AS Media Photojournalism analysis

Following on from today's session looking at particular examples of photojournalism, I would like you to analyse two of the following images.

One should be the example given to you in class, while the other is your choice. Both pieces of analysis should be then posted onto your blog.

Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange, 1936
Rio orphans, circa 1990s
MotherTheresa, circa 1990s
Welfare line, 1937
South Yorkshire miner, 1984
Starlet by Robert Frank, 1956

AS Media - Semiotics Assignment October 2013

Here you will find the five images given to you in class, plus the Lynx advert "Even Angels Will Fall".

Choose TWO of the adverts - one representing women, the other representing men - and complete the following tasks:

Print Advert Analysis

Analyse two of the print adverts given to you

You will need to consider aspects of semiotics including:

·        Use of colour

·       Use of text

·       Use of people or place

·       Messages being sent out by the advert to attract  

           the audience

What you write will be dependent on how much you ‘read’ into your advert, but remember you are analysing, not merely stating the obvious; therefore you will need to use appropriate media language and deconstruct the advert for its meaning with an academic approach.

Key Words to use:

Denotation

Connotation

Representation

Audience

Anchorage

Assessment Method:

You should be looking for a minimum of 500 words for each advert, but there is no defined maximum word count.

Your two completed pieces of analysis should be posted to your personal blog, along with the chosen adverts which can be copied from here.

Examples of Dove Campaign for Real Beauty adverts

In this post you will find examples of adverts and short films regarding Dove's 'Campaign for Real Beauty'...

Evolution

Onslaught

Pro-Age

Self-esteem

Story behind the Dove campaign

Making of the Dove Evolution advert

Passionate Bright Young Things: Additional reference and revision material for 'Ad...

Passionate Bright Young Things: Additional reference and revision material for 'Ad...: Have spent a few hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon trawling the internet for additional revision and reference pieces and come up with this l...

A2 Media - 'Dead Set' - links to all five episodes

Should you be able to stomach the unraveling of society as seen through the eyes of some fictional Reality TV contestants, here are links to all five episodes of Dead Set...the links are titled in Spanish, but the episodes are the original English language versions...

'Dead Set' episodes 1-5

A2 Media - John Lewis TV advertising campaigns

In this blog post you will find seven John Lewis TV adverts from 2009-2012 which are featured in the exam revision booklet.

TASK: analyse each advert according to the following media key concepts:

Narrative – what is the storyline? Are there are enigmas within the narrative?

Semiotics – analyse the following aspects to determine the possible ‘meanings’ for the advert – costumes, settings, locations, music, editing, props, cinematography, style and characters.

Audience – target audience (class, gender, socio-economic status, demographic status), relevant audience theories

Representation – how is the advert representing the dominant John Lewis ideologies?

Genre – how can you tell this is a John Lewis advert? Is there a specific advertising genre that it fits in with? 

Christmas 2009

April 2010

Christmas 2010

Summer 2011

Christmas 2011

Autumn 2012

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2014

AS Media - Representation of Gender: Sky Sports Formula 1 trailer - 'At the Heart of F1'

Analyse the following advert from the point of view of  media representation. You should consider the representation of men and women, focusing on how both genders are portrayed. You should pay particular attention to the beginning and end of the trailer with regards to the representation of women.

How might this fit in with the media representation of sport, and this sport in particular?

AS Media - Exam Revision - Olympics 2012: Visual Analysis, Representation and Audience through audio visual adverts

In this blog post we will consider how the London Olympics and Paralympics 2012 were used by various companies to advertise both the games and themselves.

You need to consider the visual analysis techniques of denotation and connotation, paying attention to the use of colour, symbols, setting, locations, props, people, costume.

You should identify the use of sound (particularly music and dialogue) and why this has been chosen.

You also need to consider how different camera shots and angles help to convey 'meaning' - these will include Extreme Long Shots (to show space and location), Long Shots (to show character), Mid Shots (for dialogue), Close Ups (for emotions) and Extreme Close Ups (for details). Also consider low angle and high angle shots - what might these mean to the audience?

Finally, for technical codes, you need to identify how each text has been edited and for what possible result - pace, cutting to music, to deliver 'meaning' etc.


Representation - for each text use the WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW model

Consider the use of London as a setting and 'iconic' locations - what do these add to the message and the 'meaning'?

How are athletes, celebrities and the public used to represent the games?

How are the issues of 'sport', 'pride' and 'patriotism' represented to the audience?

British Airways - "London Calling"

Samsung - "Take Part - Everyone's Olympics"

Samsung - "Paralympics: Sport Doesn't Care Who You Are"

Visa - "Usain Bolt"

BBC - "Imagine"

AS Media - Exam Revision - 'The Olympics': News and Issues - Print Texts

This blog post looks at how the print media reported various issues linked to the Olympic Games in London 2012.

Identify which news values might be present.

Use the WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW model to establish Representation - you should be considering issues such as 'achievement', 'patriotism'. 'unity' and 'national pride'.

