Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Lyndsay Essex

Short film and posterI chose to do a poster because I could incorporate it into the short film itself, because I knew beforehand that the

film would be about finding a lost item or symbol of something (The

end product was a doll, which acted as a symbol of childhood), and so to make a classic ‘Missing’ poster made

sense to advertise the film. Developing this poster meant making many different versions were made, especially due to sudden storyline

changes caused by technical difficulties. These issues meant that small elements such as text or logos had to be changed to make sense.

My research found missing poster templates which I vaguely

followed, to make the ‘Missing’ poster as close to the

stereotypical posters as possible, with a small square image, large block writing (usually in red) at the top, with a description and contact details at the bottom.

Version 1: Conventional film posterTo fit conventions of other film

posters, I tried to make one using a full background image, with a short description of the

film. I didn’t complete this version as I felt strongly that it wouldn’t give the correct idea about the film, and was too

vague to be used as an advertising poster. I also think that due to the style of poster,

the font which fits the film didn’t fit the poster style, further

evidence that the style of poster didn’t work with the film’s

theme and target audience.Title : bold, noticeable, Big letters in bright

colour draws attention.

Website information & tagline: clear, colour

contrast against darker background.

Small description of what is being

advertised

Appropriate background photo, illustrates what is

missing, draws attention.

Version 2: Missing posters.Tear off sections, contact details & film outline, website and logos. Clear information, fits conventions of ‘Missing’ poster and film poster (cast, directors, etc at bottom)

Brighter colours and clearer photo, no tear-off sections & rearranged logos.

Finished productThe final version had been changed to fit last-minute story changes, as well as a clear photo and text.The difference between the first attempt and the finished version shows the development of ideas and discovering that something which is conventionally correct is wrong for my piece.

Changed text to fit the changed storyline, logos, more clear font on link to website.

Magazine article

After looking at film reviews in magazines such as Empire, or film reviews online, I created a basic template to stick to, setting out where which piece of text would be, and where pictures would go. I decided what the text would include by looking at language used in other reviews. I used this example for the layout of the final piece, using several design ideas, such the main photo at the top and the list of information (Such as length, director and release date). I also added a URL for the magazine’s website and a star rating for the film.

My film, being much shorter and only using one simple plot had some different details, for example the caption over this article’s photo there is information about plot lines and cameo appearances, I decided to include a quote, and have the article including an interview, where I could explain more details of the film itself.

Effect of a good review• Film institutions benefit from a good

review, as the publicity gained from positive press will gain the institution and any organisations associated with it popularity, and in turn more money, as reviews are essentially free advertisements which many people read before seeing a film, and has the ability to change the audience’s opinions on what they see.

Finished magazine article

Short reviews, few magazines have a single review on a page.

Reference to next weeks issue – with tagline.

Page numbers, magazine name, website URL.

Film information – certificate, director, producer, genre, running time and release date.

Brief plot summary & article intro.

Film stills have captions.

Film still & caption, photo taken for the article, film website URL, star rating.

Title – film name mimics poster, short line on article.

Reviews representation of film

• By putting the review along side reviews of animated and bright, childish short films suggests that the short film in the main review fits the same style.

• Caption/photo

Magazine background images• Very few magazines I looked at had just a plain white background, and so I

decided to add a background image, relating to the magazine article, rather than the short film aspect. I found a number of images, tested each against the text and tried using Photoshop on a few. Many didn’t work because the font I had decided to use wasn’t clear against the background, or didn’t work across the double page spread.

Article text font and colour wasn’t clear over this design.

Didn’t show much of filmstrip, unclear text. Against background texture.

Tried with white text and different font but was still unclear, didn’t show filmstrip. Also the dull colour wouldn’t fit a bright review about a happy film, more colours were needed.

Some areas too dark & some too light for text colour and font. Didn’t fit with theme and style.

Still looked plain white, titles and bottom headers of magazine weren’t clear.

I cut off the plain side and used a zoom of the filmstrip, as it added more colours, as colourful has connotations of ‘bright’ and happy , fitting the style of the film, and kept with the house style of film which is appropriate in a movie-based magazine.

Other Ideas:• As the main object in the film is a doll, to appeal

to a wider audience of younger children Rosie could be sold as a separate toy. However as the toy I used is an existing toy from the early 90’s, so if this was a real film, an original and distinctive toy would would have been created and sold separately.

• The music used in the film could also be used to advertise both the film and the band, if a music video was created to go with the song, the film could also be used to advertise the band.

Summary• Overall, I think the combination of

magazine article and film poster works well, as the poster can be incorporated into the film as well as advertise the film, and the magazine is a good way of reaching larger numbers of the target audience (Older teens/Young adults, who are more interested in films, and so more likely to watch a short silent film.).