Soap Opera Genre –

Ancillary Product Analysis

Name: Abigail RonaldCandidate Number: 2121 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Tagline – The font style is very basic, which makes a statement on the poster, the tagline reveals very little about the upcoming storyline, just stating that an event will cause a change within the soap, ‘Forever’. The faded editing used at the end of each line of the tagline could represent the characters life slowly fading away. As it faded into the darkness this could suggest that her death is dark and gruesome, this will intrigue the viewer as they will want to know what happens to Lucy and why it will effect the soap so dramatically.

Image – The main image within this poster is of the character ‘Lucy’, the image is edited and manipulated so that she has a red/grainy tint over her face/body. This editing makes the character look haunted, and also dead, this is effective because this is a poster advertising the storyline which entails her murder. The mid-close up shot of ‘Lucy’ looking over her shoulder connotes fear and terror.

Synergy with social media – By adding in the hashtag ‘EastEnders’ the producers are creating direct links with the young adult viewers whom tend to be the

main age group than use social media.

Institution Logo – By placing the logo of the channel that the soap advertised is going to be aired,

the producers of ‘EastEnders’ are placing Brand Identity on to the poster discretely. This is also useful

because it allows people to know where they can watch the soap if they didn’t know already.

Features that are missing from this poster include point of call information. This is an extremely important element as it allows the audience to know when the soap is being shown.

Image – This main image shows 5 characters from ‘Hollyoaks’ being engulfed in flames with either suspicious or pained facial expressions. The colors of the fire connote danger which could suggest that these characters are going to hurt/betrayed in the advertised upcoming episodes. All the characters appear to be in the nude which could suggest that all secrets are revealed which leaves them all bare, stripped of their dignity.

Institution Logo – Like the ‘EastEnders’ logo, this institution has placed theirs on their poster

aswell in order to keep the brand identity and let people know where their soap is shown.

Tagline – Through the use of language such as ‘Forever’ the poster is suggesting that the changes that are going to occur in the next week will mean that the soap ‘Hollyoaks’ will be hindered permanently. This could suggest that the characters presented on the poster are key figures so if they were to die/leave the soap there would be unchangeable damage left.

Even though this poster succeeds in promoting the soap opera, conventions they're lacking in include references to social media, which is a key element which should appear on an advertising front cover so potential audiences can discuss the show and create viral marketing.

Student Exemplar Work – Textual Analysis

Image – this image is of two love hearts featuring two characters from the soap ‘The Avenue’. Due to the fact that the balloons are heart shaped it may symbolize how the poster may be suggesting that there may be an upcoming love affair or something similar.

Institution Logo – Like the previous posters, the logo is used to promote what channel the soap will be available on.

Brand Identity – This poster also entails the name of

the soap, as this is a ‘Brand New Soap’ this is effective as it will

create brand identity so people will remember the soaps logo.

Tagline – the language used in this tagline is very effective, the use of the

word ‘burst’ connotes anger, but is also ironic as in the poster there are balloons

which someone is about to ‘burst’.

Day/Time – This is also placed on the poster to

notify viewers when the new soap will be aired, followed by what time.

Social Media Links– By including

social media links, it means that potential viewers can

visit the soaps social media pages to get more

information if they want it.

Conclusion • To conclude, across all three of the advertisement posters I have analyzed, there are

conventions from all I wish to repeat (Steve Neale).• Poster One – a convention from this poster I wish to ‘repeat’ from this poster is the

effects on the main image. The use of this grainy, washed out effect on the image makes the character appear dead, which is relevant for the poster I will be creating a poster for. another convention I wish to ‘repeat’ is the spotlight effect on the image, as this highlights the importance of the character.

• Poster Two – one convention I will be ‘repeating’ from this poster is the use of the institutional logo within the poster. I will be ‘repeating’ this convention in order to advertise the channel the soap opera will be aired on, as well as keep the brand identity evident.

• Poster Three (Student Exemplar) – the convention I wish to ‘repeat’ from this poster is the use of an effective tagline. The language used in this tagline links directly with what's being displayed within the poster, this is very effective as it furthermore connotes the key storyline which will be apparent in my poster.