Ancillary Text: My T.V listings magazine front cover

This is the final copy of my tv listings magazine front cover. I have used a lot of the conventions that appear in other t.v listings magazines, as well as making it original. For example:

• I used a blue background. This is because it is eye-catching but not too bright
• I used red for my title. This will catch the reader's attention, and makes the white 'TV' stand out
• I only used 3 characters for the main photograph. This is because more than three would have made the magazine cover look too 'busy'. The characters are also all from the same storyline
• I used yellow text with a pink outer glow for the strapline. This is because both of the colours contrast each other, and by putting them together it makes it stand out even more.
• I used bold text for the strapline and name of my soap. This is so that the reader can clearly see what the soap is called, and what might be happening in it.
• I've included the price twice. This is mainly for emphasis of how cheap it is, and just in case the readers don't see the first time I've mentioned it. I've also included one in a star shape for even further emphasis.
• I used a lot of primary colours so that the magazine is eye catching without being too bright
• I have included promotion of other programs. The target audience for these programs vary from children to teenagers to older adults. I have done this because I want the magazine to appeal to a large audience so that my soap promotion will reach a lot of people.
• I have included the logos of the programs I have advertised. This is so that the readers will know immediately what channels to watch
• I have included a barcode to emphasise the realism
• I have included the date and country, so that the readers know that the information that they are provided with is relevant and up to date
• I have included the website address, so that the readers can access further information if they wish

Ancillary Text: My soap opera poster

This is the final draft of my soap opera poster. From the research that I conducted, I found some conventions that I tried to incorporate, but at the same time I wanted to make the poster individual and my own work.

• I have used clear photographs of the characters that appeared in my trailer, but not in my magazine front cover. This is so that the audience can familiarise themselves with all of the characters and generate an interest in my soap opera so that they will want to watch it when it starts
• I have used a clear background that looks realistic. By having the characters lined up against a fence, and then the sky in the background, this looks more realistic and professional than just a plain or coloured background.
• I have used a bold and clear text with an outer glow, and have also used synergy as my font is the same as what I have used on my magazine front cover. This means that my audience may be able to recognise the font and associate it with my soap, which is positive as it means they may be more likely to watch my soap opera.
• I have included the BBC1 logo, which is the channel my soap opera will be aired on. This will provide the information to my audience so that they know where to watch my soap.
• I have included the start time and date clearly. This will again let my audience know when to watch my soap opera, and hopefully generate a larger audience.
• I have included a website. Due to technological convergence, audiences can watch television online, and so I wanted to offer this to my own audience. It also provides a way for my audience to find out more about my soap opera before it starts, so hopefully they will become more interested to watch my soap opera. This also applies to the 'Catch up on BBC iPlayer' text, which is also linked to the website.

Final Draft of my soap opera trailer

This is the final draft of my soap opera trailer. After recieving my audience feedback, I made the appropriate changes so that my trailer will be more conventional and successful.

Photographs for my magazine front cover

The next stage of planning for my magazine front cover was to take relevant photographs of the characters, and for the other programs featured. From looking at other magazine front covers, I know that I need to take photographs of the main characters featured from about the waist up, so that the emphasis is on their facial expression, but you can still see thier body too.

This is the first photograph I took for the main characters that I wanted to feature on my magazine cover. After taking this photo I realised that it would be better to take each character's photograph separetely so that I could then position them and layer them correctly on Adobe Photoshop

This is one of the photographs I took of the male that the female is having an affair with. However, I noticed that the lighting was too bright and so I took several more.

This is one of the photographs I took of the female who is having an affair. After taking the photo, I noticed that if her arms were crossed it would make it extremely difficult to layer phographs and position them in photoshop, so I took some more. 

This is the image I used of the 'other man' in the affairs storyline. As you can see the lighting isn't too dark or bright, his body language is simple and the picture is of him from the waist up. All of these things will be useful when it comes to importing them onto Adobe Photoshop

This is the photo I intend on using of the female character. The lighting is good, her body language means that it will be easy for me to use the Magnetic Lasoo Tool in Adobe Photoshop to cut around her, and layer her over other photos if necessary.

This is the photograph I am going to use of the husband character. I made sure that it was taken in the exact same place as the previous two photographs. This is because the lighting is the same so that when they are layered together on my final product they will all be of the same contrast and brightness.

