Sketch design
All posts by Amber Le Cornu
Filters
Style models-
Style Model- Mascara (L’Oréal, Maybelline, Covergirl)
Reactionary print advert- Male representation wearing mascara to oppose the idea that makeup is for women
Historical print advert- Femake representation wearing mascara to support the idea that makeup is for women but more bold and colorful because based around 1960’s/1970’s.
Product- Mascara
All 3 Adverts–
Textual Analysis- Iconic sign of mascara, dominant signifier of female model.
Semiotic Analysis- Reactionary representation as a female model is being used to present makeup.
Representational Analysis- The advert presents an attractive female model wearing clothes in which suggest wealth and confidence. The target audience for this advert would be young females who aspire to feel as confident and beautiful as this woman looks within the advert.
Leveson 10 years on
The Leveson inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. This followed the News International phone hacking scandal. The Leveson report was published in November 2012, this reviewed the culture and ethics and made recommendations for a new body to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission.
The final terms of reference of the inquiry was announced in July 2011, where a panel of 6 people were announced. This included:
Sir David Bell (former chairman of Financial Times), Shami Chakrabarti (director of Liberty), Lord Currie (former Ofcom director), Elinor Goodman (former political editor of Channel 4 News), George Jones (former political editor of the Daily Telegraph and also Sir Paul Scott-Lee QPM who was former Chief Constable of West Midlands Police.
According to a response published in 2013, the total cost of the Leveson inquiry was £5.4 million.
statement of intent- nea
I intend to make two product adverts, one that is historical and one is contemporary, for the mascara made by Maybelline called Falsies Lash Lift. I aim for my historical product advert to resemble that of an old 1960s advert, which will be targeted at women of the age 12+, whereas I intend for my contemporary product to be targeted more towards the male gender as well as the female gender. This is to imply the difference between discrimination of genders from 1960’s compared to now male gender. In the past it was not seen as acceptable for men to wear makeup as it was believed that the purpose of makeup was solely for women, however now in the more modern times discrimination against the genders have decreased and it is more acceptable for makeup to also be targeted at men. Therefore, for my modern, which can be described as radical, advert I am going to use Liv as a model to represent a member of the male gender and then for my historical advert, which can be described as reactionary. I am going to use Liv as a model to represent the female gender, this is to emphasise the difference in how times have changed between the roles of genders.
In both of my adverts, I am going to have Liv applying mascara, however, for the first advert she is going to represent the female gender giving the suggestion that she loves herself by making sure that she looks confident and bold. In order to do this, I will have the dominant signifier (Liv) wearing a bright red wig to represent the bold colours of the 1960’s. The adverts colour palette will mostly consist of red/ gold/ nude shades because these colours are usually associated with the 1960’s. The strap line will be ‘a dramatic mascara for dramatic lashes’, this will create anchorage for potential buyers as it insinuates to the audience that if they buy the mascara they can feel as if they are someone they’re not or feel more confident within themselves.
Whereas, in my second advert, I am going to have Liv as my model to represent the male gender, in which she is going to have a moustache and wig on. She is going to give the impression to the audience that the male character is in awe with the look the mascara has given him. The adverts colour palette will mostly consist of pink / nude shades because these colours are usually associated with femininity, even though I am representing a male in this advert I would like femininity to also be represented, in order to emphasise that in our modern times people can be who they want to be and wear what they want to wear no matter their gender.
maybelline
- Maybelline created an ad featuring a male model named Manny Gutierrez, in which it tells the audience a story about two people of both female and male that have checked into a hotel room and proceeding to find maybelline products. They then apply the mascara and are transported to a different bolder life where they have much more luxury things. This ad is very unique compared to others because it is an advert about makeup which involves male characters which is not common, this was the first time maybelline had used a male model to advertise one of their products, therefore giving us this new idea and representation of makeup, suggesting that it can be used by anyone not just women. This is very important because makeup is a product that has believed to be solely for purpose of women for years, so therefore, encouraging the idea that makeup can be for anyone of any gender can give men role models to look up to that can reinforce the thought that it is acceptable for them to also wear makeup. Also the two main characters in the ad are of colour, meaning that it is up to date and different from the score advert which was mainly focused on all white people due to the mass amount of racism at that time. At the end of the ad the actors change into glamourous clothing which could highlight the feelings of those buying the product and give them, the impression that they will gain a lot of confidence after using it. The product can be viewed as the ‘finishing touch’ for looking the part. One of the main characters, Manny, being male, can show that Maybelline is targeting their product to a wider demographic. The mascara is suggested to be the one thing missing in our lives, they do this by the idea that you will feel like the boss, suggesting to us that this product is the ‘golden ticket’ to be able to live up to the big lifestyle they imply in the ad
score
- Mise-en-scene analysis (ie Textual analysis) – targets a heterosexual audience, suggests male hierarchy and power over the female gender, due to the position in which the women are suggesting to have a sense of desire over the male. We can see a group of women holding the male character on a platform in what seems to be a safari forest in a place like Africa.
