In order for us to create a successful poster for the advertisement of our soap it was important that we clearly focused on existing posters. For this we analysed a few existing posters so that we were able to get a good idea of codes and conventions that it would be vital that we used. What we found when looking at the posters that were desgined for soaps and films was that generally the image was the centre piece of advertisement. For example the iconic image in the middle of the poster was the representation of the characters and setting ect. Its important that we follow this idea so that it is appealing and attractive to our intended target audience.

Poster Fonts

When creating the poster for the advertisement purposes of our Soap Opera it was improtant that we chose a font that was appropriate to our target audience and genre of our production. Once again this process was only successful through the method of trial and error. The audience for our Soap Opera is aimed at youths therefore when choosing a font we had to pick something that was appropriate and would work effectively in enticing and reaching out to this audience.

When researching existing fonts we found that most fonts used for Soap Opera names followed similar conventions. For example the font used in Soaps such as Emmerdale and Coronation Street both try to portray fairly similar images.

The Emmerdale font is straight and solid although it also uses the rounded edging to contrast with the effect. The way in which the font is solid and bold gives the impression that its not child like and offers slightly more sophistication towards the intended target audience. It also suggests that this programme isn't all full of 'normality' and 'happiness'. However the round edging of the font offers this affect that is saying to the audience

Poster Creation (1)

The image to the left is what is currently the state of our poster to represent and advertise our soap opera, the Cross. As you can see it is in a very basic stage of development, however it is of course essential for us to describe what is currently going on.
Notably, we chose to use a certain layout that will show off the image once it has been inserted, without giving away to much of the overall plot of the soap, whilst maintaining a level of intrigue from the audience. The placement of the heading for instance we chose to place on the top right hand corner as we felt that we wanted it to essentially be the first thing you saw when you open a page. Theoretically, when you open the page, you would peel it back to left, causing the title 'The Cross' to appear first, and then you would see the image, following down to the bottom of the page where you then see when it is on. We felt that getting this layout right would be a major part of the advertising for the soap. We didn't want it to be where one of the first things that the audience saw was the title, followed by the time in which the program was on and the channel, we needed it to be that they saw the title, and thus had the name floating in their mind, and then could move on to the image beneath it. This in turn allows the audience to assimilate the information on the page in a logical and to an extent; produced fashion that allows the cover to be advertised in its most effective form.

As you can see we have added a channel logo to the Poster which we found to be a typical code and convention on Posters that are advertising soaps, or just general media. Notably, the Skins poster which we analysed made good use of this.
The logo itself we felt was likewise just as important as the layout. We needed to create a simplistic logo that can be identified with relative simplicity, but also one that was quite catchy to look at. We spent a great deal of time creating logos to go on the cover, but ultimately it resulted in being the most simplistic logos which gave the greatest effect, as we found after looking into logos like that of ITV and the BBC.

Final Poster

Finally our poster has reached completion. The intended overall effect that we were after was the look of simplicty. Because the poster has been created in such a simple way we feel that it compliments and reaches the desired effect appropriately. The simplicity of the poster is due to many reasons. One reason being because this is a poster created for advertisment purposes it is therefore essential that not too much is given away too soon. usually the poster is seen before a trailer and often the poster can be advertising the trailer. When researching into existing Soap Opera posters they all appeared to be very simple with only a small piece of writing (usually the title) and a picture of something that is very crucially related to the Soap.

As you can see on our final poster we chose to have the main image taking up the majority of the poster. Also the image that we chose to use was one that we had taken of the pub in Ashley Cross where our filming had taken place. We felt that using this image on the poster was appropriate because of the way in which it doesnt give too much away about the actual Soap and any plots and storylines. Although we believed that it still left the audience with curiousity into anything that may take place in this location. Essentially we thought that putting the image of the pub as the centre of the poster also has a hidden meaning behind it. For example the pub is a place where people go for socialisation and fun, therefore anyone viewing this advertisation of our Soap will hopefully understand that there is a meaning of community and 'normality' behind the lives of the characters in The Cross.

By situating the name of the Soap (The Cross) on the top right hand corner it will essentially be the first thing that the audience will see. Then the viewers eyes would move in to focus on the central image which is the focal point of importance and meaning as mentioned above. We chose to keep the font fairly simple and black and white. We did this because of the simplicity of other fonts on Soap posters we had viewed. Overall when looking into fonts we felt that less was considered as more and hopefully this meant that the name of our Soap would be easily recognised and remembered. Perhaps by keeping it this way we were slightly challenging the codes and conventions but we believed it worked this way better than any other after lots of considered trial and error.

The overall layout of the poster was extremely important that we got it right. We didn't want the viewers to see the title of the Soap then followed by the time and channel of which it can be watched on. We needed the audience to see the title of the Soap followed by a clear cut image of something that will be of great recognition in the Soap. Which is where the image of the pub came in. By producing everything in this particular order in meant that the audience is able to unravel everything in their minds in an affective and chronological manner.

We found that another code and convention of the Soap Opera poster was the channel logo. After consideration we felt that the channel logo was a fairly important part of the overall poster. We needed a logo that had simplicity, yet effectiveness at the same time. This was key due to the fact we needed a logo that our audience and viewers would easily identify and recognise clearly when seen.

Poster Images

 Before the piecing together of our poster it was important that we had an effective image to use in the centre. Initially i photographed the pub a number of times although these were the two images that i chose between for the final poster. The image at the top was a more close up zoomed in shot of the pub where certain parts of the image were cropped out with our photography on purpose. The second image (below) was taken from across the road, a long shot.

The final image that we chose to use was the long shot. We chose to use this as the final image on our poster for a number of reasons. The overall perspective that this photo creates about the area. We chose to use an image of a pub due to what it represents. The pub represents socialisation and community within the Soap. The community and having a central meeting point is a vital code and convention and throughout Soap Operas that we have analysed and studied. Out of all the pubs in Ashely Cross the decision to use this particular pub came down to the fact that we wanted to use something that represented the more old fashioned and 'comfortable' affect.