This is one of my own photographs from Facebook. I decided to use this for one of the other programs I am going to promote because it could be for a children's TV program and I want my magazine to appeal to a wide audience.

This is another one of my own photographs from Facebook. I could use this photo for a program aimed at teenagers because it is teenagers at a party and they could relate to this. I wanted to advertise a program aimed at teenagers so that the magazine appealed to a wider audience.

This is another photo I used from Facebook. I also used some other photos of my friends and family's pets so that I could layer them up and create a vet program. I decided to do this because this program would appeal to a more adult audience, and I wanted my magazine to appeal overal to the widest audience possible to create more awareness of my soap opera.

Photographs for my Poster

After I had planned and created my tv listings magazine front cover, I now have to create a poster that promotes my soap opera, 'Eaton'. I have already used the characters from the 'affair' storyline on my magazine cover, so I want to use the remaining characters from my trailer on my poster. These are the characters from the 'poisoning' storyline, the 'peer pressure' storyline and the 'drug dealing' characters. I wanted to use the remaining characters so that my audience will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the characters, and therefore create an interest in them and their storylines, which will make them want to watch the soap. Similarly to my magazine cover, I will be using Adobe Photoshop to create my poster, and fortunately I have learnt how to take photographs that will be easy to edit in photoshop.

This is a photograph I took of one of the drug dealing characters. I knew that I wanted to use the Magic Lassoo Tool to cut around him, so the background didn't matter when taking the photo. I asked him to wear a hooded top, and to have the hood up, because this is stereotypical clothing that teenagers and drug dealers wear. I asked him to simply stand with his arms by his side so that it looked more realistic and natural, and so that it would be easier for me to cut around him in Photoshop. I also had all of the lights on in the room I took the photograph, to ensure that it was bright enough so that the photograph would be clear.

This is a photograph I took of  both of the drug dealing characters together. I took this photo because I wanted to see what would look the best when it came to creating my poster on Photoshop, and I wanted a variety. However, I think that seperate photographs will work better, so that I can layer them up and position them wherever I feel works best. In this photo, the male on the left is smiling, which doesn't seem typical of a drug dealing character and therefore affects the realism of the entire poster. I also feel that the male on the left looks more realistic as a drug dealer with his hood up in the previous photo.

This is a photograph that I took of the female from the 'poisoning' storyline. As you can see, the background is different and that is because I found it very difficult to arrange to have all of the actors in one place at one time. Luckily however, the background is unimportant because again, I am going to use the Magic Lassoo Tool to cut around all of the characters and place them onto a different background. I have also learnt on photoshop how to change the size of the photographs so although this photo is bigger than the previous two, I will be able to edit them all to look the same size on photoshop. Again I made sure that all of the lights were on when I took this photograph so that it was clear and bright.

This is a photograph I took of the male character from the 'poisoning' storyline. I made sure that he stood in an upright position with his arms by his side so that it was easier for me to edit him on Photoshop. This also means that all of the characters will be standing in a similar position which will make the poster look more dramatic and effective.

This is a photgraph that I took of the 'victim' in the 'peer pressure' storyline. It was taken in the same location as the 'drug dealing' characters, so the lighting and background are the same. I took this photo just in case I wanted to use the character, however I am contemplating whether or not to include her. This is because in the trailer you don't really see her face, as an over-the-shoulder shot is used so that the audience can see what she is seeing, and the audience may wonder who she is if she appears on the poster. However, I know that I have a photograph of her if I chose to include her.

This is a photograph of one of the bullies. I asked her to wear jeans and a t-shirt because these are stereotypical items of clothings that teenagers wear, and thus this would emphasise the realism. I particularly like this photograph because her facial expression works well because the character she plays is a bully.

This photograph is of another on of the bullies. Because she herself is a teenager, I asked her to wear what she would wear on a normal day. Checkered shirts and jeans are definitely items of clothing that teenagers would wear so I am pleased with her clothing. Again, this photograph was taken in the same place as the 'drug dealers' so the lighting and background are the same.

This is a photograph that I took of the main bully in the 'peer pressure' storyline. I think that the way her hair slightly covers her face connotes obscurity and mystery, and I think this works well with the character that she plays. Her dark clothing items work well too, as this means that she will not stand out too much which is good because she will not draw attention away from the other characters. The lighting and background is the same as the 'drug dealing' characters and the other 'bullies' which is good because all of the photos will have the same lighting which will make the overall quality of the poster look better.

