ANCILLARY STAGES

There are a number of differing types of soap magazine. I analysed a representative sample of all styles to assist my decision as to which would best suit my chosen genre.

Analysing existing soap magazines..

Trashy styled, easy reading and normally cheap.

Sophisticated, restrained and professional.

Masthead is large, extending over the edges of the page and grabbing attention.

Dominating image of star, gives eye contact with the reader creating a personal connection.

Other features included in the magazine. Opposing colours draw attention

Main article title; name of the star to personalise the article.

Italic font showing they are the words of the star, to personalise and give slight insight to the main article.

Black and white image used to represent sophistication of the magazine. Restrained colour scheme creates product quality.

Large amount of space emphasises the background image.

Large title, with buttons to interest the reader i.e. “two weeks revealed” showing the magazine is value for money.

Multiple pictures of characters, large short sub-titles to give a brief outline of the multiple storyline’s.

The use of bright colour of sub headings emphasise certain words such as “on deathbed!” to grab reader attention.

All text canted at the same angle to create continuity. Writing in italics creates tension.

Exclamation and question marks used to engage the reader, involving them in the characters lives through use of rhetorical questions.

Lower case title makes the magazine appear less formal, creating greater appeal to a wider audience.

Borders between characters show the storylines are not linked emphasising the number of differing articles, thus pulling audience interest.

After analysing examples of soap magazines in preparation for my ancillary, I began to review examples of posters.

The large image of the woman attracts the audience due to its suggestive nature

The text “every parents worst nightmare” entices a teenage audience who want to find out why.It also promotes a rebellious outlook as teenagers may watch it for the sole reason their parents will not approve.

There is a sparse amount of text, allowing the image to dominate and the viewer to quickly grasp the nature and genre of the soap even when quickly passing by.

The font size and colour of the soap’s name is subdued, allowing the image to be the main attraction for the audience. Also it creates brand recognition between the soap and audience.

Analysing existing soap posters..

After making the decision to use a more sophisticated and professionally styled soap magazine, I began planning my magazine ancillaries.

I drafted a mock magazine ancillary to help me decide on positioning the features, title etc. This was useful in helping me understand the conventions and codes of soap magazines even further.

I modelled my planning on TV and Satellite because of its simple but classy style.

I decided against creating a cheap ‘trashy’ soap magazine because they appear chaotic and unprofessional.

Planning magazine ancillaries..

After finalising the initial plan of my magazine, I began the planning of my poster ancillaries.

I chose to use multiple characters in the poster image to indicate the numerous storylines involved and identify the genre of the soap.

…and poster ancillaries..

Following the planning phase, my group and I took photo’s of each other, as individuals, pairs and groups which could be utilised in my ancillaries. Some of the photo’s are below, though many were rejected as not reflecting the soap’s genre or the conventions of magazine and poster images.

Photographic ancillaries..

These are some rejected photos of the ancillary photo shoot. I chose to remove them as they do not conform to the conventions of social realism soaps or the chosen genre of our soap.

Characters are too close to edges of photo.

The characters expressions do not reflect the attitude of the storyline.

There is too much blank space in the photo

The characters do not line up correctly

The characters expressions cannot be seen

Too much space between the characters

The characters are too close together.

I chose this photo to use as my soap magazine cover because I believe it reflects the gritty genre of social realism and the body language echoes the characters relationship within the storyline.

I chose this photo to use as my poster as it includes all characters of the soap and allows the audience to visualise the multiple storylines. It also follows the conventions of social realism.

Final photo ancillaries..