Statement of intent:
I plan on creating two print products campaigning against the regulation of women in the culture industries – one being a billboard poster promoting a documentary which discusses these issues, and the other being a advertising campaign flyer which links to the documentary.
Language: Both the flyer and the billboard display a pink tinted newspaper collage displaying articles regarding the issues women have faced as a result of the media throughout history, connoting to the idea of continuous struggle. Iconic signs of celebrities – Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama, x, Margaret Atwood, Emma Watson, Meghan Markle, Hunter Shaefer, and Janet Mock – display the cast of production who have all campaigned against women’s rights with regards to the media. the indexical sign ‘shine through the noise’ is the title of the documentary and provides anchorage as it signifies the message of the production – empowering women to ‘shine’ and break through the ‘noise’ created by both the regulation and the lack of regulation within the media industry. The symbolic white glow around the dominant signifiers connotes to peace and creating peace within their female roles and also portrays their highlights how they are ‘shining through the noise’ by being apart of the production.
Representation: The aim of the documentary is to highlight all the issues women’s face with regards to media, in terms of institutional regulation and therefore represents women as powerful and more than just their bodies. One of the key ideas touched upon is the regulation placed one women and their bodies in certain instances of public media – most commonly social media where women aren’t allowed to perform casual nudity on their own terms to please themselves – but the lack of regulation in other instances – such as film and TV where women are overly sexualised on other peoples terms, such as writers and producers, often for the pleasure of male viewers – creating a sense of unjust and lack of control within their lives. This touches upon Laura Mulvey’s notion on the male gaze where a woman’s “appearance [is] coded for [a] strong visual and erotic impact” (“Visual and Other Pleasures”, 1989). Both the flyer and the billboard fight against this social norm by representing the cast as more than just their bodies by portraying mainly just their faces (apart from Michelle Obama) and wearing unprovocative clothing. The white silhouette surrounding the women represents them as strong and powerful as they are ‘shining through the noise’.
Institution: The campaign is co-produced by the independent company Equal Media, whose primary focus is to support inferior social groups, and Columbia Pictures who also distributes the film and Netflix exhibits it. David Hesmondhalgh argues that the creative industry is a ‘risky business’ and therefore the companies have taken certain measures to minimise these risks: The use of vertical integration gives the production companies more control on how the campaign is distributed as well as also decreasing costs, Independent labelling engages more alternative audiences, audiences who are reluctant to consume mainstream media, and the use of star-formatting, Michelle Obama, Emma Watson etc…, creates a ready-made audience ensuring a higher viewership.
Audience: The campaign is aimed mainly at teenage to young adult audiences who support the campaigning against women’s rights as they are the primary social group seen to be willing to make a change within society today, especially regarding the rights and representation of inferior social groups, such as women. The use of well-known celebrities and their influence attracts the audience and touches upon Paul Lazarfeld’s Two Step Flow of Communication model whereby messages are filtered through influential opinion leaders who interpret a message and first and then relay them back to the mass audiences and therefore making them believe in a certain idea. However, the idea behind this campaign is more active than the audience just agreeing with what the celebrities tell them – it also fulfils the audiences particular pleasures of understanding themselves, to gaining more self-confidence and expanding knowledge of the world supporting McQuail and Blumlers Uses and Gratification theory
