2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I created a horror  slasher film trailer , a poster advertising the film and a magazine front cover for a 'Fangoria' magazine with my film on the front page. Ancillary texts allow the media product being promoted, for example in my horror slasher film trailer , magazine and poster I have recurring themes in order for my slasher film to be easily recognised for the audience. The magazine cover and poster act as structure which connects to the trailer which helps to create a brand. Using those 3 promotional text together they make an effective and interest in the film as together they create a strong brand identity. I have a consistent mode of address throughout the three ancillary tasks , however the magazine would be slightly different in terms of i would not have control over the construction or brand identity as it is not not created by my marketing team , essentially a distribution company cannot guarantee how a film will be featured in a magazine.

The brand identity of the my typography is effective as it is consistent through the ancillary product, The logo is  used in all purpose marketing strageties ,”Results Day”

uses black and red colours to maximise the slasher theme, black which has connotation of darkness and fear, and red which has connotation of  danger, desire and blood. This makes sure that the brand identity is recognisable and that the genre is being conveyed, displaying that it is a slasher film. The poster and magazine strictly includes black, red and white theme. There is binary opposition created between the red and white colour, white is innocence whereas the red is evil. The font is high school type font which helps symbolise horror films like Halloween.

In my magazine cover, the main image shows a picture of t-shirt lying on the floor with blood covered written in “Results day”. it is located in a forest where the film is based, this is to give the audience a sense of the narrative.  Genre are displayed in ancillary and main products as they have conventional aspect of slasher genre , this is evident of the forest.

Furthermore it is recurrent with the ancillary tasks as well as the trailer. The blood signifies the danger with the arm lying next to it illustrates the consequences of the result.

The identity of the brand is important especially when trying to gain your audience interest, by creating similarities so audience can see similar features with each text, in effective ways so it can reach my target audience. The font was consistent throughout. However the magazine cover was changed a bit since i do not have control of the layout.

I chose ‘Fangoria’as magazine simply because it is a magazine which attracts my target audience alot , it is much more appropriate to my demographic than little white lies, they both aim at a niche audience, fangoria  is smaller than Empire Magazine, it is aimed for people who have interest slasher/horror genre films. My film is a low budget independent British film, I will automatically have a smaller demographic, in addition since my poster displays film festival nominations it will increase my demographic due to this more people will want to see my film because the nomination will give good brand recognition.

I have tried to promote my film trailer by including social network details about my film, there is also a website address, twitter, YouTube and faceboook, Those will direct the audience to pages where they can get extra content in which audience can interact with. This is known as exchange, this is where audience can make parodies and such , this is

enabled by the use of web 2.90. Furthermore there are interviews, competitions, casts, gossip of latest behind scenes and much more, this will allow the audience to be more involved with the film.

Since my film is independent I will not have the benefits from horizontal and vertical integration, horizontal integration is the media companies ownership of several other companies, for example News Corporation owns Magazines, newspaper, television and more. Major films can benefit from this as they can be advertised other different media platforms.  Major films also use synergy , which is a way different elements of media conglomerate work together to promote links between products across different media’s. Conglomerates like universal studios  are able to use synergy which helps boost profits because of their diversity , because they own lots of different companies.  An example is Shawn of the Dead has its own Soundtrack, games which is all owned by Universal studioes.

Vertical integration is when a production company has the ownership of the means of production, distribution and exhibition of the film by the same media company; because of this they generate more profit. For example, 20th century fox owns many film studios and means to distribute the film as well as some of the cinemas in which they are shown.

This is why viral marketing is the key essential for an independent film to become successful if used effectively which is why I have used social network links.  Independent films would have to rely on word of mouth and viral marketing as they are not vertically integrated since they don’t have the means of production and distribution the same way as blockbuster films would have.

Viral marketing is not always successful as it would depend on the way the film is interpreted and whether it is accepted or discarded is up to the audience, for example “The Blair Witch Project” enabled to reach successful measures. Blair witch project used this marketing strategy in order to promote their film.

As well as relying on viral marketing and creating a buzz. The two step flow is important especially for an independent film, they can reach to a large sum of demographics however it can turn out positive or negative depending on opinion leader(s). Theory based on a 1940s study on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly linked through the personal influence of opinion leaders , meaning if an opinion leader likes our film he/she can influence their emotion to a wider audience. Opinion leaders pay close attention to mass media for example blogs dedicated for horror genre films.

The introduction of web 2.0 has helped me distribute my film across, social media like facebook and twitter  is where everyone come together. There has been a divison of audiences into smaller groups  due to the variety of media outlets.

Another features that runs throughout the ancillary texts, mainly my poster and trailer are logos of the production companies that worked with our film, which includes film 4, this is simply because our film is independent and that there is not much funding as a

blockbuster film which is why there are companies there to support them. I chose film 4 because it is a popular choice for a British company which works with independent films creators in making a film based on the British Social Realism as it reflects on the lives of the teenagers living in Britain and focusses on issues in modern society represented through different ideologies.which is why it is appropriate to choose film4. Their logo has been featured in our end card and our poster alongside the age rating which is important so that the viewers know how old they have to be to watch our film, furthermore we included film reviews on the trailer and poster as it would create more appeal to the audience if they seen the film recieved positive reviews from critics, his was not included on the magazine because it would not be suitable to include these on the front cover.

The three ancillary products work together and create one big marketing strategy for our film to become successful and gain a wider audience , with the help of viral marketing and use of independent distributor I may be able to turn this film into success by covering all aspects.