Research: Ancillary Product- conventions for a advert

Ancillary Products (Research) - Conventions of a Advert
Part of a film companies way of advertising their upcoming film is through ancillary products i.e. Adverts and Magazines. The reason for creating these is to advertise and encourage the audience to go and see the film on or after it's release date. Depending on the genre of film it is, there are many codes and conventions which are followed in order to create a successful advertisement package to promote a new film. These are;

• Focal Image is normally placed in the centre of the advert to make the audience easily identify the film that it is. The focal image is the film's main character(s) or the main theme of the film. i.e- Harry Potter- Harry being the main focal.

• Large Title/Font is used to catch the audience's eye to guarantee awareness. Also, by having the title in a large font it becomes more memorable as it is bold and striking being one of the main graphic features on the poster therefore also creating word of mouth. 

• Star Persona(s) are featured on the advert used as a unique selling point. Hollywood Conglomerate companies rely heavily on the use of the star system therefore by including the actors/actresses names on the poster it attracts the attention of the audience depending on the actors featured in the film. For example, if Will Ferrel and Seth Rogan were featured on the advert, it would become clear to the audience it is a comedy film as these actors are well known comedic actors.

• Relation to Genre is represented in the advert to make it clear to the audience what type of film it is i.e horror, comedy, romantic and action. Therefore, depending on the genre of the film, the typography, images and colour scheme has to be relatable to the genre, showing the stereotypical representations so that there is no confusion to the audience as to what type of film it is. An example of this is a horror advert, normally using a black and red colour scheme, with the colour black to connote the theme of death and the colour red connoting the themes of pain and blood.

• Bold adverts guarantee more awareness from the audience, being designed to absorb the audience's attention, be eye-catching and alluring.

• Release Date featured clearly on the advert to make it clear to the audience when the film will be viewed in the cinema. However, depending on the length of time it will be until the film in released, it may have Coming Soon instead of the confirmed release date.

• BBFC Certificate normally clearly labelled on a advert to make it clear to the audience the age restrictions of the film. Also, it can represent the genre of film it may be, referring to the content featured in the film i.e. sex, drugs etc would be classified as a 15or 18 film.