Week 26 Media ISP

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Key WORD	dEFINITION
Audience	Target, global, positioning, categorising, profile Reception Analysis
Ideology	Linked to representation and of the BBC
Demographic	Link to Audience
Psychographics	Link to Audience
The BBC’s Mission	Inform, educate, and entertain

Task 5 continued, Cornell Style notes

Week 28

Task One:

I watched Season One, Episode One of ‘Life on Mars’

Task Two: PowerPoint Activities

List as many TV Genres as you can in 60 seconds

Crime, thriller, mystery, comedy, romance, drama, sc-fi, fantasy

Component 2: Investigating Media Forms and Products

Media Language of TV
Representations
The TV Industry
Audiences

Television in the Global Age: An Introduction 

1. John Logie Baird is the inventor we normally credit for making the television, he was at the front of the pro-tv revolution, and an engineer.In the 1920’s he started experimenting with the idea, having been obsessed with the idea for many years. His work was deemed a success in the 20s, as he created what is essentially very early TV.. Lord Reith is the founding father of the BBC, and was against the idea of TV. 
2. By 1934, the government decided that the country should have a television service. But they couldn’t decide who should provide it, and so hired both Baird and Marconi EMI for a trial period. There was a transmitter that was large enough to cover London. The cost of building the studies was around £200,000, this was a huge amount when the country was in the middle of a depression. And so, the BBC had to start a television service.Germany started using television for propaganda purposes. After a change of plan, the BBC gave employees 9 days until the start of tv, and they delivered on time. The Baird system was not suitable and far too complicated, and in 1937 was dropped. 
3. 1/12/1939 in the middle of a show, tv was shut down and an ominous message was broadcast. War was declared on Sunday. It’s possible that despite reasons given, they wanted the TV engineers for the radar effort. German television continued through the war. By the time the war was done, in Britain, people relied heavily on BBC radio for war updates, and TV seemed like a distant memory. But on the 7th of June 1946 TV opened up again. It started up the exit way that it ended, with the same show, possibly as a coded message of Britain picking itself up after the war and just carrying on after victory. 
4. Showbiz, light entertainment was a table of television in the early 1950s. It came from theatre, musicals. Maybe it was because it was post-war, and there was an interest in everything continental. The news of the day was often shown the day afterwards. Originally, the news people were not seen on screen. Children’s television began.  

I struggled with this one, sorry.

2) Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic-media outlets whose primary mission is public service. In many countries of the world, funding comes from governments, especially via annual fees charged on receivers.

3) A portfolio of television services, including the UK’s most-watched channel BBC One, the pioneering online-only youth service BBC Three, and our multi award-winning channels for children, as well as national and regional television programmes and services across England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Ten UK-wide radio networks, providing the best live music broadcasting in the UK, as well as speech radio which informs, educates and entertains. We also have two national radio services each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and 39 local radio stations across England and the Channel Islands, providing an invaluable and unique service to listeners across the UK. Our digital services including BBC News, Sport, Weather CBBC and CBeebies, iPlayer and BBC Sounds, BBC Red Button and our vast archive. BBC World Service television, radio and online on more than 40 languages

4) Established by a Royal Charter, the BBC is principally funded through the licence fee paid by UK households. Our role is to fulfil our mission and promote our Public Purposes.Our commercial operations including BBC Studios, the BBC’s award-winning production company and world-class distributor, provide additional revenue for investment in new programming and services for UK audiences.The BBC’s Board ensures that we deliver our mission and public purposes which are set out in the Charter. The Executive Committee is responsible for day-to-day management.

5)?

Commissioning: order or authorize the production of (something).

Narrowcasting: transmit a television programme, especially by cable, or otherwise disseminate information, to a comparatively localized or specialist audience.

Multi-channel era: spans the mid 1980’s to the being of the 21^st century and is marked by increasing advancements made in media technologies and the loosening of control by the main networks

Crime Drama Codes & Conventions

1. W.B: Page 2: What types of crime drama can you identify? 

Detective fiction, the who-dunnit, legal thriller, spy, psychological thriller. 

2. Look at a TV listings magazine or use an online listings page such as the Radio Times http:// http://www.radiotimes.com/tv/tv-listings/

a) Identify and list the crime dramas in a week’s viewing using the task sheets on pages      3&4 . 

b) Try to group them according to sub-genre. 

3. Then move on to hybridity. Identify any hybrid crime dramas with examples. 

I didn’t really understand this lside, sorry. 

Media Codes

What is the difference between a tracking shot and a panning shot?

In cinematography and photography panning means swivelling a still or video camera horizontally from a fixed position. … Panning should never be confused with tracking or “travelling,” in which the camera is not just swivelled but is physically displaced left or right, generally by being rolled parallel to its subject.

What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound?

Diegetic: Sound that is heard by the characters

Non-Diegetic: Sound that only the audience can hear, eg. Voiceover & soundtrack

5 Signifiers of the crime genres – RESISTS

1. Crime, car crashes
2. Narrative repetition
3. Highly stylised
4.  Cigarettes 
5. Pubs, outdoors
6. Brutality, power
7. The idea of the ‘Good and bad guys’

(Watched the video)

What conventions of the crime show, particularly the ‘70s cop show’ are evident?

Car chases, guns, ‘the good and the bad guys’, actual crimes taking place, male gaze element

Subgenre: Crime Dramas

1.What is a Flagship Show?

A programme that has particular importance for a channel or broadcaster – one that attracts particularly high ratings, or that is strongly identified with the channel

2.Quick Fire 5.3: Make a list of all the different crime dramas that you can think of.

Luther, True Detective, Midsommar Murders, Life on Mars, The Sweeney

3.Read through pages 127-131: Suggest 4 reoccurring conventions of TV Crime Dramas.

‘Double Act’ – two good guys working together, protagonists tend to have a unique set of skills, iconography (e.g. guns, settings), similar stock characters

4.What are Stock Characters?

A stock character is a stereotypical fictional person or type of person in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film who audiences recognise from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition.

5.Crime Drama Partnerships: Give two more examples of Crime Drama Partnerships.

Sherlock and Watson, Scott and Bailey

6.What is an audience surrogate? What is meant by Point of Identification?

Audience Surrogate: A character within the text that stands in for the audience. They may think as we do, or act as ourselves might act in the same situation

Point of Identification: A character within the text that the audience can identify with or relate to

Genre Theory

Western: cowboy hats, boots (close up), saloons, horses, guns, stand off’s, ‘good and bad guys’

Richard Coe coined the term ‘Tyranny of Genre’.
He believed that “generic categorization limits and constrains creativity”.

