To achieve the next grade boundary of an A, I would need to gain 6 more marks.

02)

Ghost town was produced by the 2-tone band The Specials in 1995, during Thatcher’s Britain, where Britain was suffering significantly, economically and with employment rate do to the political situations.

In Ghost Town, Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposition can be seen throughout, such as the use of the words ‘ghost town’ and ‘boom town’ where ‘boom town’ refers to the time before Thatcher’s Britain, and there was more social life in the streets of London. It can also be seen during the chorus, and the band’s use of contrapuntal movement , as they juxtapose the energetic and chaotic rhythms with their unaffected and sterile facial expressions. This reflects how the British society felt, feeling emotionless and lifeless in the depressing times.

Ghost Town was also vastly different compared to their previous works, as they aimed to create a radical political statement, and because of this change in tone, it intrigued audiences. This links with Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, as Margit Thatcher can be seen as the disruption to the equilibrium, as Ghost Town is representing this through their video, with no fix for a new equilibrium in the near future.

The Manchester advert however reflects on modern British society, a time in which Britain is more financially stable and the public are generally in better moods compared to how they felt during Thatcher’s Britain.

Therefor this advert tries to reflect this through a series of indexical signs, such as: beams of light in the background, people together in the foreground and warm lighting in the buildings. This immediately creates a strong juxtaposition between the cold and empty streets of London that could be seen in the Ghost Town music video. This therefor supports how economic and financial contexts can influence media products.

However it should also be taken into consideration that this advert’s purpose is to promote Manchester as “The place to be for Christmas” and therefor the indexical signs likely connote to Barthes’ theory of myth in the media. Therefor this advert should not be taken as a 1 to 1 reflection of reality, but rather an idealistic reflection of how Manchester wants to be viewed.