OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Mind Map and Research

Name: Bethany VaughanCandidate Number: 4137Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 2) –

Poster

Theme Ideas• Dark, dystopian theme: This theme connotes undesirability, danger and no hope. I

believe this fits the danger of the narrative in the trailer and creates a very dramatic tone for the text which I aim to reach. Furthermore, dystopian and “worn” themes are becoming increasingly popular in TV and film so it is a theme which an audience are likely to recognise, making it more attractive to them.

• Parody: Another theme idea is to parody a film genre, for example the action-adventure film genre. This would allow me to create drama for the soap opera while keeping it light-hearted through the humour of the parody. Action film tropes are recognised by all and many of their film posters are very similar, for example the hero and their sidekick or lover on one side of the poster often with the male protecting the “weak “female and the antagonist or ‘villain’ (Propp) on the opposite side in binary opposition (Levi Strauss).

• Romantic theme: Romance is a very popular theme amongst a young audience and is very attractive to people. This then would encourage a younger audience to consume the show as they are likely to aspire to and want the romance which they recognise in the characters in the poster themselves. I could also use the “love triangle” idea of the trailer to create drama to encourage the drama loving soap fans to engage in the show.

Tagline

• “To love or to lust?”: The use of a question encourages the audience to consider the outcomes of the two possible answers and also encourages a discussion and interaction between the audience and the show.

• “Bang Bang, He’ll shoot you down”: This connotes danger and risk within the show, and shighlights the threat present in the show and trailer while remaining ominous therefore encouraging the audience to ask questions.

• “Jealousy’s a Killer.” This highlights the theme of lust and jealousy within the trailer and “killer” signifies the endangerment of the protagonist.

Other• Synergy with social media – This creates multiple points of

advertising, cross media promotion and encourages discussion (viral marketing). I will include it through the use of a hashtag which can be used on both Facebook and twitter by the audience.

• Synergy with magazine – This ‘informs’ (Katz) the audience where they can find further information regarding the soap and it’s content.

• Point of call information – This is very important as it ‘informs’ (Katz) the audience of information regarding when and where they can consume the show so is essential to a poster, especially for a new soap opera which is not yet established enough to leave out this information.

Image Ideas

• Man and woman with antagonist ominously in the background – Highlights the romance of the couple while also connoting the ominous threat of the third male and suggesting the possibility of a love triangle.

• Female looking scared and vulnerable - highlights the danger and drama as well as how she is at risk in the episode. Having her alone suggests that she needs to be saved.

• Bright romantic image of the couple together and antagonist looking at the scornfully – highlights the romance which a young audience would enjoy while also showing the problem which will prevent them from achieving happiness causing them to fight for their relationship.

Mind Map - Conclusion

Name: Bethany VaughanCandidate Number: 4137Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

• Next I need to: Take my desired pictures and use them to produce the poster.• I need to organize/arrange taking my pictures,

getting props, researching possible font styles, researching how to achieve the images I aim to create in Photoshop using filters and image adjustments.• I will use Photoshop to create my poster as it

allows me to create a professional looking poster.