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

The distributor has a very important job to fulfil, as it is there responsibility in order to get the film noticed by the public. However this is a very competitive job, as all distributors are trying to top one another and attract more and more interest for their own film. This is attempted through an advertising campaign, which must be successful and cost efficient. This in itself is a very difficult job, as advertising can be a long and tedious job, and the cost can be monumental, so key organisation is needed by the distributor. The advertising campaign must be a varied one. It cannot just include a teaser trailer or poster, it must include all of these in order to attract the widest range of people possible. Many devices can be used within a poster or teaser trailer, and these can include a 'snappy' tag line, which could make the audience crave more information about the film. It could include a website, which has been specifically set up in order to help sell the film to the desired audience more. These are all effective methods into creating a good and successful advertising campaign for the distributor.

The marketing campaign is always going to be different, and this can be dependant on several factors, one could be on the targeted audience, or the budget that the distribution company has. They must also relate the advertising campaign to the age ranges. For example a younger age range is more likely to see a web advert, or trailer which is located on the internet. Compared to an older demographic of people, who are more likely to read magazines or newspapers, or see outside ads.

This is an example of two films, which are both aimed at completely different audiences. 'Law Abiding Citizen' is an 18 film, where as 'Toy Story 3' is a universal film, which is mainly aged at young children. The different advertising campaigns is easily recognisable in both, as 'Toy Story 3' has a much more fun looking poster, it has a naturally lit picture, and shows a sense of comedy, which would be appealing to those of a younger age range. However 'Law Abiding Citizen' is clearly for an older audience, as this is easily noticeable by the smartness of the poster, the use of black, white and grey text, making it more appealing for the more inquisitive, and smarter audience.

However times have developed and in 2008 the film 'Cloverfield' was originally publicised with a teaser trailer that didn't advertise the films title, it only gave the release date: "01·18·08." However this was not the only use of 'Viral' campaigning, as elements of the campaign included myspace pages which were created for characters of the film.

Brand identification is crucial throughout an advertising campaign, for example 'The Matrix' is a good example of similar branding throughout as it uses the same title theme throughout all advertising campaigns, making it easily recognisable in all forms of advertising. 

For example the 'Matrix' logo, is the same in both the film poster, and the trailer. Also all of the merchandise which has been created for the film is easily recognisable with this text, which creates a simple but yet effect brand identification. 

My Marketing Campaign:

We decided to make the classification for our film an '18' as it would involve some of the more violent scenes, and would not be suitable for those of a younger age. Also the reason for this classification, was because of the need for an understanding of the more psychological elements which are located within this film, and those who are above the age of 18, we felt would have a more easier chance of understanding these elements.

The relationship between the trailer and the film poster, is clearly evident, as we based our horror on finding an insight into the antagonist, and this is also evident in the poster, as the antagonist is the main picture of this, but it does not give much of an insight into the film, like our trailer, it leaves the audience in a lot of suspense. I decided to use the final scene as the image for my poster, as this also creates a strong user identification, and with the inclusion of the film title, being identical to that found in the trailer, the branding and identification for the film is strongly reprocessed once again. 

My Film Poster:

 

I got a lot of inspiration for my poster, from the above films, as I appreciated the effect at using an extreme close up of the antagonist, and I thought this was a very effective function in creating a lot of interest from the audience for the film. I went with a lot of convention when creating my poster, for example the billing block is located in it's usual place at the bottom of the page, and the title and tag line are located above this. However I decided that because of the shaping of the picture, it was more effective for me to place the title higher up the page, where it would stand out more, and look effective. I decided that a easily and quickly recognisable brand identification trigger was needed, and in this scenario it was the title which I opted to use throughout. I thought that including only half of the gas mask, was a very creative tool in creating a sense of mystery for the poster, as it leaves an overshadowing darkness in the background, which can play a lot with the imagination of the audience, with the fear of "what is lurking in the darkness?" I also increased the contrast on the eye which is visible, as this shows that you do not know where this antagonist is looking, so once again can create a lot of fear for the audience. 

My Magazine Cover:

I based my magazine cover mainly on these two attempts by 'Total Film' and 'Empire.' I decided to use a similar shot to the one found in 'Empire' with the Joker, as I thought that a close up of the antagonists face was a very effective method in creating fear. I also copied the Max Payne 'Total Film' cover very closely as well, in order to make sure that my cover was conventional to the usual covers that you would find created by 'Total Film.' I decided to use the 'world exclusive' part, as this I found on the majority of these covers, and kept the date about the 'M' and the slogan located underneath the masthead. These are all stereotypical features that you would often find in one of these magazines. I decided to add a sepia effect to the image, as I believed this created a more warfare look, which is what I had aspired to make. I also kept the brand identity going, with the same title, but created an outer glow, in order to make it jump off of the cover. The tag lines are also in keeping with the colour scheme and conventional functions of a 'Total Film' magazine cover.