Evaluation: Question 2

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

My poster is designed to tease the viewer and as well as giving an insight into the film. My blurred poster of Tom connotates the Autistic traits in Asperger's Syndrome; being unable to fully comprehend facial expressions. It is this deeper meaning that encourages the viewer to want to learn more about the character. The poster's typography follows a very clean appearance, it's also very simple and stylish and may attract the viewer's attention through it's bold appearance. It's not the text on it's own that attracts the attention though and it is mainly the confusion in the image that encourages the human nature of wanting to know more.

The film magazine review also follows similar techniques, such as Barthes' Enigma Code and this attract's the eye of the viewer. The magazine follows closely to the the conventions of a standard film magazine and this would instantly interest any film or documentary fan. In this case, it is not particularly the image that grabs the viewer's attention, but it is the bold and bright typography of "different" and it is here that the reader begins to understand the genre of the film as a documentary in the format of a short film. There are many similarities between the products such as the use of black and white, helvetica for the title and also a portrait of the antagonist; all of which would help the viewer of the poster to understand more in the review. As a film magazine, the reader is likely to take what it written as "gospel" and will probably follow the opinion of the magazine; Two-Step Flow Theory can be applied here, with the magazine company being the opinion leader, following Mass Media of other film magazines, the reader will likely see the review as the "best" review.


The film itself also ensures success through several techniques. In the review, it mentions of the film being shown in Curzon and PictureHouse cinemas, chains that specialise in independent film making and this ensures that the target audience are watching the film, as fans of independent work. The fact that the video is also on the site Vimeo creates a similar effect through it's speciality in art based film. The film also uses a short prologue and this creates a sense of excitement . I also used a strong amount of anchorage in the film, which conveyed strong meanings in the product, linking it back to the title; for instance in the voiceover Tom uses the title as a phrase "living with autism is an arduous task".


Overall the combination of the three products is extremely effective as it is clear the film is about Tom, with his portrait frequently appearing across them; he has become the icon for the film. Whether it is physically mentioned or not, all the products encode Autism and this also adds to the overall genre style as a short film. The ancillary products work together particularly well, creating a buzz for the film and encouraging readers to share the film online with friends or family and this overall creates a strong awareness for both Asperger's Syndrome and the film.