HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?How do the three texts relate to each other

WHAT ROLE DOES EACH PRODUCT HAVE IN THE

INDUSTRY?POSTER (PRINT BASED): The poster was created by the distribution company, Open Road Films. The poster acts as a marketing aid alongside the trailer. It is a popular choice of promotion as posters can be displayed in numerous locations and therefore are viewed by a varied and large audience. Open Road Films will create a symbiotic partnership with cinemas in order for the poster to be displayed in the cinema building and on their own forms of promotion (leaflets, tickets, food boxes, drinks).

WHAT ROLE DOES EACH PRODUCT HAVE IN THE

INDUSTRY?• TRAILER (AUDIO/VISUAL): The trailer was also

created by the distribution company. Likewise to the poster, it is part of the promotion package that will draw in a variety of audiences. Trailer’s have been a convention of marketing for a long time as they are a interesting, captivating and efficient way of communicating to an audience exactly what the narrative is, the theme, genre and character type/relationships. Open Road Films will furthermore create a symbiotic partnership with cinemas, not only for the poster but to also allow the trailer to be shown before films of a similar target audience (age/genre). In return Open Road Films will promote their cinema. We were considering distributing the poster and trailer to independent cinemas, such as Picture House. As they will have audiences that are interested in niche films. However as there are elements of an action and thriller genre, they may also set up a partnership with chain cinemas, such as the Odeon to draw in a larger audience.

WHAT ROLE DOES EACH PRODUCT HAVE IN THE

INDUSTRY?• FILM MAGAZINE COVER (PRINT

BASED): The magazine cover and article was not part of the promotion package by the distribution company but was produced by the BFI. BFI chose Sight and Sound as the magazine to feature the film as they wish to appeal to niche audiences that are passionate film fans. Thus they chose Underhand to appear on their front cover as it is a film that seeks a niche and particular audience.

NARRATIVEA clear connection between our film poster and trailer is how they both depict the crime and violence involved in the narrative. From the use of the gun in the poster this links with the bottom two screenshots from the trailer. However one contrast is how in the trailer we have reversed the role by not just giving the male the gun but also depicting the femme fetale with the gun thus implying the act of betrayal which is a further convention of noir, as well as crime and violence. Moreover crime is suggested in the poster with the gun and the smoke however it is further emphasized in the trailer (shown by the top two screenshots) where we detail how there is a drug group.

NARRATIVEThe trailer and poster are connected by how they both depict the family relationship between the father and son. This over the shoulder shot portrays how the father and son are happy being in each others company and the closeness of their relationship. The poster similarly depicts the father and son relationship by having James looking at his Father. However this is slightly different to the trailer, where it is clear that the equilibrium has been broken by the depiction of violence. This gives more insight into the Neo Noir genre, with the suggestion of personal code and violence.

NARRATIVE All three texts are linked by the way they communicate narrative and one key link is how they depict the Neo Noir genre. The poster and magazine are clearly similar in their use of colour. We decided to use the contrast of black and white in both products as this will highlight straight away to the audience that it is a Neo Noir film as this is a typical conventions. The trailer is also connected by how we have used low key and chiaroscuro lighting.

NARRATIVETrailer and poster – femme fetale – communicated more strongly in the poster as manipulating and controlling but similarly the smoke hiding her face communicates how she is hiding something (deceitful nature)

The trailer and poster are connected by how they communicate language in terms of the characterisation of the Femme Fetale. She is communicated to be more manipulating and controlling in the poster by her being the larger more prominent image and how she is positioned with her hand over the two other character. However a clear link between the two texts is how the smoke is hiding her face, thus depicting her deceitful nature – in the trailer the mid shot reveals the mise-en-scene of the cigarette thus allowing for the link of the smoke covering her face.

NARRATIVE

Similar to my previous point, another connection in terms of narrative is how all three texts depict the noir convention of smoking. This conveys the narrative of a youth, drug group. The mise-en-scene of smoking also aids the narrative of deception which is further emphasized in the tagline “Can deception be the way to truth” which is depicted in the poster. This is by the smoke masking their faces thus symbolizsg deception.

GENDER REPRESENTATION• When creating a media text it is essential to encode representations so

that it makes it clear and efficient for audiences to understand and decode. The encoded representations have to work within the story and this is the job of the director to convey.

