Evaluation Task 2- How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

Here is my voiceover of Evaluation 2, layered over the top of my final products:

Alternatively you could read my script for the voiceover below:

After completing my main task and both ancillary texts, I feel the combination was very effective as they include the same main elements. The main synergistic feature of my campaign is our main character- Hayley Brown. In the film she is the protagonist who is vital to the plot and the battle between good and evil. Therefore I felt this was important to heavily incorporate in my campaign as it immediately provides a connection for my target demographic to identify all products as the same film, consequently increasing the fan base prior to the release which is the purpose for the promotional campaign. I demonstrate her significance in the trailer through the use of editing, like a slow zoom we had on her saying ‘I really don’t like this’ and a shot reverse shot between her and another character ending on her as the last shot of the trailer. This highlighted her importance as the main character because the emphasis was on her, in my poster  I further supported this with a single shot of her covering her mouth. I used this shot not only to create synergy between my product but also to engage the audience in my poster, it conveyed fear and would shock a first time viewer, which is what a horror movie poster should to in order to increase their fan base. Further to this the shot was taken of Hayley in jeans and a jumper which allowed me to create a sense of realism for the audience as this is the stereotypical clothing off a teenager, who represent a large majority of our target audience between 15-25. This was a common element seen in both my trailer as well as my image of Hayley that I used on my magazine front cover as she is wearing exactly the same clothing to ensure it was as synergistic as possible. This allowed the audience to identify Hayley same character as being from D.O.B. I also choose to use Hayley as she has such an innocent and unique appearance, not only does this make her easily identifiable but also emphasises the danger for the audience due to her innocence. 

Further to this the mise-en-scene in the poster heavily connoted the horror conventions as I used an old-looking wall that gave away very little hint as to where the location was. In our research we found a common fear for audiences was a fear of the unknown therefore I decided to incorporate this here as it is such a typical physiological thriller convention. This was a synergistic element as there is a shot of India walking past this same location in our trailer, as well as further isolated locations such as an abandoned barn as seen in our inter-titles.  The narrative involves the characters in our film are being haunted and are in danger, a common theme that is presented throughout all three products. Firstly it is seen on my film magazine cover as I have used the main character Hayley Brown looking into the camera screaming and reaching out with her hand. The reaching out of her hand connotes the narrative that she is trying to get away from something and reaching out for help, further supported by her screaming expression on her face. I took this photo in the daytime in a well lit area to ensure the shot was in high key lighting and clear as it truly emphasised the fear in her face, further engaging the audience with this product as it is a common feature of film posters to have clear, high key lighting shots of characters. Having Hayley hand reaching our in the way also creates an illusion that she is further back and brings emphasis to her, something I found here in my research of Empire Magazines. This narrative of danger is exemplified in the trailer by a quick low angle shot of India being hung and a close up of Hayley’s expression of shock being told ‘you must break the connection’. Further to this there is also the longshot of Hayley with her hand over her mouth on the corner of the wall as previously discussed. The hand over her mouth reflects the fact she is trying to hide from something, engaging the audience as it creates the element of fear. Therefore the narrative of a physiological haunting is an element I managed to maintain throughout all products to ensure I kept the audience interested. 

In my research of combinations of promotional media products I found how often they maintained synergy in the font and colour of their title. Firstly I found a very effective font and colour to use for my title at the end of my trailer which was simple, yet very effective as it left an impression on the audience. However when looking to incorporate this same style onto my magazine and poster it simply wasn't as effective. Therefore I decided to subvert this common convention and use different styles of font and colour that matched each of my products. However a feature I also hadn’t seen in my research was a bold synonym for as title as we had chosen “D.O.B”, short for date of birth. Therefore as this title was so unique and the title itself was so easily recognisable, subverting the theme of synergistic font and colour of the title was not an issue as an audience can still easily relate the products together.

As explained Hayley is the main character, however there are still 3 other important characters to the films plot. This is seen in our trailer as we have high angle shots of them all together and also a non-digetic voiceover saying “four strangers”. Therefore my poster is only an example of one of a series of 4 posters which I would make when promoting the film. This is a promotional method I have seen in my past research of The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1. Which google brand labs used as an example of “world building”, therefore this method will allow me to do the same for my audience. Also as our USP is the  inclusion of four different strangers, bringing them together in an unknown situation. This is a feature seen throughout my products they are detached and alone in my series of 4 film posters, they all don’t know one another in the trailer, and in my magazine front cover I used the photo manipulation to put Sean another main character on the in a picture frame for a special interview, however he remains detached from Hayley’s photo, conveying our USP effectively throughout my products. Also in my poster I Incorporated the ghost from our trailer to portray her as the vulnerable victim, keeping a common element throughout my products as she is portrayed the same way in my trailer and magazine. Therefore the characters are effectively represented through my products.

My institutional information is another element I had to maintain throughout. You can see how Pinnacle productions is our production company as I put it clearly in large on the ending titles of the trailer and in small print at the bottom of my poster. which I felt important to emphasise in both the trailer and film poster as it is a common film convention we saw in our research of similar films. Further to this the release date was a feature we needed to ensure was synergistic the effectiveness of the task falls on the fan base built for the release date. On the film poster I used “In cinemas this summer” as it builds an element of suspense as the audience is not exactly sure when it will be released, making them further engage with other promotion such as our trailer where they can find that the film will be released on the “22 of june” (effectively tying the two products together). It was  also the final frame on our trailer which makes it more memorable for the audience and increases our viewing numbers.

Using my tagline on all of my products is also an element of synergy as it gives them an insight into the film, “keep telling yourself it’s just a date” as seen through the voiceover at the end of the film and at the top of my poster, the tagline will also be feature inside the “special interview” with Sean as seen on the front.


Overall I feel the combination of my main text and ancillary tasks were very effective as they all clearly have synergistic elements that tie them together and make the campaign memorable for my target demographic. Consequently increasing the amount of viewers my film will get, essentially the reason for promotion which would suggest it was a success. As discussed I made the title, tagline and characters all large and clear on each product as these are want the consumer immediately identifies and in doing so promoting the film successfully.