When looking through the posters, magazine covers and trailers I researched it was hard to find a film that was in all three of these constructions. For example I had researched the trailer and poster for ‘the strangers’ and ‘saw’ but was unable to find a magazine cover advertising either of these films as the main film. Therefore have decided to use ‘Harry potter and the half blood prince’ as my example to compare my work with.
When considering how the texts work together; the way the constructions speaks to you is one of the most important thing (in my opinion). For example, these constructions have conotations of darkness and evil. This comes form the dark colours used in the poster and the way it is always dark in the trailer scenes. In the trailer this image is given off throught the weather. When it comes to the magazine cover, it is slightly different. The image of Daniel Radcliffe is him in character, however he is wearing a red jacket and white top which doesnt fit with the other constructions. However, this isnt really a problem because it doesnt need to fit. Even though it is advertising the film, it isnt doing it in the same way that the poster and trailer are. The magazine cover is more to do with further detail about the film and interviews with stars etc. Following this the magazine company are the ones producing the front cover and so it isnt designed by the same people as the trailer and the poster; which gives further explanation of why it is slightly different.
When considering my constructionwork in relation to this, I think that my poster and trailer link well and my magazine does link – but in a similar way to the Harry Potter one.
My trailer has fairly dark scenes/images and this is why i used dark colours in my poster too. I found it quite hard to decide what colours i would use on my poster and magazine – when looking through my trailer I thought the colour red would be good to make a link. At the end of my trailer the colour red plays quite a big part in the clips with my main character carrying a candle. This is where i got the idea of using red in my magazine cover for the colour of the title ‘total film’ and in my poster for the title of the film. I also used the colour red when editing her eyes on my poster. In all 3 versions of my magazine the colour red is apparent – in the images and the text. The useof the colour red, in terms of semiotics, also indicates danger and so this is good because it fits with my genre of horror.
The use of images of my main actress in 2 of the versions of my poster and my magazine cover allows mental links to be made between these ancillary texts and my trailer. By this I mean that when the audience see the actress on the poster and magazine they will immediately know that the film being advertised is ‘the haunting’. As well as this, the use of the same font for my text allows for fruther links to be made – especially with the title. If the title was not in the same font then the same effectiveness would not be gained. This is what I wanted from all of my three constructions – I wanted the audience to be able to make links between each construction to make the advertising better and more effective.
Release dates? What order will the come in?
Further detail on the use of the magazine cover…
When thinking about getting the film advertised through a magazine, several negotiations would have to be made. When considering this, I think thebest way to get the film advertised on the magazine cover would be to say that the image on the cover will be of the main actress. This is because (as long as she is a big star) this would appeal to the magazine company because it would benefit them as well. Film watchers might not like the film being advertised, but if they like the actress on the cover they might still pick up the magazine and buy it. therefore the magazine sales would rise, benefiting the magazine company. I chose the magazine ‘total film’ because this is a popular film magazine – this was my only reason. I think i should have made this decision based on knowledge of the target audience of the magazine instead of just the first one that came to mind. It is very important that the correct magazine is used to advertise a specfic film because if the two do not fit then neither the magazine company of the film company will be benefited and this may effect any future relations in terms of the magazine company saying they will advertise any more of the films from that particular film company.
How can you improve?
In terms of improvements, I think my trailer could link better with my ancillary texts. By this Imean the shots aren’t very horrific – I think they could be scarier. Although it is extremely difficult to get particularly scary shots and so maybe It was pretty impossible to get scarier shots. On the other hand, when you think about it, by not having the constructions too smilar – a wider audience can be attracte. For example if the trailer isnt really rwally scary but is till a horror then thisd will attract a certain audience; but if the poster seems quite dark and quite scary then this will attract a different group of people who prefer the really scary horror films. Therefore by having slight variation this allows for a wider range of people to be attracted which is beneficial.
For me, the most important thing is that my texts are all effective. From my audience feedback I get the impression that they arre all effective. I was pleased that in my feedback they all said that they could clearly establish the genre and the plot. They all said that my work was effective and So this makes me feel positive about my final constructions. Following this, they felt that the three constructions did fit well together and that my trailer and ancillary texts did work well together which again makes me feel positive.
