Script - evaluation task 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and anciliary texts?

I think all three of my texts work well and effectively together. They all share the same elements; firstly the key feature is our lead female protagonist, Katie, who is played by Alice. In our trailer she is featured throughout the whole product and in my magazine and film poster there is a large clear image of her.  The combination of this image across all three texts is our main synergy focus; however it also gives the audience a sense of recognition between the three pieces. Both mid shot images show Katie looking down towards the floor diagonally, and therefore away from the camera, she also has a piece of duct tape over her mouth. This shows her to be emotionless, connoting that during the attack and hostage situation Katie is kept in she loses all emotion and therefore parts of her personality too. This is shown in the film trailer too as during the hostage scenes the only emotion Katie shows is fear.

I have also used the colour white numerous times across the three texts.  In our film this is mainly shown through white flashes acting as camera shots, this connotes innocence. As these close ups shots happen when the young girls who have been killed are shown this shows how pure and innocent they were when attacked. This also helps to create emotion within the audience as they feel more sympathy towards these girls knowing they were young and innocent.  However, this also contrasts to the rest of the film as the thriller genre does not include much innocence; it shows danger and fear instead. There is a large percentage of white on my magazine cover. This is mainly used for the different fonts and pieces of writing. I chose to use white as the rest of my magazine is very dark and the writing would have blended in with this, whereas with it being white it makes it much bolder and helps to emphasise the innocence further. This is also what I chose to do with the film poster as the text stands out making it much clearer and readable.

The title logo, which is also white, is featured in all three of my texts. The logo is a distinctive font and easily recognisable, therefore synergy is created as all three texts feature this, making it easily recognisable for the audience, therefore if a consumer of the text saw the magazine or poster after seeing the trailer they would be able to clearly identify that they are from the same film. This is a great advertising technique for films as the audience can constantly recognise this logo wherever it is seen.

Both of my ancillary tasks show the main narrative of the film, which is the hostage situation. I used this as all other narratives in our trailer stem from this. I feel that the image I used in the ancillary tasks shows a large enough section of the narrative to allow the audience to get an insight of the film, however they do not give away too much narrative to ruin the plot line for the audience, this therefore attracts our target audience and makes them want to watch the film due to the sense of mystery.

Although the stereotypical generic conventions of a thriller film trailer include the colour red, as this connotes danger and blood. We did not want to include too much of this during our film trailer as we felt our film did not include lots of blood and gore. However, we wanted to include some colour to connote the danger in our trailer. This is why we choose to use a red pen when the attacker was crossing out the girls he had already killed and circling his latest victim, Katie. I also used the colour red in my magazine cover. I used a gradient background ranging from a dark red to a black, as well as brighter reds used for parts of the writing. The darker red background allowed the brighter reds to stand out. In my images of other films I also made sure one included the colour red in a large percentage to connote the danger and fear in that film, whereas the other two are darker and more mysterious to create tension. I choose not to use too much red in my film poster as I did not want it to become an overpowering colour as it is not a key colour in our trailer. However, I wanted the pieces of the poster that were red to further emphasise danger. I chose to make the crosses on the girls faces bolder and more prominent to ensure the red stood out. I also used a brighter red colour for the tagline. The red highlights the danger in the sentence "I think he's going to kill me". As this is the last statement heard in our trailer I think this is a really important line. As Katie is hiding under the bed on the phone to the police as this is said, I wanted it to stand out in the poster and show she is scared to say this. The use of the tagline in my poster and at the end of the trailer shows the synergy between the pieces and creates an easily recognised statement that the audience will remember.

The relationships shown in our film trailer are:  Katie's relationship with her friend, as this shows she is a popular, friendly girl and helps the audience to get to know her. We decided to use this technique as based on the uses and gratification theory; the demographic target audience will feel emotions, such as sympathy, for her if they feel that they can identify with her.  

Relationships between Katie and her mum, and the police officer on the phone to her also occur during our trailer. I chose to leave these relationships out of my ancillary tasks as I did not feel that they were key parts of our narrative. The largest relationship seen in our trailer is between Katie and her attacker. As the USP of our film was to have everything happening from the attacker’s point of view I did not want to show him during my ancillary products as I felt this may ruin the illusion we had created. Aside from this, I still wanted to find a way to portray some of the relationship in my ancillary tasks. I did this in the both products as in the  image I used Katie’s mouth is taped and her hands can be taped up too, which shows she is in an uncomfortable situation that she has no input in. The magazine cover also shows a knife being held near Katie’s throat, further showing the relationship with the attacker and his violent behaviour.

