Task answer: Discourse analysis

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Looking at Discourse From a Language Point of View We

Task answer 2: Collating an analytical toolbox – reading texts

Here is a student answer to our last task brief Collating an Analytical Toolbox. What do you make of this answer? Do you think it matches the task brief?

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The advert we chose is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 found in Xbox 360 World magazine uses a variety of ways in order to portray its purpose to its target audience; these can be found and deconstructed using the three scholarly tools.

The title for example is written in a combination of fonts, ‘Call of Duty’ is written in the classic way in order to attract the attention of previous users but ‘Modern Warfare 2’ is written in a more futuristic font in order to indicate how state of the art the games content is. The color of the main title also indicates a degree of revolutionary game design and combat as it uses white with a green outline; the green representing the militant content and the white being associated with freshness and innovation. These ideas correlate with that of De Saussure’s as we interpret the ‘sign’ in our minds in the way that the producer of the piece wants us to; the signifier is the modern text and the signified is revolutionary, modern, war, combat, military etc.

Moreover, Peirce’s theories also play a major part in deconstructing the images used in the advert. The advert uses fire at its base and a yellow sky above which gives a sense of heat and a desert like location also with the noble looking soldier standing in the foreground dressed in desert combat gear is symbolic of war. The combination of color and image here gives an indexical portrayal to the audience as the images are related to an overall feeling of heat, war, violence and peril. Also the use of weaponry (the gun in the soldier’s hand) relates to violence, conflict and even masculinity which appeals the target audiences which under twenty five males.

Furthermore, Barthes idea of ‘myth’ plays a key role in the deconstruction of the advert as the images also give a sense nobility. The iconic figure of a lone soldier standing before a smoldering backdrop in the desert heat suggests the myth of heroism in its classic format; all it takes is a single man to defy the odds to protect his monarchy. Also the advert suggests the myth of warfare with concept of one man within a group of soldiers taking on a conflict head on. On the advert are four other screen shots of the environments within in the game were team play can be used, which suggests the myth of people working together to fight a common enemy.

In conclusion the producers of the advert have chosen particular rhetoric in order to portray a certain image to the target audience. The images, colors and text used can be deconstructed using the three scholarly tools which have led us and the audience to get sense of what war can be like.

Task answer 1: Collating an analytical toolbox – reading texts

Here is a student answer to our last task brief Collating an Analytical Toolbox. What do you make of this answer? Do you think it matches the task brief?

Looking at this chosen advert we can understand the significance of the conventions used by looking at semiology. This is by the sign, which we then interpret in our own individual ways. For example in this advert we can see a man and a woman and the woman is blowing the man away. I would interpret this to targets a female audience who idolize the fact that women have power over men when wearing this specific perfume and therefore ‘blow men away’. However another media scholar looking at this may interpret this differently through the semiology used.

The adverts meaning is anchored through the relationship between signs and objects, the placement of the juicy couture is iconic due to the fact we immediately recognise that the product being advertised is linked to the brand juicy couture and here, a new fragrance is being advertised. The placement of the perfume bottle is indexical, as audiences would logically connect the perfume with the brand because of what we know from the signifier. This advert is also symbolic due to the connotation of the word ‘couture’ (which is also the perfumes name) as we are able to learn the conventional meaning being represented (i.e. an expensive perfume for an extravert), because of the use of the phrase ‘show off.’

Deep structure of the advert can be identified through the combination of conventions. For example, the use of an elegant woman placed with a good looking male and the fact that she is in control connotes that women who wear this perfume are dominant and in control. The use of pink glitter combines femininity and glamour which comes together to structure the overall meaning of the advert that is being created. The mise-en-scene of the bottle connotes a sense of regality which is reinforced through the photographic rhetoric and composition of the brand name and text.

The relationship between the text and reader leads to polysemia, in which many meanings could be interpreted of the text. This has to be controlled in order for the adverts preferred reading to be put across to audiences. Here, it has been controlled through the mise-en-scene and the use of layers. The male in the backgrounds shows he is not the main focus of the advert and is a mere ‘prop.’ The woman has been set in the middle, connoting that she is dominant and the advert is targeting a female audience. The text and perfume image has been used in the foreground, following the main conventions of print advertising.

The mythology of this media rhetoric is a set of ideas from the producers that has been intentional to create a certain message, the reading can conclude to be preferred or oppositional. In this advert gender is conveyed, the women is the dominant gender blowing away the man who is a countertype character; long hair, skinny body and his eyes covered, eyes are used in magazines as anchorage for the reader to dismiss the gaze sets the agender that the female is in a powerful position which isn’t societies dominant ideology. The typography in ‘do the don’ts’ is a strong, bold type which was used in the era of English rebellion and punk, the gold chain on the bottle of perfume conveys this era, as well as the black dress. This is also counter typical as traditionally in perfume adverts, white can be seen to represent innocence and virginity.

The lipstick typography of ‘show off’ also reinforces that women should be confident and ready to get to their dreams without interference, which is shown in this advert and reinforced through the overall set of ideas being conveyed, which do no match with societies mythology.

Task answer 2: Exploring genre and narrative

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MC401b Studying the Media and Communication Group A2 Exploring Genre

Task answer 1: Exploring genre and narrative

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Charlotte Parkes, Elizabeth Nicholson, Parvinder Panesar, Eva-Maria Nagy and Stellah