Soap Opera Poster Analysis

As well as our Soap Opera trailer and Magazine front cover we have to create a poster to help advertise the brand new soap allowing potential viewers to know when the programme is airing and on which channel it can be found upon. We wanted to analyse what other larger soaps have done to attract an audience or advertise a large storyline and see if there were any common features or things we could use within ours.

This soap opera poster was used to advertise Neighbours being shown on a new channel, "Five" to bring the regular viewers over with the well established programme, within the poster we can see most of the cast members all joined together seeming to be having a good time, laughing and joking about. The highly saturated colours provides the audience with happiness and joy conotated through the bright blue sky clearly seen in the background. There are also houses pictured in the background behind the characters helping potential viewers to know what type of programme is being advertised, therefor setting the scene. The positioning of the Logo and time and days the soap will be shown is key to the posters success, with it being placed in the lower right hand third it is the last thing people see and therefor the most impressionable, this is something to think about when we are creating our own poster. All of this information is also placed on a street sign to reinforce the neighbourhood feel to the programme.

This poster was used to advertise the bonfire night tragedy on Hollyoaks screened on Friday the 5th of November. In the image we see 5 of the main characters from the soap opera surrounded by fire used to connote the evil nature of the dark storyline which is about to be witnessed. The clever use of vivid colours on the poster attract the viewers attention especially as they have been placed on a black background, allowing them to stand out even more. As well as the colours and layout of the poster the positioning of the characters is also key. Low key lighting has been used towards the edges of the poster and slowly builds up into a much lighter image in the centre connoting the woman's innocence which is also reinforced by the way she is holding herself as if she is trying to protect herself from evil. The gripping caption in the bottom left hand corner of the poster intrigues the audience and also makes them think what the soaps new storyline is about to involve, with this being placed onto a white background it allows the bold text to stand out from the busy picture. The Hollyoaks logo doesn't actually appear on the poster however the institutions logo does and is the last thing the audience see, making it the most memorable. This clever use of positioning not only promotes the soap opera but also the institution as a whole.

These are the three images/posters which Coronation Street chose to use for their "Summer or Love" storylines. Each image depicts a different couple in a different situation seemingly having their own problems and relationships. All three images are long shots of the couples with highlights of high key lighting to make them stand out from the busy background, for the younger couple in the last picture in particular this connotes their innocence and love for one another. The clever use of low key lighting surrounding them gives the impression to viewers that their love is forbidden however they are unaware of this and are living in their own bubble. The photographs that can be seen on the wall are all of the same image and depicts a man with his arms folded looking disapprovingly towards the embraced couple. this person is in fact the young ladies ex boyfriend showing his disgust at their new found relationship. Each couple is pictured in their living room which is a very relatable space and means that the audience can personally relate to the characters and their storylines. The ITV1 logo is found alongside the strapline "the nations street" suggesting it is the most popular soap. Both of these have been placed in the bottom left hand corner for the same reasons as Hollyoaks and Neighbours as well as being used to create familiarity and reassurance due to how established the institution is.

[Alice]