Wednesday, 30 October 2019

+*-Water Aid Charity Advert-*+




Analyse how the Water Aid charity advert uses its technical codes to provoke responses, emotions and connections with its target audience.


Who are the target audience ? How can you tell ?


Literate with technology - donations are encouraged through the imperative “Text SUNNY to 70555.”


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.

How is the landscape of Africa represented in the advert ?
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. Since1991 its patron has been Prince Charles.

How are the people in Africa represented in the advert ?


How is the UK represented in the advert ?



What is the central message of the advert and how does it achieve this ?


Does the advert follow or subvert the conventions of the  charity advert genre ?




Give specific examples of technical codes ( camera shots , lighting, graphics etc. ) to support your points 

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

+*-KEY TEXT : RIPTIDE Music Video-*+



+*-KEY TEXT: RIPTIDE Music Video-*+:

Analyse the music video for Riptide by Vance Joy focusing on the following elements. Refer to contextual information and technical codes to support your points.


GENRE AND AUDIENCE

Research and summarise the indie genre: conventions, influences, audience and key artists.
What is the definition of "indie" and does the artist, video fit into this category?

Indie Music: Independently recorded music - Rock + Alternative Rock - Unaffiliated with major record labels - mid to low sized budget.
Influences/ Intertextual references: Blue Velvet: Lounge Singer Dorothy Vallens.
Conventions: Using a narrative video to create. wider meaning - Sound: Guitar music (convention of Indie Rock Genre)
Audience: Generally ranges from teenagers to 35-year-olds.
Key artists: 






Definition of Indie: 
(of a pop group, record label, or film company) not belonging or affiliated to a major record or film company.
  • A small independent pop group, record label, or film company.
  • Characteristic of the deliberately unpolished or uncommercialised style of small independent pop groups.
NARRATIVE AND ICONOGRAPHY

The video is clearly not a performative one explicitly showing the artist performing.

Is there a linear clear and resolved narrative, or a fragmented montage based on interpreting the lyrics of the song?


'Unstick' - Ice-lollies being broken apart; Woman breaking free from ropes.
'Left hand' - Vehicles using their left hands.
'Riptide' - Image of a riptide.

Analyse scenes for the connotations ( deeper meanings)  of specific objects and props and how they connect to the lyrics of the song and any messages or themes of the video. Do the visuals always literally match the words or add and change the meaning of the song?

All my friends are turning green - Mise en scene of dollars - friends are greedy/ materialistic
Mise en scene of woman singing - Relationships have become toxic - "Light" shows the distance between two individuals.

REPRESENTATION

How is gender represented in the video? Look at stereotypes, repetitive motifs and how women and men are framed narratively and through iconography. How does it link to the film genres and films that the video makes intertextual references to? Does the video have any explicit message or resolution about these themes or issues?


Women are dehumanised:
Woman running away without her face seen.
Woman staring at the sea without her face seen.
Woman snatched from bed in the dark.

Men and women are trapped in society:
Woman breaking free from ropes - "Come unstuck"THEORY

POSTMODERNISM

The video explicitly refers to film genres such as horror, surrealism and references specific film directors such as Wes Anderson and David Lynch,  as well as including deliberately artificial sequences such as showing the making of the video itself.
Which of the following postmodernist techniques are used in the video?

Pastiche: Images and videos are synced with lyrics.
Intertextuality: Blue Velvet: Woman singing in microphone.

Tuesday, 15 October 2019

+*- Research Task - *+



+*- Research Task-*+:


Indie Music Genre:


