“How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary

texts?”

• With most films that are coming out in the cinema often have a poster and magazine cover to accompany the trailer, these texts relate to the trailer or film by following the same colour scheme, using the same actors and including the same titles. These texts help to increase the audience’s interest for the film; often the actors in the films will generate interest by going on talk shows and other forms to media to create a “buzz” around the film and increase publicity. We used our poster and magazine to link back to our film through using similar colour schemes, mise en scene, and using the main characters as the focal points of each piece.

• For our ancillary texts we wanted to very much keep the theme of the genre of the period drama, to do this we focused heavily on the mise en scene, and tried to make the poster and magazine front cover link back to the main product.

• Throughout all of the texts we used the same location and costumes, in order to make each product link to one another smoothly and to create a sense of continuity and a more professional feel.

• I will be referencing and comparing “The Hunger Games” ancillary texts to ours (“An Honourable Affair”) , in order to show how we made our texts look as professional as a real film and its supplementary texts.

The red yellow and black colour scheme is followed through in all of the texts, keeping the continuity.

The “Hunger Games” logo is used throughout all of the texts, establishing the brand and name of the film.

The main character is on the forefront of the poster, showing that this character is the most important; the main character is also used on the magazine front cover, continuing the theme.

The use of a billing block includes the films name, and the actor’s names.

The title “The Hunger Games” is in a large font across the front of the poster, establishing that it is the title.

Example Poster:

We used a similar location to one of the shots in the trailer (screen capped below), the fountain flowers and garden to create a clear link between the trailer and the poster, and focusing on the mise en scene.

We included a billing block in order to make our poster look more professional, as this is a technique used by all film posters.

For the background we used the same dialogue that was used at the film in the beginning eg “Dear Charlotte…” – this is a direct link to the film, and brings both products together. The font used for this background is also the same that we used for the titling (pictured left), creating a subtle link between the two once again.

As mentioned before we focused heavily on the mise en scene, we used the same costumes used in the film, so it links back more obviously to the film.

We used this tagline as we felt it conveyed that there is a sense of conflicting emotions and relationships in the film, which relates to our trailer.

We used the title “An Honourable Affair” and put it at the top of the poster so it is clear to the audience that it is the title of the poster and draws their eye towards it, also linking back to the trailer as the title appears at the end of the trailer, therefore creating a connection between the two.

We used the two main characters on the poster as this too was a direct link to the film and helps the audience identify the two main protagonists. We had them sitting like this in this photo as it conveyed to the audience that they were a couple and that the film was about romance and love, which is what the trailer also connotes.

Our Poster:

The name of the film is in a large font across the front cover, linking the poster and the magazine cover.

The same red yellow and orange colour scheme is used. Keeping the same theme of fire and destruction etc, creating synergy between the poster and the front cover.

The same main character is used on both the front cover and the magazine, keeping the continuity and establishing who the main character is.

It is obvious from the cover lines such as “Death! Destruction! Dystopia!” that the magazine is about science fiction films therefore linking with the genre of the film. There are also references to other science fiction films that further suggests the genre of the magazine, we also did this with our magazine through the use of cover lines referencing other period drama films.

The same “Hunger Games” logo is also in the background, showing how both the poster and magazine front cover are linked; it also establishes the films brand.

Example magazine front cover:

We used the same main character in this text as well as the poster in the same way that “The Hunger Games” has done, as it links well to the trailer and the poster, , we also felt this picture looked professional and created a dramatic impact.

We included the title of our film, “An Honourable Affair” in one of the cover lines as this links directly to the film. The use of the tagline creates interest around the film, the words” “exclusive” “featuring” and “interview” would make the reader of the magazine want to know more about the film.

We used the name of the character as the main and largest cover line, showing that the word “introducing” suggests that this is a new character from a new film, and generates interest from the audience.

We made it clear that the magazine was about period drama with cover lines such as “best period drama films ever made”.

We focused on the mise en scene heavily once again as it would make all the products look authentic and work together coherently. We did this by using the same background location of the courtyard and balcony that was used in one of the shots links directly to the trailer (which is screen capped below), therefore the audience can identify the setting from the trailer and create an association with the film.

Our Magazine Front Cover:

• Overall I think our ancillary text works well in combination with the trailer as there are many references back to the trailer, and many clear links between the two.

• The ancillary texts provide extra information about the trailer and create more interest around our film, we believe that the audience will be able to make clear links and connections between the three products well as it is clear that they work in synergy with the use of the same actors, same locations and costumes and the same titles.