Key Assessment 1
Exam
Section 1 -
1.
- hermeneutic coding
- prioritic coding
- symbolic coding
2. Modes of address is the way in which the language speaks to the audience
3. Lexis is the language used
4. Dominant and oppositional views
Section 2 -
How can media language communicate multiple meanings? Make reference to at least two of the following; the Tide print advertisement (1950's), the WaterAid audiovisual advertisement (2016) and the Kiss of the Vampire (1963) film poster.
Media language can convey multiple meanings through the intentions of the producers and their specific ideologies and presentations they try to convey to the main demographic. In the 1950's advert for the detergent company, Tide, there is an obvious dominant perspective (view) that the producer wanted to present (this idea was coined by Stuart Hall).
The language used is to glamorise the task of washing in order to incentivise women into buying and using the product. Contextually, the 1950's was an era that did have a general oppressive nature particularly in gender roles and the places each gender took. There was a large number of women who worked at home and would look after the house and family. The focal text of the advert is the large serif text that says 'Tide's Got What Women Want'. This is very telling of the gender inclusivity of the product as the use of 'Women' as the only indication of demographic. This singular demographic advert still creates multiple meanings in the language as the way women can perceive the message of the title can differ due to individuality of people.
Some women may perceive it as a positive outlook because it creates an almost community of women who have this product, an elite club of women who are perceived higher then others because they have what they "want". But other women could perceive it as a way of oppressing their thoughts and ideals into a single perspective, that they are being forced into buying a product because it's convinced it knows what women want and paints all the women the same.
This oppositional meaning is also communicated in the 1963 film poster 'Kiss Of The Vampire' but rather through the text used itself its conveyed through the matching genre conventions connected to the title of the film. It uses binary opposition within the title as it takes the romantic, intimate and almost private action of kissing that back in 1963 was seen as progressively more provocative then nowadays would see it. This is then villainised and contrasted with the use of 'Of The Vampire', a fictional creature that hadn't yet been popularised in the film industry as it has in more recent year (most famously the Twilight franchise). What the use of this language does is give the audience separate reactions, the intrusiveness of the title being a dominant overlap to the dark background that can create a element of fear and abnormality but also can create curiosity at the obscurity of the content.
Audiences can have separate reactions to media language, this is because we are all individuals and although people can have a similar perspective it's hard to predict what every reaction will be, this is why producers focus on primary demographics and their primary reactions while also considering secondary and possibly tertiary demographics when creating a media product. Within media language, the producers are able to manipulate the audience by channeling their ideologies and perspectives into their product as a way to sell a product or just to convey a particular message. Media language has several meanings because there are external factors that can sway people to have certain reactions. Gender, class and ethnicity are prominent factors that affect audience's perspectives and reactions. Women have a higher amount of media focused on the social ideals of what they should look like, particularly with weight. Primary ideals within media can create multiple meanings because the language used can create an oppositional affect of almost defiance because of the severity of the world wide spread of an ideal (notably, an adidas advert that had a woman with hairy legs). Class can also cause different reactions as there are different ideologies and ways of life within separate classes, if it were a political campaign, different classes would be looking for certain policies that would match the best improvement for their own social class. That is why our political system is separated into parties as a way of organising ideals to cater largely to large amounts of people.
The Tide advert is trying to present a single meaning in it's content, it doesn't have much room for interpretation within the lexis, it focuses almost entirely appealing to a single demographic with a single ideal, that women should buy Tide and clean the clothes so that they can be happy and in love with their new washing powder (while still continuing the facade that women want to be stay at home wives and no other opposing view that would allow them critical thinking). The women could see it as helpful and charming that they are being lead into a product that is catered specifically for them but there is also a way of deriving a more oppressive meaning because the text used gives an almost patronising mode of address.
Because media (and it's language) is so subjective, there are endless possibilities to meanings not just two although they may be the prominent and most documented meanings that the majority of the population would hold.
Some women may perceive it as a positive outlook because it creates an almost community of women who have this product, an elite club of women who are perceived higher then others because they have what they "want". But other women could perceive it as a way of oppressing their thoughts and ideals into a single perspective, that they are being forced into buying a product because it's convinced it knows what women want and paints all the women the same. This oppositional meaning is also communicated in the 1963 film poster 'Kiss Of The Vampire' but rather through the text used itself its conveyed through the matching genre conventions connected to the title of the film. It uses binary opposition within the title as it takes the romantic, intimate and almost private action of kissing that back in 1963 was seen as progressively more provocative then nowadays would see it. This is then villainised and contrasted with the use of 'Of The Vampire', a fictional creature that hadn't yet been popularised in the film industry as it has in more recent year (most famously the Twilight franchise). What the use of this language does is give the audience separate reactions, the intrusiveness of the title being a dominant overlap to the dark background that can create a element of fear and abnormality but also can create curiosity at the obscurity of the content.
Audiences can have separate reactions to media language, this is because we are all individuals and although people can have a similar perspective it's hard to predict what every reaction will be, this is why producers focus on primary demographics and their primary reactions while also considering secondary and possibly tertiary demographics when creating a media product. Within media language, the producers are able to manipulate the audience by channeling their ideologies and perspectives into their product as a way to sell a product or just to convey a particular message. Media language has several meanings because there are external factors that can sway people to have certain reactions. Gender, class and ethnicity are prominent factors that affect audience's perspectives and reactions. Women have a higher amount of media focused on the social ideals of what they should look like, particularly with weight. Primary ideals within media can create multiple meanings because the language used can create an oppositional affect of almost defiance because of the severity of the world wide spread of an ideal (notably, an adidas advert that had a woman with hairy legs). Class can also cause different reactions as there are different ideologies and ways of life within separate classes, if it were a political campaign, different classes would be looking for certain policies that would match the best improvement for their own social class. That is why our political system is separated into parties as a way of organising ideals to cater largely to large amounts of people.
The Tide advert is trying to present a single meaning in it's content, it doesn't have much room for interpretation within the lexis, it focuses almost entirely appealing to a single demographic with a single ideal, that women should buy Tide and clean the clothes so that they can be happy and in love with their new washing powder (while still continuing the facade that women want to be stay at home wives and no other opposing view that would allow them critical thinking). The women could see it as helpful and charming that they are being lead into a product that is catered specifically for them but there is also a way of deriving a more oppressive meaning because the text used gives an almost patronising mode of address.
Because media (and it's language) is so subjective, there are endless possibilities to meanings not just two although they may be the prominent and most documented meanings that the majority of the population would hold.
Comments
Post a Comment