Key Conventions of a Soap Poster
This task involved me researching two different posters that have been designed to advertise something that the soap is going to broadcast. This research will help me when designing my own poster as I will have more of an understanding as to what techniques work effectively, and what conventions are usually used in a soap poster. I can then use these skills alongside editing skills to ensure my poster is not just aesthetically pleasing but also advertises the soap.
In conclusion, this research showed me that the main conventions a soap poster are:
- Channel logo
- Main image
- Tagline
- Channel details
I will include these in my own poster as it will make it look more professional as it follows the conventions of a soap poster. As the audience will have seen similar ones before they will know the genre of the show and if they enjoy soaps like Hollyoaks and Eastenders they might be persuaded to watch the new soap as it looks similar and will include similar conventions which they know they will enjoy. For my own poster I will also use one main image include a number of different characters to convey the age of the characters to the target audience as this will be a key selling point. Due to the fact that nearly all of the characters are at school age or young adult means that it will be more appealing to an audience of this age and, as my research has shown me, there is a gap in the market for a soap with this target audience.
In this task I carried out further research into two different soap posters to find out what conventions are used and what effect they have on the audience. This will help me when it comes to designing my own poster as I will have more of an understand into what techniques I can use to make it more appealing and persuasive to my audience. It also gives me an idea of what I would like to include in my own poster such as the type of image, as I will need to use something that is eye catching.
This research informed me that most soap posters use mise en scene to connote the action and themes involved in the soap to the audience. Both of the posters showed me that facial expressions are a key part of the poster as well as the use of body language and setting. In the Eastenders poster the characters are all seen in the pub and there is a lot of action going on. This symbolises what is going to happen in the soap without giving too much away, helping to persuade the audience to watch it to find out what happened and why. The Hollyoaks poster also used body language and facial expression as well as effects of fire that have been applied afterwards to help make it more dramatic and therefore more appealing to people who love the drama involved in the soap genre.
This research will help me when creating my own poster as I can follow the techniques they used to connote the storylines as well as facials expressions that will touch the audience because they are able to understand how the characters are feeling. I now also have a better understand of the type of language used on the posters, so will be able to draft up my own dramatic tagline. The layout of the posters has also given me some inspiration and the use of a number of different characters is something I would like to incorporate into my own poster.
Ideas Generation Mood Boards and Mind Map
In this task I made a spider diagram of the ideas I had for my soap poster. I then created three mood boards involving the ideas and themes that I want to include in my poster. The mood boards are for: the images I want to include, the colours and text and the composition. I then decided on a house style that I was going to use that was conventional for the broadcaster that my show is supposed to be made for.
This task involved me drafting my written content for the poster. As this is a poster I will only be using one or two different pieces of text but I must ensure that they have a dramatic impact because, as my research has shown me, this is a key convention.
By organising my draft written content, I am able to assess the effect that it will have on my audience and whether I need to make any changes to what is featured. There is not a lot of written content on my poster because this is not a conventional feature to include. However, I feel that the tagline is an effective feature as it relates the trailer to the audience and suggests the drama of the soap.
Production Diary
This first stage of production involved me taking photos for my poster. I took a number of different photos from different angles so that I could choose the one that I thought represented my soap the most accurately. I decided to use take some original photos for my poster instead of using some of the content from my video. I wanted to take images that involved the main characters from my soap that the audience will recognise from the trailer. I used my draft layout designs as a basis for the photographs I took. By completing this task I was able to understand the production process involved in creating a soap poster, as well as develop my photography skills.
I decided not to go with image 1 (numbered top to bottom) as I did not like the framing of it, as I felt that the camera was too slanted and does not make the characters the centre of the shot.
I also decided not to use the second image I took, as I felt that Lexi was too cropped out.
I also decided not to use the third image as I felt Lexi was too cropped out again, so I tried to change the angle I was taking the photo for the fourth picture.
I liked the fourth image but I felt that the background was not straight enough, so I tried to change the angle of the camera to achieve a straighter shot.
This fifth image is also cut out too much as there is more of the other characters visible than Lexi.
The sixth image is also the wrong angle as I feel that the characters were looking down at the camera rather than straight at it.
The seventh image was too light and made the photo look unnatural.
The last image is the one that I chose as I felt that the lighting made the image look natural and the characters were evenly placed. The background was also straight and the props were visible.
