Surrealism is when the creative part of the unconscious mind is released.
Semiotics: The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour. Used to construct possible meaning from a text.
A signifier- The form in which the sign takes (e.g the green man)
The signified- The concept it represents. (you can walk across the road)
The sign is the combination of the signifier and the signified.
Thursday, 14 November 2019
Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Exam Question Paper 1 Section A Q1
Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in this save the children advert and the water aid advert. (30 marks)
Both adverts require their audiences to feel a sense of empathy for those who are suffering in order for money to be donated to their cause. In the Water Aid advert the establishing shot is of a dreary, wet windowsill with the visual code connotations of cold and blueish lighting. Similarly, the Save the Children advert has an establishing shot of a young girl who is about to blow out her birthday candles. As it is a stereotypical representation of western culture it links back to Stuart Hall's theory as it is celebration the intended audience can relate too. Initially, the audience would build some sort of connection to the young girl. However, In the Water Aid commercial the camera cuts to an unfamiliar scene to a landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. The lighting of this shot is warmer than the previous one. Afterwards, the main character, Claudia, begins to sing a well known western pop song by the international British Pop singer Zoe. Creators of Adverts often use inter textual references such as to engage the audience whilst keeping it relevant to the contemporary audience allowing them to respond positively or negatively depending on what emotions the creators are trying to provoke. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting that begins to emerge in the background with the chaotic and disturbing camera shots as the advert progresses could evoke a sense of guilt.
Advert creators often use intertextual references such as Claudia singing the Pop song to engage the audience whilst allowing it to be relevant for the contemporary audience therefore evoking positive or negative emotions depending on what the creator intended them to feel. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting begins to emerge in the background around forty seconds into the Advert. Traditionally within media dark lighting is associated with chaos and disturbance. As the fast cuts of the camera progress the advert could provoke a sense of guilt as the young girl begins to look a bit paler inferring to the audience that the conflict going on has effected her physically. In the Save the Children advert the earlier mis en scene is from a wealthy western country with the establishing camera shots displaying scenes such as the young girl going to school and getting into the car. Around forty seconds into the advert the scenery begins to shift from the familiar everyday to war torn imagery as the lighting becomes low-key. This paticular shift in tone would be when the audience recognises that something is wrong and begin to question if everything they saw in the previous shots is a potential facade as the reality of war is slowly being revealed. In these shots the young girl's facial expressions suggest fear as she appears to be afraid but aware of eerything that is going on in the background. The audience would be familiar with this representation as it links back to George Gerbner's representation theory as it tis a repreated representation of victimizing people who are struggling in society that has been used in a countless number of charity adverts. Furthermore, the shift in tone that the advert took would also resonate with the audience as it is also a genreand repeated convention audiences would be used to which links to Steve Neale's genre theory.
Unlike the Save the Children advert in the Water Aid commercial the main character, Claudia, is given a name to personalise her character allowing the audiece to feel some sort of connection to her. In the visual footage we witness brighter colours than the dull and dreary Save the Children Advert however she is walking a long distance to reach the water well. Due to this the audince may feel pity as it is unfortunate prompting them to donate to the cause. On the other hand, the save the children advert does not give the girl a name indicating that conflict could occur anywhere in the world which links to the last scene
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
Dizzee Rascal Research
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18th September 1984) is a British rapper and record producer. He was born in Bow, East London. `Additionally, he is known as the pioneer of the UK grime scene and paved the way for many UK rappers. His number one hits include "Dance wiv me", "Bonkers", "
Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Key Text: Wateraid Charity Ad
Analyse how the wateraid charity advert uses its technical codes to provoke responses, emotions and connections with its target audience.
The WaterAid advert uses many technical codes such as camera shots of a community in Africa to illustrate the positive impacts of donating money to their cause. The Advert begins with a landscape close up of a radio, windowsill with raindrops in the background and plant pot at the edge of the frame. Initially, from the scenry it is clear that the target audience is middle class. It then cuts another landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. Instantly, the lighting goes from the cold, blueish tint from the rainy scene to a warm, yellowish lighting from the bright sun on the wheat fields in Africa. These contrasting visual codes represent the binary opposition of Africa and the UK. It then cuts to a extreme close up of Claudia. She appears to be happy as she is singing a song while walking with a bucket on her head. Even though she is walking a long way to reach the water tap she is singing an upbeat song. The song connects with the western audience as it is a well known pop song by the British pop singer Zoe. This clever inter textual reference contradicts with many typical charity adverts which often have many negative representations of African people in poverty.
