1. EVALUATION QUESTION
2: HOW EFFECTIVE IS
THE COMBINATION OF
YOUR MAIN PRODUCT
AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?
Sharna Mandil

2. The brief of our assignment
 The main objective for our coursework was to
create a 5 minute long film.
 After this was completed, we then had an
ancillary task to complete which consisted of
creating a film review and a film poster to
promote our film.

3. What was the objective of our
ancillary task?
 The main goal of our ancillary task was to promote our
film using both visual and text platforms, in the forms of
a film review and a film poster.
 I tried to ensure that my target audience would want to
watch my film based on both the review and poster.
 My main goal was to present the final film in a high
standard by using creativity through the use of
Photoshop, to promote my film so my target audience
would want to watch it just based on what they had seen
through my poster and review.

4. How did my poster meet the
romantic-comedy genre? The tag line on the poster also
gives away to the audience that
the films central theme is
centred around time, as the tag
line has the word ‘race’, and
I also chose to use a divide the female lead’s body
between the two language (her pointing to her
characters, which shows that watch) also connotes to the
the two main protagonists have audience that the films
narrative focuses around time.
some sort of relationship divide I decided to use bright red
between them which needs to within my poster in a number
be fixed, which is a common of different elements, with the
theme within the rom-com font being red and also the
genre. main female characters dress
being bright.
The characters body language is
also a give away of the genre. Red connotes love and
Bobby’s expression and body romance within many film
language is that of a frustrated posters, and I found that
one, whereas Zara’s body during my research many
language connotes to the romantic-comedy film posters
audience that she is waiting for used red somewhere in their
something, which is why Bobby poster. For example, the film
has such a frustrated look on his poster ‘She’s Out Of My
face. Time is a also a common League’, the main female
theme used throughout the rom- protagonist’s dress is bright
red, which indicates to the
com genre, with films such as
viewer that the film entails love
‘How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days’.
and romance, which is why I
opted to use red within my own
ancillary task.

5. How did my poster meet the
romantic-comedy genre?
The title’s font is [insert font here],
which is a plain and clear font The main title is a mixture of
which is easy to see and read. I both standard text, and bold
decided to use this font, as I text, to highlight who the films
previously mentioned the text main protagonist is. BOBBY
comes out clear to read, which is in bold, which gives away
links to the plot of our film which is to the audience who the main
clear and easy to follow which is character is. I decided to do
why I decided to use this font. this because, I wanted to let
The clothing of both characters, also the audience know who the
conforms to the conventions of a main character was, but at
typical rom-com film. The male is the same time not give too
wearing a suit, which is typical much away as there are two
within rom-com films such as characters on the poster,
‘Friends With Benefits’, where the which creates an enigma to
male lead on the poster is wearing a the audience as they are left
suit. The females clothing also wondering who the female is
connotes to the audience that my and why has she been
film is a rom-com as the female placed on the poster. It
leads within many rom-com creates questions such as,
films, are presented as attractive what role does she play in
and sexy, and wear clothing to theI film?
also put the BBFC
connote this, which is why we certification onto the poster
decided to put Simren in a bright as this is a convention of
red dress to conform to the typical film posters.
convention of a romantic comedy

6. Font choices for my poster
The other font I used within my poster
was called [insert font here]. I decided to
use this font as it is to the point, clear and
easy to read, which is like the plot of this
film, as it is easy to follow and
understand. The font is also BOLD in
some areas of the poster, this was to
signify to the audience who the main
characters were and also to highlight the
key information on the poster, such as the
release date, main protagonist, and also
the tag line.
For my credits on my film poster I
decided to use the font called,
‘Universal Accreditation’ as this
is a convention of any film poster

7. Font choices for my review
I used a font which was clean and simple, so
that it was easy for the audience to read. The
font was also similar to what we used in our
credits.
I decided to opt for a font similar to what I
used in my film poster ([insert font here]),
as the font on my film poster was clear
and simple. I decided to use the font
([insert font here]), as I believed it would
be effective to use on my film review. I
stuck to a white colour to add to
continuity.

8. Images used within my film
review
I decided to not use a shot from my final film by print
screening, as I thought the quality wouldn’t look as good in
comparison with a still image shot taken on a digital
camera. I decided to use a 2 person shot with both
protagonists, as I thought this would be more effective as
opposed to using an image with just one protagonist in as
when researching into film reviews, many rom-com film
reviews main image was a picture of both protagonists
involving some sort of character positioning revealing who
was the more dominant character in comparison to the
other. The image I used reveals to the audience that
Bobby is the main character, as he is looking directly into
the camera and engaging with the audience through his
facial expression. Zara is looking away from the camera
and looks slightly uninterested into Bobby’s attempts to
woo her, as she is looking away. Her facial expressions
also reveal that she is slightly awkward while Bobby gives
her attention and affection, as he has her hand held close
The clothing the characters are wearing, to his heart (connoting love to the audience), and looks
very keen and excited through facial expressions and body
gave me the basis of what colours to use
language, as he is embracing her hands with both of his
for the colour scheme of my film review,
hands not just one, connoting he is very attracted to her
which is why I opted for red, white and
which is a convention of rom-com films, as the female lead
black for continuity, making it look that usually is very attractive and all other males are in some
little bit more professional. way attracted to her. I think the image was effective in not
giving too much away to the audience, but at the same
time giving enough information needed to guess the genre