Coe argues that Genres make it difficult for authors to express themselves creatively as they must conform to genre specifics. For example: If a writer intends to produce a Horror Narrative there are certain criteria he/she must adhere to in order to stay true to the genre.

Evaluate and explain the drawbacks of repeating generic codes and conventions: It can become stereotypical and predictable, and the rules can hold adventurous writers back from subverting the genre. It can become boring and repetitive.

Hybridity and intertextuality

‘Life on Mars’ contains many intertextual elements with which audiences may be familiar. – probably, especially since shows like The Sweeney already existed. As crime has so much iconography and classic narrative elements, it’s natural that audiences would feel familiar with the intertextual elements.

The Surreal/Fantasy Elements

Twin Peaks (David Lynch)

The Wizard of Oz – – yellow brick road, Dorothy, over the rainbow, “I think I’m going to miss you most of all, scarecrow”

Genre Theory: Steve Neale – Repetition & Difference

Neale’s theory is useful as it highlights:
Dynamic and historical nature of genre.
Emphasises economic and institutional contexts in which genre as produced.

Genre’s necessitate a ‘degree of repetition or ‘sameness’.
They are also marked by ‘difference, variation and change’

What is “old” in terms of genre and what is new, “innovative and imaginative”?

Old is the original convetions, that normally get adhered to. Imaginative is changing them, even if only slightly, like how if ‘Life on Mars’ the protagonist is from a different decade to everyone else -“Life On Mars (BBC1) is an inspired take on the usual formula of Gruff Copper of the old school”.

Why has the genre changed/developed?

So that people don’t feel that they are being given the same content over and over. Something knew, re-invent a genre.

Narrative Theory: Todorov

Binary Opposites – Key Theory Levi Strauss

Narrative Strands

Enigma Codes: the questions or mysteries that a narrative sets up in order to make the audience continue watching. Roland Barthes refers to this as the hermeneutic code.

What Enigmas are present
in LOM E1?

The mystery of the connection between the decades, the mystery of the killer

What is a Flexi-Narrative?

A narrative structure that combines aspects of the series and the serial.

Which character/s is an audience surrogate?

Maybe the police woman

Which character would you consider being Point of Identification?

The protagonist?

Task 3: Television – Industry

• What is a public service broadcasting company? Who funds the BBC? Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic-media outlets whose primary mission is public service. In many countries of the world, funding comes from governments, especially via annual fees charged on receivers. The BBC is publicly funded through a license fee.
• What are PSBs ‘required’ to do? Inform our understanding of the world through news, information and analysis of current events and ideas, stimulate knowledge and learning of the arts, science, history and other topics through accessible content, reflect UK cultural identity through original programming at UK, national and regional level, represent diversity and alternative viewpoints through programmes that reflect the lives of other people and communities, both within the UK and else where
• Where are these requirements set out?Communications Act
• Which regulatory body is responsible for monitoring PSBs like the BBC?Ofcom
• What the main purposes of PSBs?ensure audiences who might otherwise be neglected are catered fir and that quality and diversity are not compromised by commercial factors such as the desire to maximise profits
• What is OFCOM responsible for? Give specific examples. Everything in Q2 and setting certain quotas that the public service broadcasters have to meet
• What does ‘BBC’ stand for? British Broadcasting Corporation
• What is the BBC’s mission? To entertain and inform?
• Who is Lord Reith?the first director-general of the BBC. He’s widely credited with establishing the corporation’s governing ethos
• How is the BBC’s new ‘charter’ different from previous ones?More explicit emphasis on distinctiveness.
• In what ways is the BBC a vertically integrated organisation? It has its own in-house production unit, BBC studios, as well as a commercial subsidiary, BBC worldwide,which is responsible for distributing its products and services around the world
• What functions does the BBC Worldwide service provide for the company?distributing its products and services around the world

Task 4

• How are men represented in this section of the show?
• Men are represented as powerful, the ones in charge, and the ones in control. They have the power heavy jobs, and tend to be shown as superior over women. Such as, the interaction with the woman in bed, and how the man’s office had a calendar with a woman posing provocatively which is objectification. The men had high status, and cared about dignity and respect.
• How are the police represented in this section of the show?
• Not good enough, as they mistakes and then struggle to catch up with the criminal’s actions. However, they are not entirely useless, as they win the chase and are represented as having personal power.
• What are the parallels with Life on Mars?
• They have distinct crime links, like the idea of two cops working together, chases, the idea of good and bad guys, violence. The purposeful mistreatment of women during the past times in LOM can in some way relate to the representation of men and women in the show.

Stretch and Challenge

“Life on Mars is an ‘copy’ of 70s Police cop shows like The Sweeney” – How far do you agree with this statement?

On the one hand, this statement is true. Both shows are of the crime genre, and therefore share some rules and conventions in terms of narrative, character and mise en scene. Such as, both shows utilise the idea of a double act, and have two cops working together to solve a case. Moreover, they share similar plot situations like chases, and character types like the clear difference between the good (police) and the bad (criminals) guys. This links in with Neale’s Repetition & Difference theory, and the idea of ‘sameness’ across content of the same genres. This links in because the two shows share so many similarities, which can be viewed samey, and therefore maybe a way that creativity is limited because of genre, because shows like these are limited to the and stuck inside the conventions.

However, there are also differences, which links in with the difference part of Neale’s theory. Due to the time that the shows were created, their representation of gender is very different. Despite their representation of men largely being the same, with the idea that they are powerful and in control, their representations of women are different. Such as, in TS, the majority of the characters are men, and all of the main characters are men. These men are shown as powerful, in powerful and respected jobs, in contrast to the women who just lay in bed, or are objectified on calendars for the male gaze. This links in with Hall’s representation theory, and the idea that stereotyping reduces people to a few simple characteristics, like how the woman on the calendar in provocative clothing is objectifying and sexualisation, and belittles women in to one category of ‘sexy’, especially when they have no major roles in the TV show unlike the men. To contrast, LOM uses its time jump into the past to explore how bad treatment of women used to be, it uses characters in a way that is sexist to highlight the sexism, rather than in TS where it is shown as normal – like the performance between the man and woman in the bedroom, and the calendar. LOM makes sure to show this sexism by the protagonist treating the woman police officer with respect, while the other officer’s call her by belittling names. Moreover, this show also has a similar calendar (mise en scene), this however is used to show the sexism of the characters, which the protagonist stands against.

Component 3: Genre Poster Research (Drama)

My Plot and Genre: My film is a drama with a romance subplot about a woman who directs a musical on a minimum budget. However, it may become a musical. I will have two characters on the poster – the protagonist and the love interest.

