This document analyzes the front covers of two soap opera magazines, "What's on TV" and "Inside Soap", and summarizes the key design elements and their intended purposes. The masthead of "What's on TV" uses bold red font to draw attention while contrasting emotions. The main image slightly covers the masthead to portray the characters as important. Headlines use words like "Shock" and punctuation like exclamation points to appear dramatic. The date and strapline emphasize that the magazine contains all stories needed about soap operas each week. While "Inside Soap" charges more at £1.65 compared to "What's on TV" at £0.58, indicating it has more content or

1. Soap Opera Genre –
Ancillary Product
Analysis
Name: Alex Westbrook
Candidate Number: 3152
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

2. Cover line
(Secondary Story)
Masthead
Main Headline
Use of
Punctuation to
sensationalize a
story
Main Image
(Usually shot at
a MCU)

3. Masthead
The masthead “What’s on TV” utilises a bold font in order to draw attention from the audience. The white font within a red box
connotes a contrast of emotions and different connotations. White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and
virginity. It is considered to be the colour of perfection. Usually when used in advertising white with coolness and cleanliness and
therefore the masthead connotes a sense of innocence and coolness as if certain characters are calm and pure or at least they
initially appear to be. In contrast to that red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength,
power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. The use of red in the masthead therefore could insinuate a feeling of a
perhaps more passionate, yet more fiery and aggressive character. Red draws out the background and brings text and images to
the foreground and leads people into making impulsive decisions and therefore perhaps the audience are more likely to read the
magazine as they are more drawn to it.
Main Image
The main image on the front cover shows a mid shot of two of the main character who are likely involved with
the main headline thus inviting the audience to have to guess what involvement the two characters have. One
of the characters heads slightly covering the masthead shows connotations of importance and grandeur as if
the characters are particularly important and involved with the main plot of the soap.
Main headline
Within the main headline they have utilised language such as ‘Shock’ and ‘Twist’ in order to
attract the attention of audiences of the soap opera as there is a ‘twist’ that perhaps they didn't’t
see coming and they wish to be shocked and therefore are likely to read into it and begin to
question the plot. The use of punctuation with ‘!’ emphasises the headline and causes it to
appear more dramatic.
Cover line
The use of a cover line that remains dramatic yet still does not overpower the main headline is
important as it aims to attract an audience that perhaps were not interested in the main headline
or an audience for who the main headline is not sufficient enough to persuade them to
purchase/read the magazine.

4. Strapline
Date
Price

5. Date
- The date of the magazine reveals that this is a weekly magazine which therefore
suggests that a new magazine is released every week as there is such a popular
demand for magazines surrounding soap operas as soap operas tend to release a
number of episodes a week which also means that there is plenty of content for ta
magazine to cover.
Strapline
- The repetition of the word ‘every’ is used to reinforce and emphasize the fact that
the magazine is released ‘every’ and explains that each week they include every
story and secret therefore suggesting that the magazine contains all soap opera
audiences need to know about their favorite soap operas and thus they should
consider purchasing the magazine.
Price
- The price for this issue of ‘inside soap’ was at £1.55 yet this has now increased to
£1.65. This is considerably more expensive than it’s competitor ‘What’s on TV’ with a
low price of just £0.58. This therefore indicates that perhaps ‘inside soap’ is a
magazine with many more pages and in depth articles or could simply be due to the
fact that ‘inside soap’ is more popular and thus there is a higher demand and as a
result they are able to charge more for their magazine.

6. After analyzing two soap opera magazines, a particular convention that I wish
to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale - 1980) is the use of bold and sticking colors such as
red as theses draw out the background and give emphasis on
The magazine.
From the magazine ‘What’s on TV’ I wish to replicate the way in which the main
image very slightly covers the masthead as I believe this is important if I wish to
highlight the characters as in ‘Inside soaps’ magazine the main image is behind
everything and almost looks hidden and I do not want to give of this impression
as the main image is one of the main things that attract an audience.