Friday 20 September 2013


GHD advert analysis     

 Denotations Connotations Anchorage

A denotation is a literal meaning of a word it is quite simply a dictionary definition.

A connotation is what the word can mean; it’s an underlining meaning an understanding/assumption that comes from a word  

Anchorage is linking a section of text to a picture. 



 
The first denotation I noticed when looking at this magazine advert for GHD’s is a Women in a red dress. The Women in a red dress connotes many things, firstly I believe the red dress connotes that she is promiscuous as the colour red is provocative and sensual as it can also be seen to be the colour of mischief and love. The way the dress has been made to be low cut and exposing connotes that she is strong and almost alluring in what she is wearing, this can also connote that if you buy GHD’s you may achieve a level of elegance and pride in your appearance which you have never normally had before. As the lady in the photo appears to be flat chested, you could also connote that your insecurities can become a vital part of your appearance when you buy GHD’s, almost like you can gain confidence from buying the product; this is also explained in relation to the scenery later in the essay.

The Mise en Scene in the magazine advert is very important. The urban setting connotes that no matter where you are you can stand out, the lighting helps the article achieve this affect because the whole of the background is pretty much dull and dark apart from the women. You could also suggest that the skateboarders around her connote that if you buy the GHD hair products you will attract “bad boys”, I can connote this from the clothing and the props the males have for example a skate board and the bracelets/balaclava the men are wearing. Whilst I am talking about the mise en scene I thought that the GHD advert promotes confidence, as a dressed up women wouldn’t be found in a urban setting in the dark. I believe the designers at GHD have tried to connote that if you buy GHD’s a level of confidence to do new things and go new places will be found from within, this is an add on to the information that has been mention above in the first paragraph.

Furthermore another denotation of the women in the red dress is that she is above everybody else, this can connote that she is a on a level of her own almost like the men in the background are inferior to her and do not deserve to be on the same level as her. Carrying on focusing on the women, another denotation I have noticed is she has knee length socks and bronzing skin this connotes that she looks like a Greek goddess. The cherubs above her head also connote that her hair is almost heavenly and that it is been protected, a further connotation for this would be that by using GHD’S your hair will be protected but at the same time give off this Heavenly look this magazine advert is trying to secretly portray. On the other hand you could also argue that in fact the women in the advert can in fact be detonated as the devil, you could say this by the back ground scenery connoting hell. You can justify this by the darkness of the scenery and lighting the background not only this but the men in the magazine advert have devils on their t-shirts which could also be another connotation for hell. A underlining meaning of this could be that by buying GHD’s you can distinguish yourself as somebody you are not and you could almost cover up the person you are because your hair has a personality of its own I could connote this because even though the women can be seen to be a angel she could also be seen to be a devil.
Aother thing which I noticed about the GHD advert is that anchorage has been used in the magazine spread in the phrase at the top it says “And there she was an urban angel. made not born” the main bit of Anchorage that I have picked out is the ending of the phrase “made not born” this can connote that she has been made to be this urban angel and that in fact the GHD’s have perfected her and made her into this “urban angel” that she now is, so the connotation is that if you buy the GHD’s you can be made into the women on the magazine spread.
Lastly another denotation in this advert is the relation in the glowing ring around the photo of the hair products and the glowing of the women’s hair. The glowing of the hair products has been used to drag the reader’s attention, this is because a reader of this magazine may not have simply the time to read the whole magazine or perhaps they could be just flicking through the magazine whilst waiting for a hair or dental appointment or whilst browsing in the shop. The glowing around the products has been created to stand out and grab the attention of the reader. The connotation in the glowing around the products and the glowing around the women’s hair is quite simply if you buy the hair products you will achieve a glowing perfection like the women hair.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 12 September 2013

Mrs Hammond work on connotations and denotations

                                                                              Logos 
1st logo Apple Logo:- The first logo is an apple logo, the apple logo stands for a American company that designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers the actually logo itself has the connotation of an apple which you eat this is because Steve jobs used to work in a apple Field in the younger years of his life. Some people in the community may not be able to understand that the apple logo is in fact the logo for the company apple for example if you asked a little child what the symbol was they would simply say an apple this is also the case for people who be distant from banding and computerised products 
         
2nd logo Citroen logo:- The second logo is a Citroen logo. the company Citroen is a car manufacturing company founded by a french industrialist. Citroen was the first mass production car company outside of the USA. the Citroen badge/logo will appear on any car that is made by the company. Also many people may not recognise the Citroen logo as not all people in the world drive and even some country's that do have automobiles may not recognise this sign as they may not be up to date with the latest car trends or brands for example Cuba is a country were the majority of the cars are old American cars that have been brought by the Cuban government and as Citroen is a European company country's and contentment's outside Europe may not recognise or understand the meaning of the logo. Lastly the colour of the Citroen logo could connote the colour of metal which is what is used to make cars.

