2. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE

COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND

ANCILLARY TEXTS?BY KATERINA KOCI

From the very beginning I kept in mind that the trailer and film poster need to be consistent in style to complement each other well. There is a vast amount of films being advertised and the audience needs to be able to link & distinguish the products from others easily.

The magazine cover isn’t actually promoting the film, it only needs to sell itself so it didn’t need to be consistent with the other two products. However I used the same photograph as I did for the poster because I believe that being featured on a well-known magazine cover is a great way advertising. Using the same photo I ensured that the audience to make the link between the products.

ColoursI kept the colour scheme of the products consistent to ensure they accompany the atmosphere of the

trailer. The yellow tint is conventional for indie films and therefore I aimed for warm colours such as

yellow, orange and brown to meet the convention.

Poster Magazine Cover Trailer

Main Character

Rosie, the main character is also featured on the picture I used for my ancillary products. On the photo,

we can’t see her face however her body language and the setting of the photo teach the audience a bit more about her personality and the film’s storyline.

Standing on a hill ‘above it all’ with arms wide spread evokes the feeling of freedom, which is what the film is

about.

In the trailer Rosie seems confused and unsure about her decisions. She is portrayed in this way in order for the audience to understand her past and reasons for her behaviour.

In contrast the poster portrays her strong and independent. This is to suggesting that in the film she becomes confident and happy with the decisions she has made.

The picture is designed to to sell more cinema tickets by creating excitement and curiosity to see the events leading to the change of Rosie’s character.

Quote

On the poster I quoted the last sentence from Rosie’s monologue in the trailer. This helps to link the products and to suggest what the film will be

about. The sentence seemed to catch attention of my target audience (based on feedback) and

therefore I decided to use it.

Rating

The poster uses fictional rating from various newspapers & magazines and a critic’s quote to add

credibility. The quote is also featured on the magazine cover.

Quoting the critics is commonly used on film posters and I used this quote not only on the poster but also on the magazine cover, linking the two together.

I chose these three words not only because they are big words that sound good in relation to a film but also because I believe that they describe the trailer well. The voiceover is an ‘honest’ insight into Rosie’s mind and the storyline itself is ‘controversial’ as it is built on a lesbian relationship.

Production Logo

Using Motion I created a logo for my Black Cat production company. I used this logo at the end of the trailer as well as on the poster, only in inverted

colours. Informing the audience about the production company clearly shows that the products belong to each other, making them easy to remember & link.

The logo featured on the poster

Beginning of the trailer

HashtagTo direct the audience to social media platforms where

they can keep up to date with the latest news about upcoming films & events I used the created a hashtag

and featured it in the trailer and on the poster.

Conclusion

When creating my ancillary products I kept in mind that I need to create synergy between the products in order to make them distinguishable and easy to remember among all the other films. As detailed in this presentation I used combination of colours and textual references, featured the main character and

the production logo in more than one product to create a distinctive identity which I believe I have

achieved successfully.