Indie Music
Rather than a sound, indie comprises all independently recorded music. Its artists release music on their own record label or an independent label, meaning a record label unaffiliated with a major record label.
Indie music comprises a broad spectrum of music spanning all genres. You’ll find indie country, indie pop, indie rock. Any genre normally controlled by major labels features an indie genre. Most artists create music of this genre on a low to mid-sized budget. Its audience generally ranges from teenagers to 35-year-olds.
The effects of Indie Music
The advent of the indie movement brought notoriety for some “garage bands” who became well known through live club dates, the indie press, and appearances at regional and national music festivals. This includes The Arcade Fire, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decembrists, Modest Mouse, Mumford and Sons, Oasis, Pinback, and Radiohead.
Characteristics of Indie music
Indie bands do heavily influence one another which produces similar sounds. In general, indie music features a clear melody and simple instrumentation. The influence of folk and country music pervades and many songs feature violin or piano. The musical composition often features a four instrument main combination of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums with harmonized vocals. Its simple arrangements make it easy to cover the songs, making it popular with young musicians.
Indie music encourages experimentation. It may draw from fields besides folk and country, as far-flung as electronica, jam rock also known as psychedelia, or Japanese noise. Its guitar parts use standard and power chords which also lends its music to being easy for young players to learn.
Its simple lyrics may recount a slice of life or vignette. They often contain anti-corporate or political statements, much like folk music’s protest songs.
Although indie music develops throughout the world, it’s known for its US creative hubs in Austin, TX and Seattle, WA. In Europe, it draws from both large and small cities with the countries of England, France and Germany leading the popularization of bands on a larger scale. In Europe, folk mixes with rock and punk in the indie scene. One of the best-known brands to rise out of the European scene is the folk-punk band The Pogues which writes original music along with updating folk classics in the punk vein. The band began playing Irish pubs and now headlines major festivals.
Indie began as a reference to any band recording on an independent label but has developed in definition to refer to obscure music developed specifically to target the youth culture. Its goal is to remain independent, but some artists have become well known. A few, like Beck and Oasis, have gone from obscurity to AOR and Top 40 radio play without a major label signing.

David Lynch:
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, painter, musician, actor, and photographer.
Blue Velvet is a 1986 American neo-noir mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. Blending psychological horror with film noir, the film stars Kyle MacLachlanIsabella RosselliniDennis Hopper, and Laura Dern, and is named after Bobby Vinton's 1963 song of the same name. The film concerns a young college student who, returning home to visit his ill father, discovers a severed human ear in a field that leads to his uncovering a vast criminal conspiracy and entering a romantic relationship with a troubled lounge singer.
Wes Anderson:


Wes Anderson is an American film director whose works feature a recurring ensemble of actors, including Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. He is known for quirky, comical movies with flawed characters, with projects ranging from The Royal Tenen baums and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou to Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson has also enjoyed success with the stop-motion animated films Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs.

Thursday, 10 October 2019

+*-Marketing Task-*+


Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Proofing Moisturiser 50ml.
+*-Marketing Task-*+:

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Proofing Moisturiser 50ml


Target audience: Teenagers/Young adults - Individuals with spot-prone skin.

How would you market the product?: Celebrity advertisement: Like Jorgie Porter x Proactive













Message behind the product: Helps boost self-esteem amongst teenagers - Spot reducing/ acne skincare.
-Embrace your natural beauty.

Inform: Informs the audience of the benefits of the products - The main information surrounding the product.

Persuade: 'Before and After' images of skin product in action - Makes the audience believe that the products work.

Sell: Seeing the benefits of the product will promote sales - Seeing the products in action (I.E. Persuasion) will boost sales.

The Unique Selling Point (USP): Aimed at teenagers - confidence-boosting - focuses on the benefit to the audience as opposed to the benefit of the product - Seems more genuine and personal.

Persuasive devices: 

Narrative: Sad teenager/ bad skin - uses product - skin improve/ self esteem improves.
Music: Positive music to symbolise the positive benefit of the products.

Hierarchy of needs: 
Self-actualisation: 'Be the best version of yourself' - boosts sales
Esteem: The benefit of product for teenage body positivity.


Wednesday, 9 October 2019

+*-Key Text; Paper 1 Section A: DREAM Music Video-*+




+*-Key Text; Paper 1 Section A: DREAM Music Video-*+:



Narrative

What is the main narrative and message of the song, and how is this added to or altered by the visual elements of the video and the techniques used? Does the video subvert or confirm the messages and content of the song?