• Use of bold colours, and includes a variety of colours e.g. red, blue and yellow. It’s reflective of the use of colours in the movie, especially red.
• Title – centralised, large text, bold font that’s easy to read. Colour makes it stand out
• Pictures of cast/characters – different shaped boxes attracts attention, individuality
• Bold and enlarged text for cast names e.g. Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz
• Writer/director Pedro Almodovar made clear
• Cinema release date easily seen
• Studio logos
• Critic quotes and star rating (good ones obviously)

• Title – largest font, easy to read, colour stands out from the background
• Protagonist as the centre image, but other characters/cast members made clear
• Director/writer Greta Gerwig made clear with mention of previous work
• Cast names at the top in order of pay (?) – e.g. Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh
• Genre made clear e.g. period piece through outfit shown
• colours reflect the colours in the movie
• Characters have their own line

• Simplistic and minimal
• Two main characters on the cover
• Title stands out due to colour and size
• Cast – Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga states
• ‘Coming Soon’

• image makes the characters/faded onto characters but a part is in focus
• ‘Trust love all the way’
• ‘December’
• Title made big and easy to read
• Director Barry Jenkins put in bold
• Mention of Barry Jenkins Oscar success
• use of colour

• centralised
• minimal
• use of shape
• use of colour
• title – focused on, use of multiple of fonts
• cast names at the top but not pictured

Revision Lesson

What to revise:

Film (Straight Outta Compton)

Advertising (Tide)

Unseen text analysis (posters, adverts)

Theories: media language (Barthes), Representation (Hall, Gauntlett), Industry (Curran and Seaton)

Questions: The September Issue

1. How did your views of the fashion industry change after seeing this film? Does it interest you more? Interest you less?

My opinion on the fashion industry hasn’t changed after watching the documentary. It just confirmed the opinions that I already had. The idea of having a camera crew follow the Vogue team around sounds promising in terms of maybe having an insight to a different perspective, but the complete opposite happened. I’m interested in finding out how different other massive fashion brands are to Vogue, and to what extent Vogue has changed from then to now. Although I respect their passion and their intelligence, I really hope it’s changed in many ways. 

2. Anna Wintour started the trend of using celebrities as models, placing them on magazine covers before anyone else had. Do you think this has changed the relationship between celebrities and the public? How so?

I think it has idolised celebrities even more. Placing a very edited version of a celebrity on a magazine cover only makes the relationship between celebrity and public more toxic, as they are presented an ideal body image that in reality doesn’t exist and would be dangerous to try and achieve. It’s separating the public and the celebrity even more, it’s elevating them from human status to “celebrity” status. While I’m not against having celebrities on front covers of magazines, I do think it should be done in an acceptable way. 

3. Wintour’s power and influence throughout the global fashion world is nearly unchecked. How do you feel about one person having so much authority over popular culture?

It’s like a weird world run by dictatorship that influences the real world. She picks what to show and what not to show, often picking what the colleagues wouldn’t agree with, and probably the general public (including myself). I’m not going to pretend to know anything about fashion, but I seriously questioned her decisions sometimes. But more IMPORTANTLY it’s not a great idea to have a hypocritical individual who wants to edit people into looking thinner than thin, doesn’t take into account other people’s opinions and seems to have sacrificed the majority of their morals in charge of something so influential. At the beginning when she attempts to explain that people just feel insecure and that it’s okay if you shop at cheap shops it just comes off purely entitled, egotistical and detached from the real world. 

4. Wintour is often criticised for being cold and aloof. Do you think this is because she is a woman? Would anyone be talking about this if she were a man?

On the one hand, Wintour is cold because she has to be. She has lots to do with little time. But she does go way too far with this coldness, the line has been crossed. I think this would be criticised regardless of gender. But, I think it’s being discussed more because she’s a woman as authoritative figures are generally more accepted by society if they are male. 

5. Did you feel that Grace Coddington was too passive in the face of Anna, or did you appreciate her warmer, more patient and flexible sensibilities? 

I don’t think she is warm or patient. All she did for the entire documentary was moan and get angry. Although I completely get why, it was annoying. But, she did stand up for herself once. 

6. Does the fashion world, as promoted by Vogue and other such magazines, promote an unhealthy, unrealistic body image? Should beauty be synonymous with thinness? 

A world where beauty magazines were inclusive (as well as other elements of the media) would be a different place and in a very good way. All Vogue does is promote unhealthy and unrealistic body images. They want variety in their clothes but if the model isn’t a tall, incredibly thin, white woman then they’re not even considered (or at least it was this way at the time of filming). Then they go and edit them. It’s cruel. Beauty should not be synonymous with thinness. Beauty should be expressed as what it is. Synonymous with every body. ‘The models are perfect’ is an actual line uttered in this documentary. The models meet the unrealistic standards of beauty. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t promote the idea of being physically perfect unless you’re saying perfect is whoever you are. 

7.  Wintour has promoted fur and leather garments, bringing them back into fashion despite animal rights campaigns of the 1980s. The fur industry has rebranded itself as sustainable and natural and grosses billions of dollars each year. Most young fashionistas have no moral qualms with it. Does this new enthusiasm for animal fur indicate anything about the current generation?

Just use fake fur. It’s not that hard. And morally much, much better. The term ‘natural’ has such a different denotation that you’d think when it comes to consumable products. ‘Natural’ because it’s animal fur or ‘natural’ in food because they used bugs for the colouring. I don’t know what it indicates about the current generation. Maybe that they can blindly follow people/companies they respect?

8. Every individual arguably has their own personal sense of fashion, the manner in which they present themselves to the world. How much can you know about a person from what they are wearing?

Sometimes it tells you a lot and sometimes it tells you nothing. It’s not a set thing it varies. 

9. Sweatshops, illegal factories, human trafficking, abuse -foreign labor recruitment has only gotten worse. Is this a fair price to pay for fashion? What are socially responsible ways to stay chic?

No, it’s not a fair price to pay. How would the answer ever be yes? How would the answer ever be yes when this stuff is involved? Socially responsible ways of staying chic means don’t be morally corrupt. 

10. Does the “ethical” have a place or role in the judgment of “aesthetically”?

Being ethical and being moral should be involved in everything. No exceptions.

ISP 7

Part One:

McDonald’s 2018 Advert: Teenager. They used a female ‘protagonist’ but it’s advertising to everyone not just a specific gender. It’s targeting people with social hobbies, as the ad is based around a group of teenagers who spend time together and how the app was used by one person for someone else. The ad could be aimed at working class people, but it’s hard to know.

Gala Bingo 2018 Advert: Older person. There’s a strong reference to Coronation street, and soaps stereo-typically get mainly watched by the elder generation rather than the young. However, we know it must be aimed at someone at least 18 or over due to what it’s advertising. It wasn’t gender specific and occupation is also hard to judge. However, they did have a driver and building workers so possibly subtly hinting towards manual labour workers?

