There are elements of my two ancillary products that link closely to my main product. I tried to follow a similar colour scheme where possible as shown by my frequent use of white font within my trailer's inter-titles but also shown in the font on my poster and magazine cover. The title uses the same typography throughout and appears in the same white colour on every product, so it is easily recognisable and iconic of the main product, if the audience see it they will therefore be more likely to remember the name because they have seen it in different forms, and will therefore be potentially more persuaded to watch the film, as it will have stuck in their memory.
My products all include conventions and icons of the romance genre that are clearly identifiable to the target audience. The main product includes key conventions such as the shot types used e.g. it uses numerous close ups to emphasise certain moments, many of these moments are romantic like the hand holding and therefore this is symbolic of the genre and the close up will emphasise this to the audience and will encourage them to anticipate about what will happen next or how the relationship will develop. The music and voiceover are also very conventional of the romance genre and similar soundtracks have been used in pre-existing products successfully, therefore I feel that it was used effectively in mine. The poster uses a two shot of the main protagonists gazing into each others eyes and looking directly at one another. Two shots are conventional for the focal images of many romance posters because they show off both of the stock characters to the audience and depending on their positioning and the tone of the poster, it is usually made very clear that they have a romantic relationship, therefore the genre is clearly emphasised and the targeted audience should hopefully become immediately interested. This is because two shots of a male and a female are so stereotypical of the romance genre, that the demographic of people who enjoy the genre and who are likely to want to watch romance films, will see this image and automatically link it to the genre and to previous poster examples that they have seen before. I put a filter on the focal image of the poster, almost every poster will have some sort of filter on it and I feel that the particular filter I picked is effective as it has gentle tones, it makes the image look lighter and more peaceful as the background is slightly blurred and the reddish tones towards the bottom are warm. Therefore it makes the tone of the image more romantic and peaceful which is what I intended as it ties in with the idea of the characters being alone and just caring about each other, linking the the way they are positioned and not being able to take their eyes off each other. All of these features are very conventional of the romance genre and will attract a target audience falling under the category of those who enjoy watching films, more specifically those who enjoy watching romance films. Many of the key conventions of film posters do appear on the ancillary poster that I created. For example, the age rating of the film appears in the bottom corner, this immediately gives it a more professional look and makes the audience aware that they can trust the content in relation to this rating because it has been professionally approved. This also hints slightly at the desired target audience in the way that this obviously isn't going to be a film for children as the certificate is a 15 so the content will probably be fairly mature and contain some scenes that would be inappropriate for the child to view, therefore this is a minor way that the production company can hint at what the demographic for the audience is and at that those watching can expect some more mature, potentially violent or distressing scenes in the narrative. This could interest more people as often certain people are drawn to film's that have social realism elements or drama in them as they represent a more accurate picture of real life. This can be applied and linked to my film trailer as it shows two people falling in love happily, but then shows how this relationship can break down and how people can get hurt. This is common in the narratives of certain romance films, especially those with sub-genres of drama or social realism, therefore this would attract a more niche audience of people who enjoy narratives following those conventions.
In the focal image of the poster, the male character is holding the umbrella up above both of them and ensuring that the female is kept dry. This is iconic of the romance genre as it has codes of kindness and is perceived by many as a gentlemanly thing to do. This was one of the reasons I used this shot as I knew that the audience would see this image and instantly associate this gesture of care and love with the romance genre, therefore subconsciously linking the two characters together romantically, without actually realising it. The filter used on the image makes the background look misty and distant, this and the idea of being able to see empty fields stretched out behind them in the distance, offers the idea of the characters being alone in the middle of nowhere with nobody to disturb them. Often locations like this are included in romance films as they are seen as peaceful and somewhere that the characters can be alone in and get away from everything as just the two of them, this has codes of romance and passion. I've included a strap line at the top of the poster saying "You always remember your first love..." this has huge connotations of romance as the word itself "Love" is an icon of the genre. Also, this ties in very closely with my main product as in the voiceover the female character says "Everyone remembers their first love, but not always for the right reasons". This is very similar and implies the same thing as the strap line does, showing that the narrative of the film will include a first love, most likely between the main male and female protagonist featured in the focal image of the poster. Including the ellipses at the end of the quote (...) indicates that the strap line is not entirely finished and this idea will be left on a cliffhanger, this will interest the audience and get them anticipating because they will be thinking about what it means and why it is used. This effect may make them more persuaded to watch the film as they will want this idea to be continued and will want to know how it ends and if it is resolved. The actors names are included on the poster and appear above their characters so they can easily be linked and noticed, this technique is used commonly on film posters, especially by the Big 6 Production companies who have actors that are hugely popular and well known in their films and so use the star system to link the actor to that film and to promote it further. I have followed this technique slightly but not to the same extent, I can't use the star system widely because the film company that created my trailer is independent and low budget and therefore can't afford well-known, famous actors but I can place the names of the actors in a way that links them to their faces and therefore makes the audience more likely to remember them and recognise them potentially from either of my other products.