In conclusion, I chose the last image as I felt that it was the one that would work most effectively with my design because the characters were placed in the centre, and they were all looking towards the camera connecting with the audience. The image is also positioned so that the audience cannot see the carpet beneath the paper, and the props are visible.
Editing- Day 1
The first thing I did when I began editing my poster was to change the brightness and contrast. I then changed the vibrancy as well to try and take away some of the yellow colour that had been created by the artificial lighting. As this poster is used to advertised my soap, I wanted to try and connote the themes featured in it. I took this idea from the Eastenders poster that I annotated earlier on during my research.
I then decided that the image look better landscape, with Leah shown as the focus point. This was effective as Tilly's murder is the main event that happens in the soaps, so the audience will recognise her. I cropped the image so that an equal amount of each character was showing to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.
Editing- Day 2
Next I used the patch healing tool to edit the image of a bruise I inserted. I used the smudge tool to make it appear more realistic and then took the purple colour from the bruise and put it around her eye. I was planning to order some fake wounds online, but I did not have the time so I decided to try and edit it myself. As I had used this tool before on my magazine cover to edit my image, I understood the way it worked and how I could make the bruise blend with the skin to make it appear realistic. I then used the magic wand tool to select Leahs face and arms and then made her appear paler than the rest of the characters as she is supposed to be dead in the trailer. By using this effect, I was able to create a spooky look that surprised the audience as it is so honest as usually you do not see the characters when they die. This helps to make my poster stand out like the Hollyoaks poster that used the flames effect as it makes it more original and eye catching.
I also used the pen tool from Photoshop to create a path for my tagline that is also used in the trailer. By including this in both my trailer and my poster I can make my audience more aware that these media products are related to each other, and the tagline also connotes the genre of the TV show the poster is advertising as it is suggesting that something bad has happened that is a mystery to the audience because it states that 'you never know what goes on behind closed doors', insinuating that anything could happen. I used an S shape to type my text as it links the font with the image and does not make it obvious that they have been edited together because the text flows around the characters faces. This draws the attention of the audience to the centre of the piece which is important as the characters faces tell the story, and the appearance of Leah connotes the murder mystery storyline used in the trailer.
Editing- Day 3
I used Adobe Photoshop to manipulate an image from E4 that they use to promote the time and release date of all of their programmes. By using this image, I can ensure that my poster is conventional for the channel it is being shown on. I also googled the font that E4 use to see if I could make the logo look realistic. I then screenshotted this text from a text simulator online and photoshopped it so it had no background and the text was white, like the one on E4.
I used the blur tool to add images that I found on Google to add to my poster that I hadn't got present on the day of the shoot. I took some images of a woman and a child that could be blurred to look like it was one of Bens images of his mum and him and placed it on top of my original photograph. This prop also connotes the narrative in the soap as Bens mum died when he was younger. I took this idea from an earlier Eastenders poster, as I feel that by using props to tell a story the poster looks more creative and is closely related to the trailer. I also used this skill on other images like the cigarette and the small white tablets. This also makes the poster look more aesthetically pleasure as there are no blank spaces so it keeps the viewer entertained as there is a lot to look at that.
I placed the logo in the top right hand corner of my poster which makes catches the eye of the audience when they look at it. It also doesn't take away any focus on the image or cover up some of the main props that are used to connote the themes and narrative.
First Draft
What went well?
My poster looks very conventional for the broadcaster E4 as it features a logo used on both posters and advertisements on the channel. The editing I used makes the characters look airbrushed and blemish free, and the props can be seen clearly. The props also help to keep the poster look busy without blank spaces, making it appear well thought out and professional. The blur effect I used help to make the images I placed onto the poster afterwards, like the broken cigarette and the money, look like they were part of the image so even though I may not have had all the props on the day I was still able to successfully use the mise en scene effect I was aiming for.
Even better if?
I could improve my poster by making the text used on the tagline the same font as the one used on the logo. This would help to make my poster look more aesthetically pleasing and conventional. Another improvement I could make is to make the bruising on Leah's face look even more effective to catch the eye of the audience when the look at the poster because it looks so realistic.
Final Draft
This is the final draft for my ancillary task 2
Final Draft
This is the final draft for my ancillary task 2
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