Barclays Life Skills Interviews (not available on Moodle so I used Youtube): Everyone and anyone. The advert targeted people of any gender, age, occupation, region with any hobbies and interests. I just think that maybe not upper class people as they were not featured in the advert? But other social classes like working class and possibly middle class were represented and could therefore be the target audience/audience profile.

Fairy 2018 advert: Mainly female audience profile as they were most represented (but not the only gender to be represented). In terms of age, 20’s-30’s mainly, but older people were also shown too which could change the audience profile in terms of age. Hobbies it’s impossible to tell but people who have enough time to shake things clean. Not upper class as stereo typically they are more likely to have someone wash up for them.

Alton Towers 2018 ad: Audience profile is more than likely a child, teenager at the oldest. They are the only ones featured in the advert, or at least very much the centre of attention. Hobbies and/or interests would include going to theme parks and trying out new rides (maybe also interest in the film? But I don’t think it’s actually related). Class it’s difficult to know. People/someone who leaves decently close to Alton Towers and actually has access to the theme park and therefore the advertised Wicker Man ride.

Nike London 2018 Advert: Someone from London. Typically the audience profile would be a teenager due to the people/cast that is used in the advert as well as the music choices as well as the humour choices. Hobbies and interests surrounding sport (it covered a large range of sport in the advert from football to running to tennis). In terms of class it’s hard to know, maybe working or middle class.

Aviva 2011 Advert: An adult due to what the advertisement is encouraging the audience member to spend money on, aimed specifically at a family member but could really be anyone. Working class maybe. Occupation could be anything really, it isn’t touched upon in the advert so it’s hard to know. Maybe something that doesn’t provide as much money as you’d want and so life insurance is a necessity?

Emirates 2018 advert: Someone who likes to travel for a hobby/interest. Possibly a middle class individual or upper class due to stereotypes regarding the way that they final man was dressed in comparison to the rest of the cast/people shown and how he went with a fancy airline meanwhile the others struggled to get a free upgrade. It’s hard to say in terms of gender, region and occupation. An adult as a child wouldn’t be buying a plane ticket.

Part Two:

What are some of the issues related to audience profiling? 

One of the main issues regarding the idea of audience profiling is that, as a concept, it largely if not entirely relies on stereotypes regarding region, gender, occupation, class etc. Which, as a society we should try to avoid due to them being just that, stereotypes. Another issue is it’s hard to understand the exact type of person the advert is aimed at as the advert doesn’t touch on all of those areas all of the time; this is because of the fact that in many occasions it doesn’t need to. Plus, as an advertiser you wouldn’t want to be to limiting as to who your audience profile is as well as knowing that some labels aren’t necessary e.g. gender. You want your audience to be people who buy the product, not limit it to a very specific type of person based off of stereotypes and assumptions. It’s based on generalising as well as being based on assumptions which can be considered a outdated version of advertising that just supports stereotyping that can have a negative effect on society/individuals. It won’t always work. A common example is that a football ad would have a male audience profile, missing anyone else who is interested in sport but not included in the advert die to stereotypes.  

Audience Theories, Advertising part 3, case studies

Theory 2: Albert Bandura’s Media Effects

Albert Bandura is an American psychologist who conducted research into media effects.

His ‘social learning theory’ suggested that audiences may learn aggressive behaviour from viewing others.

He therefore asserted:

• the meida implants ideas in the mind of the audience directly
• Audeinces acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new ways of of behaving through copying those they observe

This theory is also known as the hypodermic needle theory.

Criticised by many, including David Gauntlett, as being outdated and unhelpful as it assumes that all audience members are passive and not actively engaging with the messages of media products.

If we watch media products we will learn our behaviour from them particular aggressive violenent.

Simplistic theory.

Bobo Doll Experiment

• multiple children
• The toy means nothing to him. He was really young. He didn’t know what else to do with the toy, he was just shown the video of how to play with the toy.
• Holding the experiment in an laboratory is different from real life. Camera, adults, wanting to please the adults
• Dolls aren’t people
• Many children play rough with toys, this doesn’t mean anything in terms of real people

Theory 3: George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory

The idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representaion over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people percieve the world around them.

The idea that cultivation reinforces often outdated values or stereotypes.

Media tends to repeat representations and the effect of this on audiences builds up over time.

Task:

Stereotype: Women as housewives

Reinforces:

Subverts:

Case Studies:

• 1950s tide advert – print
• Kiss of the Vampire – film poster
• Water aid advert – audio visual

Focus Areas

Tide and Water Aid – Analyse in relation to

• media language
• representation
• audiences

Kiss of the vampire poster – analyse in relation to

• media language
• representation

Context Research:

TIDE AD

tideDownload

REMEMBER TO RELATE TO THEORIES – IN PDF (also maybe in the revision guide?)

Summarise the product context:

• Designed specifically for heavy-duty, machine cleaning, Procter & Gamble launched Tide in 1946 and it quickly became the brand leader in America, a position it maintains today.

• The D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency handled P&G’s accounts throughout the 1950s. Its campaigns for Tide referred explicitly to P&G because their market research showed that consumers had high levels of confidence in the company.

• Uniquely, DMB&B used print and radio advertising campaigns concurrently in order to quickly build audience familiarity with the brand. Both media forms used the “housewife” character and the ideology that its customers “loved” and “adored” Tide.

What is the historical and cultural context in relation to media language?

Historical context: The post-WWII consumer boom of the 1950s included the rapid development of new technologies for the home, designed to make domestic chores easier. Vacuum cleaners, fridge-freezers, microwave ovens and washing machines all become desirable products for the 1950s consumer. Products linked to these new technologies also developed during this time, for example, washing powder.

Cultural context: Print adverts from the 1950s conventionally used more copy than we’re used to seeing today. Consumer culture was in its early stages of development and, with so many ‘new’ brands and products entering markets, potential customers typically needed more information about them than a modern audience, more used to advertising, marketing and branding, might need. Conventions of print-based advertising are still recognisable in this text however, as detailed below.

What is the historical context in relation to audience? (Page 109 in textbook)

Obviously, this product was no created for a modern audience, and ideas, attitudes and beliefs contained within it may seem outdated, but the advert itself does tell us about the audience of the time. In the post-war boom of the 1950s, particularly in America, new technologies developed rapidly, especially those in the domestic sphere, including vacuum cleaners, fridge-freezers and washing machines. These became desirable products and a symbol of status related to the American Dream. Alongside these technological developments came new products, including soap powder. Interestingly, these products tended to be advertised in slots in American domestic melodramas watched by women. These dramas later came to be known as ‘soap operas’.

