Unit G324 - Magazine Textual Analysis Task
- 1. Soap Opera Genre – Ancillary Product Analysis Name: TJ Salango Candidate Number: 1220 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School Center Number: 64135 OCR Media Studies – A2 Level Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
- 2. Masthead: this is located at the top left of the page. It is particularly eye catching due to the amount of space it takes up on the front cover, almost ¼ of the page. The bold white font layered over the red background draws the reader’s attention towards the magazine brand, helping to build the brand identity. Main Image: often times this will take the majority of the page, however this issue includes plenty of side stories on the front cover. This main image uses a medium close-up shot of Stacey from EastEnders, which is an example of Richard Dyer’s ‘Star Appeal’ Theory as a significant character of the show is being used to promote the sales of a soap opera magazine. Her expression is inviting to the audience. Barcode: Oddly placed on the right hand side of the page rather than in the bottom left corner, this is unconventional. Main Headline: ‘Stacey’s pregnant!’, written in a very large, bold white font draws a lot of attention to the magazine. The exclamation mark (!) adds to the gossipy nature of soap opera genre television programs, which is what attracts plenty of readers. The font is simple yet eye-catching. The line beneath it, ‘Will Bradley dump her?’, although considerably smaller and yellow, still adds to the suspense of the gossip as EastEnders fans will be drawn in with anticipation. Price: Displayed on the magazine almost as a puff promotion, it highlights how cheap the magazine is, thus persuading people to consider purchasing. By placing it near the masthead it will be easier for customers to see. Cover Stories: Despite these stories are not as popular as the main story, they still contribute in selling the magazine. Some of them rely on ‘Star Appeal’ – Richard Dyer to promote them, for example, Claire Peacock from Coronation Street and Simon Cowell from The X Factor. Release date: Mid to late August 2006, the magazine is quite outdated as of today.
- 3. Masthead: The masthead on this front cover is located at the top left of the page and takes up almost ¼ of the page’s overall space. It consists of a plain white square background with the words ‘soap OPERA digest’ printed on top. The verbal code ‘soap’ and ‘digest’ sport a lime green font with faint white lines horizontally stripped across the letters. Although the color is eye-catching, the fact that the words have been typed in all lower case letters doesn’t emphasize the importance and success of the brand. On the other hand, the word ‘OPERA’ features a plain black font typed in all capital letters in a very small font size. This is not an effective masthead due to its disorganized nature. Main Image: This particular issue doesn’t feature a main image, instead it offers an array of images of different actors and actresses currently starring in soap operas in the US. These photographs are all close up headshots to make it easier for readers to identify them; Richard Dyer’s Star Appeal theory in which audiences are drawn in by celebrity appearances strongly applies to this front cover as it relies on the faces of famous actors and actresses to sell the magazine. Barcode and Price: The price of this magazine is $3.50 in the US and $4.50 in Canada. According to Statista, the average single copy price of a US magazine back in 2005, when this issue was released, was $4.4 USD. This connotes that the magazine is more exclusive in Canada but a little less popular throughout the US. Main Headline: The words ‘WHO’S LEAVING?’ is printed in very large capitals in a bold red font on the right side of the page, taking up even more space than the masthead. The question mark intensifies the importance of the topic and the size of the headline makes it more noticeable than the magazine brand. The use of a question as opposed to a statement persuades audiences to read on to fulfill their interest. The main headline is followed by a statement written in black and outlined in white. The verbal code ‘OUT’ is capitalized and written in red to connote the urgency and significance of the story, and also follows the color scheme of the main headline. Cover Stories: This is very lightly covered in the magazine, an example being the purple square with the words ‘PLUS: DAYS Casting Update!’. The capitalization of the letters attempts to catch the viewer’s attention, but the cover story itself takes up very little room. Web Address/ Cross Media Convergence: This particular magazine features some sort of cross media convergence as it promotes its brand’s website on the front cover. It does not, however, feature any social media idents or hashtags, which is most likely because it is quite an outdated magazine. Release date: April 5, 2005, this magazine is fairly outdated. This simply informs the reader of the date of release of this specific issue.
- 4. Conclusion In my own ancillary magazine front cover, I would like to repeat and avoid a few conventions as seen in the analyzed front covers. Firstly, I would like to include one large main image on my front cover than multiple smaller images, this is because I think it is cleaner and more well laid out. I would like to repeat Soap Opera Digest’s main headline as it features a thick, bold font written in all capitals, allowing it to attract the attention of more readers. I preferred the masthead of the What’s on TV magazine over then Soap Opera Digest magazine as it was more aesthetically pleasing; the color co-ordination complimented the house color of the page and the text above the background was not contrasting enough to draw attention but not to the point that it became abstract. I would also repeat the use of cover stories to add to the content of the front cover; the second magazine front cover that I analyzed was lacking this therefore it seemed somewhat plain and empty; the more conventions I include on my front cover, the better grade I will achieve. One major observation from both front covers was the lack of cross media convergence, there was no use of social media and only 1 use of a website from the Soap Opera Digest cover. This could possibly be due to how old the What’s On TV magazine is, being distributed August 2006, and the limited use of digital media at the time. As of now, digital media is abundant and consumers are aware of social media and online websites, therefore I will look to feature examples of Cross Media Convergence, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram idents and an official website on my own front cover.