Jacque's A2 Media studies blog

Media Evaluation

Question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Prezi - https://prezi.com/alaqauwcigpm/untitled-prezi/

Slideshare - http://www.slideshare.net/JacquePearce/media-studies-evaluation-question-1-of-poster-and-magazine-cover

My zombie horror trailer conforms conventions of zombie horror genre very closely because genre is convenient for producers and audiences (according to John Fiske) because genre suits the taste for the target audience as it has been constructed by what the target audience enjoys, including themes, typical narratives, stereotypical characters, settings that match the theme i.e. isolation.

I constructed the conventional feel to isolation using mise-en-scene within the trailer as the setting is within the woods and empty lifeless streets in which is isolated which these locations reinforces isolation which is a used theme within zombie apocalyptic horror films. This convention used in my trailer creates more vulnerability for the main protagonists in which will create visceral pleasures (Altman) for the audiences in which they will experience dread, anxiety and fear for the character due to the fact of the fear of the unknown. For an example when the audience anticipates that the protagonists will be confronted by antagonists at any time but do not know specifically, which creates dread even more so. The conventional theme of isolation is supported by extreme long shots which make the protagonists look weaker, smaller and inferior, which reinforces more of the visceral effect (Altman) of fear and dread as the audience will see the binary opposite (Strauss) of the antagonists and the protagonists as the antagonist will look more superior and stronger than the protagonists which is created by the illusion of various camera shots such as close-up shots of the antagonists (makes the antagonists look bigger) and low angle shots of the protagonists which makes the protagonists look smaller. This was inspired by the 28 Days Later theatrical trailer (Danny Boyle, 2002).

Another convention I used within the theatrical trailer is fast-paced editing as it creates an exhilarating feel for the audience the visceral pleasure of adrenaline, excitement and fear as it makes the audience feel like they are there with the protagonist, almost being in the same shoes as the protagonists within the trailer. This convention is also used to make the theatrical trailer much more exciting to give a taste for the audience of what the final product/text would be like if I and my group were to create the final film. With regards to the pacing of the narrative within the trailer, there are two different narrative styles to choose from. One of the narrative styles is slow and dramatic and gradually speeds up, which allows the audience to invest their emotions into the main protagonists in which the main protagonists will have similar features, interests and act similar to the stereotypes of the target audience which allows the audience to invest further their emotions and attachment of these characters within a shorter amount of time and developing emotional pleasures (Altman). Also the pacing of the narrative will settle the audience and make them feel relaxed and comfortable and by the pace suddenly increasing, the audience will feel more excited and exhilarated (pulse raiser) in which this sharp integration of footage from the film from slow to fast will make these visceral pleasures more effective. I and my group researched this narrative style by analysing the trailer Resident Evil (Paul WS Anderson, 2002) which starts off slow and gradually builds up with shorter and quicker shots, faster music. The other narrative style is where the trailer starts off fast and slightly confusing, enticing the audience to watch more to find out what is going on (intellectual puzzles, Altman) and by it being fast it instantly engages the audiences’ attention towards the trailer. I and my group researched this narrative style by analysing the trailer 28 Days Later which starts off quick (to engage the audiences’ attention) but then slows using the feature of mystery (intellectual puzzles, keeping the audience engaged within the trailer)but the pace then gradually increases to fit within the audiences’ short term and long term memory. We have created an abstract and an advertising narrative where different shots from across the film where included in a seemingly abstract to create buzz and hype. Also it was an advertising trailer because it revolved around the image of heroic, brave male hero. The theatrical trailer mainly emphasises the disruptive period of Tzevetan Todorov’s theory of narratives which is very conventional. The film started within the original equilibrium (normal civilization) then a disruption to the equilibrium (apocalypse) and in the middle of the trailer to the end is the resolving of the disruption of the equilibrium (main protagonists fighting against the antagonists). We chose to make an abstract trailer as it is the most conventional trailer used as it suits most of our target audiences’ taste in trailer, also it suits are genre as well as it seen in most trailers such as Resident Evil, Zombieland and World War Z.

Another convention me and my group used within the theatrical trailer was the lighting in which would be seen in many zombie apocalyptic films in which the contrast of the lighting is grey which symbolises death, hope fading and isolation which are all convention of a zombie apocalyptic film/ trailer.

