The main purpose of any film radio advert and film poster is to promote and

advertise the film to its target audience. This has been present in the film industry
since 1895 with 'L'Arroseur Arros' being the first film poster developed and is the
most common way of advertising films since posters done well are always
memorable and easily identifiable. It would be a struggle to gain interest and appeal
to a film just on the premise.
Radio adverts however are less common in the modern day due to the under
consumption of radio, however they are still present and have proven to be
successful in the past, with the first being broadcasted in 1921. Radio advertisement
does however allow the production company to present sounds to the audience,
unlike a poster. These most commonly include voice overs and sound bites from the
film.
The theme of the poster and radio advert usually come from ideologies,
representations and conventions of the genre in the film. This is to help identify and
differentiate the film created by the production company from other films.
Some choose to have iconic or different images when advertising their film, for
example, 'The Godfather' used a picture of the protagonists suit, making the
protagonist and the film poster easily identifiable. A different misleading example
however would be 'Black Swan', a drama that contains distressing scenes including
self-harm and scenes that maybe inappropriate for children, including a lesbian sex
scene, yet has an image of a ballet dancer looking graceful.
Radio adverts typically follow a more rigid structure in which the production company
is stated, the title of the film, possibly a tag line, actors, and the narrative in the form
of a voice over, possible sound bites from the film and critics reviews. Examples of
films that go against this structure include 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and the
original 'War of the Worlds. In the radio advertisement for 'Texas Chainsaw
Massacre' only sound effects are played which lead to the audience being engaged
through confusion. However, as they are sound bites from the film that follow
conventions expressed by the horror genre it does follow some conventions of radio
advertisements for film.
The most iconic of the radio adverts however is George Orwell's 'War of the Worlds'
in this advert, the advertisement was done as a radio broadcast set in the context in
the film, therefore using conventions of the genre.
For my short film I have decided to use George Orwell's creation and revolution of
radio advert as my inspiration to have the same dramatic effect on my target
audience.
For my poster on the other hand I have decided to use imagery in order for the
audience to be able to connect on an emotional level so the audience can relate and
empathise with my protagonists. I attempted to make my characters as identifiable
as possible by using profile shots of the two characters, in costume.
When creating my poster, I feel I used images that were appropriate for the mood
and the genre of my short film, however I also intended it to contrast commonly
known sci-fi conventions by introducing my target audience to new ideas. For my

poster I have used the colours grey, brown and white to use for the colour scheme of
my poster. I have used these colours because when put together they stand off each
other as they contrast when super imposed on one another, this imposition creates a
bold image for my target audience. These colours additionally go against the code
and conventions of sci-fi yet seem fitting for my short film (TRON PSTER). It is often,
bright futuristic looking images amalgamated together to create interest in sci-fi,
however by going against the conventions set I believe it will cause my audience to
be interested to see how the poster can be classified as a science fiction, thus
generating a buzz around my short film and gaining interest.
Upon creating my poster I wished to include imagery that could be closely
associated to my short film. The importance of control from a higher power is
significant in my short film and therefore I have highlighted this in my poster. In order
to do this I have used a government top secret file of the protagonist in my short film
'Lucy Laurence. This has been enforced and exaggerated to the audience by
including a document which upon inspection demonstrated the level of control that
the government have as they have the ability to decide the date of her death. Within
the document I wanted to include text that would make the genre of sci-fi identifiable
to my target audience. As well as the main genre it also goes on to hint at the subgenre of government control/post-apocalyptic, to reach out further to my target
audience.
To ensure the official look of the document looks genuine I used an army font,
fittingly called 'Top Secret'.
The colours used were cold. This was, combined with the black and white short film
and the distressing nature of the radio advert combines to create a cold, interrelated
set of media products.
In order to gain interest in the film I included independent film festival award crests
on top of my poster. As posters are the most consumed form of advertising, I thought
it would be best to include the critic awards on the poster rather than the radio advert
as radio adverts are now under consumed in todays society. Critic reviews are
additionally a convention of a radio avert, as I took inspiration from George Orwell's
advert in setting the radio advert in the context of the film, having critic reviews would
appear unfitting. By putting them on the poster critic reviews are still present in my
two forms of advertising.
In my radio advert I have used the same woman as I did in my Polaroid style images
in my poster. This allows for contuinsy as she is also the woman who stars as the
protagonist within my short film. This allows the emphasis of the importance of 'Lucy'
within my short film as she can be seen in all of my media products, the antagonist in
my short film however is not as significant in my short film and therefore can only be
located in two of my media products. By using the same character in all of my
different forms of media it should in theory develop the emotional connection with my
character as well as targeting my target audience.
In my radio advert there is also varied emotions portrayed to the audience, ranging
from anger to seriousness. By doing this it should prepare the audience that there
will be a range of emotions in the short film that will be emitted to the audience,
which there is with the plot twist at the end. This is less prominent in my poster
however, yet still visible through the use of my colour scheme. Cold shades of grey,

