Practice Question- Text comparison

1. Analyse the two film posters commenting on:

Visual codes

Layout and design

Genre conventions

　

Sex and the city 2

Visual codes- the clothing of the characters suggests that they are going out somewhere fancy as they all seem to have nice clothes on. Also it suggests that they are classy women and are often invited out the posh places. The facial expressions of the characters look happy which could mean that they had a good time wherever they went. The gestures of the characters look positive as they are all looking directly at the camera.

Layout and design- the layout of sex and the city 2 is like a normal film poster with the title near the bottom and the actors names are at the top. There is also a date on the poster which shows when the film will be out. I like the layout as it is clearly laid out and you can find the key information you need at a glance.

Genre Conventions- the genre of this movie is chick flick and the front cover is keeping with them conventions by using elegant poses so you know it will be a girly film. Also they have used quite bright colours which suggest that it will be quite a happy film with enjoyable humour.

The A Team

Visual Codes- the clothing the characters are wearing suggests that these are ordinary men as they are wearing quite casual clothes but when we see that they are holding guns it changes how we interpret their characters as it makes you wonder why they have guns if they are just in casual clothes. Their facial expressions are mostly serious which gives the impression that they are on a mission or they aren’t happy about something. The character on the end has a smirk on his face which could mean that he is happy about whatever they have to do. The gestures of the characters make them all seem very laid back and relaxed which ties in with the fact that they are wearing casual clothes.

Layout and Design- the layout of this poster is quite simple as it only has a little bit of information. Also the title of the film is in the bottom corner which is not usual for a film poster and it makes it harder to find and makes you have to look harder which is not good if you’re seeing it on a billboard while driving as you only have a few seconds to view it.

Genre Conventions-from looking at the front cover the A team seems to be an action film. You can tell this as you can see that they are holding guns. By giving the characters big guns along with the fact they looks dirty so may have been fighting it gives the impression of action.

2

Choose one of the film posters. Suggest two different audiences for this film. Give brief reasons for your choice


The A Team
The first audience I would suggest is teenage males. The reason for this is because it’s an action film and the majority of boys like action. Also it would target them well as the actors are ones they may already know and enjoy previous films they were in for example Bradley Cooper from the hangover.
The second audience would be older males as the A team has been re-created from an old classic. This is why I think older males that may have seen the older one might like to see how it compares to the old one and seeing which one they prefer.
Using either of the film posters explain how the main audience for the film has been targeted


The main audience for the A Team has been targeted as they have used manly poses and making them look laid back even though are holding guns and have serious facial expressions. Another way this has been targeted towards men is with the typography which looks like it has bullet holes in the name title; this will help attract males as it gives the idea that there will be a gun fight at some point in the film. The writing at the top of the poster looks cracked which suggests that it has been battered which could be the same for the characters.
What different uses are available to a range of audiences from different media texts? Refer to your own detailed examples

3. With reference to your own detailed examples, explore the different representations of gender in the media today

Gender is represented in many different ways in the media for example women can be portrayed as sexual objects like in the ‘nuts’ magazines where they are in provocative poses to lure men into buying the magazine. Women may also be portrayed as respectable classy people for example in the ‘Diet Coke’ advert they are positively portrayed as nice women who like to have a picnic in the park but they are also interested in men.
Men can also be represented in different ways just like women for example in the ‘lynx’ advert they may be represented negatively as they are spraying deodorant on them and women are coming running. This may suggest negativity as is suggests that men can get what ever they want just by spraying some deodorant whereas females may not like that men think they are easy. Men can also be positively portrayed like in the ‘Men’s Health’ magazine where men are showing their bodies and there are articles about training methods which could help with other people’s health. This positively portrays men as the men in the magazine enjoy training and the writers (probably men) want to help other men achieve their ideal body composition.

What I learnt in Media Term 1

In my term of studying media we studied narrative and then applied it to the film Avatar using propps theory of what happens in a film.

This is propps 8 Character theories;

The Hero – a character that seeks something.

The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest.

The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties.

The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message

The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims.

The Helper – who aids the hero.

The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots.

Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort.

We then watched the film Avatar and applied the character fuctions to this film to see if it had followed propps functions.

Aswell as this theory we also studied other narrative thoeries, these include:

Todorov- this is the theory that each film follows the same structure. It starts with a period of calm, and equilibrium, which is then disrupted. The disequilibrium is then brought to an end by the hero, and the chaos comes to an end

Roland Barthes- barthes suggested that narrative works with 5 different codes these are;
Action, Enigma, Symbolic, Semic, Cultural.

Claude Levi Strauss- Strauss' theory was of binary opposition.