The WaterAid advert uses many technical codes such as camera shots of a community in Africa to illustrate the positive impacts of donating money to their cause. The Advert begins with a landscape close up of a radio, windowsill with raindrops in the background and plant pot at the edge of the frame. Initially, from the scenry it is clear that the target audience is middle class. It then cuts another landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. Instantly, the lighting goes from the cold, blueish tint from the rainy scene to a warm, yellowish lighting from the bright sun on the wheat fields in Africa. These contrasting visual codes represent the binary opposition of Africa and the UK. It then cuts to a extreme close up of Claudia. She appears to be happy as she is singing a song while walking with a bucket on her head. Even though she is walking a long way to reach the water tap she is singing an upbeat song. The song connects with the western audience as it is a well known pop song by the British pop singer Zoe. This clever inter textual reference contradicts with many typical charity adverts which often have many negative representations of African people in poverty.
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
Key Text:Riptide
Indie Music Genre
Indie is short for independent and there are two interpretations of the word in the music industry. It can refer to an independent artist or the music genre which is guitar based or alternative rock. The genre was created in the 1960s -1970s in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Riptide
Vance Joy's Riptide does not have a clear narrative instead the video is more of an interpretative style where the images are directly linked to the lyrics. An example would be whenever the artist sings the lyric "running down to the Riptide" the audience witnesses a cuts to a long shot of the water. Although there is a darker undertone of female abuse in the video which also links back to the lyric "taken away to the dark side". Furthermore this is an intertextual reference to the 1986 David Lynch movie Blue Velvet which is based around a nightclub singer whose husband gets kidnapped. Many Indie artists allude to David Lynch and Wes Anderson as they re seen as the film equivalent to Indie. As the video is postmodern the audience can choose how they interpret the darker scenes of the woman in the nightclub.
Indie is short for independent and there are two interpretations of the word in the music industry. It can refer to an independent artist or the music genre which is guitar based or alternative rock. The genre was created in the 1960s -1970s in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Riptide
Vance Joy's Riptide does not have a clear narrative instead the video is more of an interpretative style where the images are directly linked to the lyrics. An example would be whenever the artist sings the lyric "running down to the Riptide" the audience witnesses a cuts to a long shot of the water. Although there is a darker undertone of female abuse in the video which also links back to the lyric "taken away to the dark side". Furthermore this is an intertextual reference to the 1986 David Lynch movie Blue Velvet which is based around a nightclub singer whose husband gets kidnapped. Many Indie artists allude to David Lynch and Wes Anderson as they re seen as the film equivalent to Indie. As the video is postmodern the audience can choose how they interpret the darker scenes of the woman in the nightclub.
Wednesday, 9 October 2019
Advertising 8 questions
Write down five slogans for products recently advertised.
"Washing machines live longer with Calgon."- Calgon
"Lelli Kelly the cutest shoes."- Lelli Kelly
"Because its you, Stronger with you"- Emporio Armani fragrance
"Maybe it's Maybelline."- Maybelline advert
"Have a break...Have a KitKat."- KitKat
"La vie est belle"-Lancôme
Maslow's Hierarchy- Lancôme Ad 2016
Maslow's Hierarchy is a motivational theory that summarises the five main needs of humanity in the form a pyramid. From the bottom of the pyramid upwards the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, self esteem and self actualisation. Advertisers such as designer brands trying to sell new types of perfumes or make up brands often use this concept to persuade their particular audience that their product could help them to feel better about themselves. For example L'oreal's main slogan is "because you're worth it" emphasising the idea that women are beautiful and valuable which is why they should consider investing in a L'oreal product.
The establishing shot of the advert is Julia Roberts emerging on a party like scene. The audience then witnesses a close up of Julia in which she appears to be very confident and full of self esteem. However this is a contrast to her surroundings which look quite dull as is portrayed by the blue lighting. Often blue lighting has a connotation of cold or alienation that also matches the attitudes of the other guests at the event. Within the first ten seconds the camera does a pan shot to show all the other characters in the scene. None of them look particularly pleased and they are all wearing black making Julia stand out even more as she looks graceful and elegant in her white dress. As the advert progresses and the camera gives a few individual close ups of some of the party attendees it finally comes back to Julia who has a huge smile on her face as she feels a few drops of water on her legs and is about to step into a fountain. The imagery behind this shot is positive and could be referencing self love or love in general which is also featured in Maslow's Hierarchy. When she then steps into the water the everything around her comes into sharp focus as a shower of petite crystal like objects descend from the sky. Julia then looks to the moon with a sense of satisfaction as if she belongs to be with the stars.
