Task 3 (P4)

Lecture's Page

Produce an article for the advertising magazine Screen Critic.

Explain Narrative theory and the work of theorists Vladimir Propp, Tzvetan Todorov, Levi Strauss & Roland Barthes.

Watch the Fairy Liquid adverts below …. critically, taking notes1. analyse genre characteristics

2. analyse narrative structures

3.analyse representation of characters

Overview of all four:

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp suggested that there are 8 different character types within a story;
The Villain (to fight the hero), The dispatcher (to send the hero off), The Helper (to help the hero), The Damsil in distress / Prize, The task giver, The donor, The hero and the false hero

Tzvetan Todorov

Levi Strauss

In his own calculations of the formation of the identities that arise through marriages between tribes, Lévi-Strauss noted that the relation between the uncle and the nephew was to the relation between brother and sister, as the relation between father and son is to that between husband and wife, that is, A is to B as C is to D. Therefore, if we know A, B, and C, we can predict D, just as if we know A and D, we can predict B and C. The goal of Lévi-Strauss's structural anthropology, was to simplify the masses of empirical data into generalised, understandable relations between units, which allow for predictive laws to be identified, such as A is to B as C is to D.

Roland Barthes

Definition / Example 

Signifier = Is the thing / object = Stone 

Signified = What you think it is / what it triggers in your mind = Building 

Denotation = Say what you see / literal meaning = Tree 

Connotation = Secondary meaning / context = Bark, Spring 

Symbolic Signs = The connection between them must be culturally learned = Satanic symbol = Devil 

Iconic Signs = Representation of something = Bike for cycle lane 

Indexical Signs = Shows evidence of what is being represented = Skull = Toxic 

What distinguishes adverts from other kinds of TV programming?
They are short and to the point, product placement, celeb endorsement

What kind of images would we expect to see in an advert?
Images that relate to the advert i.e. Teabags in a PG Tips Advert, logos

What kind of characters do we tend to see in adverts?
Characters that would be expected to be in it i.e. James Buckley in the Game Advert

What sort of expectations do you as audiences have of adverts?To engage the audience and convince them to buy it i.e. buying a game / console from game, instead of HMV, Argos or PC World

Can you identify the different kinds of adverts that there are?
Promos, Narrative, comedy, charity, 

Watch the Fairy Liquid adverts below …. critically, taking notes

1. analyse genre characteristics

2. analyse narrative structures

3.analyse representation of characters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZJ-Sc5puE&nohtml5=False

In 1993 the fairy advert was about 2 flatmates who invited 2 ladies over to their flat and cook dinner for them, to which they then complain about the grease stuck to the dish, which allows the men to "impress" their female guests by using fairy liquid to wash the grease off. Then to show equality, the actresses invite the actors to their flat the next evening as long as they bring a bottle of fairy liquid. This shows that there is no sexism within the video, so the video is abiding to the equal rights act, making sure that both sexes are shown as equal within the advertisement. The word "impress" has positive connotations to show that they want to leave a permanent opinion for the girls to think about and potentially lead to them spending more time with them. Within the advert it starts off as the "Heroins" taliking about saving the "damsils in distress" by cooking food for them and then doing the washing up for them, which resolves the story causing the equalibrium to go back to normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mki1Zto7JZo&nohtml5=False

In 1992 the fairy advert was about a mother and her daughter in the kitchen, This doesn't show equality, this is due to the actress washing the dishes with fairy liquid . This shows that there is some sexism within the video, so the video isn't abiding by the equal rights act, making sure that both sexes are shown as equal within the advertisement. The denotation states that the advert is that a woman is in the kitchen, the connotation show that this advert could be taken in a sexist manor due to the fact that there is no males in the kitchen, which indicates that women are meant for the kitchen. Within the advert it starts off as the "Heroin" talking to their "Helper" about going on a "quest" to show how soft, but powerful, the fairy liquid is, which resolves the story causing the equalibrium to go back to normal.