- Semiotics: Dominant signifier can be the male in the top middle Paradigm can be the women surrounding the women to put emphasis on the man Reactionary as supports the stereotype that men have power over women, this is because the women are carrying him suggesting that he is superior.
- Representational Analysis: – The idea of the male being superior to women and therefore dominating the scene would have been a normal reactionary look on advertising around this time, this is because at this time women were desperately fighting for their rights. -At this time in history, racism was more common and it was more likely for people to have a problem with people of colour therefore all characters in the ad were white.
- How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience? The narrative suggested to us behind the scene is the idea that the man before hand started using “Score Liquid Hair Groom” therefore making him superior and made him seem more important then everyone else meaning he was then worshipped by everyone and carried by attractive woman. The strap line “Get what you’ve always wanted” can imply that the male gender have the desire to be above everyone else or seen as superior and also being more attractive than other characters of the male gender.
- How does this advert create desire for the product? This advert creates desire for the product as it shows a collection of women with an obvious desire to be with the male character suggesting that the reason for this desire is because of the hair product. This could make the audience may want to have the product in order for girls to have desire over them also.
- Think about brand values, brand message, brand personality and brand positioning should inform the analysis. The brand values can suggest a high number of sales and supports the ideal male world of having women desire over you and find you attractive. The advertisement can suggest a message to the audience to say that if they buy the product they can get what they want.
- Think about how and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time. Audience responses may have changed over time as at the time this ad was created women had less rights and were seen as less important then men so it wouldn’t have come as a surprise that the ad suggests the stereotype that men are superior then women or have more rights, whereas nowadays females are more likely to be bothered about what the ad suggests to us, this is because they now have more rights then they used to and it is more common that men and women are treated as equals.
AUDIENCE THEORY – PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILES
Quantitative- Number based approach e.g audience stats
Qualitative – an individual interpretative approach considering why audiences consume or engage, uses a word based approach.
Quantitative: The product is targeted at women around the age of 12 and upwards who belong to a wide range of classes. Members who do not fit this criteria may also purchase the fragrance however is not as common.
Qualitative- The Aspirer- Motivated by esteem/status needs
| research product 1 (body spray) | research product 2 (lipstick) | my product (mascara) | |
| understanding self | Knowing that you smell nice | Part of makeup routine | Part of your routine for makeup |
| enjoyment | People telling you that you smell nice | Having noticeable and bold lips | The satisfaction of having nice lashes |
| escapism | Could remind you of events | Reminds you of your mum using it when you were young | Looking bold |
| knowledge about the world | Different smells that you don’t recognise | Famous people have worn the same lipstick | Models around the world promote the product |
| self confidence/esteem | The knowledge of smelling nice can make you feel good | Can make you feel good that one of your facial features stand out | Feel good about yourself |
| strengthen connections with friends/family | Could share with family or friends or buy them it as a present | Could give as a gift | Letting your friends use it or using it with them |
| any other category or theme | – | – | – |
theories
Who(sender)= Maybelline
Says what= If you want bigger and smoother eyelashes get the maybelline mascara
Channel(medium)= New York Times
To whom(receiver)= Mostly targeted at woman of any age but could also be used by men
With What Effect?
ANALYSE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIGNIFIERS AND SIGNIFIEDS IN THE TWO CSP GAMES COVERS
In this essay, you will be knowledgeable of the application of semiotic analysis to both, the Tomb Raider and Metroid video games cover.
