Ancillary task – Soap Opera magazine analysis

Nikita Da SilvaCandidate number: 6627Centre number: 64770

Masthead: The masthead ‘what’s on TV’ will entice the audience as they will need to know what will feature on TV this week and so will inform and educate the audience (Katz) and so the consumer will feel this will fulfill their needs

Cover lines: The various different cover lines used will attract to different audiences different needs and gratifications through showing other soaps that may be on and therefore will have a broad audience to sell their product to

Headline: This will be the main feature of attention in this magazine front cover, as the audience will want to know what the shocking news is in Eastenders and so will want to purchase the magazine to find out more gossip to what will happen.

Colours: I feel that the colours hare contrasting and therefore writing stands out effectively against the background making it look appeasing and professional to the consumer, and so will appeal to a younger audience.

Date: This will educate and inform the audience of what issue they are going to buy and when this TV guide will apply for – so they have the latest information

Main image: the main image is captivating as the serious facial expression draws the audience in as there is a build up of tension and anger in their faces which shows that there is to be conflict , and this is therefore something I wish to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale) in my own magazine front cover

Layout: I feel that the layout of this front cover is effective as he headline and the main image take up most of the page to signify that the are key features of focus in this magazine. The cover lines have been placed around the edges of the magazine as other areas that may interest consumers

‘Inspirational magazine’1

Price: this is bold and stands out with the word ‘only’ to suggest that this magazine is cheap and will appeal to the consumers

Masthead: They use contrasting colours of red and white in order to make the writing ‘Soaps’ stand out to make the audience aware that this magazine will proving them with the latest news about soaps

Social Networking: this will appeal to a younger target audience who use social networking regularly and so gives them an alternative way to keep up with soap gossip that is easily accessible

Headline: The headline is bold and stands out on the page making it the center of focus. The two different colours in ‘Double’ and ‘Trouble’ signify they're are two different people that are out to cause the same trouble.

Barcode

Main image: this shows the characters looking into the characters seriously which builds tension and therefore signifies that there is to be a build up of conflict or tension within the soap

Cover lines: these are used in order to fit the needs and gratifications of different consumers and so to broaden their target audience. As other consumers may watch various other soaps and so will want to purchase the magazine for news about these soap operas

Strapline: This makes the magazine stand out from the rest as it is suggested to be the best which will encourage the consumer to buy this product

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What conventions do you wish to ‘repeat’ (Neale)?From this magazine a particular convention I feel that has been executed effectively is the use of colours which are contrasting and so make the writing stand out effectively against the background which will stand out to the consumer as it looks aesthetically appeasing and so is something I wish to repeat. The cover lines have been placed in circular frames which I feel is quite different compared to other soap opera magazines which makes it stand out. I feel that the layout of the Masthead is effective as it is bold and ‘What’s on TV’ signifies that it will appeal to the audiences needs of all the soap gossip.

How will my Soap opera magazine provide ‘difference’ (Neale)?In my own Soap opera magazine I wish to target a younger aged audience (Hartley), through the use of Social networking so that consumers have easy access to the latest news and so will keep up to date, which will appeal to a younger audience as they use Social networking a lot. The colour pink has been used in order to stereotypically attract a female audience and so is something I wish to step away from, as my soap opera trailers is aimed to target both female as well as a male target audience, so therefore I will use a range of colours.

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2 What conventions do you wish to ‘repeat’ (Neale)?

How will my Soap opera magazine provide ‘difference’ (Neale)?

In this magazine front cover, they have effectively used social networking to grab a younger audiences attention as they will benefit from it the most, and so is something I wish to repeat in my own magazine front cover. The price stands out and the use of the word ‘only’ signifies that this magazine will be cheap and so will encourage the consumer to purchase it.

My magazine will use a larger rang of colours as I feel that in this magazine the colours do not standout as much. Moreover, In my own magazine I will place the cover lines in a shape so that they are easily distinguished from the main image and so this will make the layout look more aesthetically pleasing.