The main narrative message of the song is to show how society is still divided racially and culturally, even though it is less apparent. The message of the song is also to show how the musician, Dizzee Rascal feels like a puppet of society and controlled from This is shown through the use of the puppets representing society and the inclusion of Annette Mills, the white middle class, female presenter used in the video. this video confirms the message of the song as it spreads the message of social and racial inequality.

Representation 

How is ethnicity, age, gender and class represented in the video? What binary oppositions are created or shown in the video between different stereotypes? What stereotypes are used to represent different social groups?

Ethnicity is represented throughout Dizzee Rascal's 'Dream' music video through the use of the miseducating en scene. Dizzee Rascal (the star vehicle) is a black man. Through the lyrics used throughout the video, Dizzee expresses his disgust with racial stereotypes and inequality from the perspective of a young, black male. Age is also represented throughout the video through the image of Annette Mills, a mature woman as well as the denotation of the young man, Dizzee Rascal. The binary opposition of these individuals creates the narrative that the older generation dislike the younger generation and the image they portray e.g. Urban; ghetto personalities.

How is the concept of inequality or social power demonstrated in the technical codes or narrative of the video?


Intertextuality: What cultural or media references does the video and song make and why?

Muffin the mule - 1950's children's show - presented by Annette Mills - used to contrasts the mature themes with the innocent backdrop.
Martin Luther King's 'I had a dream' speech - Symbolises racial inequality - the drive for change.
Golliwog - Racist dolls - Stereotypical - Used to symbolise the way Rascal's culture is being made


THEORY  


Barthes: Semiotics 
Identify objects, characters or props/costumes that connote a deeper layer of meaning about the messages and themes in the video.


Red hoodie on Dizzee Rascal symbolises rebellion.
Puppets/ Marrionettes - Symbolise the working class - How the working class are marginalised.
Annette Mills - Symbol of White; middles class culture - How they are dominant - Hold the most power - Judgemental of the working class.

Levi-Strauss  Binary Oppositions

Identify a range of binary opposites in the video and how they add meaning to  the narrative and themes of the video

Grime music genre and the opening of pastel colours on children's toys.

Dizzee Rascal's clothing and demeanour in contrast to Annette Mills'.
Happy talk in contrast to the grime music genre.

Postcolonialism( Gilroy) : Does the video refer to "traditional white " UK culture and create a binary opposition with modern multicultural Britain ? How ?


Annette Mills - Symbol of white culture - Facial expressions when Rascal states something outlandish or puppets act inappropriately changes into a look of disgust.






Thursday, 3 October 2019

+*-Task Two - Homework-*+


+*-Task Two - Homework-*+


Apple - iPhone 11 - "Think different." - "The smartest iPhone yet."
Fenty (By Rhianna) - New beauty collection - "Fenty By Rhianna."
Coca Cola - Coca Cola Energy - "Spread your positive energy."
Google - Google Hub - "Don't Be Evil."
Burger King - Whopper - "Go on, say it."

Recently, Save the Children used shock tactics in their 'I Am The Future' advertisement. It was effective because they used children to shock people into the idea of the corruption of innocence. They also used emotional and stirring music to make the audience sympathise with their adverts intention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toH4GcPQXpc

Car advertisements:

Advert tends to be unrelated to the brand they are trying to promote.
Always use a clip of the car driving on different types of terrain. e.g. on a mountain, an empty road, a dirt path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZd3uQVtk8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43dF-x06EBQ

Advertisement using intertextuality:

Halifax-Wizard of Oz advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg_zebVs8UU

Vodafone-Star Wars:

Image result for intertextuality advertising examples

Uses of music in advertisements:

Works with the brand being promoted
Promotes sales
Creates a narrative
Sparks change e.g. Save the Children
Evokes emotion within the audience e.g. Charity.

Idris Elba x Squarespace (Dream it advertisement)


+*-Exam question: targeting audiences-*+:

 +*-Exam question: targeting audiences-*+: What techniques do your chosen texts use to effectively target and maximise their online audience...