3rd logo Gender logo:- The 3rd Symbol represents the symbol for a male organism these symbols come from astrological symbols denoting the classic planets mars and Venus. the symbols have been used since the renaissance. they were first use to denote the gender of plants. Some people may not know what this logo means as they could be uneducated or simply have a lack of knowledge about this gender symbol when a male symbol and a female symbol are together this connotation is the connotation of making love.

4th logo McDonalds logo:- The 4th symbol is the denotation for the fast food chain McDonalds its connotes the biggest food chain in the world that serves 69 million people a day. the golden arches are used to connote a warm and welcoming sign not only this but to symbolise the two Donald brothers that established the food chain. Whenever anybody sees this logo they instantly realise that it represents food although they may be a few people in the world that don't know what the red background and the golden M stand for this is most likely going to be people who live out of everyday civilisation for example a tribe. Despite this MC Donald's have restaurants in over 120 country's in the world.

5th logo Washing sign :- the warning sign is found in the labels of most clothing it denotes that the item of clothing cannot be ironed. the logo connotes that it cannot be ironed by placing a big black cross over the iron. the no ironing sign is in black because it is always found on white labels as the sign and writing is printed onto the t-shirts.

6th logo No/Not Allowed logo:- The 6th logo denotes that something is prohibited and not allowed it connotes danger as there is a red line through a red circle, red relates to the colour of danger this sign is often used when potentially bad things can happen if you do not respect what's being said for example a road sign can connote that there are no u turns on this road this may be because on coming cars won't see the driver turning and a crash could be created. The Majority of people will understand what this sign stands for apart from a few exceptions and maybe people from different country's who have different signs for different meanings.

7th logo Male/Female logo :- This logo denotes that there is a certain difference/ divide in males and females for example this logo is mostly used to symbolise male and female toilets. you normally come across this sign on a door the sign is normally a bold plain colour so it stands out so people can see the sign on different colour backgrounds.

8th logo Rolling stones logo :- This logo stands for and denotes the well known and idolised heavy meta rock band the rolling stone the logo connotes the band themselves and it represents them as a whole its red because it relates to the type of music they play for example the colour red connotes something being dangerous loud and bad and as the rolling stones are a rock bad it is Incorporated well.

9th logo The Olympic rings:- The logo stands for the Olympics its the coming together or different countries and continents the different colour rings connote this, they also connote a togetherness feeling as they are linked. but the normal denotation of this is in fact the Olympic pretty. this logo would be very common in the world as the majority of country's take part in the Olympics.
 
10th logo pawnbroker:- it is a pawnbroker logo that secures and offers loans to people. the word pawn is derived from the Latin pingus for pledge, and the items having been pawned to the broker. the 3 worlds connotes the togetherness and as each of the worlds are slightly different it could connote the variety that the pawnbrokers offer i.e. swapping different possessions for money.
 
11th logo woolmark logo :- is the logo that represents the trademark owned by the Australian Wool Innovation Limited. this logo donates woolmark. this is the trademark to be used by affiliated vendors on their products as an assurance that the product conforms to a set of standards that have been produced by the organisation. The shape of the logo connotes a cycle that's everlasting which could be related to the company and the fact that it provides everlasting service meaning they won't let you down.
 
12th logo Union Jack flag :- The Union jack logo denotes Great Britain and all of the countries in Britain this is England Scotland and Ireland the flag connotes all of the countries in Britain in one which shows that they are together as one which connotes that they are all in fact one.
 
13th logo Star of David :- The star of David  in Hebrew denotes the shield of David. this connotes the recognisable symbol of Judaism the sign has been used since the 17th century and was placed on the uniform of Jews in concentration camps in world war 2
 
14th logo the scales of justice :- The scales of justice connotes that everything must be fair that's why they are scales that are evenly weighted because justice must always be fair. the denotation of this photo is quite simply some scales that represent justice.  

Thursday 5 September 2013

As media films


1. Now you see me 

Now you see me is a film that was released on May 31st 2013 the French-American Caper thriller film directed by the French director Louis Leterrier. The film includes an international cast.

