Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the main combination of your media product and ancillary tasks?

I produced my ancillaries after my main product was almost entirely complete. However, when making my ancillaries I wanted the images used, to look like they fit with the short film. To achieve this I used the same characters and props, on the same set as what I had used to film it. In addition, I used the same lighting for my ancillaries as I had used for the filming, this to allow the images used in my ancillaries to appear as if they had been taken directly from the film.

I think I used the technologies I had available to me quite effectively to create my ancillaries. I predominantly used Photoshop to create my ancillaries, and although they were largely comprised of a photograph I had taken, Photoshop allowed me to add the necessary text and promotional images (e.g. Star ratings), as well as the overlaying title.

As previously mentioned, I created my ancillaries after almost having completely finished my short film, however to gain the necessary visual inspiration for my ancillaries, I returned to the location of filming and tried to recreate the same aesthetic as used in my short film.

I carried out a considerable amount of research when considering how I was going to design my ancillaries. I began by researching existing film posters and magazine articles and considered what aspects of them I liked and why I thought they were successful. After having done this, I selected a couple that were my particular favourites and that also contained aspects that I would like to attempt to recreate in mine, and then deconstructed them, analysing them in more depth to decipher what made them so effective and how I could replicate that effect.

Film Poster Inspiration:

- TinTin

- Avengers

- Fight Club

- The Proposition

- The Fight Club

Several of these posters, while I liked them, were of genres very different and unrelated to mine, meaning the style in which they had been made did not fit the style I was attempting to create. Thrillers, action and sci-fi films all have interesting posters, however they all use a bright and prominent colour palette and are extremely busy, with there being numerous objects and effects in the photo. I wanted my poster to be more simplistic to reflect the simplicity of the story and concept in my short film. 

Deconstructed Film Posters:

- Whiplash

- Fightclub

How did my ancillary tasks employ, or challenge codes and conventions of my media product:

- Simplistic

- Low Budget

- Only presents one character

- Possibly emotive (facial expression on the orange)

Consideration of artistic and photographic elements:

- Composition of the photograph (positioning of the orange)

- Lighting (Well lit, cool/cold, lonely lighting, similar to that used in the short film)

- Framing of the shot (used the table to underline the image and create a new section of it)

How was font used?

- Tried both black and white

- Tried both 2D and 3D text

- Tried numerous different fonts, chose to use something simplistic so it was not overbearing and fitted well with the simplistic theme and concept of my short film.