Question 2) How effective is the

combination of your main product and

ancillary texts?

By Anita Ofori

How my print products and short film operate as a package

How my print products and short film operate as a package

• The colour scheme of the house style in our film poster and film review is red, black and white to add consistency to our colour scheme; to also add convenience to the dark genre of horror. Hence the reason why, we made the colour schemes of our clip in the short film black and white. A third colour was unavailable to be used. The colour scheme also extends in the colour palette of the scenes in my short film as, Diana wore a pink clothing which is similar to the colour of red. If the colour schemes of the film poster and film review were different, the media texts would appear unprofessional and childish as the colour schemes are not consistent.

Print screen of Diana’s pink coat as part of her clothing. As you can view the pink is very similar to the colour of red which is a part of our colour scheme.

Black coat worn by the best friend to also match with the black, red and white colour scheme.

The text of the title is white yet, the background is black to match with the colours of black and white once again.

Forms of language

• The effectiveness of our three media texts is emphasised through us as a group using similar forms of language in three of our media texts. We used Standard English in the text messages in our short film; in the content of the film review and film poster as, Standard English is easily comprehensible to our target audience of young adults.

Film reviewElements of Standard English

Film poster elements of Standard English

• The effectiveness of our media texts is additionally emphasized through, the ghost being repeatedly shown in our three media texts. The ghost is shown in images within our film review and film poster whereas, in our short film the ghost is shown in different scenes. The regular addition of the ghost is a key element to the three media texts as the ghost is the motif or central character in our short film.

• Our three media texts operates very effectively as, we made sure that the theme of death is consistently shown in all media texts. For instance, in the short film the theme of death is presented through the constant use of blood when Diana vomits out blood and when blood drips down from the tree at the end of the film. Moreover, in my film review and film poster the theme of death is also explored through the regular use of blood and the colour scheme of red and black which connotes a sense of darkness.

Print screen of Diana vomiting blood in short film via Youtube

Evaluate how your media texts operate as advertising products?

• Film review as an advertising item.• The heading of ‘It is the final straw’ immediately captures the audiences’ attention as it is bold and

positioned above the content where it is easily navigable. The images in the film review appeals to my target audience of young adults as it generates a visual analysis of what is happening in each scene. Young adults also tend to be engaged by colourful images hence the reason why, my images are in colour. It can be argued that, images which are in colour tend to not be convenient for horror movies however, we as a group argued that images in colour are convenient for a horror movie as they show scenes as just as they are without the need of any editing generating a realistic view of what is going on. The addition of social networking sites such as, ‘Youtube’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘Tumblr’ engages our target audience of young adults as these are social networking sites in which millions of young adults use on an international scale. Moreover, the use of multiple distribution methods such as, via online and in cinemas helps target a much broader audience who are either prefer watching Karma outdoors or indoors through virtual access. As the film review is supported by a specialist firm (Weekly Film review) it is sensible for the film to be available for film fans in film festivals, cinemas and on the Entertainment Weekly online website. The star rating in the film review also helps promote the product as, the star rating gives evidence on how good the product is. Once the audience realise how good Karma is they will be more tempted to go ahead and watch Karma. This therefore increases the recognition of Karma.

• Alternatively, if I were to improve my film review I would include sponsors of other brands which relate to the concept of horror in the film. For instance, I would include the company of ‘Party Delight’ onto my film review as they sell Halloween costumes. I would also include the company of ‘Party Packs’ as they sell Halloween products which further relates with the genre of horror. Through adding a range of these brands, Karma can also attract a wider variety of young adults who are interested in these products.

Evaluate how your media texts operate as advertising products?

