OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Mind Map and Research

Name: Phoebe RegnaultCandidate Number: 1212Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 1) –

TV Magazine Front Cover

Source of Inspirationhttp://www.insidesoap.co.uk

History of the Product; The First issue of Inside Soap was published in October 1992 as a monthly magazine. As time went on it was published fortnightly in the mid 1990s, before going weekly early in September 2003. Publisher;Nat Mags (short for National Magazine Company) are the owners of Inside Soap and are based in London after being established in 1910.Circulation Figures ;117,539 (ABC Jul - Dec 2015)

Socio-Economic Need;My target audiences would be mainly women as they are more likely stereotypically to read the magazine and watch my soap. When referring the the socio- economic needs graph I would suggest my target audience is between C1-e. This is because the stereotypical story line which my soap will include will be more relatable to the lower class. As my soap is mainly set within a school, ‘E’ which includes students will be able to ‘personally identify’ (Katz).

Possible fonts

Main headline ideas

Positioning;The main headline is positioned in the middle across the page. This makes it of of the first things you look at and catches the audiences attention. Making it in the middle will captures the readers attention and give an insight quickly of what to expect from the magazine.

Punctuation;There is an explanation mark at the end of the head line. The use of this punctuation adds an expression and a sense of importance to the text. Furthermore it makes the line more dramatic and exciting for the audience.

Buzzwords;The verbal code shock connotes something thrilling and unexpected. This can stimulate the reader and make them eager to find out what the ‘shock’ is. Additionally the word confession depicts that the story line is very secretive but something big have been revealed. Once again this encourages the reader to find out more, which means they read the magazine.

Images needed

Main image;The main image is set in the middle of the page because it annotations the main story lines the magazine is presenting that week. All characters featuring within the main image have direct eye contact which helps makes the reader more involved.

Borders; The images are in a college together, so the boarders help differentiate the different images. This makes the images clear for the reader to look at and makes the magazine look neat, tidy and professional.

Soaps own section;This collection of pictures is solely for Hollyoaks. This signifies to audiences that Hollyoaks may be having a significant important week, maybe when a present story line’s secrets are releveled. Also gives all the Hollyoaks fans a key section to focus on and insures them that their favorite soap is included within the magazine.

Background;The colour yellow is often used as a colour of warning. The bright yellow back ground is not just eye catching but could have some Signiant deeper meaning to the plot of the soap. Stereotypically plots within soaps are very dramatic and the characters need to be ‘warned’.

Conventions Price;It is important for magazine to include the price so that the reader knows that they are getting a lot of content for a cheap price. I found that soap magazines ranged from 60 pence to £2, which gives men an indication of a price point to follow.

Puff promotion;Buzz words such as ‘New Hell’ are eye catching and captures the readers attention because the magazine wants to show a whole variety of story lines on one front cover. The text is bolder and bigger in comparison to the rest of the test to make it stand out and show importance.

Synergy (social media);This magazine has not included any social media on their front cover. However I will within mine because it is a key convention which demonstrates that your product is available on different platforms. This is vital to the present day in age as a lot of people use their smart phones to access things on the internet such as magazines and information about their interest, like soaps.

Colours;The main colours Inside soap use are orange, yellow, red, black and white. These are very bright, eye-catching colours which will capture the audiences attention. Having a white background allows the lively, flamboyant pictures and text to ‘pop’ and stand out.

Strapline;The strapline uses the word ‘every’ three times. Using the rule of three and repetition sticks the word into the readers head making the strapline more memorable. The magazine put the word ‘every’ each time in a larger to make it stand out even more showing its significance to the consumer.

Cross-media convergence;On this front cover they have not included their web address which is restricting their audience from access ‘Inside Soap’ on a different platform.

Mind Map - Conclusion

From looking at this magazine and depicting it, I have found some key conventions which I will use within my own soap magazine front cover. Next I will purchase ‘Inside soap’ as it is my magazine of inspiration and it will be a useful reminder of what I need to include if I have a copy at hand when creating my front cover. I will continue to look on ‘da font’ for more ideas of what front styles I think will look best and which are similar to other soap magazines. I have decided to use Photoshop as my software to create my magazine front cover because I have used it before which means I am familiar with the features it includes. Photoshop also gives me the opportunity to edited and manipulate images whilst keeping them at a high quality, which you would expect from a professional soap magazine.

Ideas which I will include are…• The colours red, orange, yellow, black and white• Bold fonts • Social media accounts • Buzz words, eg; shock • Lots of punctuation • Boarders around images