Research into similar products- Soap poster 1

Neighbours

This poster involved all the characters on the street and shows the relationships between them. The poster makes 'Ramsay Street' seem a nice place to live and the poster is warm and welcoming, through the technical elements.

Conventionally the poster follows the rules of the route of the eye. It starts on the ‘Same Ramsay St, New home’ sign which explains to the viewer that the soap will be moving channels. Instead of added text on top of the picture, the text is seen to be on a street sign which follows the theme of a friendly Australian street. The route of the eye then follows straight through the group of characters. These may be recognisable to old viewers and the audience can gage an understanding of the relationships between the characters. The route of the eye then finishes along the bottom of the poster which includes another street sign showing the name of the soap, and the time and date it will be shown. This is conventionally placed in the terminal optical area of the magazine so it is the thing the view sees last, therefore the information would stay in their heads and they will remember it.

In the centre of the group of characters is the main, most recognisable characters- even to those who do not watch ‘Neighbours’. They are placed in the middle as they are the most important of the group. It shows them as dominant and suggests that they are the characters that the soap follows the lives of most closely. In the dead areas of the poster are the minor characters, which are not shown as much in the soap. The poster makes use of the area it has, showing the characters as to who is most dominant very strategically.

There is very little text on the poster. The text it does include is the most important details that the viewer needs to know- date, time etc. The text used continues the house style of it being set on a street, with the text placed on street signs. This fits in with the poster and helps to continue the warm and welcoming feel as it is not very harshly written on top of the poster. The tag line used on the poster is ‘Same Ramsay St, New Home’ which simply explains the fact about the soap moving channels. It is an easy way to explain how the soap is not changing anything about it, also helping to reinforce the ‘welcoming’ feel. The same font is continuously used on the poster, which gives it continuity. Although the text is not large, the font used is black on white, making it easy to read. The only other font used on the page is for the ‘five’ logo, which is a house style font used for channel five, something recognisable to the audience.

The image used on the poster shows the group of characters all standing together and interacting with each other. Looking at each character, it helps to show their individual personalities. It also shows the group as a whole, standing closely, connoting that they are a close, friendly neighbourhood. Breaking it down, each family is stood together, showing the relationships in some way. It shows the couples and the families with children all looking happy together. Toadie and Stephanie are on the far left of the poster, Stephanie jumping on Todies back, once again reflecting the fun nature of the soap. The way the characters are organised into families can also help to suggest possible storylines to the reader. It shows them as separate groups, but ultimately all together on one street.

The colours used on the poster are bright and cheerful, they connote that the soap will be of the same nature. The bright blue sky signifies the sunny location, in Australia, and helps the audience build a connection with the characters that are obviously in high spirits. The bright blue sky, the green trees and the soft coloured costumes of the characters all help to create a happy feeling around ‘Ramsay Street’ on the poster. The colours used help to make the poster stand out and make it fresh and crisp looking.

Having a large group ‘master shot’ on a poster is mostly unconventional, most posters do not show the entire cast of the soap. Although the poster does suggest some storylines (ie. Families), it does not follow conventions as to showing obvious characters that may be involved in future storylines. However, the poster does help to create the ‘welcoming feeling’, something that would be its aim as it is moving to be aired on a new channel. The purpose of the poster is to show that it is still the same characters (a reason as to why it shows them all) and that they are still happy and upbeat about life on the street. The bright blue sky, happy looks on the characters faces and family atmosphere created all help to signify that the soap is welcoming back the viewers.