Feedback legend
In addition to a grade, you will receive a lower case Roman numeral which will correspond to one piece of generalised feedback. This is the sole goal we want you to focus on for now.
i) Please focus on using media language. Shot type, camera angle, colour, composition, mise-en-scene, graphics, sans-serif font... a whole chunk of your final mark comes from demonstrating knowledge and understanding, so it's important to get the practice in now! This will also help your to avoid being too descriptive...
ii) Please focus on exploring how meanings are created. Connotations, symbolic codes, proairetic codes, diametric oppositions, generic conventions, modes of address, positioning... this kind of thing! Explicit examples, linked to your own point of view.
iii) Please focus on including brief and pertinent reference to media theorists and theory in your responses. While your main focus should be on codes and conventions, theory is an excellent way of backing up your assertion. Just make sure you don't lead with the theory. Make it back up your own point!
General advice
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| If you found this tricky, remember, for the final exam, you will probably be asked to compare and contrast any unseen media products with ones you have studied in class |
- It's essential, especially when you only have 20 minutes to complete a response, to not describe, but to analyse. You may only pick out a few aspects of the poster in total, but this is preferable to just listing what you can see.
- It's 'producer and audience', not 'you and they'. It's really important to be explicit here!
- Use the toolkit for textual analysis! There are only one or two 'closed book' mocks (and of course the final exams...) where you are NOT allowed to have it in front of you. So, essentially your teacher will expect you to be using language from it as a bare minimum! Don't shoot yourself in the foot but not using every resource available to you!
- I was surprised that so few people referred to modes of address and positioning. These are excellent concepts to briefly refer to in order to explore how and why meanings have been constructed. For example 'the producer's selection of a mid-shot not only positions the target audience with the protagonists, but also emphasises their importance with the narrative. This is further reinforced by Wonder Woman's red and gold breastplate, which connotes...' you get the picture!
- It's early days yet, but it's also important to avoid colloquialisms (i.e writing in a 'chatty' way). If you write colloquially it takes away your sense of authority, and detracts from the believability of your argument. So avoid phrases like 'that orangey thing' when referring to a burst of fire, or chatty comments like 'after all who would watch the advert if she looked like trash?'
Michael's attempt
The theatrical poster for Wonder Woman presents a complex set of representations to it's target audience. Most importantly, the central image presents a midshot of Wonder Woman and her sidekick facing stage right and ready for battle. The composition of this image is important. Wonder Woman is in the foreground, and occupies significantly more space than her male sidekick. Together they form a definite binary opposition, reinforcing the differences between their archetypal roles. This challenges stereotypical representations of gender, by presenting the female Wonder Woman as the protagonist of the narrative.
This is further anchored through the use of WW's costume. Rather than a stereotypical dress, WW's golden armour functions as a powerful proairetic code, demonstrating to the audience the violence and aggression that she will be involved in. This once more subverts traditional gender stereotypes.
Rather than showing the entire title of the film, the word 'WONDER' is presented in gold, bold, sans-serif font. The connotations of this are clear: by being placed across WW's torso, it anchors her as powerful and indeed 'wonderful'. The connotations of gold symbolise wealth and power. This in turn functions as an hermeneutic code, forcing the audience to question how gold and wealth will function in the narrative. It also allows the producer with the powerful and desirable WW.
The mise-en-scene of WW's weapon is also significant. Once more subversive of gender stereotypes, it occupies an important place in the layout, demonstrating the symbolic importance of violence and aggression to the narrative. This is reinforced through the mise-en-scene of sparks and fire emerging from the hilt, once more suggesting violence and aggression.
The sword also creates a binary opposition between the aggression that it symbolises, and the stereotypical connotations associated with women. WW is dressed in armour, however a polysemic interpretation of this armour is possible. It is form fitting and emphasises her figure, creating a stereotypical representation of the role of women in society. Additionally, the actor selected to play WW is slender and stereotypically attractive, suggesting either a target audience or secondary target audience of young, heterosexual men. In this sense, the advert conforms to a very specific marketing technique of the advertising industry, that 'sex sells'
However, despite these sexist connotations, the poster choses a M/S as opposed to a full body shot, which emphasises WW's sword and aggression over her body. Here we see the ideology of the producer being demonstrated: that wonder woman is both stereotypically attractive AND powerful, even compared to men. This is emphasised through the 'sidekick' role, a young man with a bland haircut in the upper left corner of the image, lit in a pale blue more symbolic of passivity than WW's optimistic aggression.
Finally, the advert conforms to many conventions of structuring the layout of print adverts. Following the Z line rule, the male sidekick is seen, then instantly forgotten when the shaft of the 'Z', ere formed by WW's sword is presented. It demonstrates the importance of aggression and violence to the narrative. This also reinforces the dominant ideology of the producer: that violence is an important and valid way to solve issues. It is clear from the image that violence will be used over diplomacy in Wonder Woman.
Notes - I tried to only use theory and concepts we have covered so far. There's lots I should have included, for example modes of address. It's also really disjointed, and would have benefitted from a plan. We'll be discussing how to plan and structure an essay very soon!