Evaluation: Question two - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

SHORT FILM

POSTCARD

Regarding my ancillary task of creating a postcard as a marketing strategy for the media product I had created I began by creating 5 designs (viewable in post 16); I then followed through with all 5 of my designs and took the needed photos for them as well as editing them before deciding of my final design due to the fact that I wanted to follow the conventions of real media products and have an image promoting the film on the front of my postcard. 4/5 of my postcard designs are relatively easily connected to my short film however the remaining one was not as simple but was based around themes within the film such as entrapment and the idea of children having to grow up too fast in today's society - I then proceeded to make any necessary changes to my final design. Through my final design I wanted to convey to the viewer the main theme of my short film as well as create a sense of intrigue as to what the films central storyline was.

Within my final design I have broken several conventions of real media products - in taking a minimalist approach to the design of my postcard the shaping of my postcard differs from that of a usual postcard, it doesn't employ the title on the front and employs only the necessary image on the back - I don't personally view the convention breaks I have made as negative due to the fact that they were done intentionally, I did this to give my products an original style as I believe that this increases the effectiveness of my postcard due to the fact that in breaking conventions I have made my postcard memorable and different from other postcard, therefore making my postcard stand out from the rest therefore making it memorable and an effective marketing strategy for my short film 'Bruises'.

However, I believe that I have also stuck to the necessary conventions to make my postcard as effective as possible - One convention I used was to list contact information for the short film on the back of the postcard, this allows audiences to pose questions to us about the film as well as more importantly give people who work within the market who may wish to sponsor the film or our production company as a whole to contact us - within this information I included an email address specific to the short film, the production company's website, the cast and crew names as well as our production company logo and whom the postcard was designed by.

Another way in which my postcard is effective is in creating the reaction I aimed to get from the viewer - in giving my postcard a minimalist approach I have not given too much about my film away, after looking at the front image the viewer's initial reaction was to turn over - this then led to a link between the title and the front image thus leading to an element of intrigue as to what the film is about, therefore hopefully making the viewer want to watch the film. As well as the front of my postcard being effective the back is also just as effective - in developing a convention and not supplying the viewer with a synopsis of the film on the back of the postcard I have carried on with the intrigue I wanted to stir within the viewer by yet again not giving too much away.

I chose to present how my postcard was effective in two ways the first being through annotated versions of both the front and back of my postcard, highlighting the conventions I used and broke and how this effected the effectiveness of my postcard.

The second approach I took was to get audience feedback on the effectiveness of the combination of my main product and ancillary texts - I did this with the use of a voice recorder, the first person I asked was a student at school, I chose this student due to the fact that I know that they have an interest in short films as well as doing a photography and an English A-level, I believe that this gave her the correct skills to analyse my postcard in detail - therefore giving me a high quality feedback: Within the feedback this individual gave on my finalised postcard design there were several positives mentioned - these included the fact that both the front and back design fitted and broke some conventions of real media products in a positive and effective way, they also commented on the effect the minimalist design has - the lack of hints at what the film is about makes the viewer want to read it. The negatives included the fact that the bruises on the girl's face on the front of my postcard could potentially need to be clearer as it was not noticed the first time she looked at the front. This individual stated that as a whole my postcard was generally effective in what I aimed to achieve with it as well as a marketing strategy for my short film 'Bruises'.

The second individual I received audience feedback from was a teacher whom works closely with all of the sixth forms students and whom I trusted for an honest opinion; similarly to my previous set of feedback there were both positives and negatives in the feedback she gave. As previously mentioned the lack of clarity of the bruising on the face of the girl in the central image of the front of the postcard was highlighted as a negative, another negative was that there was a lack of information listed on the postcard. The positives remained the same as previously mentioned - a sense of intrigue was created by the image positioned on the front as well as the unique shape of the postcard being a positive and effective development of the conventions of a postcard. Below are the audio clips gathered from both of the above audience feed backs.

Jenna postcard feedback 1 by MrsShipp100

Jenna postcard feedback 2 by MrsShipp100

FILM REVIEW

Within my film review I wanted to provide the reader with a detailed understanding of several elements of the film - the plot, the camera work as well as my ideas and messages I wanted to portray through the film as the director. I spoke about myself as the director, Rachael as the camera crew, the cast involved within the film, the lighting, the soundtrack as well as several other elements of the film including some of the equiptment used, I included a balanced amount of positives and negatives about the film within the review - this was effective due to the fact that after research into articles within 'Empire' magazine all of the reviews had a mixture of positive and negative comments and were not one sided or biased in the slightest. The reviews I read also spoke about a range of elements of the films, as I have done. Successfully basing my magazine around an 'Empire' article leads the the effectiveness of this ancillary text in combination with my main product being high.

Whilst considering the effectiveness of my film review I chose the follow the same strategy as I followed to establish the effectiveness of my postcard: I presented an annotated image of my film review highlighting the effectiveness of it as well as audience feedback, but this time in video form. Whilst creating gathering this feedback I also decided to ask the participants what they thought of the effectiveness of both of my ancillary texts together in conjunction with my real media product - I did this by showing the individuals my final main product and then asking them. Below is the audience feedback I recieved on the effectiveness of my main product in combination with my film review.

Generally as a whole I would say that with reference to all feedback gathered as well as personal opinion that both of my ancillary tasks in conjunction with my short film itself are an effective combination in creating the correct 'buzz' for my film as well as creating the correct style and representation of the style of the film itself.