How Effective Is The Combination Of My Main Product And Ancillary Texts?

Poster for the film 'The Possession'
which had a successful advertising
campaign and made $17,732,480 in
the USA on it's opening weekend.

In the lead up to a film being released, the producers have to make sure that the target audience are aware that it exists otherwise they won't go see it in cinemas. The major part of this is advertising, as through the use of trailers, posters, and magazine interviews/mentions, it gets the word out about the film and makes the audience anticipate its release. Not only does the media product itself have to be worthy to gain success, but the advertising is just as crucial to the overall profit and reception. A good example of this is the advertising leading up to the release of the film "The Possession" (2012). It not only released the trailer, it was advertised through internet banners, posters, and in magazines. The repeated image, of a hand crawling up her throat and over her face which is seen both the poster and trailer uses a killer shot and recognisable image to surprise and shock the audience into wanting to see more.



Not only do you have to advertise through as many media platforms as possible, you also have to make sure your adverts are easily identifiable and that there is continuity running through all of the media products. This creates an image for audience members to remember the film by and adds professionalism to your advertising campaign. Often, if you change the house style, you will be subverting the stereotypical aesthetics of Horror: this isn't very effective when it comes to advertising because it may confuse the audience as to the genre of the film. Ways that I made sure to keep continuity through all my media products was to stick to the same main colours (Black, white and red, which are not only bold colours stand out and attract attention, but they also connote darkness and bloodshed which represents the typical codes and conventions of Horror films.), use the same font to write 'DIABOLUS' on both the magazine cover and poster, and to use images that were shot in the locations we filmed in, with the same make-up and actors.

The need to create an image for the audience to remember is crucial in how well the film does. By creating something iconic that will stick in their minds, they are more likely to be enthusiastic about seeing the film when it is released. It also makes sure the Unique Selling Point is reinforced and understood by the audience which means people feel they will miss out on something exclusive and unseen before if they don't see it in the cinema. This is especially relevant in current times when internet piracy is more and more common, film makers and advertisers have to lure the teenage audience into the screenings with promises of something new and individual or they will just watch it online at a later date for free. I think the three media products (trailer, poster and magazine cover) offer something new for audiences as not often are they presented with a female antagonist. Also, it plays on natural fears people have of losing control of their own body and being punished essentially when they haven't even done anything wrong, which is reinforced through the idea of Chris being a completely average teenager before this point. In recent times, gore-nography has taken over horror films, which although gross and horrific to watch, doesn't necessarily scare the audiences in the same way something satanic or paranormal would.

Overall, I think the combination of my main product and ancillary texts was successful as they look like the belong to the same advertising campaign and reinforces it's unique selling point of an antagonist who is female and doesn't adhere to gender roles generally applied in movies. I think this is aided by the use of the same picture on the poster and magazine cover although edited differently. Somewhere that I think the combination of products is lacking is that the title at the end of the trailer is not in the same font as on the posters and it doesn't include the tagline "the supreme spirit of evil" which is featured on the poster. This could have helped tie the trailer more closely with the ancillary texts I feel. I also asked a couple of my peers and they agreed that there is continuity and for the most part, they look as if they belong together.