textual magazine cover analysis

The serif font at the bottom of the magazine is gentle and classy, it is in uppercase and it is in white which is different to the other colours showing it’s important.

The masthead is bold and san-serif making it simplistic the bright pink contrasts with the grey background making it stand out, the colour pink is traditionally feminine suggesting the magazine is aimed at women. Headlines on the outside of the magazine attract the audience by giving them small amount of information. The headings are in bold so the catch the audience’s eye, the information is smaller making the audience look harder. We assume the magazine is aimed at women because of the pink text, the image and the headings, the headings suggest that makeup and gifts for guys are what the readers of the magazines are interested in, these are usually women.

The sans serif font makes the text simple and powerful, the electric blue colour is associated with action and adventure. The well-known character iron man is displayed in the middle of the magazine.  The superhero si fi sub genre implies that the lightening blue represents technology. The audience will see this image and be immediately drawn in. The dark colours make it more dramatic and intense.

The small serif uppercase headline makes the text look more important and dramatic, it also looks formal and sophisticated

Technical Analysis of Iron Man clip

The use of sound editing and camerawork can create an interesting scene, I am going to analyse how they can help create meaning in the Iron Man clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o2ACEr9NmQ

In this clip sound effects are uses to set the scene, the first thing we hear is a young boy screaming “papa” , this small amount of dialogue informs the audience that the child or his father is in danger. The clip continues with many technical sounds, Iron Mans lasers sound modern and expensive, whereas the other men have guns which are seen to be older and more traditional, this implies that Iron man has advanced technology and is more educated and powerful than the men surrounding him. The non diegetic music was mellow when it started, the actions that accompanied it were small and harmless. When the actions became more dramatic so did the music, an example of this is when Iron Man breaks through the wall, before this the music builds up tension and when the wall is broken the music becomes heavier and more impressive.

Editing creates meaning by making the scene look chaotic, there are many quick cuts which mirrors the fast fighting and the drama. The central point in each little section is mostly Iron Man, we see the back of him and then the front of him giving the viewer an all round view of the action. The mood in this scene is uncontrolled and manic giving the feeling of danger. When the cuts slow down we take in what is happening and see more of the characters emotions and understand more what is happening. When the young boy and his father are hugging on the ground there are still a lot of cuts but that are all focused on them but from different angles making the audience feel relived that they are together.

The camera work is effective throughout the clip, it creates meaning by involving the audience. The first shot in the clip is a close up of a young boy, we see his emotion and how he was feeling. Close ups are used so the audience can invest in the characters and see their emotions. We see closeups of both the victims and terrorists, each have different facial expressions making the audience feel different emotions. Lots of the clip looks hand held and shaky, this also makes the audience more involved because they feel like the are there in that situation. The camera movement reacts to what is happening in the clip, when Iron Man gets shot by the tank and when he falls to the ground the camera shakes implying that he is heavy and strong and is as powerful as a gun from a tank. We also get a first person view from inside Iron Mans suit, we see the hostages being held at gun point, this shows the pressure that Iron Man has been put under, we watch as he easily targets the terrorists and kills them showing how advanced his technology is and how easy it is to use.

Denotations and Connotations of a film poster

The video for the 'uses and gratification' model

The ‘uses and gratification’ model in GTA

The ‘uses and gratification’ mode in GTA

Escapism – you would play this game to get away from the real world, in this clip this person might get a virtual girlfriend because they don’t have one in the real world on the other hand you could forget about real life and only concentrate on making yourself a stable life on the game

Diversion and amusement – this game could pass the time and you could be entertained for hours, this could stop you from being bored however some people can get addicted and playing they came can become a chore rather than a hobby

Social interaction – if in real life someone is shy and quiet this game could give them more confidence to talk to people online and feel more comfortable but if someone plays the game constantly they could become unsocial at school and end up not enjoying talking to real people

Part of social life – withy the new online friends they could become close and them meet up and go out however you can end up wanting to meet a friend but they might not be who they say they are and you could put yourself in danger by going out of their way to see them

Identifying with others – because their online friends have similar interests they have a conversation topic and then learn new things about each other and become closer friends

Learning – with online friends you could learn new social skills but you could also learn things in the wrong way, for example after watching this clip a young boy could thing that this is the correct way to get a girlfriend or in a violent part of the game someone might think that that is the correct way to act each day giving them the wrong ideas.

Changing the meaning

Here I have changed the meaning of the image using text, above is the original image, by adding text the image could become something different; and advert, a meme or a poster. For the first image i added the text "domestic chores are not just for women" meaning that they should not be based on gender. The next image has the text "tied to the sink", these play on words suggest that women are attached to the sink and could be slaves. On her wrists there a many bracelets, this could also be seen as ropes our chains keeping her working.

Representation revision notes

Revision notes

Representation is a mixture of :

-       the actual thing being represented

-       the values/attitudes and lifestyle (VALs) of the people/institutions constructing the representations 

How truth is represented in the media (Hillsborough – the front of the SUN newspaper)

Representations of people in reality TV - stereotyping

Truth is ‘contested’

Stuart Hall – theories of representation

Visual representation – the image

‘Representation and the media'

The 3 main approaches:

-       Reflective – the media is a reflection of real life eg documentaries, the news !NOT horror films!

-       Intentional – that representations are all from the producer eg propaganda (persuasive)

-       Constructionist – a mix of reflective and intentional, seen ad a response to the weaknesses in those other 2 responses

Representation in advertising –

Types of audiences:

-       mass: catering to a broad and nonspecific mainstream audience

-       niche: a narrowly defined group on nonmainstream consumers

-       primary: the readership who the magazine is most directly targeted at

-       secondary: other demographics who may purchase the magazine but are not that interested ( can spread info – advertising )

Circulation – how many people buy the magazine

Readership – how many people read the magazine

Dominant reading – the Audience uncritically accepts the preferred (or intended) meaning of the text

Negotiated reading – the message is partly accepted and partly rejected

Oppositional reading – the audience rejects the message

Target Audience – a specified audience or demographic group which a media text is designed for

Demographic – the characteristics of human populations and population segments used to identify consumer markets

Social grade boundaries

A: upper middle class

B: middle class

C1: lower middle class

C2: skilled working class

D: working class

E: those at the lowest end of subsistence

Mode of address – how the text speaks to the audience and involves them

Intertextuality – the shaping of a texts meaning by another text – referencing a film in a different film

Polysemy – lots of meanings

Anchorage – fixing the meaning if the advert with a logo etc