Advertising: Persuasive techniques blog task

Advertising: Persuasive techniques blog task

1) What does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?

He says that all publicity works on anxiety.

2) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?

We refer, either knowingly or subconsciously, to lifestyles represented to us (through the media or in real life) that we find attractive. 
The persuasive technique that I'll link this to is advertisements because they tempt their audiences to invest in the product or service that they're promoting.

3) How was Marmite discovered?

Marmite was invented in the late 19th century when German scientist Justus von Liebig discovered that brewer’s yeast could be concentrated, bottled and eaten.

4) Who owns the Marmite brand now?

Unilever

5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?

Referencing other texts that the audience would be using on a daily basis. The persuasive technique that could be that they used the slogan 'you either hate it or love it' which would mainly be to attract new customers as they would want to find out whether they like it or not.

6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?

High culture is the consumption patterns, mannerisms, beliefs, amusement, leisure activities, and tastes and preferences of a societies elite. And we're going to define societies elite as those with advanced education or economic success. And popular culture is the same thing, but for the mass of society.

7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?

Postmodern audiences are somewhat aware of how they're getting manipulated but still decide to play the game which means they're knowing of what's happening. 

8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?

Unlike traditional TV adverts which manipulate you into thinking you need a product and you're going to love it, Marmite were cut straight with their slogan 'you either hate it or love it' which shows postmodernism.

MIGRAIN: Ideology - final tasks

MIGRAIN: Ideology - final tasks

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

In this article I will analyse the dystopian representation of capitalist society in the latest Hunger Games film and the series as whole, drawing attention to elements where media theory can be most usefully applied.

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?

We can see that the ruling class keep the poor under control through civic means; armies of ‘Peacekeepers’ are sent to control each district and to punish anyone who tries to defy the authority.

3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?

President Snow's beliefs; a man who believes more in himself than the people in his country. 

Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

In this article I will attempt to unpick one of the most complex and difficult aspects of the Media Studies curriculum: the concept of ideology.

2) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?

• People should put their families first.

• People should work hard for their money.

• Women should behave in feminine ways, and look after their appearance.

3) What does Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggest about power and ideology in society?

Hegemony is the ability of the dominant class to project its own way of seeing the world so that those who are dominated by it (the masses), accept it as ‘common sense’ and ‘natural’.

4) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?

5) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!

I agree because we are all under the influence of the media in one way or another without realisation and the economic elite does have participation to this as well; we just don't realise it. 

BFI Study Day: follow-up work

BFI Study Day: follow-up work

1) Type up your notes from the day.

Simulacra- An imitation that seems more real than the things it's imitating.

Meta-narrative- A totalising cultural narrative, that organises thought and experiences into a a grand 'story' that makes sense of our lives. 

bell hooks believes that traditionally masculine attitudes and behaviours aren't natural but rather constructed by a patriarchal society. 

Van Zoonen believes that in a patriarchal society women bodies are sexualised and vulnerable whilst men's bodies are sexualised through power and strength. 

Butler believes that gender is a performance: a repeated system of behaviours and costumes that are used so many times they may become seen as 'natural' 

Barthes believes that signs we assume and denotations are actually 'dominant connotations' that hide ideologies. 

Constructing and performing gender: "gender becomes a set of connotations that have become naturalized." Gender roles are constructed, men and women are victimised from a patriarchal society.

Authors 'encode' their work with meaning. Audiences often do not decode meanings the way a texts creator intended, same from negotiated or even oppositional meanings. 

2) Write a one-sentence summary of the ideas of the theorists Matthew Daintrey-Hall covered (you can use your notes from task 1 here if relevant):

Bell hooks: Traditionally, masculine attitudes and behaviours aren't natural but constructed by a patriarchal society.
Liesbet van Zoonen: In a wpatriarchal society, women's bodies are being sexualised and become vulnerable whilst men are sexualised through power and strength.

Judith Butler: Believes that gender is a performance; a repeated system of behaviours and costumes that are used so many times they may become seen as natural.

Saussure: Saw society as a system of institution and social norms that form a collective system that provides conditions for meaning-making and hence decisions and actions for individuals.

Barthes: Believes that signs we assume and denotations are actually 'dominant connotations' that hide ideologies. 

Stuart Hall: Says that audience members adopt one of the following positions when they decode the text
- Dominant/Preferred Reading
- Oppositional Reading
- Negotiated Reading

Lyotard: Believes a totalising cultural narrative, that organises thought and experiences into a 'grand 'story' that makes sense of our lives.

Baudrillard: Hyperreality – a condition in which ‘reality’ has been replaced by simulacra.” 
Simulacra- Imitation that seems more real than the things it's imitating.

3) Choose one of the films we saw extracts from and watch the whole movie: Captain Fantastic (2016), Pulp Fiction (1994) or Inception (2010). Write a 300 word analysis of your chosen film using theories from the study day (use the exam paragraph structure we were shown on the day - theory introduction, examples from text, why this 'proves' or 'disproves' the theory).

The whole narrative of Inception is quite fictional as it is based on the main character; Daniel Cobb, getting straight into someone’s head whilst they are asleep so it’s like their dreams in order to find out information rather than using what’s known as normal methods to find things out such as raiding their personal things; whether that’s hacking into their device or breaking into their home. He then gets offered a job to implant something in people’s minds instead of reading them; which is where the name inception came from. The preferred reading of the narrative could be that the director; Christopher Nolan was trying to introduce a new theme to the fictional genre by using an idea that no one else has before. However, newer audience may not find it interesting and wouldn’t show interest in stories that are too fictional as they would think the director is trying to fool them with surreal context. 

Magazine practical task evaluation

Magazine practical task evaluation

1) Save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image and upload it to your evaluation blogpost.