The magazine cover uses an image of just the main female character as it's focal image and follows the rule of thirds with the key image in the centre third, this is conventional of almost all magazine covers. This layout differs clearly from the layout of my poster as so this lacks synergy in terms of positioning and headers etc, however it follows the conventions of romance film magazine covers, so this is works successfully and ties in with pre-existing products promoting other films. The main image is the female character with the sunlight shining on her, she is wearing the same costume that she wears in some scenes in the trailer and therefore this shows an obvious similarity and link between products that the audience would potentially recognise.
My magazine cover promoting 'At First Glance' follows the conventions that many magazines would including things like the date of the issue, the price etc. It uses buzzwords such as 'Exclusive' which are designed to immediately grab the attention of the audience and to convince them that the magazine contains something unique that can only be read in that particular issue. The title of the magazine appears in the largest font which is conventional as it is the most important text on there and it is intended to stand out and attract the attention of a pre-existing audience who are already aware of and potentially already buy the magazine, or a new audience that might have only just seen the magazine and been interested by one of it's features. The title of the film is the second largest bit of text on the cover, this again is conventional and it makes sense as it is designed to be especially emphasised to the audience as that specific issue is intended to promote the 'At First Glance' film and therefore the font needs to be bold and noticeable to be seen and to link to the magazine's focal image. The website for the magazine is included at the top, this ties in with my main product where I have included a website link to my individual film website. Website names are often included in trailers and on magazines as a way of encouraging the audience to actively go and see out information about a film, this is a form of pull marketing. Pull marketing often occurs virally as with the development of the internet and web 2.0. a new generation of 'prosumers' have emerged and have begun to create their own products and content, therefore for heritage products it is important to acknowledge viral marketing and link to them however possible. Hence why I included links to websites in my promotional products, also I would consider expanding to twitter and Facebook to gain easy access to a tent pole audience and to allow a buzz about the film to be created virally through word of mouth and sharing content. Many successful films have been so successful as a result of their viral campaigns, for example the Dark Knight Rises had a hugely successful marketing campaign that involved the audience actively travelling to different locations and seeking out graffiti to unlock the full trailer. This made the audience feel involved and created a huge hype amongst fans before the films release, proving that viral marketing can be equally as important as heritage marketing forms, and can work to reach an enormous audience through online databases.
Another key similarity between all of the products is that both the ancillary products use the same locations as the main product for their focal images, so the background in all of them is a rural area that has been included in the main trailer. This is so the film is noticeable and continuously relates back to the main product and the narrative by showing the same main characters and the same key locations. The field/wooded locations I used for the focal image for both my poster and my magazine cover are often conventional of romance films as they are seen as peaceful and beautiful places to be and these are both iconic of the romance genre and link to the idea that the couple want to be alone together.
I conducted a questionnaire on survey monkey and posted it on my Facebook and twitter where I have a range of followers that all fall into my target audience categories. Two of the questions in the survey related specifically to this question as they tested whether the ancillary products I created did link to my main product in an effective way. The analysis of the results are shown below:
The results when the respondents asked the same question about the magazine cover were slightly more varied. There was a 50/50 split between people voting that there was a very clear link and between there being some evidence of a link. One person voted for the "other" option but didn't specify what they intended that to mean so I just classed it as an anomalie in the results and focused on the answers from the other two categories. I think the main reason for less people agreeing that there was a very prominent link with the main product on the magazine cover than the poster is because the shot type is very different than in the other two products, and the female appears alone instead of with the male. The shot used on the magazine cover is designed to be slightly similar to a fashion shot as it has the female looking at the camera with direct mode of address and posing, with her hair and make up noticeably feminine. Where as in the other shots, direct mode of address isn't used as they include shots of the female looking directly at the male. Therefore, the difference is significant when a shot of the character looking and smiling directly at the camera, in a location by herself, without the male character in shot, is used. However, despite this main image contrasting the other two products slightly and juxtaposing them in terms of the mode of address and positioning of the subject, I think this image was still the most appropriate to conform to the conventions of a magazine cover. Often magazines use images of one single character or actor, sometimes the actors appear out of character and costume, however other times the subjects appear in character and this is often more common in film magazines. Therefore I have followed the convention of just one subject appearing in the image and have made it so the female appears in costume, but is posing for the image specifically, taking elements from both her acting in the film, and her posing in real life.
