Evaluation Question 2

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Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the
combination of your ancillary production tasks
with the main production?

• Holly Peacock

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How do they link together?

• My ancillary tasks and production link together
  by keeping the same style and mode addressed with
  the audience in both pieces. I felt that this
  was highly necessary in order for them to be
  successful, because the audience would not remain
  interested or feel enticed by my productions.
• Prior to the creation of my ancillary tasks, I
  did some extensive research into general double
  page spread articles and radio trailers which
  were of a similar genre to my film itself. I felt
  that this would be highly beneficial to me due to
  the fact that I have a wiser and more
  professional image of how I want to make my own
  products.
• Orphan and various other films greatly inspired
  my ancillary tasks and overall main production
  due to the fact it is of the same genre and has a
  plot which can link to ours significantly by
  having a female protagonist, conducting several
  killings.

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• I felt that using certain codes and conventions
  that are generic in double page spreads and
  articles similar to the Psychological Thriller
  hybrid genre we have created was highly vital in
  order to make my ancillary production appear as
  enticing and realistic as possible.

Film rating indications -so the audience is aware
Article images makes the page look more
appealing.
Page reference quick and brief indication on
what this section of the magazine is going to be
about.
Main article image insight into the film
Page border neatens up the page and sections
off information
Symbol reinforces the films brand.
Slogan creates enigma about the film.
Quick overview of the film - indicates to
readers what the film is about.
Drop capital - makes the film and article seem
appealing to the audience.
Verdict readers can identify if they will want
to watch the film, promotes it well due to 5/5
stars.
Behind the scenes content makes readers feel
more connected to the film.
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• I believe that my double page spread looks
  effective in regards to working with my actual
  short film. I looked at a Spider Man double page
  spread from Total Film magazine which provided
  an overall dynamic for the film spread, which I
  used when creating a general flat plan.

This is my flat plan, which was the basis for my
planning of the spread. It was effective but I
changed the layout over time because I wanted to
prevent there being too much text on the page, as
I feel the target audience would lose interest
quickly if so. Therefore, I added a large screen
shot from my actual film production which gives
the audience an insight into the film already
whilst just scanning the page. Moreover, I
ensured that I had added extra information for
fans so they felt they had a deeper connection
with the film and that they were getting value
for what they paid for. This works well as it
makes the film more exciting and enticing.
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Main image

• I felt that it was extremely necessary to include
  this screenshot from the film of the killer on my
  double page spread. This is due to the fact she
  is facing the camera and wearing the highly
  recognisable mask which has featured in all the
  killings in the film. I used this because it
  gives the readers of the double page article an
  insight into the film and they can also associate
  it with existing films including masks to help
  characterise etc. I believe that this was an
  effective technique as it already shows what the
  film may include but leaves it ambiguous, making
  people want to view our film. However, I did
  contemplate using an image of the protagonists
  face without the mask on in order to give the
  audience a deeper insight into the film. I think
  if I did this it would create a better connection
  with the characters for the audience. If I did
  this though, it would give away the ending of our
  film and the big reveal as to who the killer
  actually was. Therefore, I believe this feature
  was extremely beneficial in order to promote our
  short film and a vital part of information to
  include. Despite the quality of the image turning
  out quite high definition, I believe it would
  have been more effective if I took a proper image
  of the protagonist in the mask to make the double
  page spread appear more professional and
  realistic. The fact it is a screenshot brings the
  overall feeling of the spread down which could
  reflect in the actual production, but overall I
  still believe this was useful.

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House style Fonts

• I felt that it was vital to include a sans
  serif font for selected parts of the double page
  spread, such as the title and subheadings because
  it reflects a new section. This

