Ancillary Text Poster Ideas

Today I began planning for what I will do for my ancillary texts. I have chosen to do the poster and radio trailer for my film as I think they are most suited to the way I would market my film, if it was going to be released. Here is the brief:

10. A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

 – a poster for the film;

 – a radio trailer for the film;

 – a film magazine review page featuring the film

Based on this brief I have come up with a few ideas for the poster. My first idea for the poster is a cartoon style picture of the author looking shocked as she looks a the paper. This would be a good poster because it would be intriguing but it would also hint at the end of the film, giving away a big part of the plot which I don't want to reveal before the end of the film. This is because it would ruin the suspense and the shock when the audience finds out the plot twist as it would be easy for them to guess what was going to happen. A cartoon image also wouldn't entirely suit the style of the film as although in a drawn image would be easy to create a certain atmosphere, the film isn't cartoon and it may leave the audience believing it would be.

Another idea for the poster is to have a photo of the girl looking behind her as she runs away. This would work well because the audience wouldn't know what she is running away from and it therefore wouldn't give away any of the plot. It also wouldn't reveal anything because from the first time the audience sees the girl, they can tell something is wrong and after a few shots they can tell she is being followed. This would also intrigue the audience because they would want to know why she is running and looking scared. It would also be from the point of view of the stalker so gives a creepy atmosphere.

My final idea for the poster is to have the girl in the foreground with the stalker in the background, so you can just see them in the shadows. This would have a great effect because at first there would appear to be nothing wrong but then when you look closer at the poster you notice the creepy character in the background which would reveal the genre of the film. I am not sure yet whether this would be a realistic drawing or a photo as both would be difficult to create. The photo would be difficult because it would involve getting the perfect lighting and camera angles to create the effect of the figure being in the shadows. However, the drawing would also be difficult because it is time consuming to draw something detailed.

I have taken inspiration from posters for films like 'The Poltergeist' and 'Silence of the Lambs' as they show the genre of the film and a hint at what the film will be like without giving away any of the plot. They also make the audience want to watch the films and give off a very creepy, almost scary aura.

This activity really helped me to get inspiration for my poster and develop the ideas I already had.