This document analyzes the cover of a soap opera magazine called Inside Soap. It discusses various design elements and techniques used on the cover to appeal to readers and sell magazines. These include the use of bright colors, bold fonts, capitalization, exclamation points, emotive language in headlines and pull quotes, and large central images to draw attention. It also notes design consistency with the repeated strapline in the same font and color scheme across issues. The analysis suggests the cover targets a working-class audience through its coverage of soap opera storylines and use of language evoking aggression and drama.

1. Soap Opera Genre –
Ancillary Product
Analysis
Name: Joe Dolan
Candidate Number: 2043
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

2. The denotation of the masthead is
‘What’s on TV’. The masthead of this
magazine is clear and functional
with the use of bright colours and
bold font. The colour red represents
the magazines passion for the
covering soap of which is Eastenders
and the two Landlords and the
passionate love they share.
“MY SECRET PAST!” – This cover line
is Bold and capitalised with the use
of outlining and the exclamation
mark of which makes it more
exciting for the reader. This makes it
more appealing for the audience so
they wish to turn the page and see
what this is about. The colour of her
outfit also suggests that she is pure
as opposed to the secretive story,
which adds further scandal and
intrigue for the benefit of the reader.
The images give the ability for the
reader to be eased into the story
with a small subheading such as
“Val’s shock test results” and these
images are located in the bottom of
the page from left to right and
illustrate the characters that are
being discussed within the magazine
and a subline giving a summary of
the story to get the audience
intrigued.
Within this magazine it doesn’t give
the audience a chance to win
anything or any perks of purchasing
the magazine apart from the content
that is within.
The use of a large image of the
EastEnders couple anchoring the
main headline “Mick Carter &
Stacey” capturing the mains
storyline through the brightness of
the image and is able to capture the
audiences attention through this
editing and boldness.
Through the use of these bold verbal
codes such as “Save you”, “New”
and “Shock” help the audience
become drawn to the emotive
language as it is influential and gives
them a link to the headlines and
stories and therefore makes them
understand what is within this
magazine.
The cross media convergence used through this
magazine cover is the website of which is
presented underneath “What’s on TV” and it
gives a direct link to whatsontv.co.uk
Gradient Background: The brightness of the
background is effective in portraying a happy
exciting effect on the reader and relates to
the smile on the main characters facial
expression

3. The pop-up consists of verbal codes
such as ‘Dales Baby Drama’ of which
is stood out boldly though its font
colour and effective capitalisation.
Therefore this would make the
reader more enticed to read this and
would be more obliged to purchase
this as they want to understand the
story behind this. The font is in bold
and has an exclamation after it to
make it seem bold and captivating.
The red rectangle behind this makes
it clear and contrasts this effectively.
The main font used is consistent
throughout the whole page and
interestingly is capitalised with no
use of italics to make it clear and
bold.
The non-verbal code of the main
image of Max Branning can imply
that this magazine is typically read
by the male audience (Hartley) and
gives an idea from more of a male
perspective. The magazine also uses
verbal codes to promote the
magazine such as “Every Secret” but
also with the use of a pull out quote
such as “You’re Sick!” can give the
audience an idea that this argument
is from a lower class and how
aggression is present.
The use of language within
this magazine is effective in targeting
the lower class audience who this
soap opera magazine targets. For
example the use of verbal codes such
as “Punch-Up!” gives the ability for
the audience to understand the
lower class nature of these
characters and how their
environment such as “Albert Square”
changes them.
The non-verbal code of the image
interestingly portrays the
stereotypical view of the male
gender as superior and placed in
front of the females, even though
the story is about his affair and how
he is described as “Sick” he still
stands in front of the two females
even though he is of a minority. This
gives the ability and “Signifies” the
audience that the male is more
dominant as he is the father of these
two females therefore holds
authority of them.
The strapline used is consistent
along every issue they release and is
“Repeated” across all issues in the
same font and colour scheme to
make it look professional and
something to look out for as the
reader is able to recognize it.
Cross media convergence within this magazine front cover isn’t
present clearly and can suggest that the magazine due to its
price of £1.60 is exclusive and is able to match the target
audience successfully.

4. Conclusion
and
From working on this task I will ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale – 1980) the capitalisation of the font
for example the strapline and sub heading and the boldness used to draw the readers
attention to the text and make them want to continue reading the story.
I also wish to ‘repeat’ the use of effects on the images and the layout of the main image
from the Inside Soap issue as it matches the stereotypical view and works effectively in
drawing the reader in. Lastly I will use the shocking language like “Rot in Hell” as it shocks
the reader and makes them want to see what the story is all about.
The strapline language makes the magazine seem more exclusive, for example “EVERY
WEEK”, which gives the audience the information of when it is released and makes them
feel like they should purchase it weekly.