Another convention used was the costumes, props and make-up within me and my group’s theatrical trailer. The protagonists’ costumes are of them wearing coats which symbolises that they are in search of warmth and comfort which describes their character as innocent but at the same time makes them look bigger/ superior which can symbolise their strength and survival skills in which reflects the genre even more.

The iconography of the trailer is the signature weapon (props) a sword which the main protagonist

Dorian carries and uses. Dorian wears a mask which connotes his mysterious past and enhances the conventional theme of survival as it a source of protection against the zombies. The costumes of the zombies seen within the trailer is of urban youth wear which is jeans, trainers, hooded jumper which is the stereotype look for teenagers of modern era and by this it creates more realism. The target audience will be more invested within the trailer as it could reflect them in that situation; the thought that it could be them, how they would cope in this situation, and the thought of being a zombie (creates the pleasure of intellectual puzzles, Altman. This will make the audience more engaged within the trailer by them experiencing the pleasure of intellectual puzzles.

Magazine cover

The conventions of my magazine cover is that it stays within the theme of the film trailer as the colour and font matches the conventions of the film trailer as it represents isolation as the font can suggest the font is worn down, imprinted on the wall that is been there for a long duration. The three main colours used is green, black and white. Green symbolises the theme of Halloween and zombies as it connotes decomposing and mutation which is the theme with zombies. This instantly tells the audience that the genre is based on zombies.

The colour white and black are binary opposites (Levi-Strauss) in which they symbolise life and death. The colours also make the text stand out more and engage the audience even further. The colours can also symbolise isolation as the colour black envelops around the white text which can suggest darkness surrounding life and making life smaller and feel trapped which subliminally shows the audience the conventional theme of isolation and horror. The central image is of a zombie which is pale (similar to white) to match the three colour rule. The zombie instantly tells the audience that the film is based on zombies even further which appeals to the target audience and engages them even more within the text. The texts that are in white symbolises the main topics displayed and can also symbolise life in a metaphorical sense and the lack of white texts makes the topics stand out which can connote vulnerability and isolation within the film.

The magazine cover develops conventions of a normal film magazine as it uses a masthead which says “THE ISSUE OF THE YEAR!!!” the explanation marks helps the text to stand out more and shouts out to the audience more emphasising what it is saying. The masthead will also entice the audience to consume the text as it is glamourised and exaggerating the value of the magazine making the audience want to consume the text. This convention is similar to the masthead of the magazine cover TOTAL FILM magazine which says “The issue of the decade!” which does the same function as the masthead I have done. The colours used is similar to the colours used within my magazine cover which is green, red and white which the colour green symbolises mutation and decomposition within the genre of zombies and the colour red is used to reinforce gore and danger which zombie films contain gore and danger.

Image result for total film magazine shaun of the dead

The text of my magazine cover is all in upper case which stands out more to the audience and also slows the eye when reading the text, this helps sustain what is read within the reader/audience’s head which will engage the audience within the text. The same is done with the TOTAL FILM magazine cover as it performs the same function.

The text that displays “one of Jacque Pearce’s greatest creations yet!” will create hype and excitement for the audience as the it connotes that the film is going to be a masterpiece of its genre in which makes the audience want to read more facts and details about the film by consuming this product.

Other conventions used I other famous films displayed and stories/articles based upon them. This will attract new audiences to view this text and consume this text. All of the films and people mentioned on the text is white to make it stand out more to the audience and it also matches the theme of the magazine cover and reinforces the conventions of the trailer as white can symbolise life, innocence and hope which these words are isolated as they are surrounded by other words within the text that are green which symbolises zombies of decomposition and mutation which subliminally tells the audience the genre even more.

The text which displays “HALLOWEEN HAS BEGUN!” instantly tells the audience the main theme of the magazine and attracts the target audience that like horror which is supported alongside the main agenda of the magazine the film THE HUNTED which may attract a larger audience for the film as they will want to consume the product through hype and buzz being created for the film.