9. Images used within film poster
I wanted the male to have a flower in his
mouth to indicate the humorous element of the
film. The flower indicates romance, however,
the fact it is placed in his mouth adds a
I decided to use images of humorous element to it,. The concept of time is
both leads within my film illustrated through the use of
poster, as I believed using Zara’s body language as
both protagonists on my she is pointing at her
poster would indicate the watch, which indicates to
genre of the film through the the audience what the
characters body central theme of the film is
language, facial expression (time).
and the colour of their
clothing. When taking photos for
my poster and review, I
I decided to use a full body shot decided I wanted both
of each character, as through leads to be dressed in a
doing my research many rom- particular way. I wanted
com posters used full body the female to be dressed
shots to show the characters in a dress which is a
body language. In my poster as
convention of a rom-com
the female lead is pointing to
film, as the female lead is
her watch, and Bobby’s body
usually very attractive
language indicates he is
and in the film poster she
frustrated, which creates
enigmas as to why is he is dressed ‘sexy’ and
frustrated, is he late for a date made to look extremely
with the female lead? attractive.

10. How did my film review explore the
final product?
I decided to keep the layout of my film review as simple and
straight forward as possible, to ensure that the review would be
effective and easy to follow. I opted for a red, white, and black
colour scheme for my poster, which is a convention of a rom-
com, as the red’s connote love and romance. The tag line for
the review gives away to the audience that the protagonist
Bobby is unlucky in some sort of way however, we don’t know
how this is which is why I decided to use this tag line as it gives
away some information without giving the whole plot away to
the reader, which would persuade them more to watch it as
they wasn’t to find out why Bobby is ‘the most unluckiest
guy, ever’.
The poster emphasises twice that the film is short, with the
ending statement being ‘and at only 5 minutes long, who
wouldn’t give it a watch?’, and also the verdict part of the review
also again emphasises that the film is short with the statement
‘a short, but incredibly sweet film’. Emphasising twice the length
of the film was something I really wanted to incorporate within
my poster, as it would make the audience want to watch it even
more as it is only short, but also at the same time very
enjoyable, which is why it was awarded 5 stars.
Another convention of a film review I also decided to follow was
the large bold font, in the middle of the review highlighting the
best parts of the film ‘this comical film is an instant classic’. I got

11. Colour scheme
Throughout both ancillary tasks, I
decided to use the colours red,
white and black.
The important text on my film review
and poster was in white and red, so
that it stood out and was clear and so
the audience could quickly scan the
poster and review, and see the most
important pieces of information rather
than reading the whole review, or
looking at the whole poster. I stuck to
white for both titles on the film review
and poster to add to continuity.
Red is a colour typically used
within the romantic genre, as red
On the film review I wanted to use white
connotes love and romance, so as
as my central background, so that the
a convention of this genre I wanted
main text and images would stand out
to use this colour throughout both
more allowing the viewer to focus on the
tasks.
text, and as dark colours aren’t
associated with rom-coms I decided to
use a light colour to meet the
conventions of a romantic comedy.

12. Background
 I opted to use a simple plain background
for my poster, using the gradient tool on
Photoshop CS5 which faded from black to
grey.
 Black and grey aren’t a typical colour
associated with the rom-com genre, more
the horror/thriller genre, however, I felt
black and grey are simple colours and as
the central pictures are quite large in size,
so I decided a simple background would
look more effective and simple, as it would
allow the audience to focus more on the
image of the characters instead of the
background.

13. Logos and websites
While researching current film posters, I found that somewhere within the poster
(mostly at the bottom), all the film posters provided a web address of the production
company, which meant that the audience could type the web address into the internet
and be directed to the films website, which would provide further information about the
film. As a convention of a typical film poster, I decided to add ‘LOL Productions’ web
address so our viewers could find out more information about our film if they wished
to. A web address is very important as digital technology is increasing so people tend
to find out more information via new digital technology, rather than ‘old’ technology
such as newspapers.
I also added the social networking sites Twitter and
Facebook logos onto the poster, so viewers could
find out more information via social networking sites
if they wished to. Social networking sites are a very
popular platform to promote films, and networking
sites are very popular and widely used by
thousands of people each day, so it is an easy way
to promote a film to a mass audience.

14. Summary
 Overall, I feel that the combination of both my
film review and poster is very effective, as both
tasks link to the other in terms of either colour
scheme, images and backgrounds.