The main reason why I wanted to got to the cinema to see this film is because of the film trailer I viewed whilst watching television at home. The film trailer made the film seem unique and different to the many cliche films that are being produced at the moment, not only this but the film contained several famous actors such as Morgan freeman who has played roles in several highly regarded films such as shawshank redemption and he is personally a favourite. Another factor which contributed to me going to watch Now you see me is the viewing times that were available, there was frequent viewing times throughout the day which made the movie more convenient to go and see.

Personally I enjoyed watching the film and thought that it contained excitement and thrills throughout. the main reason behind my enjoyment of the film is it constantly kept you guessing and to my surprise the movie took several unsuspecting turns. Although in my opinion the film lacked a structured and entertaining ending which was rather disappointing, considering the rest of the film was enjoyable and exciting.

Overall I would rate this film a 6.5 out of a possible 10.


2. Jack and Jill  

adam-sandler-jack-and-jill-zero-percent.jpgJack and Jill is a comedy based film on a love hate relationship between a twin brother and sister during the traditional thanks giving period in America, were twin sister Jill decides to stay a lot longer than first anticipated. Adam Sandler plays the roles of both twin siblings. the film was released on November the 11th in 2011 and was distributed by Columbia pictures.

The main reason why I wanted to go and see Jack and Jill is because Adam Sandler is possibly my favourite actor and I am a huge fan of the vast majority of all his films. From big daddy to grown ups, I have watched Adam Sandler films dating back from the early 1990's to 2013. Another main factor is the fact that Jack and Jill was featuring on Sky premiere which gave me the chance to watch it in the comfort of my own home, as unfortunately I did not go to the cinema to watch it when the movie was first released.

Surprisingly I did not enjoy this film whatsoever I found the story line of the film way too hard to relate to and thought the movie didn't really appeal to me whatsoever. Perhaps my dislike came from the fact that Adam Sandler Played both characters which became repetitive and tedious, Maybe if I would have gone to the cinema to watch it I would have enjoyed it more, as I would have been in a better movie watching environment. But overall I did not enjoy the movie whatsoever as it proved to be a great disappointment compared to some of the Adam Sandler classics.

Overall I would rate this film a 3 out of a possible 10.

5X5

Five Bands

1.)Bastille- For these young men their career is hot like "the things we lost in the fire fire fire".
2.)Little Comets-The indie band full of passion desire and a alternative sense of style.
3.)Mikill Pane- Up and coming rapper who loves his bicycles and shoes but don't blame miss barclay.
4.)Kanye West- Passionate "creator of music" who expresses himself in all the music he makes.
5.)Frank Ocean- A voice full of soul and desire that's placed in the hearts of many young romantics.

Five Films

1.)Step brothers- The Love, Hate and friendship between two strange step brothers it's Comedy Gold.
2.)Waterboy- A geeky water boy with a stutter discovers his incredible talent to play Football
3.)Black Hawk Down- Crash Landing, Gun Shooting, US military thriller.
4.)Blood diamond- The sparkly action thriller featuring homicide survival and innocent by standers
5.)Fast and Furious 6- The speedy sequel made me want to drive faster than the speed limit.  

Five TV shows/series

1.)Bad Education- Hilarious Comedy staring Jack Whithall, I wish my college was like that.
2.)Geordie Shore- The Newcastle Folk showing how they party.contains disturbing scenes.
3.)Keeping up with the Kardashians- Following the life of the Kardashian family step by step.
4.)Storage Hunters- Embarrassingly my favourite TV programme makes me want to be a historian.
5.)Two and a half men- Funny Comedy staring charlie sheen and his unsuccessful brother.

Five Songs

1.) If you got the money- Jamie T- A cool guy with an amazing voice discussing his lack of money.
2.) A matter- Foo Fighters- A rock and roll song with a incredible guitarist not normally my taste.
3.) Angels- The XX- A incredibly slow song that makes me feel like I'm drowning in a pool of water.
4.) Hey there Delilah- Plain white Ts- A classic song that makes all the single people out there weep.
5.) I here voices- Kasabian- Definitely a blood pumping song that gets your heart racing.

Five Books

1.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher stone J K Rowling- Quite simply, I want to be a wizard.
2.) Gerrard: My Autobiography It's a very passionate book wrote by a absolute legend.
3.) The Walking Dead Book 2- The Zombie apocalyptic horror was a truly interesting read.
4.) Killing Kennedy The End of Camelot Bill O'Reilley- A Historical in depth study about JFK.
5.) Nate Jackson slow getting up- A rise from the bottom to the top for this American footballer.