CTK: A-Level Media Studies

TEXTUAL ANALYSES TASK

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE SIX WRITTEN TEXTUAL ANALYSES:(2 Front Covers + 2 Double Page Feature Articles + 2 Music Videos)

In order to complete this task, you must choose existing media texts either from the hub (www.ctklms.com) or online (YouTube for music videos). The purpose is to discuss the connotations (meanings attached) to each

element, with all points being linked back to the musical genre. Therefore, ALL MEDIA TEXTS MUST BELONG TO THE SAME GENRE OF MUSIC. It is this genre of music that your final products will also represent.

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate to the examiner that you are aware of how culture magazines and music videos construct meaning through the use of semiotics + to demonstrate your powers of analysis.

CULTURE MAGAZINES: PLEASE USE THE FOLLOW STRUCTURE :

Paragraph 1: Denotation.Paragraph 2: Mise-en-Scene (Costume + Props + Setting + NVC + Lighting).Paragraph 3: Typography (Conventions – Masthead + cover-lines + choice of Fonts + Colour Scheme).Paragraph 4: Target Audience. There is no word limited for these written tasks.

Discuss the connotations and reasons for all the following elements (consistently relate to the music genre):Mise-en-Scene: Lighting, NVC, Setting, Costume, & Props, Camera: Framing & Shots, Colour, Typography: Anchorage, Font Type, Mood & Styling, Specific Conventions: Masthead, Coverlines, Selling Line etc.

MUSIC VIDEOS: PLEASE USE THE FOLLOW STRUCTURE :

Paragraph 1: DenotationParagraph 2: Mise-en-SceneParagraph 3: Narrative/PerformanceParagraph 4: Technical (Camera + Sound + Editing)Paragraph 5: Target Audience

Discuss the connotations and reasons for all the following elements (consistently relate to the music genre):Mise-en-Scene: Lighting, NVC, Setting, Costume, & Props, Camera - Framing, Shots & Movement, Colour, Mood & Styling, Sound – Diegetic/Non, Score/Incidental Music, Narrative, Editing – Continuity, Montage, pacing etc.

CTK: A-Level Media Studies

TA EXAMPLE

Denotation:The magazine cover consists of a colour photograph of a woman looking directly at the camera. It is a medium long shot showing her head, arms and waist. She is sitting on something (not visible) her legs are crossed and her knee is visible in the shot. The background of the photograph is light blue, and the photograph covers the whole of the magazine cover. Behind the woman is the Rolling Stone Masthead, and in front of her are five separate cover-lines in white and black. The photographed women’s name is in yellow and there are yellow stars beneath each cover line separating them. A bar code is visible in the bottom left corner.

Mise-en-Scene:

CTK: A-Level Media Studies

The Cover photograph is of the successful American singer ‘Christina Aguilera’. She is posed in a very suggestive ‘hello sailor’ kind of a way. Her pose, body language, and clothing, are very sexually suggestive and provocative. Her clothing is a rubber or latex sailor style crop top, showing lots of cleavage, and latex hot pants. This costume has been chosen carefully to appeal to the target audience of the magazine, who are most likely to be male. The clothing worn is similar to the costumes she has used to promote her new music for Arista records, and has a definite 1950’s pin up connotation, like a pin up girl from a bygone era. A sailor’s hat and blond waved hair completes the look. Her Non verbal communication is also very seductive. Her mouth is open displaying her red lips and white teeth, and she is looking directly at the camera. The lighting is high key, as the Photograph is meant to display daytime. There is little setting, however the blue background connotes sky or sea and is therefore in keeping with a sailor theme. She could also be sat on a boat.

Typography:Rolling stone’s masthead is very distinctive: Red with a white outline and black drop shadow. The font used is a serif font, and after the first letter of each word, the lower case letters join up to each other. The font used is similar the famous ‘Coca Cola’ writing and connotes American culture. The words ‘rolling stone’ comes from a proverb, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’, giving a suggestion of anti-establishment and non-conformity. Also ‘the Rolling stones’ are another very famous and long running band, suggesting that this magazine has all of the connotations associated with the usage of the phrase in the past. All of the musicians who have used this phrase in their music had reputations of having very rock and roll lifestyles- making the magazine seem dangerous and risqué. The name ‘Rolling Stone’ tells the audience this magazine is music based. The main cover-line that relates to her photograph says: “Christina Aguilera: the dirty girl fights back”. This is making a reference to a piece of music she did before this picture was taken, that was called ‘Dirty’ (released in 2002). This music and video to accompany it was controversial because it featured her wearing very revealing clothing and suggestive dancing. This was the video where she got rid of her young, ‘girl next door’ image and her image became more adult and sexy. The ‘GIRL FIGHTS BACK’ reference relates to the fact that ‘Dirty’ only reached number 48 in the billboard top 100 in America, meaning that Aguilera is fighting to be more successful with her new music. The different cover-lines tell us that this magazine doesn’t concentrate on just one genre of music, and doesn’t only focus on music either, but is diverse in what it chooses to write about. Artists mentioned on the cover-lines include Christina Aguilera, Gnarls Barkley and Tupac (There is a definite emphasis on American artists). The only person mentioned who is not a musician is Kurt Vonnegut, who is a prolific German American novelist who died in 2007. The way the cover-lines are written reveals that this magazine also focuses on current news events as well e.g. “Guantanamo: Inside the U.S. Torture camp”. All of the cover-lines use a serif font, connoting tradition. It suggests that Rolling stone magazine has existed for a long period of time, and has almost become an American institution. This can tell its readers they will receive accurate and challenging Journalism.

Target AudienceConsidering all of these points, the likely target audience would be people (male and female, though more male audience members than female) aged 35-55. They would have a good knowledge of popular culture and a definite interest in a wide range of musical styles and the music industry generally. They are likely to be well educated/well read, and have an interest in American popular culture.