The text that displays “INSIDE: THE TOP 10 TIPS TO SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!” is used as it creates the curiosity for the audience to find what the main tips to survive the zombie apocalypse. This can also explain what the film may be about and will be intrigued to see if the film uses any of the tips mentioned within the magazine to help enable their survival. This also puts the audience in the protagonist’s shoes to what they would do in this situation (intellectual puzzles, Altman). This creates word of mouth as the audience who read this magazine will tell their friends and family what they would do in that situation. This process will keep the audience engaged within the text and also create even more hype for the upcoming film.

The sticker/circle on the magazine is of a different shade of green which helps it stand out more than the rest of the text which displays the text in white. This also reinforces the conventions mentioned earlier (the colour green symbolising mutation and decomposition of zombies surrounding the colour white which symbolises life, innocence, and hope being enveloped by the colour green which reinforces the conventional theme isolation).

The title of the film THE HUNTED is in similar font to the brand image of the film title to enable the audience to recognise and identify the same brand but on different platforms (synergy) which engages the audience even more within the text. The colour of the font of the film title is white to reinforce the convention of isolation of life even further as it is next to the central image of a zombie. The title is big to stand out to the audience to make it easier to see the film title displayed and identify what the main story/article will be about to the audience. Whereas the other magazine cover (TOTAL FILM) does not display the film title as this may be due to the fact that the magazine article is only aimed the target audience which the target audience will know what the film is just by looking at the main protagonist as it is well advertised across different platforms whereas the film The Hunted is new and is being advertised on different platforms.

The central image chosen for my magazine cover is of a zombie. The central image of the zombie is chosen as it instantly tells the audience what the film genre is and is best suited than displaying a central image of the film’s main protagonist as the target audience will not recognise the actor as the actor is not well known which is good as it creates more realism within the film and trailer as if it was real instead of using a famous actor that most of the audience will recognise which subliminally distracts them from the immersion of the film they are watching as it is slightly not believable.

Film poster

The film poster possesses conventions of a zombie apocalyptic film poster. the film poster reinforces conventions of the zombie apocalyptic genre as it displays arms of a zombie trying to grab the maim protagonist which creates the feel of a point of view aspect for the audience and at the same time it creates a subliminal message to the audience to grab the product which the grabbing arms creates more value for the product as it displays that it is in high demand.

Another convention used is the font colour being of red and of splash effect which reinforces the conventions of the zombie apocalyptic genre as it connotes blood, gore, evil and danger which are all elements identified within the genre.

Another convention that is used is the release date of the upcoming film which is emphasised in a big font of red which keeps to the theme of the genre but at the same time it stands out to the audience to notify them of the date which creates hype buzz and word of mouth/electronic word of mouth as the audience may tell others through social media which creates even more hype and the audience will want to find out more details about the upcoming film.

Another convention used is the billings block which is seen on all film posters and is the font colour of grey which symbolises death and lack of hope which are conventions within the genre of the zombie apocalypse.

Another convention used is the central image displaying the main protagonist as it creates synergy across all texts to allow the audience to identify that it is the same product/brand and the central image of the main protagonist helps describe the film best by the conventions displayed by the main protagonist. the iconography used is the mask, hood and sword which enables the audience to identify this distinctive unique character but the appearance creates excitement as it displays action and the conventional theme of mysteriousness.

Another convention used within the film poster is the slogan/rhetorical question which create a unique identity of the brand as the audience will associate the rhetorical question with the film as it is reinforced within the poster and the theatrical film trailer.

The use of the rhetorical question creates intellectual puzzles (Altman) for the audience as they question what the slogan means and creates hype and excitement as the question sustains within the audience's mind which advertises the product after the audience has seen the stimulus (film poster, magazine cover and film trailer).

The convention of actors' names being displayed at the top of the poster in red font stands out to the audience to enable the audience to identify the actors names so when they see these actors names, it will remind them of the product and if the audience recognises these actors, it will create hype, excitement and word of mouth.

Another convention used is use of media convergence as there are details of the film's Facebook page which reinforces electronic word of mouth which helps spread hype and buzz about the film.

Question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Slideshare - http://www.slideshare.net/JacquePearce/media-evaluation-question-2-60914701

My group and I construct a marketing campaign for a new zombie horror film incorporating a film poster, a magazine front cover and a film trailer. We chose to base our ancillary texts on the genre of the zombie horror apocalypse as we as a group find that genre enjoyable and interesting, plus we know an abundance of codes and conventions of the zombie horror apocalypse.

