Evaluation 2 - How effective is the combination of my Main and Ancillary products?

I consistently included stereotypical conventions of the psychological thriller genre, as well as stereotypical conventions of the media product on its own. I purposely used synergy all throughout my trailer, magazine cover and film poster. I used this by using the same title and by including the same fonts and colours. This makes the brand recognisable as a whole as many key, standout areas of my products of my media appear in all of the works. This creates the effect of reminding the audience - for example - the concurrent use of "coming soon" actively reminds them about the film.

In all three of my texts, I implemented carefully thought about, and specific conventions which makes my products fit into the psychological thriller genre. This would attract audiences that watch films by genre and also, our target market which were both males and females, ages 15 - 35. The age gap is quite wide and this is because the storyline is complex and twisted, meaning that it is suitable for a wide range of people. Having a wider age group as the target audience is also useful as my media products can reach out to more people.

On my film poster, the main image is of my character almost as a silhouette, facing away from the camera, walking through an industrial-like environment. The shot type, and dark lighting was inspired by the poster for Alex Cross. This is also a thriller with one character as the focal point of the film and it is also aimed at a very similar target audience. The fact that my main image is almost a silhouette and is looking away from the camera adds a lot to the mystery elements to the poster and mystery is very important in thriller films. The long shot is also significant as you can see the dangerous environment around the character.

In our trailer, many visual effects are used, such as filters to make the video darker, or contrasts of very high key and very low key lighting used in the same shot which creates a different perception of what is being shown and emphasises focal points. For example, when Brad is holding the knife - the high key lighting is useful here as the knife reflects the light, making it the focal point of the shot as it is the brightest object in the scene, The very low key lighting casts shadows in certain areas which adds to the sense of mystery as the whole shot is not shown, even though it is all the same shot. This shows that the mise-en-scene that has been used in all three products is also synergised as low key lighting is used in the poster and magazine cover and large portions of the trailer are filmed in low-key lighting.

In all three texts, very little is shown or given away about our character. This creates ambiguity for the audience and leaves many aspects on a cliffhanger, or the aspects are open for interpretation (not a clear meaning). This further highlights the psychological thriller genre as a lot of what is going on is a mystery and is unclear.

Institutional information is included on the film poster, as seen in many other posters however it is not conventionally present in magazine covers or trailers. Institutional information is significant and needs to be included somewhere as it provides the audience with extra information, such as the people involved in making the film, cast/crew, and the production company. I also included a five and a four and a half star rating on my poster as well as a quote and these were from well-known media platforms within the film industry, (Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Empire). This further widens the possible audience that will watch the film.

Brad is wearing all black clothing - this connotes fear, death and the unknown, all of which are conventions of the psychological thriller genre. This outfit has been synergised throughout the whole of my advanced portfolio, as he wears it in every appearance. In all three media products, including the trailer, either an indirect mode of address is used or little to no facial expressions are shown. This again adds to the mystery and unpredictability elements that are commonly seen within psychological thrillers.

Another way in which I have shown synergy between my texts is through the use of the title and fonts. In all three of my products, the same title is used, meaning it is easily recognisable for audiences. Inter-titles/straplines that have been presented in the trailer, also appear in both my film poster and magazine cover, which further expresses the synergy and adds to the memorability and recognisability through the use of repetition. I feel like these have been strong factors in terms of how much my products look like actual media texts, and therefore has increased its usefulness as a marketing technique.

To conclude, I strongly believe that the combination of my main and acillary products is very successful. I believe this because I have effectively used synergy is multiple different contexts (mise en scene - lighting, costumes, and titles). I have used stereotypical psychological thriller conventions in all three products. By doing this, I can appeal to the target audience as well as maybe bringing new people in such as the older generation due to the complexity of the storyline. The target audience may also be interested in getting more information about the products and interacting with them, through the social media links shown in the poster.