We made sure that Alice, who played Katie, was an attractive young girl as we found out this was a stereotypical generic convention of thriller films. We also made sure she was always dressed in simple clothing; this was mainly a dark black top and a pair of blue jeans. This was an outfit that ensured continuity throughout the trailer and my two ancillary tasks. This outfit also suggested Katie to be average and not overly girly or fitting with a specific stereotype. This make her a character easily to identify with which will ensure a larger proportion of our demographic target audience find the film interesting.

When making my magazine cover I tried to use common magazine features to entice a mass audience. Firstly this was a large masthead, which was placed behind Katie’s head. This is to represent her importance to the film trailer; the large image I have used of her also takes up most the space on the page, which further signifies her significance. I also used buzzwords in the magazine cover, such as ‘exclusive’, however these are not used in the film poster as a different audience is targeted by the different mode of address.

The certificate of our film is included in the film trailer, and the film poster. I felt it was important to include here as this was direct advertising for the film, so I personally think they should be included. However, in the magazine cover I did not feel this information was necessary as it takes up and wastes space. I also think that if any consumer is interested in the film then they would look into this information themselves. I also think that as the film is clearly identified as a thriller film in all three of my texts through the use of generic thriller conventions, any consumer is likely to expect there to be a higher age certificate in the film and therefore will choose to look into this.

I also chose not to include the production company logo in my ancillary texts as I felt this again wasted space and did not add to the illusion I had created or further emphasize the thriller genre.

Overall, I think the decisions I made across all three texts created an effective and successful campaign as the synergy created across the three helped to make the texts easily recognisable for the audience and the generic conventions of the thriller genre were prominent in all three texts ensuring an air of mystery and danger was created.

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challange forms of conventions from real media products?

Frame 1 - Locations and props

Frame 1 shows one of our most common locations; the garage. It also shows a knife, which is the most significant prop shown in our trailer.  I chose to show this location and prop as the garage is the most iconic setting in our trailer as it is the attackers 'base'.

This conforms with conventions of thriller films as the attacker often has a space of their own where they plan what is going to happen. An example of this is at the beginning of Last house on the left where the villains had their own apartment to plan things in. To develop this idea we made sure the location was recurring throughout the whole film. The mess in the location makes it easily identifiable and therefore as it is seen numerous times in the trailer the audience realise the significance of this setting.

The shot shown in the frame is shown earlier in the trailer than the knife is seen held to Katie's neck. This links with Barthes' enigma theory as the knife being shown is a clue as to what will happen to Katie.
The use of the darkness and low key lighting in this shot also uses conventions of real media products as low key lighting connotes mystery and creates suspense. The use of the colour blue, however, challenges the conventions of media products. This is because blue is a colour that connotes calmness and relaxation, therefore it is not often used in thriller films. We thought this colour added to the tension and suspense created as it contrasts the clutter of objects everywhere and makes the audience question the contents of the room.



Frame 2 - Costume

Frame 2 shows an image of Katie, walking across the living room running away from her attacker who she has just seen watching her. She is wearing a simple outfit here, that is very colourless. We decided to dress Katie simply at all times, as we wanted a larger proportion of the audience to be able to identify with her based on the uses and gratification theory. To ensure this happened we did not want to help her to fit a specific stereotype, therefore we were careful with the costumes to ensure they were not overly pink, or sporty etc. The main outfit she wore during the trailer is the black t-shirt and blue jeans featured above. The black being in solid blocks connotes claustrophobia and lack of space, where as the white connotes emptiness, these are emotions Katie feels while being tied up and therefore we wanted her to dress in a way that connoted this.  Other costumes are based around the colours black and white and therefore fit this stereotype.

Frame 3 - Use of logo

Frame 3 shows our production company logo. We chose the name 'Maximum productions' as we felt the word 'maximum' connotes the greatest amount of something. This therefore connotes that our production company is the best company creating the greatest work. We used iconic London landmarks to connote that the company is an independent British company, and five stars around the edge of the frame as this suggests we are a 5 star company which is the best it can be.

After making our production company logo the white background originally used was too bright and did not conform with the darker colours stereotypically used by thriller films. We chose to make this background darker and changed it to a grey colour, therefore as it comes onto the screen at the beginning of the trailer it is immediately identifiable that our film is a thriller film.

Frame 4 - How characters are introduced

The key character introduced in our trailer is Katie. There are few other characters introduced in our trailer, as the attacker himself is not seen. Katie's friend is shown at the beginning, and there are images of other girls targeted shown. The voice used in an emergency phone call is the first character heard in our trailer. The image I have chosen for this frame shows Katie at the end of the trailer on the phone to the emergency call centre hiding under the bed. This shows that throughout the whole trailer she is introduced to be vulnerable and helpless. This develops conventions from other thriller films as the main character is always portrayed as vulnerable and therefore easy to attack. However, we have challenged thriller film conventions by introducing so few characters as these films are usually chaotic and include more characters adding to the busyness.