2) Write an evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine?

I have succeeded to create a new and original version of the men's health magazine using my own content without copying any of the existing ones. 

3) Put your cover alongside a couple of genuine covers of your chosen magazine. How professional is your work alongside genuine examples?

             

4) What is the strongest aspect of your work?

The strongest aspect would be the heading and the texts around the magazine which is what mainly makes it look like a men's health magazine.

5) What is the weakest aspect of your Photoshop magazine cover? 

The weakest aspect would be that I wasn't able to trace around the models hair precisely to get read of some of the heading. 

6) What would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?

Position the image so that it doesn't cover so much of the heading. 

Get the model to wear a different colour so that I can use black font to make it look professional.

Advertising: Persuasive techniques blog task

Advertising: Persuasive techniques blog task

1) What does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?

‘All publicity works on anxiety’ suggested John Berger in his seminal book Ways of Seeing (1972).

2) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?

Psychologists in the field call this referencing. We refer, either knowingly or subconsciously, to lifestyles represented to us that we find attractive. Social media influencers because you see what they post on social media and want the same because we find it attractive but we don't really know what's happening behind that screen, in real life.

3) How was Marmite discovered?

A German scientist Justus von Liebig discovered that brewer’s yeast could be concentrated, bottled and eaten in the late 19th Century.

4) Who owns the Marmite brand now?

Unilever

5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?

Marmite’s 2003 ad featuring Zippy from the children’s television programme Rainbow is a good example.

6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?

Royal Warrants of Appointment are acknowledgements to those companies that provide goods or services to the British royal family; since 1840, this approval has been used to promote products.

7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?

Postmodern audiences arguably understand that they are being manipulated by marketing. They are aware that they're getting exploited. 

8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?

The #Marmiteneglect campaign is rooted in the ‘reality’ that jars of Marmite often remain unused in the backs of cupboards. This ‘real-life concern’ is then positioned within a narrative of social neglect.

Magazine practical task: blog work Planning

Magazine practical task: blog work

Planning

1) Plan your main flash - this is the main cover story that links to your central image.

- Men's fashion 

- Introducing a new clothing line

- Fashion tips 

- Famous basketballer taking on a career in modelling (model shown in central image)

2) Plan the image you will need for the cover - model, costume, make-up, lighting etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture.

- A medium shot of a male 

- Costume; wearing a hoodie

- Position; head down (looking down), holding onto the hood

- plain white background

- Normal indoor lighting - no shadows 

3) Write the cover lines and any additional text you need for your magazine cover.

- Hoops to spotlight 

- Shots to fame

- Trend benders

- Heading - 'MH (Men's Health)'

- Summer trim trends

- Travis stays drippin' at MET Gala

- Best of MET Gala 2019?

- How to gain the ideal summer body the real way

4) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper using your written planning. Take a photo of your sketch and embed it in your blogpost. 

Narrative is a hugely important element in advertising and marketing.

Narrative is a hugely important element in advertising and marketing.

Nike has received critical acclaim for its February 2018 advert ‘Nothing beats a Londoner’. Embed the advert in your blog and answer the following questions: 
 

1) How does the advert use narrative? Apply at least three narrative theories to the text, making specific reference to specific shots or key scenes in the advert.

- The advertisement includes Todorov's theory of equilibrium.

2) Read this BBC feature on some of the people in the advert. How does the advert use celebrities and less well-known people to create stories in the advert?

'The cameos come thick and fast'. Features athletes competing over who has the biggest struggle training for their sport in the capital; raising awareness of real life issues in such a well-known city. 

3) Read this AdWeek feature and interview on the Nike London advert. How did the advert use technical codes (camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing etc.) to help create narratives that could connect with the audience?

The setting, costume and props used in the ad made it more relatable for the target audience they were aiming as the actors were either casual people just like them or famous people who they follow and would potential take inspiration from.

4) What representation of London does the advert offer?

The advert represents London as a very diverse place with a lot of 'hood culture'. London is typically represented as a high class, posh area as it is the main city of England however this Nike ad shows the reality and also gets a message through to audience that they are being accepting of normal, middle class people and it also connotes who their target audience are.

5) Why might this advert appeal to an audience?
Because they have used a mixture of famous and casual actors. Not went out of their way to make London look like something that is not; showed the reality. Made it clear who their target audiences are by solely making the advert using people they follow and also people that the target audience would be able to relate to. 

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Magazine practical task: blog work Research

Magazine practical task: blog work
Research

1) Use your lesson notes on magazine genres and conventions to view a range of potential magazine covers. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and embed an example front cover from each one.

2) Select your chosen magazine to create a new edition for and explain the thinking behind your choice.

 

This is the chosen magazine that I am going to take inspiration from to create my own men's health magazine. 

3) Find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blog post. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines presented? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding.

They have included a few different font styles without losing the professionalism of the poster. Although it is professional, it still creates a relaxed feel because of the background it is set in and the main focus's facial expressions. The texts included is somewhat formal as they don't include slang or informal words but it is also not written in a 'posh', grammatically perfect form. The magazine has set an image for themselves by using a celebrity as their main cover of the magazine instead of general public as it would be more likely to catch audiences attention if it is a familiar face and even if the public don't usually read the magazine, they may read this edition if it featuring their favourite celebrity and get hooked onto the magazine from there. By using a celebrity; musician/rapper they are also suggesting certain genres of the magazine such as celeb gossip and music. 



The magazine tends to keep the amount of colours to a minimum but the two main colours are bright and eye-catching. Red has been used in the heading as it is known to be the most eye catching colour for humans. They also use big and bold writing for the main text as it catches audience attention and is also easy on their eyes to read.