For all the texts combined (the magazine cover, film poster and film trailer) they contain media convergence and synergy as the brand is displayed across three platforms. Media convergence is used across all platforms as old media is converged with new media. The old media used for the magazine cover has the website address “FOCUSMAGAZINE.COM” below the barcode in which consumers can go on the website to consume more content based around the film, the similar procedure is replicated again with the old media film poster which displays the Facebook page address of the film in which consumers can watch videos of the trailer, find out more details about the film , share with people the trailer, film poster which reinforces electronic word of mouth (EWOM). This process is vital within the modern marketing campaign as the new generation are more tech savvy which consumers spend most of their time online and by media convergence being used across all three texts the audience will access the websites they have seen displayed across all three texts. EWOM is good for the producer and company as it is free viral advertising which makes advertises the brand and product even further as thousands of ‘prosumers’ will share details, trailers and posters to others online as they feel satisfaction from doing this as they feel they have contributed towards the success of this product and feel ownership of the product. I believe we have created a very strong brand identity, through the use of the same fonts for the title of the film “The Hunted” across all three texts, and the use of similar colour schemes including black, white, red and green. We have built a brand that clearly communicates the zombie horror genre, as the use of deep reds clearly signifies blood, while the green colours connote the zombie and sci-fi themes in the film. This has been emphasised by our use of make-up and mise-en-scene in the use of imagery of the character’s face on the magazine front cover, and the he film poster and the use of make-up in the film trailer. This creates hype and buzz, because the protagonist appears as a zombie on the two print ancillary texts, and this builds a reputation of mystery and a dialogue with the audience questioning if the protagonist will survive or not. Also, our use of degrading and textures on Photoshop and iMovie in all three texts build a feeling of run-down and dystopian worlds conventional to the post-apocalyptic genre.

The title can be seen in each text which instantly tells the audience that each text is related and contains different forms of advertising and promoting the product by it being varied and giving little details that may not give any secrets and narratives away from the film but at the same time, this creates hype and buzz through word of mouth as the target audience may tell other who they may know even that they may not be part of the target audience may expand the target audience overall. Synergy has also been used by having the main protagonist of Dorian being displayed on the Poster of the film and being displayed within the film trailer in numerous amounts of shots (shown the most within trailer). Other products, such as the film magazine have used our film to advertise their product (the magazine itself), so both companies – ours and theirs – have a mutual benefit and the collection of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

To measure how effective our product was as a whole campaign, we exhibited all of our work to a group of 40 students in our target audience in an assembly. Within the questionnaire responses one of the questions that was asked was “How well do you think the combination of all three texts is?” which all respondents of both male and female said that it was quite and very well. The majority of the males said it was quite well and the majority of the females said it was very well.

This tells me and my group that the synergy and media convergence across all three texts was very effective and has the same codes and conventions used within all texts. We were expecting to appeal more to a male audience base, so the greater positive response from the female demographics in the audience was surprising, however pleasing. This may be because they were also in our target age-group and life-matrix segment of ‘fun-atic’ and ‘tribe-wired’.

The film trailer is very effective as it creates hype, buzz and excitement as it displays conventions that a normal successful theatrical film trailer would display. The film trailer displays the date which is June 11^th which is very good time to show the film as it is within the summer months and on a Saturday which is perfect for our target audience as they will be on the summer break and have plenty of time to view the film (more convenient for the target audience). They would also have plenty of time to share information about the film with each other by word of mouth, and electronic word of

mouth (EWOM), and provide free and useful marketing four our production company. The film poster also displays the release date which reinforces synergy and media convergence even further and creates hype and excitement and also word of mouth as more of the target audience are informed of this product by the film being displayed on various platforms. Our links to social media on the print texts show an understanding of media convergence, and encourages EWOM, which is proved to be a highly cost effective and viral marketing strategy, which would be necessary for promoting and marketing our film widely. This is a popular genre, and so there would be a wide fan-base for this.

Other codes and conventions that can be found on all three texts are the characters of the film being displayed. The main protagonist Dorian is displayed on the film poster with him holding his signature weapon (iconography) confronting zombies. Dorian and the antagonists are also displayed within the trailer as Dorian and zombies (antagonists) are shown in multiple shots. The antagonists of the film

trailer (Dorian’s strange doppelganger) are also shown on the magazine front cover which is shown across all platforms which is what the film is about.

