Evaluation: Part 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

When designing my poster I had to make sure that it linked with my trailer and my magazine cover, it is important that a similar theme and style is maintained throughout or otherwise they would look like completely different films. I knew in the real media environment I wouldn't be able to design a front cover simply to advertise my film, but I knew that carefully selecting images would really help show the audience the style of "The Possessed".

I was also careful to research horror posters and I was most influenced by the posters for "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield". They both advertised handheld horror films and used eye catching and unsettling images. I also liked the clever tagline of "Some Thing Has Found Us" (instead of "something") to connote the monster, and thought hard about my own tagline. In contrast, "Empire" magazine covers were less mysterious. They almost always features a strong image of a character from a film and I knew I'd need to use the same conventions in my ancillary products.

For my final poster, I used an image from the final part of the trailer in the basement. I used this because this is where Courtnay and I first approach Ford after looking everywhere for him, unaware that he has been possessed. This is a vital part of the trailer as it provides us with a narrative enigma, soon after we realise what has happened there is the jumpy part at the end of the trailer where Ford attacks us, so I think this section is an important moment in the trailer so this is why I chose to use it. Firstly I made sure that the image was in black and white as I used this throughout in the trailer when we recorded at night or in very dark places as a ‘night mode’ effect. However I did have a limited amount of light when recording, coming from a small head torch. Low-key lighting was used in order to enhance the creepiness of the trailer and this image. Next I added a grainy effect on top of the image in order to provide it with a rough, edgy look. The characters in the trailer are all teenagers so we wanted to give the trailer an amateur feel with the way that we recorded and the image quality. "The Possessed" title and tagline ("who is your mind?"), I decided to place on the wall as I think it adds a creepy effect to the already uneasy situation that myself and Courtnay are in whilst approaching Ford. I placed it on the wall above Ford’s head indicating that he is unsure of who is inside his mind. The font itself I got from Dafont.com but I added further edginess to it on Photoshop by roughly scribbling over the text using the pencil tool. My next aim was to try and make the text blend into the wall and make it look like it is on the wall itself. This proved a difficult task but I overcame it on Photoshop using stroke, gradient overlay and lessening the opacity. Finally I added a ghosting effect to Ford to make him look unnaturally human and also enhanced the level of shadow under his eyes. Overall I kept the same colour scheme with my poster and magazine cover using mainly just three colours; red, black and white. Red connotes blood and also stands out on black and white so is perfect to use in a horror film poster and magazine, and I also used black and white throughout as the film itself is mainly recorded in black and white so it was appropriate. The main text at the bottom of the poster is a simple font so is easy to read and I also added in the ‘CEJ productions’ logo which signifies that The Possessed was made by us.

With my magazine cover I used two different images but blended them together so they don’t look awkward. If I had tried to blend the two original images together without editing them at all it would look terrible so Photoshop was very helpful here. The image I used behind the Empire logo is an extreme long-shot of some trees in Fritton Woods where we recorded the trailer.

With the text itself I experimented with Photoshop and managed to produce an effect I was hoping to resemble rotten wood or a general rough look. This effect along with the image of the woods in the background connotes that the woods is rotten or evil and is generally a dangerous place to be. This links exactly to the mise-en-scene and atmpsphere of the trailer for "The Possessed". As for the main image, it is of Ford’s face when he had been possessed. The carvings in his skin I enhanced on Photoshop using the sharpen tool to make them look more realistic, and I also added shading to his eyes to create a gloomy dark aspect which is apparent in Ford’s new possessed personality. The image itself is an unsettling close-up (which reflects the poster for "The Blair Witch Project") and it seems to intrude on the audience's personal space and  hopefully send a chill down their spine. The fact that he has ‘help’ carved into the side of his head is also unsettling. It is a slightly high angle shot using low key lighting in order to create some shadow on his face, connoting his dark side. It breaks with conventions a little to have his eyes shut, but I hoped the audience would get an eerie feeling that he is going to open his eyes at any moment.

Once again I stuck to the same three colours I did with my poster, this links them together and the same theme cross-advertises "The Possessed". As for the text on the cover which reads ‘The Possessed - the handheld masterpiece,’ I think that this statement is important and would encourage my target audience as a large majority or horror fans tend to associate handheld horror with low budgets and as stealing ideas from "The Blair Witch Project". But this statement would encourage my target audience as "Empire" magazine is the world’s biggest movie magazine so for them to print positive feedback would encourage more positive word of mouth.

I feel I successfully made my ancillary products fit into the style of my trailer. I also think I conveyed my own personal "auteur" style, and this would be recognisable to the audience so that when they see the trailer, poster or magazine. Without even reading the title they would know that it was for "The Possessed", because the consistent use of washed out colours links to the trailer's black and white ‘night mode.’ All the images also market Elliot as a creepy "star", as is often the case with unsettling antagonists like Michaels Myers ("Halloween") and Freddie Kreuger ("Nightmare On Elm Street"). As part of a marketing strategy all of the products portray the handheld psychological horror conventions that would fill up a full film of "The Possessed" if we ever made it.