is effective because it makes the double page
spread indicate what is most important and also
what the article is about. Adding a realistic and
professional feeling to the spread, the audience
could then also carry this opinion on in regards
to the film. It was important to use this typical
convention of a double page spread in order to
truly promote my film.
For the film title on the spread, I included the
symbol of the dragon eating its tail,
representing Ouroboros as it means a repetition
of something which is presented in our film. The
use of this reinforces the meaning of the film and
Once again establishes the brand which we have
created for our film, so it is recognisable on
different platforms with fans. I believe the use
of this is effective as it fits well with the
bold text and shows the audience what the film is
about. People may not understand the meaning of
the name which creates an enigma for the film and
this can intrigue them. I also included the
slogan we used for our film to once again create
an enigma and make the audience wonder what the
protagonist is hiding from the rest of the world.
The 15 age certificate also instantly indicates
what age the film is and what audience it will be
directed at. I believe this was all vital to use
in my spread in order to promote the film as it
is basic and standard knowledge the audience need
to be aware of prior to watching the film. I
could have used a more complex font for the film
title to fully enhance the meaning of the film,
perhaps a broken font to represent the generic
code Psychological Thrillers follow.
The house style of the double page spread was
very basic and dynamic using bold colours such as
red, white, blue and black which I believe are
generic colours for a double page spread in a
film magazine. The colours promote each bit of
information as they dont contrast against each
other, making the spread look unprofessional or
messy. The colours also highlight important
sections of information such as the information
about the actress in the actress profile. I
think this is effective as the boarders section
off each part, indicating when a section ends. I
tried to use as many magazine conventions as
possible, because this becomes much more
realistic and better looking. However, I believe
I couldve made the double page spread appear
darker and mysterious to continue the feeling
generated from our film. I couldve done this by
using darker colours and more effects to make it
fully promote the film.
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The language used in my double page spread wasnt
too formal because I didnt want the audience to
not be able to relate to the double page spread
as this would be ineffective. Therefore, it
promotes the film effectively in my opinion
because it will keep the readers intrigued and
wanting to keep on reading, whilst expressing the
theme the film will follow. I included free
exclusive content on the page in order to work
as a freebie and as if the audience were
getting something more than what they paid for,
promoting the film in a positive view. It also
allows the audience to have a deeper insight into
the overall production of the film, understanding
how things were achieved which can inspire them.
I decided to include 3 normal photos of the
actresses in this part to once again reinforce
the non formal atmosphere we wanted to create
for our audience. The 5 star rating reflects
the fact that a trusted magazine values the
film very highly, and a magazine can be trusted
by an audience, not just specifically our target
audience, making the film reach out to a wider
target. The high rating is easily noticeable on
the page, so readers can have an instant review
of the film and this can be the deciding factor
whether they choose to watch the film or not. In
order to have progressed further, I could have
included a rating from the likes of Empire
magazine to make it much more realistic and
trustworthy but I had a struggle including the
stars on InDesign as the symbol would not appear
properly.
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Radio Trailer
Here is a view of the production of our radio
trailer. I created the radio trailer on garage
band, so I wasnt entirely comfortable and
familiar with all of the tools it had to offer.
However, I researched typical conventions of a
film radio trailer and based my creation on that.
I aimed to keep it between 30-40 seconds and
include extracts from the film itself, whilst
adding a voice over. This was exciting as it
created a lot of tension but didnt reveal what
the plot was. I believe this was effective
because the audience are able to identify the
genre of the film due to the sound effects and
the quietening of certain sounds when applicable.

• We included the most recognisable extracts of the
  film such as is that you Terry? and the sound
  of the door from the opening scene, making the
  audience wonder who is actually behind the mask
  from the start of the trailer and film. The most
  effective thing about the radio trailer though in
  my opinion is that it doesnt reveal anything
  about the mask as it is just sound, but the
  audience are clearly made aware of the fact that
  something bad is occurring multiple times within
  someones life. We created a script including
  significant details of the film such as where it
  was featured, its release date and most
  importantly the name of the film. I believe we
  did a good job overall of the trailer but if we
  had more experience, we would be able to make it
  much more complex and create a proper feeling of
  tension. Some parts of the editing and merging of
  clips sometimes leaves blank noise and cuts off
  sentences mid way due to fault of the person
  speaking. We were unable to avoid this and
  attempted to avoid it by adding soundtracks over
  the voice. Despite this, it promotes the film to
  an extent by making the audience anticipate
  finding out further details of the film and
  drawing them in with rhetorical questions etc. We
  used Drone Machine 02 as the general backing
  track of the film which was quite eerie and
  disturbing. We also used this in our film often
  so it followed the same route as this and also
  worked as a convention for many thriller films in
  order to build up a certain disturbed mood.

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Conclusion
In order to make my magazine spread and radio
trailer promote my short film, I ensured I had a
lot of research on existing media products
similar to ours and generally tried to
utilise/challenge generic conventions. I believe
that by having this in mind constantly, the turn
out of my ancillary productions was well overall,
but there is room for improvement. Especially,
the radio trailer. I believe the radio trailer
could do with a lot more work, with more upbeat
and intense sounds behind the speaking. Moreover,
the editing was a bit rough at times which
brought the atmosphere down as a whole. If I
had had more experience within the programs and
tasks previously, I would have benefitted more
and the tasks would have promoted my short film
even more effectively in my opinion. My
experience within InDesign with creating a double
page spread for my AS portfolio gave me an
advantage as I was already aware of conventions
of a magazine and the layout. However, further
research into the genre specifically was required
and we took great inspiration from VHS, Scream
4 and Friday 13th to produce the final
ancillary tasks.