The conventions of the magazine cover creates hype, excitement and uses intellectual puzzles (Rick Altman) as it gives the audience little information about the film which gives the audience more to

think about the potential of the what the film could show and be about, therefore generating more buzz from the speculation of the fans. The use of the colours displayed informs the audience of what the genre is which creates more excitement and hype as the target audience enjoys films of this genre and by there being a new film of this genre, they will be intrigued and want to find out as much details about it as possible. The website of the magazine that is displayed below the barcode also reinforces media convergence as the target audience can find out more about the film by going the magazine’s website. This would particularly appeal to superfans and opinion leaders, and so we would have to have interesting and interactive features on our film website.

The codes and conventions of the film trailer make the audience feel various visceral effects which the target audience’s memory will trigger when viewing the magazine cover and the film poster that they experienced whilst watching the film trailer which they may feel a low stimulation of excitement and adrenaline when identifying the film title’s name The Hunted. The title sounds full of action and outdoor scenes, which we marketed effectively to our rugged traditionalists through use of imagery and footage of outdoor settings in all three texts. Additionally, the images of graphic blood and the effects of violence will create the visceral pleasures enjoyed by fans of this genre, as it suggests that there are exciting and bloodthirsty scenes in the film. As a result, the film marketing campaign effectively appeals to its target audience of especially male viewers, aged 15 and above. The conventions of the film magazine subliminally conditions the target audience who enjoyed the film, which they will associate the visceral effects they experienced whilst watching the film trailer when they see the film title’s name on various platforms such as the magazine cover and film poster which makes all of the texts more effective.

Overall, these conventions displayed across all texts makes it easier for the audience to identify what the brand product is when they see these images on different platforms without seeing the title. I feel that this one of our key strengths in the project.

Question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Prezi - https://prezi.com/1ra3yk61posd/edit/#1_24309637

I exhibited my final work to a theatre of 40 students within my target audience range.

I have learned that the audience feedback has a positive correlation with the audience profiles that is expected for our target audience which is rugged traditionalists, tribe wired, fun/Atics which me and my group used this psychographic method to profile my audience as the target audience for my genre is of rugged traditionalists, tribe wired and fun/atics. We found that the responses for question 2 for our questionnaire is that the majority of males where outgoing, outdoorsy and fun which is what we expected from our target audience to be like that enjoyed the trailer. Our target audience are described as rugged traditionalists, funatics, and tribe wired which the majority of males from our target audience has those characteristics. For the females, the majority of them also responded with similar results as they too said they were outgoing, outdoorsy, and fun but also fashionable. This suggests

they also are put of our target audience as they too share characteristics of rugged traditionalists, tribe wired and funatics. The females also responded to like all three ancillary texts by saying they were good or very good and no one (including the males) said they did not like any of the ancillary texts which shows that the three ancillary texts contains multiple conventions of a zombie apocalyptic film that suits the taste of the target audience which has the characteristics of rugged traditionalists, funatics, and tribe wired which in theory these audience profiles will only like this genre of texts.

We also learned from our audience what conventions where found/ associated with the film trailer. The males that responded with this question mostly said that they identified the conventions of isolation and survival. This fits into the main genre of this text as it includes conventional themes of isolation and survival which is commonly found in other films of the same genre, which suggests that the text made was successfully made and fits in well within the genre as this is supported by the large number of responses from male respondents that answered that question.

For the females, they responded by identifying conventions of death, isolation and survival. Again these conventions are included within the film trailer which tells us that this film trailer is successful and fits in within the zombie apocalyptic genre well as these conventions can also be identified within other film trailers of this genre such as 28 Days Later (2002) , Resident Evil (2002), and Zombieland(2009), just to name a few.

For the other ancillary text (film poster) the male respondents answered the question that describes how well does the film poster fit the conventions of the zombie apocalyptic genre in which they all said it was quite well and very well with the majority saying it was very well. This tells us the convention used within the film poster suits the conventions that are expected within a film poster of this genre which describes the film well but gives nothing away and creates hype and excitement.

