The moving text that I've chosen to analysis is a rock song called "Bite My Tongue"
Colours: The iconography of a typical rock song; in terms of colours; is that the video is really quite dark with loads of fast paced things going on throughout the video. The lack of colour in the setting allows the band members singing to stick out more and creates more of an impact as people cannot miss them. The producer of the video has deliberately done this in order to make the singers stand out and make them look and seem important. Even the members of the band are in black as this follows the stereotypical iconography for rock so in order for them to stand out, the producer has placed lights on them in order to ensure that they keep their rock vibe and can be seen/ stand out.
Setting: The setting of the rock song is in some sort of basement or empty storage warehouse. This setting reflects the mood of the song, which is that the mood is quite dark and full of hate. The hollow emptiness in the videos background could represent the feelings that they have for a particular person: none. The idea of the song is; in other words; is a statement which is hence the reason why this genre of music is only for some people. The audience which this song in particular is aimed at is teenagers and mainly boys however there are many girls that listen to it as well.
Composition and Type of shot: The composition throughout the video changes a lot for example, the over the shoulder shot is used in order to present the singers power of the others and the fact that he controls them. Also the various close-ups on the featured rock star "Oli Sykes" creates a dark; almost scary; atmosphere which therefore interprets him as fearless and connotes that he has the most power due to the fact that he is feared. Also, when the rock star is introduced into the song/video, the music changes in order to create suspense and an atmosphere which implies that he's going to cause trouble. Whilst he is singing, the only shots on him are close-ups and medium shots which highlights the issue that he has power. The purpose of the featured rock star is to represent that you may have power over people but there's always someone who can control you. This idea is shown well through the types of shots used as well as the way the video is produced.
Many close-up shots in this particular music video is used due to the type of genre of music which the song is and that it really captures the main theme (concept) of the song. The fact that the producer of the music video has chosen to use loads of close-up shots emphasis' the power in which some characters have during the song and shows who's in charge. Traditionally in music videos, the main singers are portrayed as important through close-ups which is another reason why close-ups are used as the producer wants to emphasis their importance and their roles as band members.
Lighting: The Lighting in the video is quite dull and the only light is from a couple of light bulbs. furthermore, the reason behind this could be that the producer of the video is trying to keep the stereotypical aspects of a typical rock song/video hence why it's dark. The lighting is important in a video as the song can be interpreted differently. For example, if the setting was brightly lighted, this may not have shown the power which people had and therefore the meaning of the song would be entirely different therefore the producer has thought very hard before making the video.
The poster advertising reebok is effective due to the small quote used and the colours, as well as other techniques which have been used by the creator of the advertisement. The lack of colour used in the advertisement is very effective and makes the text and the image stand out more. The fact that its black and white connotes a mixture of differences for example the lack of colour could represent the fact that he’s rebelling against society and therefore doesn’t care what others think of him. The black contrasting against the white could suggest his past to his present and the way that he’s changed over the years from when he was younger. The fact that the left side of the image has more darkness and juxtaposes the right therefore showing his past rebellious side. Due to the way that the advertisement is set out, it creates a sense of an unstable background. For example the tagline; placed in the center of the poster; reading “I am what I am” could mean that he is comfortable with who he is and is not going to change. The poster is arranged by the image of 50 cent on the left and writing(text) on the right of this. The split between them both leaves an impact on the audience as it's quite an urban advertisement and therefore people are able to relate to the poster in some kind of way. The fact that the writing on the right side of the advertisement takes up slightly more space on the poster than the picture of 50 cent could represent his change from a struggling past to his present. The urban factor of the advertisement is quite important in terms of how reebok has decided to layout the print advertisement as it appeals to a wide audience. In fact, reebok have deliberately chosen to show an urban characteristics in the advertisement in order to appeal to the targeted audience, which is the younger male audience who live in rougher areas than average. Therefore, negative connotations referring to or promoting an urban lifestyle attracts this audience which is what reeboks target is. By challenging day-to-day life, reebok are making people think controversially about themselves as well as what they'd wear. The lack of a background on the left whereas the text on the right has a background could connote the change which he had, as he started off as someone who had a bad past and now has a good life. Also the use of no setting expresses emotion as this could suggest that he had no one and now it's all changed.