Planning for my t.v listings magazine cover

This is a rough idea I came up with for my t.v listings magazine front cover. I used some of the conventions from the other front covers that I looked at, and used them in my own way to promote my own soap. For example, I have yet to think of my own title, but I think it will look most effective in the top left hand corner, because that's where people tend to look first. I also know that I will only have 3 characters from 'Eaton' as the main focus because I think that if I used any more it will look too busy. I know that I want the three characters from the 'affair' storyline, and I will include the remaining characters in my poster. I want to use the characters from my 'affairs' storyline because I think that due to their age of around 40 years old, they are most likely to appeal to the majority of my audience because that is the average age of my target audience. Also, younger and older members of my target audience will not think of thier storyline as irrelevant because they are not too much older or too much younger than them anyway. I want to include a large and bold strapline to capture the audience's attention. I want to include a barcode so that it looks realistic, and I need to include the date and country/region so that the audience know what issue it is and where its for. I also want to emphasise the price because it will be quite cheap, which gives the audience more of a reason to buy the magazine. I will also feature at least 3 other t.v programs, but probably from different t.v genres so that it appeals to a wider audience. Due to copyright laws, I will use my own photographs. Finally, I will make sure that I use bright colours to capture the audience's attention immediately.

Planning for my poster

This is the first draft of the sketches I made of my poster. I knew that I wanted to keep it simple, so that the information was clear to the audience. I roughly sketched out all of the elements that I wanted to include. The first thing that I included was the title, 'Eaton'. I knew that it needed to stand out so that the audience could read it clearly and hopefully remember it, so I placed it at the top of the poster in the centre, and made sure that it was very large. Next I focused on the rest of the information that should be provided. Along with the title is the other important information such as when it starts and on which channel it airs. So, I put when it starts directly under the title so that this is the next thing the audience reads after the title, and then 'BBC1' underneath that so they can see clearly which channel it starts on. Next, I placed the website address in the top right hand corner because there is nothing else near that area to take the focus away from it so I hope that the audience will notice it and remember it. The next thing that I focused on is the positioning of the characters. I wanted to include all of the remaining characters that weren't included in my magazine front cover, so I placed them at the bottom in groups according to their storyline. I placed the 2 'poisoning' characters on the left, the 2 'drugs' characters on the right, and finally the 3 'bullying' characters in the middle. I did this simply because of the number of characters I had, so I wanted the order of them to look even. At the moment I think I may have their entire bodies shown in the photographs, however I intend on taking a variety of photographs so that I can see what works best.

Research of soap opera posters

This research was very time consuming because I struggled to find many posters advertising soap operas. However, I managed to find some examples on the internet, but it was hard to establish whether they were genuine or not, because there seemed to be a large amount of fan-made ones. I also looked in different magazines such as t.v listings magazines, gossip magazines and newspapers. Here are some examples that I found for different soaps:

I personally believe that this looks like a film poster because the graveyard photograph seems to be the main focus. However, if you are familiar with Eastenders, you would be able to recognise the characters at the top of the poster, and henceforth you would understand that this is a soap opera poster. This is obviously a poster advertising a specific storyline with the characters at the top of the page.

This poster for 'Hollyoaks' shows the majority of the main characters. I think this would be a successful poster advertising the beginning of a new soap because the presentation of so many characters would allow the audience to familiarise themselves with them before the soap even started. I like the use of colour; how the male characters are blue and the female characters are pink. I like the simplicity of the poster because it just features photographs of the characters and the soap operas name which is enough informtation. However, for my poster I would need to include the name, when it starts, time, date, what channel it airs on, website and any other additional information because it is all knew and the audience would not be familiar with it.

This is another poster for 'Hollyoaks'. This time however, it seems to be for a specific storyline, presumably involving a fire. I like the special effects that are used to make it look as though the characters are on fire. I found that the use of the channel's logo and the start the date would be especially useful in my poster because it would provide information to the audience that they wouldn't know as it is a new soap.

Although this wasn't used as a poster in a magazine or newspaper, I found this on ITV's website. It was used to advertise the blog section, but I think that the image could be made into a good poster. It would work well with Corontation Street's audience, because they would be familiar with the characters and the anticipated storyline.

