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.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Here is the analysis of my questionnaire. I recieved 20 completed questionnaires back from my participants, along with two that were partially completed, but I chose to analyse the fully completed ones so that I could make more sense of their responses.
Following the analysis of each question, I have included evidence of the changes I have made to my trailer as a result of the feedback.

1. Do you think the music is appropriate for the trailer?

As you can see, 18 people thought that the music I had selected for the trailer was innapropriate, while just 2 thought that it was appropriate. As this was the first draft to my trailer, I was struggling to find an 'exciting' piece of music that was still appropriate to use on the BBC. Therefore I selected a piece that was of a fast beat, but sounded Middle Eastern. I intend to change it as soon as I find an appropriate track. Comments from some of the participants included "it sounds too Indian" and "seems inappropriate for the genre'.

Here is a print screen of the new track I have used to replace the first track I used. It is called 'Thief'' and I believe that it is appropriate for my trailer because it is upbeat, and has a fast pace. This makes the trailer seem exciting, and gives the impression to the audience that there is a lot going on in my soap opera. However, it is not too fast or loud because I don't think that it would have been appropriate for the BBC, and it may have looked like it was more suitable to be advertised on Channel 4 for example, who use louder and more upbeat music in thier trailers. This music is much more appropriate because it is a simple beat that fits in well with the moving images, and adds a rhythm to the trailer as a whole.

2. Is the trailer the right length?

As you can see, 19 out of 20 participants thought that my trailer was of the right length for a conventional soap opera trailer. 1 person thought that the trailer was not of the right length, and wrote the comment 'it could be shorter - its 45 seconds and typical trailers are 30-40'. Although I understand that this is the case of most soap opera trailers, I have discovered ones that are much shorter or even longer (see 'Research of Soap Trailers'). For this reason, I realised that it all depends on the content of the trailer that depends on the length. I did want to stick quite close to the familiar convention however, and I personally believe that the extra 5 seconds does not make the trailer seem to long, but instead it provides information as to when it starts, what time and on what channel. Also, 19 participants thought that the length was appropriate.

Because most of my participants believed that the trailer was the right length, I have kept my final draft at the length of 43 seconds.

3. Does it work well with no dialogue?

For this question, 18 participants answered 'yes', while 2 answered 'no'. During the planning and research process of this task, I noticed that some trailers did have several lines of dialogue, whilst some had none at all. However, almost all of them have a voiceover at the end or even at the beginning to provide audio information about the soap. I therefore included a voiceover in my trailer. However, I personally chose not to use dialogue in my trailer because I wanted to include an element of mystery, which would entice audiences to want to watch the soap when it begins. Also, I noticed that the other trailers with dialogue in them were from soaps that had been running for a long time, and so the audiences would be familiar with the characters talking, and their storylines. Because my trailer is the advertising the beginning of my soap, I thought that dialogue would be too complicated for the audience, who are at this stage unfamiliar with the characters and their storylines. I did film each storyline with some dialogue, and then again without it though, so that if need be I could change my mind and make alterations.

As you can see here, I have a music track in my trailer, but there is no dialogue. However, most participants agreed that it worked well without dialogue, and it would have been complicated to add some in after I had deleted it, so I kept it the same. I did, however, add in a voiceover at the end of my trailer, as this is a common convention of many other soap opera trailers. This means that even if an audience member isn't paying attention to what is playing on screen, they will still be able to hear the important information of the soaps title, when it starts and what channel it is on. I watched a series of other soap opera trailers that were aired on BBC1, because thats the channel I intend for my soap to be aired on, and I noticed that the voiceovers were mainly a female speaker with a clear voice and a normal English accent. I decided to stay in the trend of BBC1 voiceovers and decided that actually, my media studies teacher had a very clear voice and a typical English accent and so I asked her to record a voiceover for me, stating the program's name, when it starts and the channel it airs on.



