How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary

texts?

Serum film posterThe first of my ancillary texts was a theatrical film poster for Serum. As an artist and ‘Photoshopper’ I enjoyed this task immensely. During the post-production of our stages when I could see how our film was coming together I already had a clear idea of my poster design. I worked on it and developed the concept until I was happy. The finished poster can be seen below.

Serum film posterHow was it linked to the film?My film poster was linked to my film by visually depicting the ‘medical’ side of Serum and focusing on portraying the sleek and modern style of the film as well as its tone and atmosphere.

What aspects of the film does it focus on?It focuses on the ‘serum’ storyline within the film. The syringe on the poster is the exact one used in the film by Dr. Anderson, and connotes the experimenting of the ‘serum’.

Serum film posterHow does it take the codes and conventions of the film into its design?

Images – The posters main and only image is that of Dr. Anderson’s syringe and helps connote the experimental testing of the ‘serum’ in the film.

Language – The poster is very formal and serious, expressing the nature of the experiment which Dr. Anderson performs and the dramatic implications that follow.

Fonts – Notice that the fonts on the poster are very simple, sleek and modern – this reflecting the style of the film and also mirroring the font used in Serum’s title sequence.

Colours – The light beige background connotes the ‘medically clean’ feel of a typical medical laboratory (think about the bright lights and clean white table tops.) The colour of the purple ‘serum’ inside the syringe hints at the danger of the experiment and foreshadows deafly events that unfold in the film.

Serum film posterHow does it convey the genre?Serum is an action short film with elements of a pre-apocalyptic nature. At first glance the poster I produced does not look as though it conveys those genres explicitly, and I agree. Strictly speaking due to the style of my poster, it is more dedicated to conveying the storyline rather than the genre.

My poster was very minimalist, thus elements that hinted at the films genre were subtle.

The syringe – This being the only image on the poster subtly connotes the pre-apocalyptic nature of Serum. The deadly purple liquid inside foreshadowing the apocalyptic events that the audience imagine happen after Dr. Andersons escape from Viktor who is left dead and the credits roll up. The angle that the syringe is placed on the poster, a sense of ‘movement’ is clear, enforcing that this is a film that has a fast pace.

Font – The sleek, modern and simple fonts used on the poster are typical ones you would usually find on most modern action or apocalyptic films.

Serum film posterWhat audience does it target?My poster targets the slightly older end of our films primary audience which we thought were males aged between 15-35. Due to the fact that my poster is very minimalist and offers a serious insight into our film, it may not attract younger audiences who would be more interested by a more visually active poster. Therefore in my opinion it is probably males between the age of 18-35 that my poster is targeting. The simple sleek font that reflects the dramatic and darker concepts in our film would appeal to more of a mature audience. Since Serum is a short film and that the poster takes a risk at being minimalist and unique, I would say that it would appeal largely to film aficionados who would be interested to see the ideas behind the concepts hinted at on my poster.

Of course there are elements of the film that would appeal to all audiences members that have seen my group’s previous film work.. My poster clearly indicates that Serum has been produced by the same people behind Rising Fear. The medical experiment, apocalyptic, and subtle sci-fi nature of the syringe may interest a certain psychographic who films that have similar key concepts.

Serum film posterIs it clear that the poster is specifically created for the film you produced?I definitely believe that my poster depicts some of the most important elements about my film. The style and design of my film poster resonates the tone, atmosphere and concepts in Serum. The distinctive iconography of the syringe on the poster clearly links to the films storyline. Also the minimalist style expresses the fact that Serum is a low budget short film produced by a small production company.

Did you audience feedback support this?The audience feedback I got about my poster largely supported the idea that the poster itself was effective in reflecting the film. A lot of the people who I showed my poster to were first of all shocked as to how professional it looked (that’s probably down to its simple yet effective nature). Secondly people tended to make the connections between my film and poster, being able to instantly recognize the syringe and ‘serum’ iconography.

When sketching out initial poster designs, I asked various people for feedback about my drawings, and it was clear that many found that my early poster design of the syringe would link well to my film. See this blog to read the audience feedback I collected about my initial poster designs - http://benpermuttmedia.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/poster-drafts-audience-feedback/.

How does it promote the film?My poster promotes Serum as a modern and sleek short film that contains a serious and dramatic storyline. It teases the concepts within the film and gets the audience interested in the plot by depicting what looks like a deadly syringe that foreshadows something bad happening in the film. My poster also helps the audience to identify where online they can watch my film, this making it more accessible and easy to find.

Serum film reviewThe second of my ancillary texts was a film review written in the style of a ‘Little White Lies’ article. As I love writing critical film reviews I enjoyed this task a lot – especially since I was reviewing my own film. Also this task appealed to my artistic side because we had to design and produce our reviews as if they were a page from the ‘Little White Lies’ magazine. The finished film review can be seen below.

Serum film reviewWas the magazine appropriate for your film?The ‘Little White Lies’ magazine was perfect for reviewing my short film due to the fact that it tries to cover a mix of both blockbuster and independent films, the latter of which Serum is. ‘Little White Lies’ reviews such a wide range of films – from foreign movies to low budget independent short films – that I believe my film fits into their list and would be a film that they would subtly try to promote and create hype about.

How does the review promote the film?The review promotes Serum in a fairly positive way, explaining the people behind the film as well as it’s genre and style. By talking about the director, actors and music talent behind the film, the review is able to interest the reader and make them want to see the film. Phrases such as ‘a sleek 5 minute movie’ and ‘a rollercoaster ride that leaves you wanting to get back’, emphasizes to the reader how good the film is and will get them excited about seeing it.

Serum film reviewWhat aspects of the film does it focus on?The film review focuses on a range of different aspects within Serum. The review first of all talks about the actors in the film and the kinds of roles they take on. The review then moves on to talking about the director behind the film and their previous work. Serum’s storyline is then discussed briefly, the review emphasizes the main points in the films narrative such as the ‘serum’, Dr. Anderson’s ‘amnesia’, and an ‘experiment backfiring’.

How far does your review reflect the real strengths and weaknesses of your film?I believe that the film review is a very honest and fair critical opinion of Serum. It discusses both it strengths and weaknesses and does not make bold statements that are over the top. The review picks out key strengths in the film such as its ‘beautifully ravishing cinematography’ and ‘pulsing soundtrack’, while stating that some of the weaknesses including ‘the cliché punching plot-twisting’ story and ‘overly complex’ narrative. These are of course just one set of opinions, I am sure that there are other strengths and weaknesses within Serum.

Conclusion I believe that the three products I created work together and support each other. My film poster captures some of the most important concepts of my film, especially the ‘medical’ side of the story and serious tone of the film. While the film review works well as it talks about the film on a mature level and helps to define some of its key strengths and weaknesses. The iconography of the ‘syringe’ that is shared between my film and poster (as well as this presentation – in case you had not noticed) worked well to create a distinguishing image which anyone would be able to connect to Serum.

The same minimalist concept that I used for the poster could be utilized for other elements of the marketing campaign which would help make the film even more distinguishable. (See below the Serum Facebook page and how it uses my posters concepts).

While my film and poster worked well to share their iconography, my review used the mature nature of my film and typical structure of a ‘Little White Lies’ article to make the itself reflective of my independent short film.