1. How Effective Is The
Combination Of Your Main
Product And Ancillary Task?
By Margaret Ansu

2. ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

For Unit G324 we had to create a 5 minute short
film which may be live action or animated or a
combination of both. Then after completing the film
we were to create a poster and a film magazine
review page featuring the film.

3. HOW MY POSTER FOLLOWS THE FORMS OF THE DRAMA
GENRE
The poster uses a single image of “Lucy” the main female
character. The close up of her face allows those who view the
poster to examine the emotions is expressing. Her facial
expressions conveys the emotion of neutral sadness, by this I
mean it’s clear she is not happy but her sadness seems to be of
long term suggesting she’s enduring some form of long term
hardship. This follows the conventions of a drama film as it
doesn’t convey happiness and humour but an emotion that is of
a serious nature. Also with close up image being the only image
used for the poster, there’s nothing to take the focus away from
the character’s face leaving most of the films back story to the
imagination of the individual only with the help from the tag-line
“not everything is what it seems…” adding a sinister edge to the
angelic looking image.
Simple and realistic theme of poster upholds the seriousness
and realism that’s expected of a drama film. The colour
scheme only consist of white and yellow; white to portray
innocence and yellow to convey preciousness as innocence
is precious. The poster was inspired by the poster of precious
as the theme’s of the two films are very similar.

4. HOW MY POSTER FOLLOWS THE FORMS OF THE DRAMA
GENRE – COMPARISON OF A SUCCESSFUL DRAMA FILM
POSTER AND MINE
I decided to replicate the use of
accreditation in my own poster.
Also the idea of a one character
focus as I thought it really did if
done well conveyed the base
idea and emotions of the
advertised film. I then also
decided to include the idea that
the title of film was to stand out
from the rest of the poster as it
was the only text in yellow
however I didn’t follow it through
as I thought that the release that
was also an important component
of a film poster as it informs
passers by of the release date of
the film.

5. TEXT USED IN POSTER
Nyala Regular Bold: was used for the release date, tag line and film
website. The font wasn’t of a usual choice for a drama film poster
however it was unique and I wanted to put my own spin on a typical
drama film. The font also had a certain eye catching edge to it. Another
reason why I chose this font is because it didn’t draw attention away
from the main title which is the most important component of a film
poster.
Steel Tongs: was a formatted billing
font. It was simple to use once
understanding the coding. It also
stands out but not enough to black
attention away from the title.
KG Tangled Up In You: a bold font that looked rough. I thought it’ll be great for
this poster as it wasn’t too bold and blocked for a drama film poster nut it was
just enough to stand out more than everything else when paired with the colour
choice of yellowish orange. The texture of the font also reinforced the nature of
the film’s title of being shady.

6. THE FILM REVIEW
For my film review I wanted to achieve a simple and
clean look that kind of followed the same simplicity
that was achieved in the film poster. It wasn’t easy
and many trials did take place however it was
eventually achieved to a standard that was good
enough to present. To keep with simplicity I opted to
used the basic but effective colour scheme of black
and blue. Blue usually triggers the brain to experience
emotions of relaxation hence why it’s used in so many
social networking sites. Therefore I took that idea on
board along with black as the colour black is standard
simple and easy to read.

7. I included a summary box within film
reviews to give the reader a quick
summary of the film’s plot. The box is
used within many film review articles.
Another thing I adhered to was the use
of a star rating system to state how good
the film was. Footer containing page
number, magazine issue, magazine
name and website follows the
conventions of a magazine.

8. FONTS USED FOR REVIEW
The text I used in the film review may have been a
different type face from the one I used in the poster
but it still follows the simplistic theme that I tried to
achieve in the poster. Like the poster the title of the
film was the largest text used in the review .
The font I used for Century Gothic Bold a Sans Serif
typeface. I chose to use the type face as Sans Serif
type fonts are used within magazines and articles.
For the articles main body, the typeface was different
from the rest as I wanted it to stand out but in a way
that was subtle way so I used a different font instead
of making it bold. Unlike the stand out quotes, which
I’d decided to make bold and blue in the steps of
following the conventions of film articles. Another
reason why I chose the font is because it was easy
to read which is an important factor for text within
article.

9. IMAGES USED WITHIN REVIEW
Lucy’s costume choice
contradicts the costume choice
for the poster as in the poster
she’s in a white shirt to portray
innocence. However in the film
review she is in a black top to
suggest that somewhere within
the film her innocence is taken.
Dark black clothing portrays darkness and
evil within an individual, so this choice for
Mr Wicks would hopefully convey him to
the readers as a dangerous and dodgy
character. Also the body language of the
character causes him to seems threatening
and controlling specifically towards Lucy.

10. IMAGES USED WITHIN REVIEW
In relation to the poster, the image used within the review portrays the film in a
darker light and instead of focusing on the female character instead focuses on
the male character. This then could suggest to readers and viewers that both
characters carry importance within the narrative of the film.

11. IMAGES USED WITHIN REVIEW
The image in the film review portrays the dynamics between the two
characters; how Mr Wicks is shown in a darker light literally as the image
had been edited around Mr Wicks to heighten shadows. Where in contrast
Lucy’s seen in a lighter view. The image is great in promoting the film and
unlike the poster it shows two characters but it gives an insight as to why
Lucy on the poster seemed sad.

12. PROMOTION THROUGH THE INTERNET
For my poster, even though when looking at actual examples it was common
to see the use of a Twitter or Facebook page for the film also being
promoted, I did not want to add it to my poster as I thought it took away from
it’s simplicity. Therefore I only added a website address.
For the film review I did not deem it to be appropriate to use social
networking promotions within the review as it would’ve come across as
unconventional and professional. I therefore stuck to what I had seen in
examples of real highly regarded film magazines such as “EMPIRE”
and just used yet another simple web address in the footer.

13. HOW DID MY POSTER AND FILM REVIEW
CONTRIBUTE TO MY FILM
Posters are used by production companies as a marketing strategy to
advertise their films to the masses. It does so by using imagery to
summarise the plot of the film. By doing this when people see the
poster and it is appealing they’re most likely to spread the news of the
film being released by word of mouth. Therefore when creating my
poster I kept this concept in mind and tried to use the best picture that
depicted all of what the movie was in one image.
On the other hand, film reviews are meant to give those who my be
interested in seeing the a film an analytical perspective of the film as it
gives them more of an insight to how well the film was executed. A
review is also used to help people decide whether the film is something
they’d enjoy watching it or not.
However both film reviews and posters are great marketing strategies.

15. CONCLUSION
To conclude I think that both my ancillary task work well together as they
complete each other. A one portrays the film in one way but the other presents
the film in a another light that finishes what the other was trying to complete.
Both follow the theme of simplicity, I do however believe that I could’ve done
better to link the two products together but I am pleased with the final
outcomes and think it’s great that they’re rather different.