Mock Exam Questions

A-level media studies key assessment 1

Time allowed – 90 minutes
Please answer BOTH questions.

Component 1A – Media language and representation

Media language

Making reference to the Kiss of the Vampire poster and the Tide advert, explore the ways in which media language incorporates viewpoints and ideologies. You must consider:
• How meaning is created through intertextuality or referential codes
• How audiences may respond to and interpret media language
• The potential multiple meanings of these adverts [30]

This poster, from Kiss Of The Vampire, depicts two vampires, one male and one female, attacking two people while bats fly behind them.

In the poster we can see a perfect example of Richard Dyer's theory of stereotypes which states that: Stereotypes are used in media products as a short cut for producers who want to represent a particular person or group as well as a reference point for the audience to quickly establish an idea of what this person or group is like. In this case, the poster for the film uses the several stereotypes to show the audience which of the four characters on the screen are vampires and which are their victims. The first of these stereotypes is that there are bats behind the vampires who can been seen flying into the distance towards a full moon. Bats are a stereotype of vampires because there are many books and films that say the vampires turn into bats when they want to get away quickly. The seconds stereotype of this poster is that the vampires are both showing their fangs and their victim's necks are covered in blood. This can easily be associated with vampires because it is said that they suck blood from their victim's necks using their fangs. As well as this, the poster goes against gender stereotypes because the female vampire is shown to have attacked the male victim, suggesting that she is stronger than him and was able to overpower him, another common stereotype in vampires.

The poster uses hermeneutic code to create a sense of mystery, making the audience wonder why the vampires have attacked these two people and if they are the only victims. The bats in the background could have also been sued to make the audience question if there are more than two vampires in the movie adding to the suspense and fear factor of the film.

The genre of this film can clearly be identified as a horror from the scene in the poster. The two vampires are shown to be violently attacking their victims. biting their necks and drawing blood. The gory detail in this art work has been used to entice the audience and primarily target an audience of people who love horror films. An underlying genre of this film could be a romance, as suggested by the word "kiss" in the title and the depiction of two couples in the roles of the main characters of the movie. This genre appeals to whats know as the secondary audience, allowing the film to get more attention and there fore more money from ticket sales.

A well as trying to appeal to both a primary and secondary audience, the film has a lower rating of just 12. This suggests that the film is less graphic and suitable for a younger audience. This is a decision made by the producer in order to boost ticket sales and make more money off of the film. It could also appeal to those who enjoy the thrill of a horror film but do not like to see lots of gory scenes, again, making them want to watch the film thus making more money.

The Tide advert, produced in the 1950's, shows a woman dressed as a stereotypical house wife hugging a box of Tide washing power.

The advertisement uses a commonly held ideology of the 50's that all women should be housewives while there husbands work and earn money. The advert depicts a woman who's hair, clothes and make up have been used to represent the average housewife, thus appealing to a wider audience.

To attract the viewer's attention to certain parts of the advert, the product uses a Z-line. The Z-line concentrates the reader's attention at the top of the page with the title "Tide's got what women want!" then is crosses over to the main image in the ad (the woman hugging the Tide box) and finally the Z-line attracts the viewer's attention down to the bottom of the page where is reads "Tide gets clothes cleaner than any other wash-day product you can buy!" the Z-line has been utilised by the producer of the advert in order to make the viewer look at and take in the most important points of the advert that have been selected to sell the product.

The advert has used symbolic codes to make the product seem more appealing to the audience in the 1950's who believed it was a man's job to earn money while the women stayed at home being housewives. The main image of this advert shows a woman hugging a box of Tide washing powder, suggesting that the product is so good that the woman has fallen in love with it. This can also be conveyed from the pink hearts which are shown above the main image, strengthening the idea that women will fall in love with this product. Another way that the producer has shown that women will fall in love with this product is in the way that she is looking up at the box, appearing as if she is longing after the product. The tag line of the advert which says "Tides got what women want!" uses a bold red sans serif font against a white background to make it stand out and draw the viewer's attention to it.

The primary audience of this advertisement is the housewives of the 1950's who would have been using the product on a daily basis. The producer of the advert has cleverly used an average looking woman as the main model for the ad because the women who see this advert will be able to compare themselves to her. This causes the viewer to see how in love the woman is with this product, making them believe that they will be in love with the product too if they buy it. The secondary audience for this product are the men who are married to the housewives. When men look at the ad they will likely think of their wives and how much they would love this product, making them want to buy it for their wives, therefore making the company more money.

The producer has used many marketing tactics in order to sell this product as much as they can. One of these tactics include the repetition of the product's name "Tide." Every sentence of the advertisement features the word "Tide" in order to remind the viewer what product they are advertising. On top of this, each time the products name is mentioned the reader is having a positive message reinforced, explaining how their product is better than any other. For the most part, the word "Tide" has been written in a bold red font, making it jump out and grab the reader's attention, never letting them forget what they're selling. The bright red colour that "Tide" has been written in has been used to correspond with the packaging of the washing powder, further linking it to the product.

A theory know as "The feminist theory" created by Lisbet Van Zoonen says that in mainstream culture, a perspective or understanding of women can be constructed through the representations that we see within media products. From this advertisement by Tide we are able to construct the idea that, in those times, women would stay at home and be subservient to their husbands who would work and earn money for the family. This idea is aided by the cultural and historical context that is wide spread around the world as well as being seen in the ad.

chelseagibsonmedia

Search This Blog