brown and white are prominent, however though the use of red - for the official
stamp used on the paper work, and black - used for the title different emotions are
portrayed, not just cold. The use of red was used to suggest love - which can be
seen both in my short film and radio advert (the love from mother to child. The use of
black however was used to represent death, again a theme which can be seen in
both my radio advert and my short film.
When creating my short film I included a large range of different shot types to add
variation to my short film as well as to emphasise the varied emotions. I also wanted
to include an equal balance of romance, post-apocalyptic style and typical sci-fi
sections to give the audience three main parts to look upon. To make it more
aesthetically interesting I chose my locations carefully to vary the mise-en-scene and
to add more variation to my short film while it fitting in appropriately with the
narrative.
As shown in the shot examples above, I have used a variety of different shot types in
my short film. I have done this to add variety and to keep my target audience
interested. Having several different shot sizes also prevents repetition of shots and
shot types, becoming tedious to the audience. Using a variety of different ways
communicate to the audience links my short film with my radio advert and poster, in
all three I have used a large range of conventions and elements which will aid them
in standing out from well recognisable sci-fi's. Using a large range of shot types has
enabled me to convey emotions and has helped me highlight specific details in my
video, for example, in the romantic sections of my short film I have used mostly close
ups and mid shots to illustrate the romantic facial expressions and to highlight the
desperate emotions in line with the narrative.
My main product and my ancillary tasks link together effectively but also contrast one
another to give each aspect of my media products individuality, the short film to tell
the narrative, the poster to generate interest and advertisement and my radio advert
to bring context to the audience. I have decided to focus on the emotions conveyed
through my narrative through my short film and to pass these on to my ancillary
tasks, making them link and to attract my target audience, it also provides meaning
for both my short film and ancillary tasks.
One way I have my short film and poster link is by the colour scheme. In my short
film the clips are all seen in black and white. This has been done to enhance and
emphasise the dark cruel nature of society in a time period where something like
'The Project' could exist. My poster additionally has a dull colour scheme with the
main colours being grey, white and beige. This also highlights the dreary, bleak
context of my short film.
Another way I have made them link is by emphising control from a higher power. I
have achieved this in my poster by using a top secret file with government
document, this has also been achieved in my short film through the control chip and
referring to "the hub". In my radio advert additionally I have included in the script,
"the government have gone ahead with a new procedure".
I have also made them link by using the same woman. 'Lucy Laurence' can be seen
or heard in all three of my media products. This highlights the importance of her

representing the society in the fight against the government, she represents 'the
people'. Her also being able to be seen across three platforms makes her more likely
to be seen and therefore attract my target audience.
Death and coldness are themes that were the inspiration behind my radio
advertisement, poster and short film, supporting a post-apocalyptic society. I
attempted to achieve this by in my radio advert discussing the disturbing nature of
killing first borns on their 18th birthday, reinforcing this by investigating the emotions
of the mother of one of the sufferers of the project. This was also done in my poster
through the colour scheme including black - closely associated with death, along with
the explicit detailing of the date of her death. In my short film additionally I have
singled out this as the main theme through using a black and white effect of the clips.
I have also again explicitly related my short film with having my protagonist die in the
end.