What is the social and political context in relation to representation?

Interesting intertexts to consider would be WWII adverts for the ‘Women’s Land Army’ and J. Howard Miller’s ‘Rosie The Riveter – We Can Do It!’ advert for the War Production Co-Ordinating Committee.

The representations in these adverts challenge stereotypical views of women being confined to the domestic sphere, something society needed at the time as traditional ‘male roles’ were vacated as men left to fight. In the 1950s, while men were being targeted for the post-war boom in America’s car industry, women were the primary market for the technologies and products being developed for the home. In advertising for these types of texts, stereotypical representations of domestic perfection, caring for the family and servitude to the ‘man of the house’ became linked to a more modern need for speed, convenience and a better standard of living than the women experienced in the pre-war era.

Consider how representations are constructed through processes of selection and combination: • The dress code of the advert’s main female character include a stereotypical 1950s hairstyle incorporating waves, curls and rolls made fashionable by contemporary film stars such as Veronica Lake, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth. The fashion for women having shorter hair had a practical catalyst as long hair was hazardous for women working with machinery on farms or in factories during the war. • The headband or scarf worn by the woman also links to the practicalities of dress code for women developed during this time. For this advert, having her hair held back connotes she’s focused on her work, though this is perhaps binary opposed to the full make-up that she’s wearing.

What is the social and cultural context in relation to audience?

Social context: Despite women having seen their roles in society change during the War (where they were needed in medical, military support and other roles outside of the home) domestic products of the 1950s continued to be aimed at female audiences.

The likely target audience of increasingly affluent lower-middle class women were, at this point in the 1950s, being appealed to because of their supposed need for innovative domestic technologies and products. The increasing popularity during the 1950s of supermarkets stocking a wider range of products led to an increased focus by corporations on brands and their unique selling points.

Consider how industries target audiences, and how audiences interpret and use the media:

• The likely audience demographic is constructed through the advert’s use of women with whom they might personally identify (Uses and Gratifications Theory). These young women are likely to be newly married and with young families (clothing belonging to men and children on the washing line creates these connotations).

• The endorsement from Good Housekeeping Magazine makes them an Opinion Leader for the target audience, reinforcing the repeated assertion that Tide is the market-leading product.

• The preferred reading (Stuart Hall) of the advert’s reassuring lexical fields (“trust”, “truly safe”, “miracle”, “nothing like”) is that, despite being a “new” product, Tide provides solutions to the audience’s domestic chores needs.

(Page 110 of textbook) Despite the fact that women’s roles had changed dramatically during WW2, when they assumed male roles, including working as land girls, driving buses and ambulances, alongside running the home, once the war was over women returned to a mainly domestic role. As a result, cleaning and other domestic products were largely still targeted at women.

The 1950s was the advertiser’s dream decade. Rationing finally ended in 1954, after 14 years, and as a result the post-war economy rebounded, herdaling a new age of prosperity. Inflation was low, giving most people more disposable income, which they were encouraged, through advertising, to spend on consumable products, in particular consumable durables such as washing machines and steam irons. The sales of these products increased by 70% in the 1950s and this was aided by advertising. It included the marketing of related products, for example soap powders. The boom in purchasing was also aided by the arrival of commercial television in the 1950s, increasing the platforms by which adverts could reach audiences.

Video: Women in advertising: 1950s and now

• focus on women being housewives. Women have something to prove in terms of being a good house wife and a good mother. Never shown away from the house or in working roles.
• men have the money, men are in charge, controlling in the situation. Men are often taller and take up more space which could hint at their superiority
• women as weaker than men
• In 1955, cigarette company Marlboro ads were usually aimed at women this then shifted to men as well.
• In the 1950s, women in adverts tended to have no relation to the product and were just used as decoration
• Women’s insecurities
• Man’s approval
• Gender roles, gender stereotypes
• Now:
• women are being shown in professional roles
• men are also being shown in cleaning product ads
• sexual objectification which encourages male dominance in society and gender roles
• Although we have come along way, the stereotypes still exist in advertisements

Water Aid

Fact sheet on Moodle:

water-aid-4Download

Summarise the product context:

• The charity Water Aid was established in 1981 as a response to a United Nations campaign for clean water, sanitation and water hygiene education. It now works with organisations in 37 African, Asian and Central American countries plus the Pacific region. Since 1991 its patron has been Prince Charles.
  
• Created by Atomic London in October 2016, this advert (titled Rain For Good) stars 16 year-old Zambian student Claudia and aims to show how communities benefit from clean water by depicting everyday chores such as farming and laundry.

What is the cultural context in relation to media language?

Following 1984’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? single for Band Aid, 1985’s Live Aid was the first global charity event aiming to raise funds for relief of the ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The Comic Relief telethon was launched by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry in 1985 with the same initial famine relief aim, and went on to raise over £1bn for charitable causes across Africa and in the UK. The contemporary audience for this advert could be assumed to be familiar with the codes and conventions of both audio-visual adverts and those for charitable organisations in particular.

What is the social context in relation to the representation?

An interesting intertext to consider would be Water Aid’s ‘No Choice’ TV advert from 2013 which is more conventionally constructed and represents the suffering of its main ‘character’ in a more explicit and emotive way (https:// http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szT7grQnHRU).

Launching the Rain For Good campaign, Water Aid said that it had “deliberately broken away from the traditional charity ad formula” in response to the public’s desensitisation to traditional fundraising tactics. The stereotypical ‘victim’ needing our help is an archetype with which the audience would be familiar from many other charity adverts. This would perhaps make the more positive representation of Claudia as a healthy, independent and musically talented woman stand out to an audience who might otherwise have become immune to the emotive representations conventionally deployed by this advertising sub-genre.

What is the social and cultural context in relation to audience?

In December 2016, this advert had been viewed about 47 000 times on Water Aid’s YouTube channel and this page also actively encourages the sharing of the advert through social networks. Further evidence that the likely target audience are literate with technology is that donations are encouraged through the imperative “Text SUNNY to 70555” and the use on the YouTube page of a twitter hashtag (#ShareSunshine).

The advert’s cover of Zoe’s 1990 song Sunshine On A Rainy Day could indicate that the target audience are in their 30s–40s as they’re likely to remember the original and get pleasure from the nostalgic value of hearing a song with which they’re familiar.

Contemporary audiences are familiar with charity advertising campaigns and appeals. Telethons such as Comic Relief and Children in Need regularly raise amazing sums of money by encouraging audiences to fund-raise and donate. Certain campaigns will reflect particular needs at specific times. The campaigns usually serve to highlight the differences and the social injustices in certain parts of the world, and as such are related to social and cultural context.