From looking at the small amount of posters I found, it seems to me that there aren't really any set conventions, other than to include the characters. Because I will be promoting a brand new soap opera, I know that I need to include the title, date and time it starts, the channel it airs on, the website and any other relvant information the audience wouldn't already know. I also think that I should include a variety of characters so that the audience can familiarise themselves with them before the soap starts. I also think that the more simple the poster is the more effective it will be. 

Research on t.v listings magazine front covers

As one of my ancillary texts is a magazine front cover for a t.v listings magazine, I decided to do some research to look at common trends and conventions. I started out by researching what the most popular t.v listings magazines were in Britain. I did this by going to Tesco and looking at thier selection and purchasing a few. These included: 'T.V Choice', 'What's On T.V', 'T.V Quick', 'T.V Easy' and 'Inside Soap'. These appeared to be the most popular because they were all together at the front of the stand. After annotating a few of the magazines, I used the internet to do further research.
'T.V Choice':

Personally, this was my favourite magazine front cover because I thought it was eye-catching, contained a lot of information and didn't look like there was too many pictures or text. I thought that it was very interesting that the price, '33p' was displayed very clearly twice, but it could be because they are trying to emphasise how cheap it is. Other things that I noticed were:

• It contains lots of bright colours, mainly primary
• The strapline is in bold and very eye-catching
• It mainly features two characters (Sarah and Jason) and thier individual storyline
• Other programs (mainly soaps and some dramas) are promoted at the bottom and top
• Sub-headings are used to provide more information
• The price is included in a star shape
• The background is blue, which is simple and not too bright but still eye catching
• The title of the magazine is simple, and shown in red at the top left corner
• It also promotes that it lists 'Freeview' channels, which shows advancements in technology
• It clearly shows the date

'What's On T.V' 

I also really liked this one, and noticed that it is very similar to 'T.V Choice'. However, this magazine didn't emphasise the price as much, and featured slightly different colours and programs. Things that I noticed were:

• The blue background again, this time a light blue
• The two main characters 'Sean and Roxy' are the main feature
• Other programs are featured, again mainly soaps but there are other genres too
• Mainly primary colours, but this time white is used for the strapline, with a black outer glow which makes it stand out
• It clearly shows its website
• The use of words inside a star shape is used more frequently, makes it look eye catching
• All of the characters are wearing simple hair/make-up and clothing (no themes eg. wedding)
• It includes the date
• Red title in the top left corner

 'T.V Quick'

Personally, I thought that this magazine looked too 'busy'. This is probably due to the large amount of text used, and because there is three characters positioned next to each other, which makes it look like there's too much going on. However, this is just my personal opinion, and I found lots of similarities to the previous two magazine front covers as well:

• The blue backgroung
• The red title in the top left hand corner
• The strapline is eye catching, and has an outer glow
• Features primary colours, and a lot of white
• Promotes other programs (mainly soaps)
• Shows the website
• The price isn't emphasised
• Use of bold text (in place of star shapes?)
• There are three characters (Sean, Ronnie and Roxy) which are the main feature

T.V Easy:

I liked this one because it has a lot of information but doesn't look like there's too much going on. Again, I noticed several similarites and some differences:

• The blue background
• The price is made clear
• Bright colours, mainly primary
• Two characters from Eastenders are the main focus
• Large, clear strapline
• Other programs are featured at the bottom, and up the right hand side (mainly other soaps)
• The title is orange and white, not red like the others
• The date is shown clearly

Inside Soap

This magazine is specifically about soaps rather than a general t.v listings magazine. I decided to look at it though, because I am promoting a soap opera and wanted to look at all the different types of soap opera magazines. 'Inside Soap' is quite different to the previous 4 magazines I have looked at, but there were some similarities too:

• Bright and colourful, however main colour used is purple
• Three characters from Eastenders is the main feature
• Bold and eye catching strapline
• Other programs (all soaps) promoted at bottom and up right side
• White background
• Names of programs/channels
• Title goes from left to right across the top

The main conventions that I have noticed are, blue background, no more than 3 main characters, bold strapline, lots of colours, promotion of other programs, include the date price and website and the use of the star shape for emphasis. I intend to use these conventions in my own way with my magazine front cover, along with some other ideas so that the magazine is original.