There is many different advertising techniques that film distributers will use to sell their product. However, it is very important that you get the correct form of distribution to the correct type of person depending on their age, gender, likes/dislikes etc.
For my film Jilted I felt that my target audience would be mature teens and therefore I felt that my ancillary texts work perfectly for my film due to my stereotypical fan/target audience would be the type of person to look at advertisements such as magazines. The magazine idea is ideal for my film distribution techqnique because a magazine is exactly the type of medium that teenagers regually come into contact with - this is the same for my horror posters. As a memeber of society we are all exposed to adverts and posters etc all the time and so both of these advertising forms work well with my film.
Below are two oringial examples of a horror poster and a horror magazine that are similiar to my own products:
Side-by-side magazine analysis: Key aspects.
Structure - As you can see the 'Total Film' magazine cover is structurally very similar to my 'Silver Screen' magazine cover. They are both fairly classy and convey conventions much closer to psychological horrors, compared to magazines such as 'Scream' that focus majorly on body gore and therefore take on a much more 'frantic' and packed structure. Both of these magazine covers above stick to the 'rule of thirds'. Both of the main images are situated in the middle third to emphasis its importance and highlights the main feature within the magazine itself. The top third included the title as well as a short 'tag line' for the magazine - "THE MIND-BLOWING ISSUE"/"THE WORLD'S MOST UPMARKET HORROR ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE". The top third of a magazine is usually what the consumer will see first due to how they are placed on selling stools and therefore its very important that the viewer will see the title first to help advertise the product. The bottom third for both magazine is filled with further information on our main image and again highlighting what the main feature of the magazine is.
Colour - Both magazines use dark, 'moody' colours which are conventional for horrors. Deep blues (used on 'Total Films' cover) share the same colour connotations as blacks (used in my version of a horror magazine). They both connote power and dominance as well as hinting towards a gloomy, mysterious atmosphere. They both also add to the 'classy-ness' of the cover due to the colours themselves not being too overwhelming, confident and messy. They also symbolise the idea that these magazine articles are focused mainly on 'psychological horrors' - INCEPTION/JILTED. If my horror film was known for its gore content I would of used colours like red and yellows to connote blood, pus and danger.
Cover Lines - The cover lines are strategically places around the outside of the magazine on both covers. This is to not draw too much attention from the main image/main article however they need to be advertised on the cover so that the consumer knows what they are buying and can look forward to reading ahead. Most 'important words' such as producers names, film titles and 'juicy' topics are bigger than other 'connecting' words to create emphasis on them and capture the viewers attention.
Side-by-side poster analysis: Key aspects.
Colour - As you can see from the example of another horror films poster and my version of a similar kind of film the colours on my poster are much brighter. I feel as though this is because my aim while making the film was to sell to a more mainstream, modern audience and so I felt that brighter colours would catch a 'younger' persons eye within our generation better than a more 'old-fashioned' type of horror fan. The colours on my poster also, also very similar to the example poster, add a sense of 'money' and a 'high quality feel' to it, whereas I feel as though due to the fact that the example poster is much duller it conveys the idea that its more 'inexpert' and 'unprofessional'.
Structure - The structure of our horror film posters are extremely alike. We have both placed our title - TAROT/JILTED - within the bottom third of the poster and situation our key elements of our main image - the tarot cards - in the middle third highlighting its importance and simplicity. We have also similarly placed our actors names just slightly about the title to advertise their presence and attract audience members that are a fan of the actors/actresses previous work. The only major difference between our two pieces is that I have placed a tag line in the top third of my film poster to add dramatic effect. The idea behind a tag line is to create an intense phrase that will strengthen the audience's memory of the product and also to slightly sum up the narrative or tone within the film itself and therefore I felt it was highly important to include one to capture and hold the audience's attention and make them want to see my film.
Side-by-side poster analysis: Key aspects.
Colour - As you can see from the example of another horror films poster and my version of a similar kind of film the colours on my poster are much brighter. I feel as though this is because my aim while making the film was to sell to a more mainstream, modern audience and so I felt that brighter colours would catch a 'younger' persons eye within our generation better than a more 'old-fashioned' type of horror fan. The colours on my poster also, also very similar to the example poster, add a sense of 'money' and a 'high quality feel' to it, whereas I feel as though due to the fact that the example poster is much duller it conveys the idea that its more 'inexpert' and 'unprofessional'.
Structure - The structure of our horror film posters are extremely alike. We have both placed our title - TAROT/JILTED - within the bottom third of the poster and situation our key elements of our main image - the tarot cards - in the middle third highlighting its importance and simplicity. We have also similarly placed our actors names just slightly about the title to advertise their presence and attract audience members that are a fan of the actors/actresses previous work. The only major difference between our two pieces is that I have placed a tag line in the top third of my film poster to add dramatic effect. The idea behind a tag line is to create an intense phrase that will strengthen the audience's memory of the product and also to slightly sum up the narrative or tone within the film itself and therefore I felt it was highly important to include one to capture and hold the audience's attention and make them want to see my film.
Horror poster Horror magazine Trailer Still
As you can see both my horror magazine and horror poster have been
heavily influenced by my actual trailer. The use of the tarot cards I felt
added a sense of mystery as the whole illusion behind tarot cards is creepy and
although unrealistic, its highly believable. The eyes from the Silver
Screen magazine although are not directly linked to either of the
other images/products they connote a deeper meaning. The idea behind tarot
cards and a 'fortune teller' is that he/she can see into your future. The use
of the eyes on my magazine cover connotes this idea and subtly symbolises that
we are always being watched and that someone always knows what we have been up
to but in a classier, much more psychological, creepy way.
Also, as you can see each image is focused on one simple thing or
person. This is because I wanted a sense of isolation and loneliness to be a subtle
but reoccurring theme. The genre horror itself is about digging into our fears
and one of them is of course abandonment and/or the sense of being isolated and
therefore portraying it on each of my products I felt was important to attract
the right type of audience member.
The genre itself is known to draw in those that do not 'fit in' with the
natural cultural dominant ideology (CDI) and so I needed my form of advertisement
to link to this well-known fact. In Dawn of the Dead (2004) the
main protagonist of the film, who acted as a hero, was a black male which
almost challenges the usual CDI. With this in mind, I placed Seraphina - a 'non-white',
'non-black' actress as the main image of my horror poster even though it
probably made more sense to have Samuel Lee - the main protagonist of my film
trailer - as the main image but I wanted to challenge the usual convention of a
normal magazine and isolate it to a pure horror magazine.
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