A criticism of these programmes and certain charity campaigns is that, in order to raise money, they only offer very negative representations in order to elicit an emotional response from the audience. The WaterAid advert presents a more positive representation, highlighting how the money is spent and the effect on communities of access to clean water.

WaterAid said of the advert: ‘The audience is presented with a happy, energetic community, now able to do everyday activities like laundry and farming, while also having time to chat and play’. The charity also stated that it had ‘deliberately broken away from the traditional charity ad formula to create something positive and centred around the progress it has made as a global charity’

The concern of the charity is that the target audience were ‘becoming desensitised to some traditional charity fundraising tactics’

Kiss of the Vampire

kiss-of-the-vampireDownload

Summarise the product context:

Produced by Hammer Film Productions and distributed by J. Arthur Rank and Universal, Kiss of the Vampire was intended to be the second sequel to 1958’s Dracula, although the film’s script actually makes no reference to Stoker’s character. This is perhaps to distance itself from unfavourable comparisons to the superior Christopher Lee who starred in the original film.

In addition to Dracula, Hammer had, by 1963, success with other ‘monster movie’ franchises such as The Mummy and Frankenstein. Distributers Universal also saw early success with films in this genre.

Historically, 1963 saw the early stages of ‘Beatlemania’ and the so-called ‘swinging sixties’, the assassination of JFK and the Soviet Union launching the first woman into space.

What is the cultural context in relation to media language?

The 1960s audience for this advert could be assumed to be familiar with the codes and conventions of ‘monster movie’ film posters – such as its composition, fonts and representations of ‘the monster’ and its (usually female) victims. Interesting intertexts for comparative study might include: The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058073/ mediaviewer/rm2054095104 Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb (1971) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068290/ mediaviewer/rm892444416

What is the political and social contexts relation to representation?

The 1960s is often seen as the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by events such as the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960. More women than ever were entering the paid workforce and sixties feminists were campaigning for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment and more equality between men and women in wider society. In America, equal pay legislation was passed in 1963. ‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive victims of men and more modern ‘male fears’ of women challenging male dominance could both be seen to be encoded in this film poster.

In the poster both men and women are seen as vampires and as victims.

Advertising Part Two

Dolce and Gabbana Advert Analysis

• Soft sale technique – the fragrance is not in shot, its selling a lifestyle.
• If you buy this, women will be like this to you
• Typography – Easily readable but faded so the focus goes to the central image, but you still no the brand. Bold. Simple. Text put over genitalia. Line between the men and the woman. Big typography, covers the entire advert from left to right. So confident in their brand, they can make it visible to see through the text.
• Central image – controversial because it’s uncomfortably sexual. Woman represented as a sex object.
• Establishing Genre: Visual codes that it’s a perfume add: high key lighting, random stereo-typically attractive people
• Connotations of the sky – heaven, freedom
• Why are they advertising? Consumable product, encouraging people to buy the product
• Connotations of blue – can have the connotation of confidence, heaven
• No slogan or language of persuasion
• Indirect mode of address??
• The central image takes up basically the entire advert – draws attention to the lifestyle that they are selling.
• Print technical codes – air brushing – make the woman look “flawless”
• Camera-shots – generally a long shot – get everyone entirely in frame so they can convey their uncomfortably sexually message and representation of gender
• Representation – woman as sex object. She’s lower down, they’re all staring down at her. Her legs are the centre of the image drawing away attention from her face. Men in control. Men only interested in sex, stereo-typically attractive women. Sexualisation of men, half naked when near the woman.
• Sense of wealth – colour scheme, designer clothing, accessories (use of mise en scene)
• Super shiny people – edited aesthetic – attract attention, stylise certain features

Representation Theories

Theory 1: Stuart Hall’s theory of representation

• Hall argues that all representations are constructed through signs and codes that are understood by the audience. He asserts that stereotyping reduces people and social groups to a few simple characteristics that are recognisable to audiences because they are reinforced over time.
• He also argues that stereotypes tend to occur when there are inequalities of power

When applying Hall’s theory of representation, consider:

• What stereotypes are prevalent in advertising? How are they constructed by the product? What key elements of the stereotypes are recognisable to the audience?
• Are the stereotypes constructed by adverts both positive and negative?
• How are subordinate (minority) groups constructed as ‘different’ by the advertisements? (e.g. the woman in the dolce and gabbana ad is the only woman and represented differently)

Video on Hall’s Theory:

• Stuart Hall thinks that these stereotypes get used a lot, and it’s how they got created (?)
• Minority groups portrayed negatively through focusing on incorrect stereotypes
• The people who own the company’s tend to be white rich men, and when they represent outside of this they use incorrect stereotypes
• White men used the most in media making those used less or hardly at all seem inferior.

Theory 2: David Gauntlett’s theory of identity

• Gauntlett asserts that the media provide us with the ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our own identities. Advertising offers us ‘role models’; he suggests that they then ‘pick and mix’ which aspects of these products they want to use in the construction of their own identities
• He also argues that the media today, unlike in the past, offer a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas

When applying Gauntlett’s theory of identity, consider:

• To what extent do the representations of gender differ from those in the past?
• Do different sub-genres of advertising offer different types of representation?
• How might an audience respond to the representations they see in advertising?

Video on Gauntlett:

• he thinks audiences get a part of their identity from what they consume e.g. magazines, movies, online media e.g. Youtube
• He believes that in the past they used to present very simple and stereotypical representation specifically gender. He believes that in newer products, we have more diverse representations of gender, it’s complex and diverse

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Audience

Demographic Profiling

A way of categorising audiences by dividing consumers into groups based on:

• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Education
• Occupation etc

This information can help advertisers determine their target audiences for particular products and develop adverts that focus on a specific demographic

What would you expect to see advertised in a film mag/ some of the ads there were?