Stereotypes in Advertising
It is quite common for stereotypes to be used in all forms of advertising to present a sort of imagery that the audience is familiar and can identify with. An example of this would be in Pampas adverts in which the mother is shown to be caring for the baby linking to the stereotype of females looking after children. Another common stereotype portrayed in advertising is of young girls liking dolls which is evident in adverts for toys.
"Washing machines live longer with Calgon."- Calgon
"Lelli Kelly the cutest shoes."- Lelli Kelly
"Because its you, Stronger with you"- Emporio Armani fragrance
"Maybe it's Maybelline."- Maybelline advert
"Have a break...Have a KitKat."- KitKat
"La vie est belle"-Lancôme
Maslow's Hierarchy- Lancôme Ad 2016
Maslow's Hierarchy is a motivational theory that summarises the five main needs of humanity in the form a pyramid. From the bottom of the pyramid upwards the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, self esteem and self actualisation. Advertisers such as designer brands trying to sell new types of perfumes or make up brands often use this concept to persuade their particular audience that their product could help them to feel better about themselves. For example L'oreal's main slogan is "because you're worth it" emphasising the idea that women are beautiful and valuable which is why they should consider investing in a L'oreal product.
The establishing shot of the advert is Julia Roberts emerging on a party like scene. The audience then witnesses a close up of Julia in which she appears to be very confident and full of self esteem. However this is a contrast to her surroundings which look quite dull as is portrayed by the blue lighting. Often blue lighting has a connotation of cold or alienation that also matches the attitudes of the other guests at the event. Within the first ten seconds the camera does a pan shot to show all the other characters in the scene. None of them look particularly pleased and they are all wearing black making Julia stand out even more as she looks graceful and elegant in her white dress. As the advert progresses and the camera gives a few individual close ups of some of the party attendees it finally comes back to Julia who has a huge smile on her face as she feels a few drops of water on her legs and is about to step into a fountain. The imagery behind this shot is positive and could be referencing self love or love in general which is also featured in Maslow's Hierarchy. When she then steps into the water the everything around her comes into sharp focus as a shower of petite crystal like objects descend from the sky. Julia then looks to the moon with a sense of satisfaction as if she belongs to be with the stars.
Stereotypes in Advertising
It is quite common for stereotypes to be used in all forms of advertising to present a sort of imagery that the audience is familiar and can identify with. An example of this would be in Pampas adverts in which the mother is shown to be caring for the baby linking to the stereotype of females looking after children. Another common stereotype portrayed in advertising is of young girls liking dolls which is evident in adverts for toys.
Key Text Paper 1 Section A: Dream Music Video
Analyse the content of the music video for Dream , using the technical codes ( use of camera, lighting, props , costume, iconography etc )
The establishing shot of the Dream music video by Dizzee Rascal is an intertextual reference to Muffin the Mule playing the piano who is a character from a 1950's children show. Already, this is quite unconventional for a grime video as it would usually be a black male. Less than 30 seconds into the video this media text has already subverted Steve Neale's genre theory as the audience of grime (which is predominantly the youth) would not be familiar with this white middle class woman. However Dizzee emerges from a box on top of the piano suggesting that he is insignificant which connects to the cultivation theory by George Gerbner as this links to a repeated representation of black people playing minor, irrelevant roles in the media and film industry such as a servant. However the camera does give the audience a close up of Dizzee when he comes out of the box indicating he is important to this video. He looks like a typical urban man in a tracksuit and a hoodie although he is puppet sized which is quite small compared to the woman playing the piano. The hoodie could be an intentional reference to what was going on at the time of the video's release as in the early 2000s there was a widespread debate as to whether young people should be allowed to wear hoodies in public places such as town centres. Some venues even banned the item of clothing so to have an artist wear one in his video initiates his perspective on the argument as he suggests that he doesn't agree with the ban. Initially both characters are binary opposites as they are from two completely different backgrounds and they represent different things. Dizzee is a product of his urban environment which is evident in his speech as he has an East London accent with some slang talk (i.e 'gonna' and 'reppin') whereas the middle class woman represents old, traditional Britain. Additionally, she speaks with received pronunciation which contrasts with Dizzee's slang. Another binary opposite that is portrayed in this videois the youth vs the elderly. Clearly there is an age gap between Dizzee and the woman which would be a logical explanation as to why she is presented as human size in the video. It also has connotations of the older generation looking down on the youth as she does several times in the video. On the other hand this could also symbolise society in the 1950s as the white middle and upper classes looked down working class and ethic minorities. By making the woman the first character that the audience sees implies that she has the power of allowing Dizzee to come out of his box entertain us for a bit and go back in. Likewise during the slavery era in the Americas (1619-1865) the colonial masters had the power to allow the black slaves to be seen whenever they wanted to. Another intertextual reference in the video is at one minute and thirty seven seconds with a brief image of two gollywogs before it cuts back to Dizzee. Gollywogs are a racial
Although this video in many ways does conform to that of a typical grime video allowing it to align with Stuart Hall's representation theory to some extent. For example the group of black men standing outside the off license store. Or the scene of the policeman beating the young black men. Along with the lyrics of Dizzee explaining his come up from the streets (i.e 'we used to hang around...reckless with no shame', 'I started doing hotspots'). These are all affiliated with the genre of grime therefore conforming with George Gerbner's cultivation theory as it is a repeated representation of black males in all forms of media. The policeman beating up the black males could symbolise institutionalised racism which has become quite a prominent debate in today's society. The puppets indicate that young black people lack independence and freedom. From a sociological perspective you could argue that they are trapped in their own mindset as they are working class and they value being in a group rather than succeeding as an individual also known as collectivism. Unlike his counterparts Dizzee challenges this stereotype as even though he did follow the crowd at some point he did change his life around which is demonstrated towards the end of the video when he raps about his success and the female character nods towards him suggesting she approves of his success. The last scene of everyone dancing connotes the idea that music overcomes all barriers of race, age and class.
