Section A
Section A requires you to do a semiotic analysis and then apply this in detail analysing the form, representation, impact on the audience and how it reflects upon the institution. The first step in being able to do a quick and detailed semiotic analysis of a product.You will only get ten minutes viewing time, so practise doing short and sharp viewing periods for broadcast products.
Note: do not, ever, say that you would have advertised the product differently or that you don't think it is successful. This is an analysis, not an evaluation.
Semiotic Features:
Narrative
Lighting
Camera Angles (especially changes in camera angles)
Colour Temperature
Costume Colour
Actors (for representation)
Setting
Diagetic Sound
Non-diagetic sound
Facial expression and movement
Inter titles (tag lines)
Use of trademarks and branding
etc
All of these elements then need to be broken down into their connotations, appeal to the audience, brand values and representational elements (see the post on mock work for an example).
Section B
The section B question will be asking you to show your wider knowledge of the effect of using different platforms for promotional purposes in film fiction. Translation: how and why do film companies use the three platforms to attract an audience to a film product to make a profit?
To answer this question thoroughly you are going to need two things:
- Excellent knowledge of the uses of the three platforms for film promotion.
- A case study of film fiction products that demonstrate evidence of the use of three media platforms for film promotion (successfully or unsuccessfully)
An excellent knowledge of the theories behind why audiences consume certain Media products (audience theories).
Note: the question will NEVER ask you just to describe the products in your case study. Do not do that. All of your hard work will count for nothing if you don't bother to read and specifically answer the question.
Could we possibly go over some revision techniques in lesson and how we can/should structure, start and finish our answers?
ReplyDeleteWould you be able to pick a advert for us and make up some questions? So it would be like a Section A.I find it hard to choose an advert,i dont know exactly what to focus on for each section because i would end up writing too much and probably not anwser the sections properly.
ReplyDeleteThe short answer is, no. What I really want you to practise is doing a short and focused semiotic analysis. You should know what to look for because it is just mi-en-scene features. We will go over answering the questions again in class. You really need to be able to idenfify semiotic feature after only two viewings. If you follow the point structure in the post then you should have everything you need to answer the Section A questions. We will discuss this tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteEmotional but ok.I get stuck on the media institutions question sometimes because im not exactly sure what i have to include for that.Would i have to talk about how the whole mis en scene can create opinions on the company for audiences.Say for example it was a brightly coloured advert then this would reflect that the company is a open minded institution,colours ususally link with fun stuff and positivity so they must be a good company with very little negatives?
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly right. The institution will use the semiotic elements to communicate to the audience their brand values. So it really is often as simple as light and colourful= happy and fun. Think of the way in which toys for children are advertised.
ReplyDeleteAlso, most of this stuff is common sense. You just need to to brave enough to know that it is right. It might be good practise to try analysing the station idents for Channel 4, E4, BBC 3 and Sky to have a look at the difference between the brand values being conveyed. Does that make sense?
the kind of messages/impressions those channels give out with their opening adverts like the way E4 has a weird purple opening? that kind of stuff?
ReplyDelete