Tomb Raider, a popular video game from the 2000s, a representation of the theory of the ‘male gaze’ theorised by Laura Mulvey – suggests a more radical representation. Whereas Metroid, also a popular video game from the 2000s, presents a more reactionary representation of a typical male protagonist. The male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, from a straight (heterosexual) male perspective, sexualising women for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. Within the gaming community, I strongly believe this idea does not represent Tomb Raiders positively or either productively. Due to the suggestion of negative natures. On the other hand, this may further entice more gamers to participate in Tomb Raiders, challenging Tomb Raider to a successful market strategy.
The front cover of the video game, Tomb Raider, exhibits a female character Lara Croft, who can also be known as the dominant signifier. In which, she is manifested to be a sexual object for the suggested straight male viewer. This can be argued by the emphasis on the definition of the female characters bum and figure, she is also presented as flawless, with a lot of makeup and her hair looking completely perfect, creating an unrealistic and fantasy figure for players to look up to. This character is also given a defined hip-sway as such within the actual game suggesting a male pleasure being given which can be defined as the ‘male gaze’ – indicating that she conforms to all society’s gender expectations of women. Additionally, she can also be defined as a reactionary character implicating that her character strongly follows the negative stereotype of the idea that the woman’s body can be viewed as an object. This is mentioned, in Laura Mulvey’s academic paper where it is suggested women believe ‘there is pleasure in being looked at,’ this is suggested to us by the certain way she is positioned on the front inlay product of the game.
On the other hand, Lara Croft can also be portrayed as a radical character. This is said because she is presented as the main character for the game – this is unusual as it opposes the stereotype that men are superior to women and that women are less important. Therefore, cannot be the main characters of a targeted male video game. This production could also be interpreted as a counter type as it – seemingly, going against the stereotypical ‘damsel in distress’ idea that is commonly featured in a lot of video games. The ‘damsel in distress’ was theorised by Anita Sarkeesian of ‘Feminist Frequency.’ She owns an online blog that comments on the representation of women in popular culture where she expresses that female, cartoon, video game characters are portrayed as the hyper-sexualised ‘damsel in distress,’ suggesting that they may rely on the character of the hero, who is typically male, to save them from a situation where they may be in danger or need help.
In contrast, the Metroid cover contains a dominant signifier, suggesting the main image of a male character but the gender is not explicitly confirmed on the front cover. Within the actual game, it is discovered that this character is discovered to be a female character named Samus Aran, who is disguised as a robotic figure and has many links to science fiction. These signifiers are accompanied by indexical signifiers. These indexical signifiers can be identified as mathematics-related coding, numbers and scientific diagrams and shapes, creating a myth that displays links to action or suspense which can symbolise the hegemony of the character. This can also contrast to the analysis, created by Toril Moi, of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation, which was created in 1987, as the figure of the protagonist appears broad and somewhat muscular which can be characteristics that have been collectively recognised as masculine over the years, this can create a reactionary representation of men because the cover is suggested to display a stereotypical masculine hero who can be thought of as powerful and dominant which supports the stereotype that the purpose of the male gender within video games is to save the female character who can be described as the ‘damsel in distress. Whereas, in reality, the cover of the game presents a female character as the main character so therefore opposes the stereotype that the male gender is typically better suited to the ‘hero’ character. Within the cover we can see the indexical sign of the gun attached to the robot’s outfit which can also imply that it has connotations of combat and violence which therefore portrays the signifier as brave and fearless. This can also juxtapose Anita Sarkeesian’s, from Feminist Frequency, idea that women are usually or often the selling point of video games. She suggests that designers ‘make women exude sexuality for the entertainment of the presumed straight male player’ which is opposed in Metroid, this is because Metroid displays how it is easy to exceed sales using a masculine looking character, who is revealed to be a woman, rather than using a sexualised image of a woman to do so.
However, at the end of the game, Samus Aran is revealed to be a woman whilst wearing a tight body suit, where her body and figure is majorly defined, so therefore, once again suggesting a non-realistic body type which can be defined as the ‘male gaze’ similarly to Tomb Raider. This also suggests that Metroid could be suggested as radical representation as we assume that the use of the sexualised female body was used as a selling point.
To conclude, both the ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Metroid’ covers include signifiers relating to power and masculinity which are juxtaposed by the use of two female characters. They are both represented in an equivalent way due to the female protagonists, this is assumed as they can both be argued that they suggest a radical representation due to their bravery and independence as well as their female body’s being sexualised to please and entertain the assumed straight male viewer. However, Metroid can be argued to be less radical due to the assumption of the main character being a male on the front cover because of its build and muscular appearance.