the things we had learnt from the analysis.

How does the radio trailer reflect the message of the film?Link to our radio trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwR_BrPFXtg

There are 5 different scripts for the radio trailer. We made different versions to keep the listener interested instead of the same trailer being played over and over. The audience knows the trailer is advertising a film because the narrator tells us the production company and the certificate.We know the film is aimed at a local audience because in the first trailer the voice over says “ an Edwardian girl is dragged through the years to present day Barnsley”.

The radio trailer uses small sections of dialect taken strait from the film. we chose the quotes “‘What year is it?’ ‘1910’” and “You’ve travelled in time”. We decided on these quotes because they played a major part in the films plot also they put forward the sci-fi element of the film which according to our audience feedback is one of the films selling points.We've also used music from the film. we chose to use the soundtrack from the film montage. The music is happy, fun and upbeat which might entice the listener to go and see the film.The narrator in the trailer makes it clear what to expect from the film by briefly explaining the narrative, film reviews and certificate. The audience knows the film is a romance because the narrator says “a touching love story that transcends even time”.The trailer also reflects the same message as the poster by using the same tagline.

Conclusion:How effective do you think the two ancillary texts are in selling the production?

Poster:It was important that the product looked like a film poster so that the audience can clearly see what is being advertised. I think that creating the poster in Photoshop and modelling it on previous examples we have seen has made the poster look Professional. This is essential because If the poster looked unprofessional it would likely put people off wanting to see the film . A poster that hasn’t been put together well could cause people to think that the film is also poorly produced. Overall I think our poster presents the film well by showing exiting aspects of the storyline causing people to want to find out more about the relationship between the characters.The only changes I would make to the poster would be to add the certificate symbol so that the audience knows the age rating. Although I think the product would attract the target audience because the two actors are young adults and the photograph shows that its an emotional story with a ‘grown up’ theme.

Radio Trailer:The radio trailer engages the listener by using the films audio to convey the action and emotion of the film.I think the radio trailer would be effective at selling and promoting the product especially if the trailer was featured regularly on a local radio station as this allow the film to be advertised to our target market.

On the whole I feel the two ancillary text compliment the three media products we have created show our creativity and enthusiasm to the project. In my opinion the two ancillary texts complement the film and promote the key aspects of the production.

Conclusion:Results of questionnaire regarding the success of the two ancillary texts

We asked our audience to view the two advertising products and complete a questionnaire answering some questions about them.The results show that the audience received the intended meaning of the film that we were trying to promote in our advertising material. All those questioned said that they could tell the two products were advertising the same thing. This shows that the two texts corresponded with each other. The majority of people said that the advertising products were very relatable to the film.Overall I think the ancillary texts were successful. People said the trailers “tell us the things we need to know without giving away too much of the story”. And after viewing the poster the audience knew that it was “a romance film” and “a love story”. I think the poster is the most efficient way of reaching our target audience as this product received more positive reviews.