The cover of this film, “The Dark Knight Rises” is a very powerful film cover in terms of the colours used and the way that the main image is conveyed. The fact that there is a dramatic silhouette of a tall figure in the background makes the viewer wonder who this could be as there is no sign of batman; the main character of the film; in the film cover. The figure is dark and we are not able to see their face thuscreating a sense of evilness. The fact that we’re not able to see the persons face may lead to viewers thinking that this person is evil or has an evil role in the film. The audience cannot make out the setting from this poster which therefore could leave them wanting to know the setting and perhaps looking further into the film on the internet or watching a trailer.
On the top of the poster, there is a tagline which reads “THE LEGEND ENDS” which conveys a thought in the audience’s mind which is could batman be beaten? This therefore is a good technique which the poster creator has used as it influences people looking at the cover to go and watch the film as they want to see whether the batman legacy is ending or not. The word “LEGEND” in the phrase; placed on the top of the poster; emphasises the fact that people love batman and that he’s a hero (protagonist). “LEGEND” also can lead to the thought that he will never be forgotten, therefore connoting that his legacy may be coming to an end. Another word which also has this affect that the batman saga could be coming to an end is the word “ENDS”. Both the words “LEGEND ENDS” goes together well in order to imply that this could be the last film and people will be more interested in seeing how the saga ends.
Another image in the poster which confirms this point is batman’s helmet smashed to pieces on the floor. The brokenness of the hero’s helmet could symbolise the destructive power of the villain and confirms the fact that the batman saga is ending. The shattered remains of his helmet backs up this theory and the audience therefore become more interested in the film. The helmet is closer to the viewer and therefore emphasises its importance in terms of the movie. There is light gleaming down on the helmet which could suggest that the hero may overcome the situation but in order for the viewer to find out, they would have to watch the film.
The mood which the film poster sends out is very dark which is because of the lighting. There’s not any colour used at all in the cover. The lack of light connotes evilness to a certain degree as the image shows batman’s helmet with darkness around it. The low key lighting can also be interpreted as batman being beaten and the villain(s) possibly conquering over him. The poster designer has also chosen to use a technique known as pathetic fallacy which is the idea that the weather reflects the mood of the situation. This mood therefore could represent an ending to the legacy. Due to the way that the film cover is set out, we are able to tell that the genre of the film is a hybrid; action and sci-fi. We are also able to gather enough information to know that mainly boys would watch and be interested in this film rather than girls.
The composition of the film poster “The Dark Knight Rises” is quite centred in terms of the images used. The creator of the poster has tried to keep all of the pictures in the center of the poster in order to imply that they are important. The darkness around the images could connote that there is evil all around them and possibly more than just one villain. The universal batman logo is a sign placed on the film poster as it represents batman and everyone knows what it is. It’s a trademark which people have grown fond of.
LEVI-STRAUSS is the belief or theory that there is binary opposition in the film/movie. In the film poster; "The Dark Knight Rises"; the images shown suggest binary opposition (conflict) between the main character; batman; and the villain: who we do not know. This therefore suggests that the theory of LEVI-STRAUSS is present in the movie and that there may be conflict during the film, between the protagonist and the antagonist. People know that there will be some sort of binary opposition in this film due to the fact that the "Batman" films are big budget Hollywood movies and therefore more or less everyone has heard of it. This in other words means that most people have seen at least one of the "Batman" films in the past or have heard about it and connotes that the audience know what the typical iconography in "Batman" is. The film produces would not change a huge, world wide movie from a hybrid:action thriller film to a comedy.
However, despite the theory that batman may not succeed and beat the villain, there's also the theory named the "Todorov theory" which is the belief that the hero(protagonist) or the situation of the film/movie is always resolved no matter the situation. "Todorov's" theory can be backed up by the fact that despite batman's helmet is broken up, it's got a beam of light over it which could therefore connote that even though he is defeated in the beginning, the situation will be resolved and he will prosper.
This is a magazine cover from ‘Rock Sound’
which is a magazine based on rock bands.
