Tom Morris Evaluation question 2

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

In our main production, we were trying to achieve a sense of mystery and suspense, to give the viewers a shock come the end. We did this by building up evidence that would seem to have led to only one outcome, but of course it was the opposite.

We reflected this very well in the ancillary products also. The film posters in which we produced contained symbols from the film, such as the poker chips, the playing cards and in one, the face of Brian himself. On both however, is blood. We did this in each of our posters to throw the audience a little, as this suggests that something bad will happen, but they don’t know how it will happen or in which context. By this I mean, given the circumstances of the film, this could be a vision of Brian’s, but it could also be a reality. The viewer looking at this, simply doesn't know.

The one above is my poster, which as you can see, has the elements I was talking about. The one on the right is our final chosen one, which goes further in using more symbols, but keeping the blood to add the sense of mystery.

We also produced a radio trailer for our film. This also reflects all of the elements as in it you hear scenes from the film, that give the listener an understanding of it, but not giving anything away. It uses the same conventions of the posters really, as it gives the audience an outline but it keeps a feeling of the unknown.

In comparison to existing products, we looked at existing trailers and posters to give us an understanding of how they should look and sound, belonging to this genre. We found that what were required for the radio trailer were key parts taken from the film, sound obviously. Also sound effects from the film that carry significance. The voiceover in the ad was also important in the sense that it is setting a tone for the film and also of what is to happen.  It was kind of the same for the poster, just containing the symbols, showing what happens in the film and then the blood rather than the sound effects to add the uncertainty of the storyline.