4. Is it recognisable as a conventional soap trailer?

I was very pleased with the results of this question. As you can see, all 20 of the participants believed that my soap trailer was recognisable as a conventional soap trailer. To me, these results show that I have done a sufficient amount of planning and research to make my soap trailer successful. Comments that people wrote included 'it looks really realistic!' and 'it all works together well.' I realise that there are a few small changes that I need to make, but the results of the overall questionnaire made me confident that I was close to finishing my trailer completely.

Although I was very pleased with the results of this question in the questionnaire, I decided to change the end title. This is because in my first draft it stated that my soap was 'Coming Soon'. To me, this seemed too general and that my soap needed a specific time and date for it to start so that audiences knew for definite when to watch it. I also made the font bigger so that it was clearer, and, due to technological convergence, I included a website that gives the audience an opportunity to watch 'Eaton' online in case they miss it.

5. Do you think we have used an appropriate amount of different characters?

Again, I was very pleased with the results of this question because everybody thought that we had used the right amount of characters. From looking at other trailers for soap operas such as 'Neighbours' 'Hollyoaks' and 'Coronation Street', I noticed that they tended to use at least 6 different characters. However, there was one 'Eastenders' trailer that featured just the characters of Peggy and Archie. Although, this was to advertise a storyline that focused predominantley on those two characters, rather than the launch of the soap itself. I also noticed that the launch trailers of some soaps featured all of the main characters. Interestingly thought, it was 'Eastenders' that was the odd one out. The launch trailer did not feature any of the chracters, but instead it showed a bus driving around London. However the trailer was almost 30 years old and I belive that in more modern times, trailers that actually feature the characters are more successful because they are simply more interesting. I think that 4 storylines and 10 characters (even minor ones) is just the right amount to conjure a curiosity from our audience, without confusing them.

This is an example of the most characters we feature in one shot. However because it could be quite difficult for the audiences to remember the roles of each character, we had the female on the left and the female on the right as just minor characters, and so they just stood behind the bully to emphasise the power she has over the victim. I also asked each character to wear a different colour top or coat, and to try and wear their hair different so that audiences will not be confused. We had the victim wear a bright yellow coat so that she stood out and was easily recognised.

6. Have we used enough different camera shots?

17 out of 20 participants believed that we had used a good range of camera shots. However, 3 participants believed that we had not used a good enough range of camera shots, and luckily 2 of those three had left comments. The first comment states 'it was good, but you could have used a long shot for the Eaton Oak'. The Eaton Oak is the main pub that is featured in my trailer and I have used a mid shot at the very beginning to establish this, as well as the location, as the soap is called 'Eaton'. We intially shot this frame as a long shot, but the Eaton Oak is on a busy road, and by the time we got far enough away with our video camera to make the shot a long shot, we were across the road and cars and road signs were blocking the shot. So we then decided to move the frame upwards slightly, and have some sky in the background, but we then noticed that the sign was not clear enough for the audience to read. It was then we agreed to do a mid shot that included the majority of the building itself, and that made the sign easy to read. The other comment read 'too many midshots'. However, from researching other soap opera trailers and soap operas themselves, such as 'Eastenders', 'Emmerdale', 'Coronation Street' and 'Hollyoaks' I have noticed that the main shots that are used are in fact mid shots. I thought that they were effective because they still showed detail, but were at the same time they often revealed setting as well as characters. It was for this reason that I decided to use mainly mid shots in my trailer. However, I have used some close-ups, over the shoulder shots and long shots so I personally believe that there is a good range of different shots in my soap trailer, and so do the majority of the participants of my questionnaire. 