The female respondents responded by saying the film poster was quite well and very well which the majority of the female respondents saying the film poster was very well which also suggests that from both perspectives that the film poster possesses conventions that is expected within a film poster of this genre. This tells us that it is successful and fits in well within the genre as these conventions can be seen within other film posters of this genre such as 28 Days Later, World War Z and REC.

For the question that describes how suitable the ancillary text of the magazine cover is to the genre of the zombie apocalypse , the male respondents all said it was suitable to the genre which suggests that the magazine covers has all the conventions of the genre and the conventions of a magazine cover. These conventions can be identified by the target audience and by other audiences to who may not like this genre but are able to identify the conventions seen within the text which suggests that this text is successful and fits in well with the genre of the zombie apocalypse.

These conventions within the text can be seen within other magazine covers such as Total Film Magazine that displayed Shaun Of The Dead and mainly focused on the film which shared similar conventions with the magazine cover and also with the film magazine Fangoria which displayed the film Zombie on the front cover.

For planning and research for the film trailer, we used audience feedback from the preliminary video (teaser trailer) in which we displayed some main conventions of the zombie apocalyptic horror genre within the 10-15 second video in which we asked the audience for their feedback. The audience feedback helped us decide what conventions to include and what conventions not include within the theatrical trailer. The whole audience said they liked the title font that it fits in well within the genre of zombie apocalyptic horror as similar title fonts from the genre of zombie apocalypse horror such as Shaun Of The Dead and Virus which displays conventions of blood/gore, zombies, darkness and isolation which the title font used within the preliminary video conforms to the same conventions. Due to the audience’s positive feedback for these convention used, we chose to use the convention used and keep the title font similar within the theatrical film trailer. The whole audience also said that the main protagonist within the preliminary video intrigued them as the main protagonist was represented as mysterious due to the costume and performance of the main protagonist. We decided to focus this convention used within the preliminary video for the theatrical film trailer as we want to appeal to the target audience as much as possible. Most of the audience said that the location used fitted in well with the genre of the film as the location (woods) connotes conventional theme of isolation which creates more suspense, mystery (creates more intellectual puzzles (Altman) for the audience, which will keep them engaged within the text) and vulnerability for the protagonist as the convention used ‘the fear of the unknown’ as the audience does not know what is lurking within the woods. But some of the audience did not think this location was suitable with the genre as they expect to see more urban environments than rural environments which maybe to do with how modern society is as more people in modern society are exposed to urban environments rather than rural environments and when they imagine an apocalyptic scenario, they will see dystopic environments rather than isolated areas such as the woods, fields, farms and the countryside. So we decided to keep the convention of the woods to suit the tastes of the majority of the audience that said the woods fitted in well with the genre as well as adding more locations to suit the rest of the audience that did not agree with the location of the woods, which we add locations such as streets, buildings and shots of urban areas to suit the other audience’s taste as well as we want the theatrical trailer to appeal as much to the audience as much as possible.

For the research, we gave the audience a questionnaire based on our genre. The audience responded to what aspects within the genre they find appealing which our target audience finds that gore/blood and death are the most appealing with the audience finding adventure, meaningful violence and sustained fear the least appealing. These responses are what me and my group expected due to the responses matching the profiles of the life matrix audience as they are fun/atics, rugged traditionalists and tribe-wired. For rugged traditionalists, I and my group hypothesised that they would like meaningless violence and adventure due to rugged traditionalists' 'love of the outdoors'. So for the positive responses received, we decided to include conventions that they find appealing within the theatrical trailer as we want the theatrical trailer to appeal as much as possible to the audience. The audience responded to what they think is the most important convention used within a zombie apocalyptic trailer which the highest response was action scenes in which me and my group predicted as our target audience's life matrix profile is rugged traditionalists in which they love the outdoors in which they tend to love action scenes as it shows elements of survival in which relates to the outdoors as rugged traditionalists like survival as it tests their strengths in which they can experience a simulated pleasure of survival by watching action scenes which creates the semantic experience of visceral pleasure (Altman) of survival and action. So we decided to include conventions of action scenes and fast paced editing as we want the theatrical trailer to appeal to the audience as much as possible.