Now analyse the various front pages for their representation of Greta Britain's gold medal winner in the heptathlon, Jessica Ennis. Are they representing her more as a female, a female athlete, or as a winner?

Now compare the representation of Ennis with how the following two magazine front pages deal with fitness and the celebrity lifestyle.

AS Media - Representation and Audience Exam Revision Tasks - Gender

This blog post considers how the issue of 'Gender' can be analysed in terms of Representation and Audience

How might the following print adverts for the Harvey Nicholls fashion store be analysed in terms of:

A. Representation of Men

B. Representation of Women

C. Target Audience

For 'Representation' you should consider first the WHO, WHAT, WHY AND HOW model. You should also consider whether there is a dominant ideology existing within the texts and if so, what might that be?

For 'Audience' you should consider issues such as social class, gender, aspirations etc. You should also consider how audience theories might be used to explore the wider messages and meanings within the texts.

AS Media - Exam Revision:TV Adverts

In this post you will find the four TV adverts given as part of your exam revision. Alongside these I have uploaded some additional adverts as the more practice you get up to the exam, the better!

Lynx Attract

Foster’s Lager

Galaxy Chocolate

Vanish Washing Powder

For these short media texts you should carefully consider the following:

Textual Analysis – use of people, place, product, props, costume, lighting, cinematography (use of camera), sound (dialogue and music), editing, anchorage (written text, such as a slogan), use of colour.

Representation – who, what, why, how, use of stereotyping, positive or negative characterisation, gender, nationality, is the product typical of those being represented?

Audience – target audience (think gender, age, social background etc.), how is audience being ‘positioned’ to respond?

Narrative – is there a sense of a beginning, middle and an end?

Media Ideology – are there any dominant ideologies and/or social values being represented? If so, what might they be, and how are they put across to the audience? How might this help the audience identify with the characters and product? This will link to ‘Representation’. 

Lynx Attract - For Him and For Her

Foster's Lager - Haircut

Galaxy Chocolate - Audrey Hepburn

Vanish - Party Dress


______________________________________________________________________

The following adverts can also be analysed as part of additional revision - the same methods of analysis still apply.

Stella Artois Lager - The Piano

John Lewis - Always a Woman to Me

Irn Bru - Goth Holiday

Chanel No 5 - Nicole Kidman
The most expensive advert ever made at $42 million!

Link here for more info on this ground-breaking advert:

Chanel No.5 advert information

AS Media - Exam Revision: News Stories

Here are the three news stories given to you last week to help with exam revision.

Remember, anything could come up in the exam, so the more examples of different media texts you analyse will be beneficial.

You should be looking at these three stories according to the following Media Concepts:

News Values
Representation
Audience
Semiotics/Visual Analysis (including use of camera, sound, mise en scene and editing)

BBC News: Student protest in London - 9th December 2010

Consider how the news story is presented through various News Values - positively or negatively?
How are the different groups students represented? Think about age, social background and ethnicity, in particular.
How might different audiences respond to the events shown?

BBC News: Riots in Britain - August 2011

Consider how the news story is presented through various News Values.
How are individuals and groups represented? Think about how young people are represented in the last minute of the story - those standing behind Ed Miliband (Labour party leader) and the those filmed in long shot at the end.
How might audiences be positioned to take a certain point of view in this story?

ITV News: Michelle Obama visits a north London girls school - April 2009

What News Values might exist in this story?
Think how Michelle Obama is being represented here, and what she might be representing to the girls in the audience.
How might this be seen as a 'positive' item from an audience point of view?


Now consider how 'news' works in this clever and award-winning advert from The Guardian newspaper:

Try to identify all the different ways in which news can be presented to an audience in the 21st Century.

AS Media - Thatcher Death and Funeral Lesson

Daily Mail - Thatcher funeral rehersal

Daily Mail - anti-Thatcher celebrations

Daily Mail - anti-Thatcher reaction

The Sun - death of Thatcher

The Sun - editorial about Thatcher death

The Guardian - reaction to Thatcher funeral

Review of UK newspaper reaction to Thatcher's death

 Misapplied 'death etiquette'?

Overview of the Social Media reaction

AS Media - Past Exam Papers

I have provided links to previous WJEC exam papers which might be useful for seeing how they are set out, the types of questions asked and areas of possible revision you should be undertaking.

Note that there are three questions which require an answer - a textual analysis (semiotics), representation and audience. However, do not just limit yourself to these three areas - in the exam you should be considering other aspects such as ideology (hegemony, plurialism etc.), the institutions which produce the media (companies, individuals etc.), the 'media language' (iconography, mise en scene, connotation etc), genre and narrative.

You might also want to consider the News Values sessions.

May 2012 paper - audio visual 'Drugs' documentary

Jan 2011 paper - audio visual 'Winter Olympics' news report

June 2010 paper - audio visual 'Three Adverts'