Monday 21 February 2011

Existing Media Texts - Magazine Cover Two

This soap magazine is interesting as its main focus is around one soap opera, there are six staged photos and coverlines all based around Eastenders, looking at this cover helps show how we could feature all separate storylines in our soap on one front cover.

The staged photos are neutral and only allow the audience the information of which characters will be featured in each storyline. Hints surrounding characters personality and place within the soap are hinted at via facial expressions and the shots composition, i.e the use of background and foreground. Layered over the images are coverlines, either interrogatives or exclamations which creates suspense and excitement for the reader. The font is pure white which stands out as it is strategically placed over the characters clothing. In the centre of this main feature is the main coverline, “What’s Next For Waltford?”, again this magazine is aimed at soap opera viewers as it does not name the soap just the fictional setting. By using a question the magazine interacts with the reader and reveals that is going to answer this question, making the reader want to buy the magazine to find out more. Underneath the main coverline is a tagline: “Exclusive preview inside!” this is shown in a red font which has connotations of importance and v.i.p’s parallel to the pragmatics of the word exclusive. By highlighting this phrase via the use of red it becomes immediately noticeable to the reader, the word exclusive is the first thing they see making them feel as if this is the ‘best magazine’ as it offers them something no other does. At the bottom of the page, highlighted in a white square puff, is the corner of the strapline “inside” written in a red font (a mimic of the title), this tells the audience there is more important information inside, promoting them to buy the magazine.


The masthead separates the main Eastenders feature from the sections promoting other soap operas, taking up the horizontal width of the cover. It is highlighted from the rest of the page as it is a block red font on a white background, the title of the magazine is written in red as it has connotations of importance. Similar to this, above the mast head is a coverline “Britain’s No.1 soap magazine”, this too is highlighted via a red font due to the colour connotations of importance and being the best. Under the masthead is the magazine’s slogan “Every Story, Every Secret, Every Week” – this parallelism is included to persuade the audience to buy the magazine by saying that it includes all the information the reader could ever desire. The repetition of the word “every” highlights how much information is packed into the magazine; it also makes the magazine appear reliable in its information and honesty.


At the top of the page are two much smaller sections about other soap operas, both images relating to these storylines are screen grabs taken from pre-recorded footage. The exclamations marks and upper case letters develop a sense of excitement surrounding the storyline meaning the reader will want to buy the magazine. The background of the main feature is blue which again has connotations of relaxation parallel to the escapism soap operas offer, it also connotes at the trauma to come in relation to the advertised storylines.
This is a good influence as it shows how set out in the correct format, a magazine cover can be tailored to one Soap. I think that the use of a question is a good way of attracting the reader’s attention and making them think about what they are about to read. The blue background is something that appears on most television magazines so it would be a good colour to use due to it being the stereotypical background and also the connotations the colour has. The important pieces of text on the magazine are written in red and I think this would appeal due to the important connotations of the colour and the strong colour attracts the consumers eye.

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