• This is especially key with Neo Noir, as representations are often atypical in this particular genre.

• Generally women are presented to have lower status than men, however Noir rejects this stereotype by presenting the women (symbolised by the Femme Fetale) to hold the power.

• The Femme Fetale is presented to be able to manipulate men and control them to aid their own malicious will.

GENDER REPRESENTATION - TRAILERThe Femme Fetale bears remarks to

classic noir by conforming to the convention of smoking (seen in Double Indemnity). This also represents the female with masculine qualities as a cigarette is deemed with phallic connotations.

As the director, I decided to have the smoke hide her face to symbolise her hidden deceptive quality that she masks through out the film in order to get what she wants from the male protagonist, Ross. This represents the female character as manipulating, controlling and cold. (Thus rejecting stereotypes of women being motherly and warm hearted.

During this shot Lilah’s line ‘No he hasn’t’ in response to Max’s interrogative to Ross ‘Have you met my sister yet’ connotes her power over Ross by disconnecting him by using the pronoun ‘he’ rather than his name. This represents how the female manipulates him from the outset. It also represent how the male gender is submissive to a powerful, provocative women.

We also represented the femme fetale in a sexualised way. Thus conforming to the idea of ‘the male gaze’. We applied dark red lipstick to suggest passion and lust but also symbolise danger. We also used the costume of a laced black dress to make her appear attractive and pleasing to the male audiences. This represents how this character use her sexuality as her source of power.

GENDER REPRESENTATIONS -POSTER

When we were taking the actual photo of Lila(femme fetale) we used manual focus in order to create a shallow focus by picking up the hand & cigarette but leaving her face fairly blurred. This was a link between our trailer and poster by foreshadowing her underlying deceptive and vengeful nature.

The idea that her true nature is hidden behind her involvement in the drug group is represented through the smoke hiding half her face. This possibly juxtaposes the previous idea as it represents that women fall into the background when in a dominant male group – however the portrayal of her malicious nature possibly suggests that this is something she wants.

The femme fetale is depicted physically large and positioned above the male protagonist and his son. This is to represent how she is in control of the protagonist and his life – symbolised by her puppeteer like stance.

We decided to incorporate a gun into the image of the male protagonist to represent the idea that men are violent and aggressive. However by having him as the character that is directly under her hand this firstly represents how she is possibly the source of his violence but also the idea that his physical control is no match for her emotional control & manipulation.

On first glance the incorporation of a young child possibly represents the stereotype of a female having a motherly nature. However by positioning him to be looking directly at the protagonist this subverts the stereotype by the male being represented with parental responsibility. Then, with Lila’s hand also over him, this represents that the female manipulates and dictates the life of the son.

A link between the poster and trailer is how she is seen to be wearing a dark lipstick in both. This is to represent how she uses her sexuality to manipulate and control others. It also conforms to the theory of the male gaze and therefore the female is presented is a provocative and objectifying light in order to trick the male audience into trusting her.

GENDER REPRESENTATIONS – MAGAZINE COVER

Half his face is cast in shadow, implying a secretive and mysterious aspect to the image. It also represents how men can be shady and that they can mask who they truly are.

Again, we linked the three texts with the noir convention of smoking in order to connect the three texts to the same film. But we also link the representation of how both the male and female gender are hiding their true selves by getting involved in the drug group and taking drugs to ignore who they really need to be.

Eyes are key to be able to determine a character. If you are unable to see the eyes it forebodes that the character is hiding something; therefore although this image is of the director and not a character, it still represents how the male character in the film is masking his true identity. Firstly, he does this by going undercover but then it seems to deepen when he deceives himself by getting too involved in the drug group and forgetting that his true loyalties lie with his family. This is a typical representation in Noir as the protagonist usually hides from the world in order to forget what evil is happening or what bad deed they have committed.

Through his costume, the male in this image is represented in a juxtaposed way to the female. The man in this image (George Falls – the director) is depicted to be in a shirt and tie which conforms to the ideology that men are perceived as successful, formal business men. However by him having a loosened tie and smoking, this represents how this director has chosen to reject those gender stereotypes – thus this is greater depicted by the director giving the female the control and power whilst the male protagonist is seen to be submissive to her manipulation.