Evaluation: how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

After filming my short psychological horror, I then started to set out on making the ancillary products that would go along-side the film. I decided to create a film poster and a double page spread from a film review magazine. It was very important that my film was presented in these three media forms as it ensured that the target audience could be informed about the film on all media platforms. The ancillary products are featured below:
 

 
 
However, before creating my poster and double page spread, I completed quite a lot of research into existing horror films and their promotion campaigns to see what conventions they include across all three products to make their films successful, in terms of it reaching the target audience and achieving a sense of 360-degree branding. For me, I felt that it was extremely important that my three products - film, poster and DPS - followed the conventions of these films so that they could come together holistically, thus creating a distinctive brand identity that is visible to the target audience at all times.
 
I wanted to make sure that there was a clear connection between the film and my ancillary texts, so I decided to incorporate elements of Roland Barthes' 5 Narrative codes throughout the three products. The hermeneutic code or enigma code refers to an element of a narrative that is not fully explained and becomes a mystery to the audience. Enigmas are questions that the audience usually have, and sometimes they are answered near the end of the film. Questions that my target audience may have about Matryoshka would be "Who is Matryoshka?", "What does Matryoshka mean?", "What significance does a Russian doll have to this film?", "Who are the people in the film?" These questions allow the audience to become more interested and intrigued about the film as they want to know the answers to these questions, and the need to know these answers will encourage them to watch the film.
 
Enigma is presented in my short film through mise-en-scene, sound, camerawork, and editing. Firstly, through mise-en-scene, enigma is created by the fact that each of the characters in the film are wearing the same red t-shirt. The audience may be puzzled by this as characters in film usually have their own individual costume. Also, through editing, my group inserted some clips of a fire, and we presented them to the audience through Grey experiencing flashbacks in the bathroom. This creates mystery and intrigue as the audience are most likely wondering what relevance the fire has in the film, whether or not Grey started it, and if anyone died because of it. Initially, we did have a chunk of dialogue that answered these questions, but we removed it as we felt that it did not have a positive effect on the film's continuity. We thought it was best that some questions were left unanswered. The sound of the non-diegetic whispering voices, while Grey is experiencing flashbacks, is a clue to the audience that someone may have been hurt, and that Grey is haunted and tormented by the fact that he hurt someone in the fire.
 
Enigma is presented in my poster and double page spread in many different ways. For instance, enigma is presented in my film poster through its minimalistic style -  how it is simple and bare, giving nothing away to the audience. I decided not to include a tagline on my poster as its explanatory nature often reveals something about a film's plot and story. The poster is the first advertising product that the audience will see, therefore I felt it was crucial that nothing about the plot and story were revealed to the audience as it is important that intrigue is created at this point to ensure the intended effectiveness of the film. This is why the colour red is so important. Not only in the poster, but across all three products. The colour will ensure that the audience's intrigue and interest of the film is retained, because it is so eye-catching. It would be a completely different case if I had used the colour brown - attention would most likely not be retained because it is such a neutral colour. On the other hand, I emphasised enigma in the double page spread by trying my best to avoid spoilers about the film.
 
As I mentioned above, the same colour scheme is used throughout the three products to create an identity for the film. What use is it to have a different colour scheme in each product if you wish to link and brand them together? Red is the predominant colour used in all products as it is bold and therefore attracts attention from the audience. It is also used as it specifically connotes the horror genre because of its association with warning, danger, and blood. Additionally, I thought it would be effective to employ the colour red across all three products as studies have shown that the colour red can elicit physical reactions such as an elevated blood pressure and increased enthusiasm which could make the reader much more excited to view the film. Therefore, by having this 'red' combination, the purpose of all products is executed finely in that they are there to advertise the film and attract an audience.
 
It was very important that the same typography was used throughout the three products. However, the font that was used in my short film is different to the one used in my poster and double page spread (Abril Fatface on Canva) - this is because Final Cut Pro didn't have the greatest font selection, so it did not have Abril Fatface, the font I used for my ancillary tasks:




Poster
 



Double Page Spread
I would have liked to use the same font throughout as it is a common characteristic that we see throughout the film industry today. For example, film companies will use the same font when they are creating synergy - merchandise - such as clothing, toys and DVDs. The font will be unique to the film and recognition will consequently be created when synergised products are seen in other places. Like the fonts below, for instance:








However, I realise that I am only an amateur film-maker and cannot follow all of the conventions to Hollywood film due to a small budget, and having two different fonts that would affect the overall effectiveness of my film was a risk I decided to take.
 
Inspiration for my main product and ancillary tasks has come from elements of previous horror films. It's very hard not to incorporate these elements as everything already seems to be thought of in horror - there is no originality, only intertextuality and the blending of tropes that we see in influential horror films such as Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, and The Exorcist, Carrie, The Blair Witch Project and Evil Dead. For instance, when I was planning for my film, I took elements from Psycho, and its prequel Bates Motel, and incorporated them into my own horror film. Similarly, when I was planning and creating my poster for Matryoshka, I used The Babadook as a stimulus:









 
All in all, the combination of my main product and ancillary tasks is effective. I have considered how each product would be released to an audience at different times, with the poster generally being released first, followed by the film, and then the film review. This is a necessary sequence to the success of a film. However, for the target audience, they may read the film review before watching the film, so it is very important that the double page spread is effective in terms of it not giving away any spoilers. Overall, the combination of the three products work well together and complement each other as a promotional package.