SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
- Proairetic, hermeneuitic, symbolic
- The way a media text talks to its audience
- Choice of language
- Theories of Representation and Reception Theory
MEDIA LANGAUGE
I am going to argue that the audience response to a media product is influenced by the time period that is being viewed in; I will be exploring this by looking at the texts 'Tide', a 1950's print advert selling washing powder', and 'Kiss of the Vampire', a film poster produced in 1963 for a gothic horror. I will be looking for different genre conventions, paradigms of a media text that demonstrate what genre it is, audiences responses, how the audience reacts to a media text, and ideologies, the beliefs and values if a media text of each text to argue this.
Firstly, the ideologies being created in 'Tide' may have different responses from the audience, depending on whether they are a modern audience or from the 1950's, when the ad was made. For example, the ideology being shown is that it is a woman's job to do the washing, which can be inferred because there are no mention of men in the advert and there is a large image of the 'housewife' character created by the brand posing with the product. In the 1950's, the audience probably would have have a more dominant reading of this because it was normal for men to go out to work whilst women stayed at home, society was very patriarchal so the audience was likely to agree with the ideologies created by the producer. However, a more modern audience may have an oppositional or negotiated reading of the advert because it is more common for women to go to work. Feminists may argue that the product should not be targeted towards only women, therefore, taking on the oppositional reading. Therefore, the reception of this advert changes through time.
Additionally, different audiences may have different connotations of the red colours in the 'Tide' advert, which is shown in the sans-serif font, apron, lipstick, and product packaging. General symbols of the colour red are love and sex, which is a universal audience response, but the original audience of the advert may have viewed it more sexually that the modern day. This is because women were often sexualised in order to impress their husbands, almost as their 'purpose', and so they would assume that buying this product may help them do that. On the other hand, the red may connotate more symbols of love, rather than sex, to a more current audience because there are now other ways to sexualise women. Love is also shown in the advert by the small hearts above the 'housewife' and her washing powder.
The modes of address and choice of lexis in this advert may also be perceived differently by different audiences, because of influences of feminism in the modern day. For instance, "whiter-yes, whiter" and "you women" are very direct towards the female audience. Women from the 1950's may have viewed this as a sense of community because most of them were all doing the same jobs at home. However, it could also be viewed as sexist or patronising, so that the brand can have power over the audience. This may make women now feel singled out by the brand and forced by them to buy the product, therefore, taking on a different reception to an older audience.
'Kiss of the Vampire' also tries to sexualise women in its film poster, but it may have been more appealing to its original audience. The producers have tried to sexualise women by putting them in nude-coloured nightgowns as part of the mise-en-scene, which aims to appeal to its target audience, heterosexual men. Its 1963 audience would have seen this as very sexual, therefore, attracting them to watch the film. Although, the costume could also create multiple meaning, as the nightgowns also represent venerability. Nowadays, the women in the advert would not be as objectified because what they are wearing does not conform to the normal perception of 'sexy'. Therefore, we may see it as more of a symbol of weakness, which creates the binary oppositions of power and helplessness between men and women. As a result of these multiple meanings, more modern heterosexual men may not be as appealed to watch the film.
There are a lot of genre conventions of the film poster that are paradigmatic of a stereotypical gothic horror; these include bats, the archetypal vampire, dripping blood and a full moon. In 1963, audiences were less used to horror films, therefore, they were not desensitised to these conventions. Unlike this, a modern audience is more used to horror films and realistic special effects, and so the film would perhaps be less popular because it doesn't conform to the producer's ideology of these being scary genre conventions. Therefore, the genre conventions can create multiple audience responses, influenced by when the product is seen.
Overall, the different ideologies, conventions and audience responses in the 'Tide' and 'Kiss of the Vampire' adverts can easily create multiple meanings, influenced by the different time periods's beliefs and stereotypes.
REPRESENTATION
I will be exploring the ways in which audiences are positioned, based on representations, in the WaterAid TV advert 2016 and a print 'Save the Children' advert.
Claudia in the WaterAid advert is surrounded by other Zambian villagers, who are all smiling and singing, the audience can infer from this that they are happy, therefore, they are positioned in a way that we don't feel sorry for them. This contrasts with the 'Save the Children' advert, as all the soldiers surrounding the child are facing away from him, with stern looks on their faces. The audience are positioned so that they feel sorry for the child because you can see that he is not well looked after and his cry for help is ignored.
Similarly, the location of both adverts are dry and underdeveloped; although both adverts are set in different countries, they both share the same qualities. The contrast between England, the target audience, and these places exaggerate how much they don't have in comparison to us. The WaterAid advert makes this even more obvious by including an empty shot of a rainy day in England at the beginning of it; the sharp jump between the two locations helps the audience to make these comparisons.
The guns within the mise-en-scene of the print advert represent danger and violence, which makes the audience feel concerned for the child; he is also carrying a weapon, telling the audience that he has been introduced to violence too early. In comparison, there is no inference or mention of weapons in the TV advert, instead we are shown short shots of children playing on swings and running around.
