Sun Front Cover Analysis

The headline itself is split up with the word Goal held up on a banner. Purposely being positioned across this womens chest it suddenly attracts readers to both her chest and the front cover. The picture of a half naked women is purposely used as you would generally expect most men to enjoy seeing this kind of images and in order for the paper to sell they place her there and also combine football aswel which is another topic most men generally enjoy. By doing this both men and "The Sun" itself are satisfied.

The image of the naked woman overshadows the rest of the front cover becuase as a dominant reader you would enjoy staring at the image other than reading large amounts of text. The font is nice and simple and big and bold. The positioning of the image connotes that this women shows some importance and the text purposely positions around her. The medium shot focuses on most of her body, close enough to see her face and her arms and a bit of her legs. Top lighting is used on her face to make her look famous and glamorous

The headline is polysemic because it is a sexual pun. The headline with the image is anchored by the strap line which is talking about the World Cup: football. However as there is an image of a half-naked woman, the heading could signify the idea of “scoring” or getting a woman for sexual pleasures.

Kidulthood Trailer Analysis

Kidulthood is a British drama film revolved around the life of several teenagers in Ladbroke Grove (West London). The main purpose of the movie is to make us as an audience aware of troubles teenagers face and things which influence them. Each character faces their own problems and in the movie we are made aware of the different decisions each character makes.

Many props are used in the movie to connote the genre such as guns, baseball bats, drugs, alcohol, money etc. These are such things which symbolise fashion items and stereotypically in the eyes of teenagers, “cool”. These certain props are used in order to illustrate things which influence teenagers in a sense that kids grow up in these kinds of atmospheres.

Stereotypically if you were to imagine a teenager’s appearance you would seem to think tracksuits, sports jackets, jeans, trainers, baseball caps, earrings etc. These kinds of clothing purposely connote the characters personality and what to expect in the film.

The use of lighting isn’t really over the top as they want the movie to have a realistic feel. Low key lighting is mainly used and dark lighting effects are introduced in order to emphasize the scene and the mood. Things such as parties, brawls, arguments are all involved and used in dark lighting to create tension. The dark lighting could also symbolize evil, death etc. And by putting these kinds of ideas in the audience’s heads it begins to hook them in.

The movie is set in West London, Ladbroke Grove. I think it was set there a lot of violence arises in that area and this movie is made in order to re-enforce the kinds of things that happen there.

The Dark Knight Analysis

From the moment you look at the poster you notice the dark gloomy back-ground which over-shadows the poster. The tone of the poster connotes death and evil therefore creates a nervy feeling. You can sense the mood of the poster as you look all around and just seem to find darkness all around, for example the sky.

It is covered with dark clouds which also connote a cold side to the movie.

In the middle you see the joker facing his back towards us. You can see in his hands he holds a blade and a joker card. By his back being turned towards us it connotes a sense of mystery as we want to know what he looks like and his facial expression. At the top of the poster we see the symbol for batman which anyone would instantly recognized if noticed. The symbol is filled with pitch black but on the outside a tonal outlining of white light blends in. This is a contrast of dark and light lighting effects and could connote a binary opposition such as Life VS Death or Good VS Evil.

Another example of this type of tonal change is illustrated from the top of the poster where it is pitch black and slowly lightens downwards to the city lights which also refers to a binary opposition. On the Joker himself light and dark lighting blend together which could hint his personality as a two faced being. At the same time the darkness which shadows him could connote his role to the movie as the villain.

The title is written in white capitals spaced out so its easy to see. The text is not very big but because Batman's symbol is there we can easily recognize who it is. The shots taken of the poster itself is mysterious in a sense that a slight medium shot is used on the joker but at the same time a long shot is used on the city. By including a picture of tall landscapes, cars and lights that clearly connotes the setting of the movie which would be in the city. We aren't really able to see the facial expression of the joker as his back is turned creating a sense of mystery, however at the same time by realizing he has a knife in his hand we stereotypically assume his characteristics as a bad, dangerous individual.

In my opinion the main give-away of the genre to the audience would be the highly darkened tint and the jokers identity being hidden.

Media Definitions

Anchorage: ANY CAPTION OR DESCRIPTION USED TO DEFINE AN IMAGE

Cropping: CUTTING OR TRIMMING AN IMAGE IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT KEY FEATURES OF THAT CERTAIN IMAGE

Semiotics: ANALYZING SIGNS AND VISUAL IMAGES TO GENERATE A CULTURAL MEANING

Juxtaposition: BRINGING TWO ELEMENTS TOGETHER FOR COMPOSITION

Mise-en-scene: THE ARRANGEMENTS OF ALL THE ELEMENTS IN A SCENE, SUCH AS PROPS, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND SETTINGS

Homage: WHEN A DIRECTOR USES IDEAS, TECHNIQUES OF ANOTHER TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THEM FOR THEIR BRILLIANT IDEAS

Demographics: INFORMATION CONCERNING THE SOCIAL STATUS, CLASS, GENDER & AGE

Psychographics: USING DEMOGRAPHICS TO OBTAIN MARKETING DATA FROM PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES, LIFESTYLES ETC.

Binary opposition: CLASSING TWO OPPOSITES IN MEDIA FOR EXAMPLE, GOOD VS EVIL OR LIFE VS DEATH

Iconography: USING ELEMENTS OF A SCENE TO DISTINGUISH IT'S GENRE