Detailed notes on the case studies - ADVERTISING

Tide Print Advert 

Media language

• Intertextual reference to romance films

• Use of hyperbole

• Friendly and inclusive lexis

• Dense and packed layout, indicating the target audience has the time to read the advert (though this style of advert is also simply typical of 1950’s advertising)

• Iconography and mise-en-scene typical of working class 1950’s America

• "Cleanest" - superlative/ hyperbolic language 

• "It's a miracle!" - religious 

• "whitest" - cant get any better - it's the best - its white so it is the best - could be seen as racist - white is the best

• Her pursed lips function as a proairetic code which informs the audience that she is going to kiss her lover (the box of Tide)

• There is a comic print in the bottom right to make the advert more engaging.

• Mode of address is talking directly to women "No wonder you Women buy more TIDE" so like a man talking to a woman. 

• Use of a Z line - starts at top with how good tide is, then main photo of woman and then writing at the bottom.

• The woman is happy which shows to the audience that if they buy this product they will also be happy

• Background is white - suggesting purity and the cleanliness of the product 

• The woman holding/hugging tide is the centre image emphasising how it is the crucial to her life

Representation

• Singular stereotypical representation of women - wearing a stereotypical 50's house wife clothes (spotted clothes and hair tied up)

• Stereotypical ‘housewife’ representation

• Stereotypes of women encoded through setting, gesture and costume codes

• Reinforces commonly held stereotypes that men and women occupy different gender roles

• A construction of working class American identity

• She has very heavy red lipstick and makeup on - by buying Tide you will become glamorous, sexually attractive and more like the woman. 

• Target audience for this is a house wife. 

• It uses the stereotype that woman are the ones who clean = sexist - the writing is in red associating with woman - red can also be associated with romance.

Background info

• Designed specifically for heavy duty machine cleaning
• Launched in 1946 and it quickly became a brand leader in America 
• The D'Arcy Masius Benton and Bowels advertising agency made the advert
• DMB&M used print and radio advertising campaigns in order to quickly build audience familiarity with the brand. 

WaterAid

Media language

•  Binary opposition of rainy, miserable England and colourful, cheerful Africa 

• Tracking shots - initial tracking shot symbolises their lack of wealth as it follows Claudia as she collects water 

• focuses on tap and sun to emphasise how special they are and how much they can impact the people like Claudia 

• Exotic mise-en-scene - costume - colourful costumes with particular emphasis on bright yellows and pinks. Associations with happiness and positivity

• Slow motion shots to emphasise the importance of water

• Use of diegetic singing -  Claudia is singing an upbeat, catchy and positive song. As she reaches the village, all the village people joins in this song in chorus. Symbolises community and friendship.

• Low Close up tracking shot of Claudia's feet establishes that she must walk far to collect water - Positions the audience literally in Claudia's shoes allowing the audience to empathise with her.

• Audiences now desensitised to charity adverts - The Claudia advert represents a resolutely positive ideology to it's target audience

• Both conventional and subversive of charity advert conventions

Representation 

• A stereotypical construction of ‘Africa’, which no indication of what specific country it takes place in - African people are represented as cheerful, happy and carefree = positive representation yet also stereotypical 

• An atypical and positive representation of a young African woman, being assertive and proactive

• Both reinforces and challenges representations of African and African people

• Direct mode of address to assumed white audience reinforces a ‘white saviour’ narrative

• non-stereotypical representation of black teenager - normally a stereotypical view of black teenagers is that they are normally involved within crime. Claudia is positive!

• A positive representation of a hardworking teenage girl

• polysemic readings of this advert both bleak and depressing but also hopeful and uplifting

WaterAid - background 

The charity wateraid was established in 1981 as a response to the 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 leader has been Prince Charles.

Kiss of the Vampire poster

Media language

• Uses the generic iconography of the vampire genre in order to attract pre-existing audiences - font made out of wood - iconography of a stake 

• use of low key natural lighting - connotes a feeling of suspense or mystery = hermeneutic code 

• Aspects of mise-en-scene, such as setting and costume are highly typical of the genre - mise-en-scene of red and black represent death

• Use of language ‘’In Eastman Color’ suggests film will be in full colour and has been processed using the then popular Eastmancolor technique

• Uses typical film poster conventions, including the names of the principal actors being used to sell the film to a pre-existing audience

• The campiness of the mode of address reflects the changing tastes of the film going public. Public tastes changed in the 70’s with gorier films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alien - eerie and bleak = stereotypical setting
• woman in the gold dress looks violent - which diverts representations from the stereotypical view from women (normal stereotypical view is that she is scared and dies/gets rescued)
• Proairetic code of the women being bitten by an arm shows that she is going to turn into a vampire which is an example of intertextuality due to the fact that this has happened before
• Binary Oppositions of Humans vs Vampires
•  setting is a stereotypical vampire film - abandoned stately home - looks like a typical vampire film. 

Representation 

• Sexualised, objectified representation of women, confirming Van-Zoonen’s theory that women’s bodies are used to sell media products to a heterosexual male audience

• Use of sexualisation is highly typical of the time it was produced

• A stereotypical representation of vampires - stereotypical bats and castle in background = has connotations of vampires

• Middle class British hero’s under-threat in a foreign land. Like many horror films, the monster here represents a xenophobic unease at places which are not in the UK, which supports Gilroy’s postcolonial theory

• Encourages audiences to pick and mix ideological perspectives. It is possible to enjoy the film full well knowing how ridiculous it is, and vampire films can be an important part of an audience’s identity