How effective is the combination of my Main and Ancillary products?

I have produced a voiceover for this task, which will play over my trailer, featuring images of my final poster and magazine cover. I have explained the effectiveness of my overall campaign, and how I have used synergy to combine my three products.

Below is the scripted version of voiceover as an alternate reading:

I attempted to include stereotypical conventions of the psychological thriller genre, as well as the typical conventions of the media product itself. I believe that using synergistic elements throughout my three products will help promote my film, as audiences will instantly recognise elements such as the font and main characters, and connect them to the film – repeatedly reminding them of the films release date and plot, therefore increasing revenues.

In each of the three of my texts I used certain conventions to place them in the psychological thriller genre, as this would aid in attracting the young adult target audience of my film. Young adults, between 15 and 25 would be most likely to be interested as they enjoy following complex storylines, and watching exciting and suspense-building films.

On my film poster I decided to forefront the Mother character, and then having a blurred image of the daughter in the background. My composition was inspired by the Gone Girl poster, as this is a thriller film with a similar plot, and aimed at a young, female target audience. I used Photoshop to blur the image of the daughter in the background, as this is suggestive of the plot, in which the daughter goes missing. The film would be revolved around the Mums search for her daughter, explaining why I have foregrounded her in my poster, with a mid-shot presenting her weak and distressed facial expression and body language. She is using a direct mode of address, creating the impression that she is pleading the viewer for help, emphasising her desperation.

Mothers and daughters are typically presented as happy, comfortable and normally in close proximity, therefore this composition immediately disorientates audiences – intriguing them as something is obviously wrong.

I didn’t want to include any shot of the antagonists in any of my three texts, as it wanted this to be left ambiguous to audiences. This highlights the crime-thriller genre as there is an unknown mystery that needs to be solved – attracting the young audiences who enjoy thrilling and complex storylines.

The Mother is wearing the iconic pink coat – a stylish outfit which would appeal to the young audience – which has been synergised throughout my advanced portfolio, with her wearing it in every appearance. Throughout my main product and ancillary texts the daughter is also shown in the same outfit throughout. Wearing a red bow, suggestive of danger, and a bright green coat, connotative of innocence and purity, increases her victimised appearance, causing audiences to feel empathetic towards the mothers situation. On my film magazine front cover, a high angle long, shot is used of the daughter sitting and cuddling a teddy. This is a typical childhood behaviour used when in danger, with her vulnerability emphasised using a high angle. Audiences would recognise the young girl from the trailer and film poster, making audiences have an increased interest in how and where the girl went missing – meaning they would have to watch the whole film to find out.

One of the main ways I have shown synergy between my texts is through the use of the ‘chiller’ font, which has been heavily featured in each of my texts. On my poster, magazine cover and trailer the title ‘Here I Come’ has consistently appeared in this font, meaning it would be easily recognisable for audiences. My trailer uses this font in the inter-titles, and my magazine front covers straplines also are presented in the thriller font. I believe synergising the font throughout my text has increased the professionalism of my texts, and therefore its effectiveness as a marketing technique.

I decided to include institutional information on the poster, and at the end of the trailer, however found that this was not conventionally included on magazine front covers. Institution information is important as it credits the crew, actors and company involved in making the film, and gives the audience additional information. On my poster, I also included a 5-star rating as this immediately attracts the audience, as it is a recognisable symbol of high quality – which I wanted to be associated with our film. Including quotes from well-known institutions will also attract the public, as they provide a trustworthy review that many audiences depend on.

In our trailer, we used many visual effects, such as inversing colours and using the luma key effect to dim the lighting. I decided to also use colour effects on my poster, putting everything but the mother and daughter in a black and white effect. This was not only to focus the attention onto the two characters, but also to reduce the amount of colour featured on the poster, consequently creating the effect of low key, dim lighting. This element of mise-en-scene has been synergised, with all three of my texts including low-key lighting. In my research, I found that this was a key convention of the thriller genre, as it suggests danger and mystery. The photos for my magazine front cover and poster were both taken on days with foggy weather, with the majority of the footage of the trailer also being filmed this way – in order to try realistically and naturally create this effect.

In conclusion, I believe that the combination of my three products is successful, as I have effectively used synergy, allowing the audience to recognise and remember my campaign. I have aimed to use stereotypical thriller conventions in my main product and ancillary tasks, consequently also aiming to effectively appeal to the young adult target audience of the film. I believe that my target audience would be interested in interacting with all three of the products, whilst also visiting the promotional Facebook page, and purchasing the ‘Here I Come’ merchandise, as these have also used the synergistic features explained previously.