• video games
• streaming services
• TV’s
• Meerkat movies
• Merchandise
• Phones
• Popcorn
• Fragrance
• Posters – film, dvd, TV
• Film festivals
• Cars
• Soundtracks
• Fast food
• Fashion / accessories
• Furniture – chairs
• Fitness products
• Square space
• Books

Psychographic Profiling

• A way of categorising audiences based on personalities, values, opinions, attitudes and lifestyles
• There are five main ‘types’ of audience in regards to psychographics

1. Mainstreamers

• These make up about the 40% of the population
• They like security, tried and trusted brands and like to think they belong to a group of like-minded people
• They are persuaded by value for money and are less likely to take risks

2. Aspirers

• This group want status and prefer brands which show their place in society
• They are happy to live on credit and will buy designer label items. They are stylish and may be persuaded by celebrity endorsement

3. Explorers

• This group like to discover new things
• They are attracted to brands and products that offer new experiences and instant results

4. Succeeders

• People who already have status and control, and have nothing to prove
• They prefer brands that are serious and reliable
• They believe that they deserve the best

5. Reformers

• This group are defined by their self esteem and self fulfilment
• They tend to be innovative and are less impressed by status
• They are not materialistic and are socially aware
• They may be more inclined to buy brands that are environmentally friendly or those that are considered healthy

Theory One: Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory

• Stuart Hall believes that audiences are active, not passive – they engage with/respond to texts
• Hall suggests three main ways in which an audience may respond to a media product:
• The preferred reading – the audiences accept the messages contained within a product, as the producer intended. Usually the case if a product reflects the ideas and beliefs of the audiences
• The negotiated reading – where the audiences accepts some of the product’s messages and disagrees with others
• Oppositional reading – where the audience does not agree with the values, attitudes and beliefs of the product or its content, this may be related to the culture, age, gender, or other factors affecting audience response

Stuart Hall’s reception theory video:

• media products are encoded with ideas by the producers who make them
• They put in certain ideas and messages to get across and hope that the audience understand

Example: Straight Outta Compton’s representation of African American’s

Preferred: to view police brutality as atrocious, understand the un-justness is discrimination and be angry about it, and view African American’s as equal to everyone else. See no flaws in N.W.A and their decision as individuals. African American’s – not just caricatures. Understand the oppression – police brutality, poverty (Compton). Their music spoke their truth.

Negotiated: Negative representation of women despite historical context, and how Dr Dre abused women in real life but it wasn’t included in the movie. Inspirational but their music incited violence. Police brutality but females treated with contempt. Musicianship but reaction to pubic made them less inspiring.

Oppositional: Female representation was bad – sexualised, mother figure, wives and girlfriends. Criminal behaviour, deviant. The way the music industry treated them was morally correct. Glamorising violence/street/drugs lifestyle

Advertising (Component 1 Exam)

What is advertising?

• Advertising is one of the most powerful forms in media
• Advertising is generally used to sell products or service, but is also used to generate awareness of issues/events – charities for instance
• In order to do this, it is important that advertisers establish a recognisable brand identity

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Brand Identity: The image that a brand projects and the associations the audience makes with the brand

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Who advertises and why?

• Makers of consumable products – food, drink, clothes, beauty products etc. To encourage an audience to buy.
• Charities – to raise awareness and encourage donations
• Government departments – to raise awareness of social issues, health issues etc
• Organisers of events – to boost ticket sales/television views
• Educational establishments – persuading students to enrol
• Media companies – film posters, trailers etc

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Establishing Genre

• The ‘type’ of advert is important – the codes and conventions of a beauty advert, for example, is different to those used in an advert for a charity e.g. lighting, font etc.

Visual Codes

• clothing
• gestures
• expression
• colour
• lighting

• In charity adverts, the expressions used are often downbeat – elicits sympathy from audiences as a result

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A slogan

• A catchy phrase that is memorable and becomes associated with a product e.g. ‘Have a break, have a kitkat’

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Language of persuasion

• Adverts often uses hyperbole and emotive written and spoken language to engage the audience
• Definition of ‘hyperbole’: exaggerated language used to create a dramatic effect – not to be taken literally

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Soft Sell Technique

• Whereby the audience is sold a lifestyle – main product is not the focus (it may only make one appearance in the advert)

Hard Sale Technique

• This is the employment of much more ‘in your face’ advertising
• Used to get clear message to audience – technique used by charities to raise awareness

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Demonstrative Action

• This is where the product is seen to be used in the advertisement e.g. cleaning products where we may be convinced of its worth, headphones etc

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Logos

• Many companies include a recognisable logo design on all of their products/promotional materials
• Association with products through repetition – logos for Apple, McDonalds, Nike etc.

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Mode of Address

• This is the tone and the written or spoken style of the media product that establishes communication with an audience. When you analyse the mode of address of any product, consider
• Informal mode of address – use of slang, colloquialisms, direct involvement through use of personal pronoun – “I”, “you”, “we” etc. Often catered towards younger audiences
• Formal mode of address – Use of complex vocabulary and writing styles – adverts for serious issues often use this. Suggests that target audience are more sophisticated
• Direct mode of address – Where the product communicated directly to the audience – use of eye contact and direct speech – in advertising this occurs most of the time, whether the ‘characters’ of the adverts are engaging with the audience or the ‘language’ of the advert
• Indirect mode of address: In some audio-visual adverts (particularly ones with a clear story attached), there is very little engagement with the audience

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The use of intertextuality

Intertextuality – when one text is used or referenced within another. For example, the use of memorable scenes or characters from an iconic film in advert

• Text – Referencing texts
• Indirect Intertexuality – inspired influence, can help establish themes
• Direct/deliberate intertexuality – purposeful reference, can be integral to the plot, Easter eggs, paradoy

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Celebrity Endorsement

• Audience attracted by the ‘endorser’
• Some celebrities become brand ambassadors and will appear in several adverts in the same campaign – example: Ryan Reynolds in Toon Blast ads
• Brand Ambassador: A person (often a celebrity but not always!!) who is paid to endorse or promote a particular company’s products or services. They become the face of the product

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Unique Selling Point – USP

• This is the element that makes the product different from its competitors and will be used in the marketing. It could be a new flavour or a claim about what the product can do, for example ‘reduce the signs of ageing’ for a beauty product

1. Make a list of examples of celebrity endorsements

• Amstel UK AD – Jeff Bridges (as a bridge)
• Aveeno – Jennifer Aniston
• Revlon – Emma Stone
• Giorgio Armani – Cate Blanchett
• Apple – Jeff Goldblum
• Pepsi – Beyonce
• Joy (perfume) – Jennifer Lawrence
• Mango – Scarlett Johansson
• Chanel – Brad Pitt
• Lancome – Penelope Cruz

2. Pick 10 poducts – outline their specific USPs

• John Freida – ‘Expect frizz control that doesn’t way hair down’
• Fairy Liquid – ‘I hardly ever buy it!’
• FedEx – ‘FedEx ground is faster to more locations than UPS ground’
• ? Domino’s Pizza – ‘ the office party saviour deal’ and ‘Doppel deal’
• Avis – ‘ Avis is only No.2 in rent a cars. So we try harder’ and ‘we try harder’
• Pipcorn – whole grain, small batches, all natural
• Tattly – fake tattoos by REAL artists, for all ages, real designs

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What you need to consider when analysing advertising products

Layout and Design (print/audio – visual)

• How is the advert constructed? Consider where images and text are placed in conjunction with each other and the effect of this

Central Image

• What is it and why has it been chosen? What does it communicate about the product?

