Poster analysis

Soap Opera Genre –

Ancillary Product Analysis

Name: Jonathan Sheehan Candidate Number: 2127 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

TaglineImage – The main image within this

Synergy with social mediaInstitution Logo Brand Identity

EastEnders: Poster AnalysisConnotation Analysis

Image The main star ‘Lucy Beale’ has been used on the front cover as the story is clearly about her and as she is singled out we as the audience can tell that it will be a big situation. East London is faded in the background which is known to be a rough area, connoting some sort of violent act which is yet to take place. Colour has been cleverly used to demonstrate this as well, the colour red indicates that there will be some blood shed or that we should be warned of the danger.

Tag line Techniques have been used here for a dramatic purpose, these include short and one word sentences. There are two words in particular which make the biggest impact and these are ‘change’ and ‘forever.’ With the use of the negative colours and other features, it is implemented to us that this will be a negative change. These pull words highlight that it will be a significant change in the program and that viewers need to watch it.

Institution logo The channel BBC1 is promoted by the faded symbol in the bottom left corner and is used to educate the viewer on what channel the program is exclusively on.

Synergy with social media A hashtag has been used to encourage viewers to use their social media to promote the program. This acts as a form of free promotion and can widespread the show. Because it is a plain hashtag the audience can use this for all three of the most popular forms of social media: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Social media synergy also allows viewers to interact with the program and make them feel as if they have their own part in making the program what it is which can be a special feeling for a lot of fans.

Brand identity Most viewers can identify an EastEnders poster as they use a familiar colour scheme and style every time. These other posters usually have a dark background with a character featured and a shocking tagline that will identify that a dramatic event will occur. Very Cliché.

Image Institution Logo

Tagline

Hollyoaks: Trailer Analysis Connotation AnalysisImage Many different emotions are expressed in this image such as anger, suffering and loss. Most have a

suffering facial expression however, it appears that most of the characters have lost a part of their life. From this we as an audience can expect to see some dramatic and plot twisting narratives which aim at leaving these characters distraught in their own individual way.

Tagline The style present is one that has been used for years by Hollyoaks; very bold and the colours contrast against each other (white on black). Also, like the EastEnders tag line, ‘Change Hollyoaks forever’ a dramatic use of text that signifies changes either good or bad, with the use of the fire we as viewers can expect a bad change. The fact that ‘Hollyoaks’ will change suggests that the narratives that will be shown will be very interesting and intense, enticing audiences into watching the soap.

Institution Logo The bold 3D ‘4’ logo highlights that the program will be featured on that channel. Highlighted in white which contrasts against the black and orange background, this is a similar style to the tagline.

No brand identity or synergy have been used, this may be for many reasons, however I believe that it is because it would clash with the already “full on” scheme that has been used. Adding social media would direct the attention away from the excellent editing that has been performed.

Student Exemplar Work – Textual Analysis

Student Work: Trailer AnalysisConnotation AnalysisImage There is a cleaver fading of a church scene as we can identify that there is a wedding approaching

due to the outfits on the characters. They have been added to the cake like the figures however the placement of them is extremely clever as one is sitting on a lower tier highlighting a loss of a loved one, the knife heading towards it signifies that something will come in-between them. The suits of the men are black which is not normally a colour worn to a wedding, light colours are normally related and this use of darkness would be found more at a funeral, connoting that the will be dark content involved.

Tagline This is an extremely clever tagline as a PUN is used in the sentence ‘I now pronounce you betrayed forever’ this is very different from the original saying and connotes a marriage built on lies and secrecy. This instigates a plot that could b quit dark and sinister which would appeal to many audiences, encouraging them to watch it and find out whether the marriage will succeed or not.

Institution Logo The logo of the program has been used to implement brand identity and convince the audience to recognise and relate it to the program. An unconventional font style has been used for differentiation between this and other programs.

Synergy with Social Media A lot of synergy has been used with this poster which can be seen as a huge benefit as it can encourage viewers to create hype by using the media links e.g. hashtags and Facebook address to spread the message to their friends and family. The only drawback is that it removes the simplicity of a poster and can clutter the look. Other professional posters by popular TV shows have not used it.

Brand Identity There are large forms of brand identity, primarily in the title withy its interesting colour scheme and font style, however more obvious in the social media links as accounts have been created specially for the soap.

ConclusionEastEnders: I thought that this poster was the most powerful due to its amazing use of dark themes through its colours and chilling tagline. As it wasn’t the best quality for a well known soap opera, I am to make mine a lot more professional with its image, however I do aim to implement the same colour scheme. The location of the program with a faded dark overtone is extremely influential and I am to copy this for Walton Hill. My image will be of much higher quality.

Hollyoaks: Connoting many themes ranging from anger to pain, this poster is very clever and dramatizes the program to a high extent. Requiring a high level of Photoshop skills to replicate I will not ty and copy it, however he colour scheme is good and I will consider using it.

Student’s: Out of the three, this has used the most powerful connotations with its impressive tagline and title, a great attempt ahs been used to crate the image, however seems fake, I will use a more realistic image and focus more around on thing rather than many. I will us a brand identify to the same extent that this one ahs with its font style and colour scheme as I believe that this is eye catching and recognisable. Mine will be bigger and the colours and fonts will be suited to Walton Hill. Trying to keep out the high level of synergy, I will most likely just use a hashtag in the corner as this can relate to all three forms of the most popular social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

One particular theory that we looked at was Steve Neale (1990) argues that Hollywood’s genic regime performs two inter-related functions: to guarantee meanings and pleasures, and to offset the considerable economic risks of industrial film. The narratives, themes and issues seem to repeat each other within the soap world, I am aiming to repeat this within my work by observing the other soap opera posters.