Language: On the front cover, the words used are sort of
like hooks in the sense that they do not give too much away with certain things
in the magazine, however they give enough for a person to be interested and
sort of have an outline on what’s inside. The language used (phrases) such as
“I WANT TO KILL MEMBERS OF MY BAND!” appeal to people as its gossip and
interesting for certain viewers to know about the lives of their favourite rock
bands. The fact that it’s all written in capital letters therefore connotes
that it could be pretty important or interesting and therefore people do not
miss it (makes it more eye catching).
Institution: “Rock Sound” is produced by Patrick Napier who
is the publisher of the magazine. It is not produced by any particular company
or organisation. It published and edited by a small institution published by
Patrick Napier and edited by Ben Patashnik.
Audience: The magazine “Rock Sound” is aimed at the younger
generation and not particularly at a certain gender either. On the other hand,
I’d say that the magazine is brought more by girls than boys due to the fact
that there are more girls that listen to bands that boys as boys tend to listen
to more rap music. I think that the magazine has more power of the audience as
viewers would be reading about their favourite bands, and almost mimic what
they do. Magazines like this influence the decisions of what people make in
day-to-day life.
Representation:
Generally, when you see a rock magazine cover, you expect quite dark
unearthly colours on the front cover however this is not therefore the editors
have gone against the typical conventions of a rock magazine in order to make
it more colourful. However, you can also say that they’ve tried to sort of
merge the stereotypical rock magazine with a more colourful one as they have
only used 4 colours which consist of two typical rock band colours; black and
red; and two different colours: blue and yellow.
I read the back few pages of the sun whilst at home; sometimes when i'm bored; in order to familiarize myself with what goes on in the world of football. However recently i haven't been too interested in football therefore i do not read the back pages anymore. I usually read short articles which have a catchy title which interests me. i mainly read these pages due to the fact that they are the only ones which i'm interested in and they keep me up to date in terms of current events. I never read the articles based on government and politics as i find them boring however from time to time my dad tells me to read a specific article; sometimes government related; and i read it as it could affect what i do. My dad usually buys the newspaper and reads it before me. He also informs me about some articles and things going on the world in case i want to read about it.
I don't really buy any magazines but i use to read top gear magazines as i'm into cars and find them interesting. I would read the entire magazine back to front as i love cars however i do not buy these magazines anymore due to the fact that i don't have enough time to read them and therefore this would be a waste of money.
I don't really watch that much television therefore a week i watch about 4-5 hours of it. I watch television for about half an hour a day when i get back from school and the rest of the day i study, listen to music and do other things that i'm interested in. I watch television by myself and i watch programs such as family guy.
I'm usually on the internet everyday if not doing my work, then listening to music or even such browsing the things that i'm interested in; looking at new cars and updates on technology. My phone is connected to my home internet so i can access the internet through there but i also can do it through 3g when on the move. Youtube and t3 seem to be the main sites in which i access as i can look at new technology from t3 and listen to music on youtube. I also go on some internet shopping sites but that's only occasionally.
I decided to choose media for a-level due to the fact that my cousin also took media as one of his a levels and according to him it was a fun and interesting a level alongside his other subjects. Taking that into consideration, i thought that it might be a good subject which would go well with my others which are art, ict and maths. Media fits in quiet nicely with art and ict therefore resulting in me going down into the path of some kind of designing and studying something like product design in university.
My first thought of A-level media before the lesson was that it's probably going to be quite a boring lesson which is going to be mainly writing and analyzing texts and newspaper articles however my option of media after the lesson had totally changed. After the discussion about what we are going to be doing in A-level media, it seemed to be quite a hands-on subject. The only issue for me personally is the coursework due to the fact that I've picked two other subjects; art and ict; which consist of a vast amount of it, however this should hopefully not be too much of a problem if i get my work up to date and meet deadlines and requirements.
Over the whole duration of the course, i hope to learn a lot about media and what it can offer me as a student. whether it's the route i want to go down is another story however i'm intending to keep an open mind for opportunities. I was told that you learn a lot about camera angles and certain camera shots. I was also told that you make a lot of video trailers and make magazine covers. If that be the case, then i'm pretty such i will enjoy media due to the fact i love art and design and therefore love drawing and creating posters and pictures.