Typography (font style) and graphics (print/audio-visual)

• What can you say about the font styles used or any graphics that appear in the advert? How do they help to persuade the audience?
• Does the typography suggest a particular mood or genre?

Visual Codes (print/audio-visual)

• How has the print advert communicated messages through the use of colour, expression and gesture?

Colour (print/audio-visual)

• Is there a colour scheme and, if so, what does this suggest? Does it link to some elements of the product? Is it a part of the branding? What connotations does it communicate about the product itself? (‘connotes’) (Roland Barthes – semiotics)

Print Technical Codes

• Consider the camera angles, shots, lighting, editing techniques (airbrushing – sharpening of image, removal of blemishes, marks etc.) that are used in the advert. What are the connotations?

Audio-visual technical codes

Consider these aspects:

• camera shots – close-ups, long shots etc
• Camera angles – low/high
• Camera movement – zooms, tracking shots etc
• Editing – transitions
• Lighting – low-key, high-key
• Sound – music, voice-overs, dialogue, sound effect

Language and mode of address (print/audio-visual)

• How does the advert ‘speak’ to its audience?
• What kind of words and language devices, for example alliteration, are used and what does that say about the product? Is it using hard sell or a soft sell approach?

Attitudes and beliefs (print/audio-visual)

• What attitudes and beliefs are conveyed through the advert?
• Some adverts suggest that purchasing the product will change your life in some way.

Associations (print/audio-visual)

Does the advert use intertexuality so that we make associations between the product and other media forms? Why has the advert done this?

Why did Halifax use ‘The Wizard of Oz’ as part of their advertising campaign?

• Halifax could link the theme of home in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to get financial help from Halifax in terms of housing
• Having the Halifax staff member in the background makes him seem part of the world/group which lots of people love, meaning everyone who loves the film attaches to positive connotations to him and therefore Halifax
• Memorable – using an iconic movie and quote makes possible customers remember Halifax and what they are advertising
• ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has a very bright, warm and colourful colour palette that Halifax can then use in their adverts. Such a colour palette has positive connotations which they would want to associate themselves with
• Association with popular film – ‘entertainment’
• Connects with lots of people – ‘classic’
• Fantasy-like – “anything is possible’, magical, family like and friendly tone
• Varied types of audiences – diverse
• Yellow brick road – significant link to home
• Brand ambassador who isn’t a celebrity
• Timeless film and reliability

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Film Posters

• A product of film advertising
• They are a visual hook for the audience – used to persuade audiences to see the film
• Where would you see film posters? – cinemas, social media/websites, public transport e.g. train stations on buses, libraries, magazine/newspapers, billboards, electronic boards e.g. at bus stops, flyers/leaflets, film based theme parks, expos

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Key Conventions of Film Posters (aspects you should analyse)

Genre Indicators – the image and typography/language on the poster will indicate the genre of the film

Visual Codes – how has the poster communicated the genre through the use of colour, expression and gesture?

Iconography – This is another indicator to the genre of the film. This includes: props, backdrops, clothing, setting, character looks

Star Billing – the positioning of the images or the names of the ‘stars’ on the poster. Often, there is a hierarchy of importance among ‘stars’

Stars – Stars can indicate the genre of the film too – for instance, Liam Neeson is associated with Action/Adventure films

Tag line and the image – This is the memorable phrase or slogan that becomes associated with the film and appears on the marketing material. The image will suggest the story of the film

Language and mode of address – this will be persuasive and often makes use of hyperbole

Expert Criticism – quotes from newspapers, film magazine and online reviews suggesting the quality of the film and making it a ‘must-see’

Mark of quality – This is usually the film logo, the director’s name or references to other successful films made by this director. These are included to convince the audience that this is a quality product.

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Advertisement: Beauty Product – Maybelline

• Who – makers of consumable products – encouraging purchases
• Establishing genre – high key lighting for the woman. Visual codes – bold colours, the normal expression used in beauty adverts
• Slogan – ‘Maybe shes born with it. maybe it’s Maybelline’
• Language of persuasion – ‘sensational the reds’ hyperbole because it’s just red?
• Hard sell technique
• Logo – Maybelline’s well known name in its well known font
• Informal mode of address – ‘revive your love for read’ – direct involvement through use of personal pronoun. Synthetic personalisation – addressing mass audience as if they were an individual. It’s as if they are being addressed directly and specifically (fake relationship?) possibly more likely to get people to buy the product?
• USP – ‘sensational’ red, not an ordinary red
• Layout –
• Central Images – rose (red, passion, love), the woman’s face (advertise the lipstick being used)
• Typography – Easy to read, bold but not over the top almost subtle, sophisticated/style
• Visual codes – red! Lipstick is red. Red rose. Red case. Red lipstick in the woman. Passion, bold, love. All emphasises how red the lipstick is.
• Colour scheme – red,black, white – bold, formal, simple but effective, not over the top, sophisticated
• Print technical codes – editing – making the woman seem ‘perfect’
• Camera shots – close to her face to see the lipstick that they are advertising in use
• Language – repetition of the word red
• Attitudes and Beliefs – its a very bold red lipstick, better than other red lipsticks (‘sensational’ and ‘revive your love for red’)
• Brand identity – style, sophisticated

Poster – Roman Holiday

• Genre indicators and visual codes- picture of two people about to kiss suggests romance. Bright colours (yellow and blue) suggests comedy?
• Iconography –
• Star billing – Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in big text, there faces almost centralised and the biggest (CENTRAL IMAGE)
• Stars – indicating romance genre?
• Mark of quality – mentions of William Wylers
• Paramount name (in the paramount font) – official
• Who – media companies – advertise film
• Typography – wavy font – comedy
• No slogan or tagline
• Layout – See three main characters, but you know that the man on the right is more of a side character compared to Peck and Hepburn

Roman Holiday Film Poster: Revision Guide

• The genre of the film is romantic comedy and the two stars, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, were associated with this genre, so the audience of the time would have expectations of the film
• The mark of quality is the reference to Paramount Films and William Wyler, who was an eminent American filmmaker of the time.
• The central image reinforces the comedy romance genre and the supplementary images create narrative enigmas for the audience, for example the iconography of the crown in the smaller image and the scooter signifying Rome and excitement.
• The relatively simple layout and design is similar to other film posters for this genre at the time, focusing on the relationship between the central protagonists
• The typography and choice of font style for the film title is quirky and uneven, suggesting the style of the film, and contrasts with the bold font style used in the rest of the poster
• The visual codes of colour are bright and primary suggesting the fun feeling of the film and giving audiences expectations of the narrative