1. 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 him.
2. 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.
3. Representational Analysis: –The idea of the male being superior to women and therefore dominating the scenewould 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Think about how and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time

The Narrative:

The narrative behind the scene is the idea that the man before hand was not using “Score Liquid Hair Groom” therefore he was with everyone else, and wasn’t worshipped. However he then used “Score Liquid Hair Groom” which put him above everyone else and he was worshipped by everyone and carried by woman. The strap line “Get what you’ve always wanted” implies that every man wants this idea of being above everyone else and being more attractive/better than others. The advert implies the woman that are carrying him are going to take him somewhere to indulge in adult activities with him. This shows how the advert is directly targeted towards men because as well as the idea of being better than everyone, the strap line also implies the product “gets you what you’ve always wanted” which is sexual activities with one or more attractive woman.

-The Hypodermic model: Telling someone to do something and they listen through media.

-Passive Consumption: The idea of people being drip fed an idea or belief to slowly change someone’s view on a subject over time through media.

-Simple linear process: Harold Laswell’s idea of the linear model of communication.
->WHO > SAYS WHAT > THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL > TO WHOM > TO WHAT EFFECT.

–Two-Step Flow: – The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media.

–Active consumption: The idea that people engage with the media, causing them to purchase the product

Two Step Flow of Communication (active consumption)

At the same time Paul Lazarfeld recognised that a simple, linear model may not be sufficiently complex to understanding the relationship between message sent > message received. As such, in 1948 he developed the Two Step Flow model of communication, which took account of the way in which mediated messages are not directly injected into the audience, but while also subject to noise, error, feedback etc, they are also filtered through opinion leaders, those who interpret media messages first and then relay them back to a bigger audience.

As Martin Moore suggests, ‘people’s political views are not, as contemporaries thought, much changed by what they read or heard in the media. Voters were far more influenced by their friends, their families and their colleagues’ (2019:124).

Think for example, of the role of the journalist or broadcaster whose job it is to inform the public. Think further about the role of key individuals in society, teachers, doctors, trade union leaders, your boss at work, parents, friends and family all of whom are capable of exerting an influence on the process of communication, making it subject to bias, interpretation, rejection, amplification, support and change.

ANALYSE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIGNIFIERS AND SIGNIFIEDS IN THE TWO CSP GAMES COVERS

In this essay I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both the Tomb Raider and Metroid video games covers. I will discuss Saussure’s idea of signifiers and the signified and how the representation of women in tomb raider is both radical and reactionary.   

I will argue that Lara Croft is both objectified for being a woman however also represented as a radical character, although it is seen as a good thing a woman being the main character in an action game I don’t believe that it will be a productive representation of women in the gaming industry. Tomb raider is a presentation of the theory of the ‘ the male gaze’ created by Laura Mulvey, the male gaze is an act of depicting women, from a straight male perspective that objectifies and sexualises women for their own pleasure, I don’t believe that this is a productive nor positive representation of women in the gaming industry. 

In the front cover of the video game tomb raider, the dominant signifier Lara Croft is positioned in a very particular way in order to show her assets, sexualising her with her polygonal breasts and breathy voice, it is hard for some heterosexual males to see her as representing more than an online sexual fantasy. Lara Croft was a huge exception to a rule that still sadly holds true for much of the gaming industry today:” building a franchise around a female lead is seen as a risk” because stereotypically women are not portrayed as action seeking characters. 

In the Metroid front game cover the main character “Metroid” is displayed to be a big shouldered, muscular,  masculine character, however the person controlling the suit is actually a female character, That is portrayed to appear as masculine which implies that men are stronger and better at defense in comparison to females; it also implies that the male suit is to defend Samus because she cannot defend herself. In addition to this the character is meant to meet the reactionary assumption of what tough, dominan character should be, this is shown to be a male character. The concept of a woman being the main character of a popular video game is a tremendous thing and it gives a good view on the company releasing the game, however there are other ways to avoid the reactionary, negative stereotype of women being oversexualised. ‘(From an article called “Diversity matters”) – This shows that no matter how much effort or help that a company can put in, there is always more to go, or more to do before people are happy.

In addition, the character Lara Croft from tomb raider is shown to be a capable, independent woman who can fend for herself. However Lara Croft can be seen to be in a revealing crop top and a tiny pair of shorts which specifically show off her sexual assets which are unrealistically curvy and creates an unrealistic expectation for women and girls playing the game and from the male perspective which goes along with the belief of a patriarchal society. As Well as this, in other video games male characters have full suits of armour that defends and helps the character and doesn’t show off certain parts of the character’s body but when it comes to a woman they don’t need armour and the majority of their body is shown off. This further shows how the idea of the male gaze is dominant in the video games industry.

In conclusion, both characters from Tomb Raider and Metroid are unjustifiably treated because of their gender. We can see Samus being represented as the opposite of her gender to display the idea that she cannot defend herself, therefore she needs to use and be protected by a big suit of armour that looks masculine on the outside and we can also see Lara Croft being oversexualised to fit the male gaze and identify her as a sexual object for the presumed straight male sales and attraction by using certain clothing. 

I am intending for my game cover to be directed towards teens and adults above the age of fifteen , I’m doing this by making a similar game cover to the well know Call Of Duty franchise with soldiers in the front and a battleground behind, however in my video game cover i have provided my own adaptation by including zombies. As well as this I’m going to specifically focus my characters so that it is Caucasian Male.

I would utilise dominant signifiers with weapons (assault rifles) which is an icon and a sign for war, As well as this I would have a camo background that focuses the attention to the main character, a soldier, who is the main embodiment of the game and what it is about. As well as this an index sign to refer to the companies that “produce” the game, I’m going to use the typical game makers logos to fit the cover accordingly.

I’m including props that correspond with the idea of war. I’m going to dress my character in the typical navy green, camo soldier costume and the other is a stereotypical zombie character, this is to set the scene and idea behind the game where you are fighting against each other.

I would want my game to be made and produced by the large company Activision. The reason why is because the followers of Activision are normally the type that play war games and fit within the bracket of players that I would like to target my game too. My game is typically targeted to people above the age of 16.

1. Male gaze-  encourages the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women
2. Voyeurism – the practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.
3. Patriarchy- a society controlled by men.
4. Positive and negative stereotypes- encourages a certain attitude on how we see things and how things are accepted on not accepted.
5. Counter-types- representation that highlights the positive features of a person/ group..
6. Misrepresentation- false or misleading account of the nature of something.
7. Selective representation- when groups of people/ things are represented/highlighted more then others.
8. Dominant ideology-  The ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, and culture of the ruling class in a society.
9. Constructed reality- the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.
10. Hegemony- leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
11. Audience positioning- the relationships between the audience and the text, how an audience receives, reads and responds to a text.

Identity:

1. Fluidity of identity- having the ability to change how you see yourself, the world, and your actions.
2. Constructed identity- the way that we construct our own identities through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections. They constantly change.
3. Negotiated identity- processes through which people reach agreements regarding “who is who” in their relationships
4. Collective identity– the shared definition of a group that derives from its members’ common interests, experiences, and solidarities.