HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF

YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY

TEXTS?
Our three products (trailer, poster and film magazine) work as an
effective media package, carrying the same reoccurring images, style
and characters throughout them to advertise our film RUSHES.

We created a unified marketing image through our work following the

codes and conventions of the horror genre, making it the most effective
film we could have created. We focused in a lot on older, classic
horrors films, and form this we knew what to change in order to make
our work a modern take on the genre. It had to be made more
contemporary in order to suit our target audience of 15-25 years old,
teens and young adults.

Our young, two female protagonists and the school setting were less
conventional to the horror genre, as they were in a location where
children are meant to be protected, leaving the effect to be greater as
they are portrayed as even more vulnerable than normal.

We also chose to adapt the horror genre, focusing in on the sub genre
found footage. Therefore we incorporated shots where it looked like
our protagonists were filming themselves on their ghost hunt, and
some shots where the camera was hand held to highlight our
documentary styled film. It focused in on the characters as a marketing
tool and differentiates itself from mainstream horror films.

COLOUR SCHEMES:
Within the narratives of the trailer and parts within our film poster, we
incorporate the theme of forestry, dark and binary shots, with a low
saturation colour scheme to conform to the typical ideas of the horror
genre the unknown, tension and suspense about what lurks in the
dark, and the idea of being able to get lost in a large space. The
darkness creates a continuous idea of vulnerability and evil being onto
our protagonists.
 In the magazine Connie
Nash playing Morgan has
lights beaming on her face
when the shot was taken
in order to create the
contrasting idea of light
vs. dark, suggesting within
our trailer there will be a
good vs. evil storyline.

LIGHTING:
We combined our media products through lighting, by taking our shots
and making them darker, and less saturated, in all elements of our
media package. It made our package look more dramatic and
threatening, as the images connote danger, and the shots with the
protagonists in them (the film magazine) there is a sense of
vulnerability here. Using Final Cut Express and Photoshops toolbars,
we were able to lower the saturation of our shots, putting blue
undertones into them, again highlighting the cold effect of our horror
film, a key convention to the genre.
Some of our shots, including our CCTV footage and some man-made
camera glitches we put into black and white, monochrome shots. The
connotation with camera faults links in with the idea of old, and ancient
times. The CCTV shots had a foreboding effect as it was as though the
girls were always being watched.
Our media package has a continuous horror theme running throughout
it. However, the magazine shows the actress Connie Nash playing
Morgan, therefore isnt as continuous, however this is due to most
FILMMAKER film magazines not focusing in on the characterisations of
the actors, but them as a person.
 TEXT AND TYPOGRAPHY:
We managed to
incorporate a
cohesive image
across all three
products, through
text and
typography.
Firstly, we used a
similar font to the
FILMMAKER title,
ensuring that it
was recognisable.
Within our trailer and the film
poster, we used the same font
for the title of our film RUSHES
in the font Face Your Fears to
enable continuity and a
recognisable element for our film. For the film poster we used a deep
red colour for the RUSHES text, however white on the trailer, as this is
what is conventional of trailers. We accessed our font through the
website dafont.com, which enabled up to look at many horror font
styles, and download them. It is conventional of the horror genre to
have bold, exaggerated fonts in the bold colours, for example the
classic film SCREAM titling. The movement of titling of typography of
classic horror films are more stylised, therefore we used more of an old
styled, comic like font in order to appeal to our young target audience.
In our magazine we didnt need to stick as strongly to the horror theme,
therefore we channelled more of a minimalistic style, using a serif font,
which is curly, linking again to the classic horror theme of being old. It
was also conventional to modern horrors due to its simplistic, less
cartoon style. The font we used was Trajan Pro with wider tracking,
again adding a contemporary edge to it, as well as being a
conventional magazine font.
MAIN MARKETING IMAGE:
A main marketing image is used to
combine our products into a unifying film
package to promote RUSHES. They
include the prominence of key characters,
especially Connie Nash playing Morgan
who is our main image on our film
magazine. The atmosphere of vulnerability
for our protagonist is captured in each
package. Connie is used in both our Trailer
and our magazine. We chose to use her
instead of Siobhan Smith who plays Lola
as the main image, due to her being the
headstrong and vulnerable character, as
her intrigue and enthusiasm for the ghost hunt meant she was open to
danger. In the magazine image, she is seen to look drained, and have
dark eye make-up, drawing attention to them. Her pale skin contrasted
to the slightly blue toned background, and the lighting making her
stand out, highlighting her significance and vulnerability.
Our film poster however, did not include any characters. Instead we
focused in on the rural space around our school grounds, linking to the
conventional idea of isolation and not having an escape form danger.
The focus on characters rather than narrative is unconventional for a
horror film. We made all the effects through the setting.