Frame 5 - Camerawork and editing

Frame 5 shows a handheld camera shot walking up the stairs. I chose to include this shot as it is really effective in ensuring the audience felt like they were watching from the antagonists point of view. This type of point of view shot is often used in thriller films to make them seem more documentary like, such as paranormal activity. Therefore it does conform with generic conventions of thriller films.
As this point of view shot was taken the attacker is walking up the stairs in the dark searching for Katie. The music here builds up slowly adding the tension as the attacker climbs the stairs. After a series of fast paced cuts The attacker finds Katie hiding under the bed. The camera shot being handheld makes it slightly shaky and more realistic looking, making it easier to establish that the antagonist is the one climbing the stairs.

Frame 6 - Plot line and narrative

The main narrative shown throughout the trailer is the attacker searching for Katie and when finding her keeping her locked up and held hostage. Therefore this is the narrative I chose to portray on both my magazine cover and film poster. I did this by using an image of Katie with her hands tied up and her mouth taped over. In my magazine cover there is also a knife held near her throat. This connotes to two different audiences the narrative of my film.

Displaying the narrative of the film is often done in film posters as it is direct advertising for the film and therefore this is something that is likely to entice and engage a mass audience. This will especially be designed to target the demographic target audience by giving away enigma clues which will connote some of what is going to happen.

This happens less often in magazine covers as the lead actor/actress is more likely to take part in a photo shoot which will lead to a staged photograph being taken and used for the front cover. However, in my ancillary task I chose to challenge this as I wanted to use an action shot. This is because this helps to create synergy between all three texts so consumers of the text will recognise the different  mode of address as associated with the film and therefore it is mass advertising on a wider scale.

Frame 7 - Use of intertitles

Intertitles are used in film trailers to include more narrative in the trailer. It is further used in thriller trailers to create mystery and suspense as limited information is given. However, when making our trailer we did not originally include intertitles. After making the first draft of our trailer we asked for feedback from a selected group of our target audience, who agreed with us that we had created a fast paced trailer that created tension and suspense and by including intertitles we were likely to ruin this illusion and mystery we created.

We did however chose to include institutional information at the end of our trailer. This is something that all film trailers include as it lets the audience know who created and worked on the film. Not only does this give the correct people credit for the film, consumers of the trailer may spot names they recognise and have previously enjoyed work by, and will be more persuaded to watch the whole film.

Frame 8 - Use of titles

When creating a title for my ancillary task I tried to make one that is not specialised to a specific genre of film.This is stereotypical of film magazines as they are therefore able to advertise to a mass audience, an example of this is 'total film', this title is not specialised in any way and therefore is suitable to advertise a variety of films. I chose to use the title 'global film'. I felt this title is not specialised in any way and therefore can advertise a variety of films. The term 'global' also connotes being worldwide therefore this suggests that the film magazine gives information on worldwide films, this will entice a mass audience to read this magazine.

To make the edition of the magazine more specialised the words 'thriller special' were evident at the top of my magazine cover, this can be seen in this frame. By doing this all information on different films that I included on my magazine cover was related to thriller films in some way. Many film magazines will often do this, therefore I was using and developing generic conventions.

Frame 9 - Fonts

This frame shows an image of the title of our film when it appears at the end of our trailer. The font we chose to use . I used this title logo on all three of my media texts as I felt this created synergy between them and was easily recognisable for the demographic target audience.

We chose to use a font from a free font website from a category called 'scratchy'. This font is a white colour which connotes innocence and purity, against a black background. The innocence and purity created contrasts with the title of the film 'hostage'. I think this highlights how Katie has not done anything for this to happen to her and she is an innocent young girl who becomes helpless without any intention to do so. White fonts on darker backgrounds are often used in thriller film title logos. This can be seen in films I researched such as The last house on the left. However, we also challenged thriller film conventions as title logos often include the colour red. This is a colour that connotes danger, as red is an extreme colour it is prominent and draws attention. We chose to challenge this by not using the colour red in our logo, this draws attention as it is so simplistic, however the chaotic font draws enough attention itself. The colour back being the background is prominent in many thriller films. Black is a colour that connotes authority and power.  Being used in block around the title connotes the power the antagonist has over Katie, it also connotes submission and this therefore connotes the attempt the attacker has made for Katie to be submissive to him and not run away or disobey the situation he has set up. Stereotypically villains in films where the colour black, such as Dracula. Therefore, we are developing conventions of films further by having this colour in our title logo.

Furthermore, the font we chose challenges conventions of thriller films as titles from these films are often bold and a standardized san serif font. Whereas, our font connotes desperation and fear and the idea that Katie is desperately trying to escape this hostage by scratching her way out.