This is an example of some of the different camera shots and angles we used. The top right is an example of one of the long shots I used, and in this case it follows the elderly lady as she carries the cup of poisoned tea to her husband. This shot causes suspense because the audience is unsure as to what she is going to do with the poisoned tea, and has to wait a few seconds to watch her walk down the coridoor. The frame in the top right is an example of one of the close-ups I used. This shot is for emphasis of the elderly lady's actions, which is putting two mystery pills into a cup of tea. The use of a close up also means that the audience can see clearly what the elderly lady is doing, which helps them to understand that particular storyline. The frame in the bottom left is an example of a mid-shot I used. This shot allows the character to be shown clearly, so that the audience can recognise her and her role, but it also shows some of the setting, and her actions. Even though her husband has left for work, she is clearly seen making two cups of tea. It is in the next shot that we realise that the second cup of tea is for her 'lover'. The frame at the bottom right is an example of a low-angle shot I used. I used this particular shot because I wanted to show the bottle of vodka hitting the floor when the bully pushed it into the victim's chest. I thought that the shot would emphasise the action, as well as look dramatic, which would hopefully entice audiences into watching my soap.

7. Do you think I should have used transitions between each storyline?

18 out of 20 participants believed that my trailer was effective without transactions to break up each storyline. I initially asked this question because I believed that my audience may experience difficulty in telling the difference between each character. However, I solved this problem by putting the storylines in a different sequential order, for example I knew that the audience would not be confused between the characters in the 'affair' storyline and the 'drug dealing' characters, so I placed those two storylines together. From studying previous soap trailers, I noticed that the editing mainly consisted of basic cuts, rather than complex transitions or effects. To follow the convention of realism within soap operas, I personally believe that transitions make the trailer look realistic, and often of another genre of television altogether. As you can see in my graph, the majority of my participants agree with me.

The frame on the left is the final frame in the 'poisoning' storyline, which then (in 0.3 of a second) as you can see on the timeline, cuts immediately to the first frame in the 'peer pressure' storyline. I think that the cuts are more effective because they are dramatic and to the point.

8. What is the most successful part of the trailer so far?

Most of my participants decided that their favourite storylines wer the 'poisoning' one and the 'affairs' storyline, and that thier favourite part was the realism of the trailer overall. Some comments included: 'I liked the part where the old lady poisoned her husband, it made me want to see what happens after' and 'the title at the end looked the same as the ones on the BBC'.

Frame number one is a shot from the 'poisoning' storyline, which due to the positive audience feedback, I have kept exactly the same. Frame 2 is an example of the modified end title, which as I mentioned before, I changed slightly to make it more specific as to when the soap begins. I did however, keep the same background, the BBC1 logo and the font, as they seemed to be quite close to the real BBC titles. Frame 3 is from Adobe Premier Pro, which is the software that I used to edit my trailer. It shows some of the things I added to my trailer to enhance the realism such as music, a BBC1 logo in the corner and a voiceover. Frame 4 is from the 'affairs' storyline, which I also kept the same due to the positive audience feedback.

9. What is the least successful?

Every single participant answered that the music was the least successful part of my trailer.

This is the track that I used for my music in my first draft of my soap opera trailer. It was in the 'Modern Rock' section of the website http://www.freeplaymusic.com/. I used this website because all of the tracks are copyright free, which means that I could use them for my trailer. However, there are thousands and thousands of tracks available, so I had difficulty selecting one that I thought was perfect. Eventually I found a track called 'Thief which is described as 'easy stepping beat with a big bass rumble accented by synth effects, with a funky simmer'. I always knew that I wanted quite a beaty track, and the original track I chose begins that way, but moves into what seems to be Indian music, which I didn't think was appropriate for my trailer. 'Thief' however, is just a simple beat that is at just the right pace for my trailer, and doesn't fit into a specific genre and therefore I believe that it will appeal to all members of my audience.

10. Is there anything in particular I can improve to make the trailer more successful?

Again, for this question the majority of participants answered that I should alter my music. As I mentioned previously, I have changed my music to a more suitable track which fits the genre of soap operas well.