The establishing shot of the Dream music video by Dizzee Rascal is an intertextual reference to Muffin the Mule playing the piano who is a character from a 1950's children show. Already, this is quite unconventional for a grime video as it would usually be a black male. Less than 30 seconds into the video this media text has already subverted Steve Neale's genre theory as the audience of grime (which is predominantly the youth) would not be familiar with this white middle class woman. However Dizzee emerges from a box on top of the piano suggesting that he is insignificant which connects to the cultivation theory by George Gerbner as this links to a repeated representation of black people playing minor, irrelevant roles in the media and film industry such as a servant. However the camera does give the audience a close up of Dizzee when he comes out of the box indicating he is important to this video. He looks like a typical urban man in a tracksuit and a hoodie although he is puppet sized which is quite small compared to the woman playing the piano. The hoodie could be an intentional reference to what was going on at the time of the video's release as in the early 2000s there was a widespread debate as to whether young people should be allowed to wear hoodies in public places such as town centres. Some venues even banned the item of clothing so to have an artist wear one in his video initiates his perspective on the argument as he suggests that he doesn't agree with the ban. Initially both characters are binary opposites as they are from two completely different backgrounds and they represent different things. Dizzee is a product of his urban environment which is evident in his speech as he has an East London accent with some slang talk (i.e 'gonna' and 'reppin') whereas the middle class woman represents old, traditional Britain. Additionally, she speaks with received pronunciation which contrasts with Dizzee's slang. Another binary opposite that is portrayed in this videois the youth vs the elderly. Clearly there is an age gap between Dizzee and the woman which would be a logical explanation as to why she is presented as human size in the video. It also has connotations of the older generation looking down on the youth as she does several times in the video. On the other hand this could also symbolise society in the 1950s as the white middle and upper classes looked down working class and ethic minorities. By making the woman the first character that the audience sees implies that she has the power of allowing Dizzee to come out of his box entertain us for a bit and go back in. Likewise during the slavery era in the Americas (1619-1865) the colonial masters had the power to allow the black slaves to be seen whenever they wanted to. Another intertextual reference in the video is at one minute and thirty seven seconds with a brief image of two gollywogs before it cuts back to Dizzee. Gollywogs are a racial
Although this video in many ways does conform to that of a typical grime video allowing it to align with Stuart Hall's representation theory to some extent. For example the group of black men standing outside the off license store. Or the scene of the policeman beating the young black men. Along with the lyrics of Dizzee explaining his come up from the streets (i.e 'we used to hang around...reckless with no shame', 'I started doing hotspots'). These are all affiliated with the genre of grime therefore conforming with George Gerbner's cultivation theory as it is a repeated representation of black males in all forms of media. The policeman beating up the black males could symbolise institutionalised racism which has become quite a prominent debate in today's society. The puppets indicate that young black people lack independence and freedom. From a sociological perspective you could argue that they are trapped in their own mindset as they are working class and they value being in a group rather than succeeding as an individual also known as collectivism. Unlike his counterparts Dizzee challenges this stereotype as even though he did follow the crowd at some point he did change his life around which is demonstrated towards the end of the video when he raps about his success and the female character nods towards him suggesting she approves of his success. The last scene of everyone dancing connotes the idea that music overcomes all barriers of race, age and class.
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