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

Script for video

I have created a theatrical and teaser trailer of the film ‘Infraction’ which is a hitman movie and follows the crime thriller genre conventions. A brief overview of the film is that a woman is assaulted in her home by a burglar, unknown at this point the woman’s wife is a boss in charge of a hitman business. So the boss arranges a young male, who seems like an ordinary school boy, to track down the attacker and kill them. However trouble arises when the burglar seems to be part of a gang and the members hunt down the hitman in revenge.

It is important that my theatrical and teaser trailer portray this narrative in a clear way so the audience doesn’t find it confusing. I have also created print products, which consist of a billboard; poster, movie magazine cover and DVD cover which should all link together so the audience can associate each product with one another.

I have purposely used the same three house colours in each product of black, white and red which ties them together in a simple but obvious way so that the same theme runs through them all rather than them being disconnected by using a range of different colours. This gives the ancillary and trailers some continuity which is important for their identification and promotion.

In this part of the trailer, the hitman looks through the briefcase and finds a gun and a target sheet. This is a vital scene because it is the first appearance of the gun which is then evident in all of the ancillary products. This is the object of significance therefore it must have attention brought to it in the trailer as it’s the main focus in the print products as seen in this billboard. There is also a red display behind the hitman in this scene which matches with the house colour; red tends to represent blood, anger and anguish. The hitman is wearing a dark costume which is the same in the ancillary products because he is shown to be mysterious and dangerous, this similar in each product to maintain his ‘bad’ persona and so he is recognisable to the audience.

The very ending of the trailer is the hitman in a low key lighted room, with someone pointing a gun at his head, he says ‘I will never die’ which creates a cliff hanger  as the audience do not know whether he is killed or whether he escapes. This is a medium close up shot which I use in my poster because it allows the audience to see the hitman’s facial expressions and can connect with him. This means that the trailer and poster link as the audience can identify this shot in two products; they can become familiar with the character. The gun is used as a prop again in the poster because it is the weapon that is used to cause the disequilibrium therefore it becomes distinguishable and associated with the film. It also portrays the genre visually and the audience can make assumptions about the narrative and they can assume the film will be action-packed and thrilling.

There are a few parts in the trailer where the hitman has his hood up which is a negative representation typical of teenagers often suggesting that they are troublesome. This has become a stereotype in TV and films therefore I have decided to use this in my film to follow Stanley Cohen’s idea of ‘demonised’ and ‘marginalised’ groups in society which have these negative representations that cause moral panic meaning they are feared. This links to the magazine cover as the main character has his hood up making him intimidating and threatening. He is holding the gun next to his face showing that he is dangerous and fearless of a challenge, he is resting his finger on the trigger showing that he is used to killing and ready for his next target. His facial expressions on the front cover of the magazine are slightly different to the other products as his face isn’t as serious, he is smirking slightly which is quite menacing.  

In this intense part of the trailer, the hitman draws the gun from his pocket while he is running up to his target. This suggests that he tried to be discrete until he reached the alleyway, showing that he is sly but uses his expertise and skill to complete the assignment. This part of the trailer links to the DVD cover as on the front the hitman is shown to be putting his hand in his pocket and only part of the gun can be seen. This suggests that the hitman is always alert and guarded because of the risk of his job. Also the part of the trailer where the gang members appear behind the hitman builds up the tension and links to the DVD cover again as there is a gang member with his back to the hitman but looking over his shoulder. His body language suggests he is angry and devious; this gives the audience the impression that he could be a threat to the hitman; this is confirmed in the trailer as they begin to attack the hitman.