Question 4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Prezi - https://prezi.com/ihnsfvb97rgy/media-evaluation/

I used the internet to research the conventions of a film trailer and a magazine cover by using the search engine Google to find relevant information based upon my genre and the ancillary texts. I also used YouTube to research zombie apocalyptic trailers such as Resident Evil (2002) and 28 Days Later (2002) which I analysed the codes and conventions used within these trailer to help gain a further understanding of what conventions are usually used within a zombie apocalyptic trailer.

I used Microsoft windows desktop computer to help plan the theatrical film trailer by creating the script, narrative and synopsis using Microsoft word. I also used the internet to use the search engine Google to find a website that specialises in downloading storyboard templates for film making. I used the website Sampletemplates.com and downloaded a storyboard for film making to which I printed several sheets of the storyboard to which i drawn the scenes that might be used within the theatrical film trailer.

For my construction for my ancillary texts, I used an apple Macintosh computer to design and create my magazine cover. I used several Photoshop tools such as layering, using shape tools to create the circle/sticker, gradient and font tools such as using the dissolved for font titles, crop tools to crop splash marks from the dissolved font to add to various parts of the background .I used the program Photoshop to create my magazine cover in which I used several fonts from Photoshop and from the website Dafont which I used for other various fonts such as damned and destroy which helps reinforce the conventions of a zombie apocalyptic genre which will helps the target audience identify the conventions of this genre. For the ancillary text of the film poster, the program Photoshop was used on an apple Macintosh computer was used to construct the film poster.

The fonts that were used on the film poster was from Photoshop and from the website Dafont (can select fonts to download from a list of different fonts) which these fonts help reinforce the conventions of a zombie apocalyptic film poster which enables the target audience to identify the genre of this film poster as it will create awareness for them that an upcoming product/text or help remind them that the film is coming soon as we want it to be a successful and mainstream as it possibly can be. On our film poster and magazine front cover, we used links to the film’s official website. This shows that we understand the power of EWOM and media convergence, as customers will be encouraged to go online and explore the film’s website, where they will tweet/share on Facebook links and information for it, thus providing the company with free viral marketing.

For the construction for the film trailer we used media technologies such as a camera to record and film shots needed to create the theatrical trailer.

An apple Macintosh computer was also used to upload the shots/footage from the camera to the program iMovie which then the shots can be edited and ordered in a sequence that best suits within a theatrical trailer. Music was used from the program iMovie which helps reinforce conventions of the zombie apocalyptic genre as the music is described as sinister but progressive at the same time which creates an exhilarating but mysterious and sinister effect on the target audience they will experience visceral pleasures and intellectual puzzles (Altman) as a result.

iMovie was also used to record narration to go with the theatrical trailer which helps describe what is seen on screen and also creates intellectual puzzles for the audience and the narration also reinforces conventions of a \zombie apocalyptic trailer as the narration is being told by the perspective of the main protagonist. Google, the internet and the website Dafont was used to download the font that was desired to be used to display the details surrounding the film on the theatrical trailer such as the release date, year and the film title. the program fireworks was used to help construct the production/publisher company "Red Door Productions" which was chosen as it suits the zombie apocalyptic genre and the horror genre as the door that is red can symbolise that the viewer is entering a sinister and evil world as the door is open and transitions to the beginning of the theatrical trailer/film which helps the target audience identify the conventions of this genre just by seeing the conventions used of the logo displayed before the theatrical trailer starts. also it is very original as it has never been done before and the target audience's memory of the film trailer will trigger when see the symbol appear which they will as doors are seen everywhere which can suggest that the target audience's viewing of the text will be sustained which helps sustain hype and excitement based upon the theatrical trailer that they have seen.

If I could have done the project again, I would have used more media technologies, such as survey monkey to put out a much more thorough and wide-reaching questionnaire to the public. I also would have used logic pro to create the soundtrack from scratch if I’d have had time. I also might have downloaded a free QR code for the film poster, although they tend to be used on other forms of print advertising, rather than film posters.

For the evaluation, Microsoft window desktop was used to create a questionnaire to allow the audience to assess all three ancillary texts to help give me and my group feedback based on our ancillary texts. The questionnaire was created using the program Microsoft word which is easy to use and the questionnaire can be made proficiently. I also used the Microsoft windows program Microsoft Excel to help collate the data and present the data in bar graph form to help show the significance of the data.