• Film Poster: The caption of ‘Premiers in theatres on October 3st’ promotes the film poster extremely well as, it makes the audience aware about the specific date in which Karma is released on cinemas. Through that way young adults can spread the news about the release of Karma to their friends and families. The age limit of 15+ below the caption in the film poster excludes those who are not age appropriate for Karma. This further makes Karma more convenient for the target audience of young adults. The title in itself makes the text easily promotable to young adults as it is one worded and therefore easier for young adults to memorise. The blood on the character disgusts the target audience; this further appeals to young adults as young adults enjoy seeking thrills. Due to the use of blood in the film poster being alike to ‘The Host’ in my case studies, those who are familiar with ‘The host’ would also be able to recall my film further increasing the popularity of Karma. The mentioning of business links such as, ‘Summit’ and ‘Warner bros’ increases the recognition of Karma as these are well-known conglomerate companies. Young adults would be likely to see the film poster of Karma advertised on billboards in mainstream shopping centres such as, Wood Green, Westfield, Oxford circus and Convent Garden. The use of mainstream shopping centres makes our film poster a good promotional product as these are places where you can attract a vast amount of young adults. Young adults will also see the film poster of Karma in colleges as these are yet relevant places where young adults tend to be.

• Short film: The ghost resembling ‘Katie’ in The Ring appeals to a wider fan base of young adults who are familiar with The Ring. The use of characters who are from different ethnicities also makes Karma relatable to young adults of different backgrounds. The addition of characters from different ethnicities is also convenient to the appearance of the characters we had in mind in our research and planning. Through my short film being distributed on YouTube, my short film is able to attract audiences from all around the world as YouTube is used by millions of people across the globe. Moreover, through promoting the short film on YouTube the recognition of the short film can be increased rapidly as users are able to share the video of Karma onto other social networking sites such as, Twitter, Google, Bebo etc. The text of ‘Karma’ at the end of the short film presents my short film as a good promotional product as, it establishes the film’s name making it easier for young adults to identify the short film.

Evaluate how your media texts operate as advertising products?

How might your package compare to real media product?

• Even though ‘Welcome to the Punch’ is not a horror movie, the film review and the film poster follows similar conventions and forms to my media products.

• Background: Welcome to the Punch was distributed in Glasgow film festival on February 24th 2013 and likewise, Karma will also be distributed in film festivals such as, the Walthamstow film festival so that more young adults are aware of Karma. Similarly, Welcome to the Punch was filmed in urban areas in London such as, Elephant and castle and Westminster. Our film was also produced in urban areas such as, Westfield, Leyton and Newham in order to appeal to the younger target audience.

• Conventions and forms: Likewise to the print products of Karma, the film review and the film poster of Welcome to the Punch follows a regular colour scheme of blue, grey and white. The layout of the film review of Welcome to the punch is also similar to the film review of Karma as there is an even amount of white space. The pull quote of “knock out action movie” is also reflected in the film review of Karma as it states the opinions of others as opposed to the opinions of the producer only. Similar to my film review and poster, the font in the film poster and review of Welcome to the punch also remains regular and not more than 3 different types of fonts are used.

• Narrative: As emphasized in the film review and short film of Karma, the Film review of Welcome to the Punch also covers Todorov’s theory of the 5 stages. Similar to Karma, there is a problem, development of complication, climax and resolution in the narrative of Welcome to the Punch. This is summarised in the plot in the film review.

Film Poster and Review of ‘Welcome to the Punch’

Conventions of release date, certificate, cast and running time

• The film poster promotes the video product quite well. For instance, the property of blood used on the main character in the film poster is reflective of the blood used on the tree towards the end of the scene and also of the blood vomited out by Diana. Moreover, the use of a tagline which relates to the theme of Karma in the film poster is also reflective of the text messages Diana receives as all of those text messages are also related to Karma: ‘Karma tastes sweet doesn’t it?’ and ‘Karma has no mercy’. This therefore promotes the video in a good way through signifying the importance of Karma.

Q) How effectively do the film poster promote the video product?

Might you extend this product if you were operating in the real world?

• Karma would be extended if I were operating in the real world as, the horror film industry lacks a horror movie that excites young adults in particularly. Horror movies such as, ‘Chucky’, ‘Scary Movie’ and ‘Dead Silence’ tends to excite children instead of young adults as the main characters in these horror movies are either toys or celebrities which makes the horror movie less serious and more as a comedy instead. Moreover, I would extend Karma as there is an important message behind the film. The message behind Karma is that, pay back can happen to those who deserve it when they least expect it. Yet this message is very important as, it can encourage bullies to change the way they behave and act towards people.

• If I were operating in the real word, Karma would be extended into film conferences, on televisions and on radio broadcasts. Although these distribution methods are very expensive it is more effective as they tend to attract a much wider fan base from different cultural backgrounds.

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