Questionnaire

When I had completed the first draft of my soap opera trailer, I conducted a questionnaire and asked other media studients to answer the questions honestly. Here is a copy of the questions I asked:

1. Do you think the music is appropriate for the trailer?
2. Is the trailer the right length?
3. Does it work well without any dialogue?
4. Is it recognisable as a conventional soap trailer?
5. Do you think we have used an appropriate amount of different characters?
6. Have we used a good range of camera shots?
7. Do you think that trasitions could be included at any point of the trailer?
8. What is the most successful part of the trailer so far?
9. What is the least successful?
10. Is there anything in particular I can improve to make the trailer more effective?

The first 7 questions are simple yes/no questions as I wanted to be able to put the data into a graph so I could analyse it more easily. I would then be able to see any trends within the audience feedback, and thus be aware of what was successful, and what I needed to improve. The final 3 questions required the participants to write a sentence or two on their personal opinion.

I gave my questionnaire to a range of different people, including some media students. I did this so that non-media students could watch the trailer without being critical on technical things, and just give their personal opinion. I also wanted to ask media students because they would be able to be more technically critical, and give me advice on how to improve more specific aspects of my trailer.

The first draft of my soap trailer

This is the first draft of my soap opera trailer. We initially had around 4 minutes of footage, and so the first thing that I did was to cut out all of the footage that I felt was inappropriate, or was completely irrelevant altogether. From watching other soap opera trailers, I worked out that they were all between around 30 and 45 seconds, and so I made sure that my trailer was going to be around this length.
Another trend I noticed about the other soap opera trailers I watched was that they all jump straight into the action. There were hardly any introductions at the beginning of the trailers, they either showed a shot that set the scene, or introduced the characters and storylines immediately. I particularly liked this, as it grabs the audience's attention immediately, and is also an effective way of making the trailer short, snappy and informative - all of the things I wanted my trailer to be.
When shooting the trailer, we wanted to incorporate as many different camera shots and angles as possible, and worked with the idea that we would rather have too much footage than too little. This is how we ended up with 4 minutes of footage. We then decided to edit individually, so we could choose what we personally wanted and thought worked best, and then it would be interesting to compare our trailers.
I also noticed that in many of the trailers realism was an important aspect. That is, there were no special effects and hardly any transitions; the majority were simple yet effective. I have tried to mirror this in my first draft, and hope that it remains that way in my final draft. I conducted a questionnaire and asked for audience feedback and one of the questions was 'Do you think transitions could be used during this trailer?' and only one person out of the 20 or so people I asked said yes.
The aspect that I struggled the most with is finding appropriate music. Looking at other soap trailers, especially ones for BBC One, which we intend this trailer will be shown on, there seems to be very little dialogue, and music seems to be one of the main features of the trailer. As soap operas contain lots of drama and exciting and often unexpected storylines, the music is generally upbeat, fairly loud and often of the 'rock genre'. I particularly wanted to incorporate all of these conventions, but struggled to find sufficient music without copyright issues. The track that is on this trailer is being used as an example, so myself and others could get more of a feel as to what the final product would be like.
Now that I have completed my first draft, gained some audience feedback and seen other media student's ideas and suggestions, I will work on improving several aspects of my trailer. These are:

• Changing my music. One of the questions on my questionnaire was 'Do you think the music is appropriate for the trailer?' and almost everyone answered 'no'. I would like to find something upbeat but not too heavy, perhaps from the 'rock' genre.
• Adding in a voiceover. This is a common convention in most of the soap trailers I have looked at. The voiceover should state the name of the soap, the date and time it starts, its genre, and the channel it will be aired on so that the audience is informed with every detail they need to know.
• Change the title at the end. Instead of my trailer being a 'teaser trailer' which advertises that it is 'coming soon', I think that it would be more appropriate if I advertised a specific date and time for the soap to begin. Therefore I will change the BBC One title at the end, (which was blurry anyway) to state a time and date for 'Eaton' to start. The voiceover will then reflect what the title says.

These are the changes I plan to make, however I might discover something I wish to improve, add or eradicate along the way. I intend on keeping the length and order of the character storylines in the same order.