Immigration Issues

Newspaper semiotic analysis

News Values

Key Term: Gate keeping
This is a term applied to the editing and filming process which controls information given out, censoring and changing the story to give limited information.

C - CONTINUITY: stories which continue and runs over a long period of time e.g. Brexit
U - UNAMBIGUOUS: clear, understandable
P - PERSONALISATION: what is the human industry
P - PROXIMITY: how close it is, abroad? same country?
T - THRESHOLD: how big is the news?
U - UNEXPECTEDNESS: how unusual is it?
N - NEGATIVITY: how negative is the news? Is bad news more popular?
E - ELITE PEOPLE/ PLACES: how important are the people/ place in the article

This recent front page of The Daily Express shows all of these ideas. It explores the argument between two very important politicians who decide the future of England. It also informs about the Queen,

Newspapers

Newspaper name: The Sun

Name of Article: Theresa Dismay

Date: Friday 9th June 2017

Intended Audience:
This newspaper clearly votes away from Tories and uses a limited amount of words but relies more on pictures to put their point across. Resulting in an intended audience to be people from C and D group as they are more working class people who have less time on their hands consequently would rather read a less wordy newspaper.

What is the Article about:
This newspaper explores the problems with the recent Brexit scandal and the troubles with leaving the EU. It claims that Theresa May has done a terrible job as prime minister. This topic would mainly attract older people as they seem more interested with the troubles with politics than younger teens. However, the text to image ratio is low, indicating a lower class intended audience.
The tone of the whole article shows Theresa May as disgrace and embarrassing, failing to meet the countries demands of leaving the EU. The main image used on the front page is a large picture of Theresa May. This unflattering image show the bad side of May as she smiles awkwardly away from the camera, perhaps embarrassed or in shock. This shows Theresa May badly. Theresa May is shown to be a bad Prime Minister.


The Decline in Print Newspaper Circulations

A newspaper which is no longer printed is the The Independent which tried to not be left or right sided which ultimately got less sales. 

National Newspapers include The National, The Times, The Daily Mirror and many more.

The Independent has run out of money consequently, only being online. Newspapers which are more right wing are usually more popular. 

Mid-Market tabloids have had a steeper decline overall.   

Newspapers Conventions

Newspaper Conventions

Tabloids such as "The Sun" have a lower text to image ratio and are typically more opinionated, this is aimed more at the working class people who have less time to read. Front covers of tabloids generally take about 10 seconds to read, however, broadsheets contain much more information and are much less opinionated, The text to image ratio is higher taking longer to read and they tell the full story, the actual news, as opposed to that of a tabloid. Mid-market tabloids, although having a higher text to image ratio contain more opinionated news. Often favouring news of royalty, they are very patriarchal and their logo, a crest on top of each front cover connotes history and a sort of pride to be English. Also shown through over exaggerated fancy font. 

Newspapers

Question 1-2: unseen

Question 3-4: set texts, industry

3 kinds of newspaper: 

• broadsheet (The Times, The Guardian)
• mid market tabloid (The Daily Express, The Daily Mail)
• tabloid (The Mirror, The Sun)

Influence

Estate 1: Religion

Estate 2: Monarchy

Estate 3: The Wealthy

Estate 4: Newspapers

Hard News - Politics, Science, Violence, Health, Economy

Soft News - Sport, Celebrities, Entertainment

The Daily Mail

Talks a lot about the monarchy, very patriarchal. More informal, very colloquial language appealing to lower C and D audiences. Tackle both hard news and soft, perhaps to widen there variety of audience, appealing to everyone. Logo/ Name has a very exaggerated, fancy font with a coat of arms in the centre, to make a statement of nationality, typically English, very established. Uses a lot of Moral Panic, very opinionated.

Boyz N the Hood

Boys N the Hood

In this video the very first image we see is a road sign saying "stop". This idea of stopping could represent many different things, perhaps safety, the road sign could stop crashes or accidents. Perhaps this idea could be stopping violence or the threat of being hurt. This is combined with a lot of loud noises which could be for a confused effect, or a more realistic busy city audio. There is a diegetic sound of sirens from the very beginning which also connotes danger or if someone was hurt. 

In the scene where the children find the blood on the floor, they walk past a police line. This further shows the danger. Combined with the bullet holes in the walls and trash on the floor, we immediately get this idea of a dodgy back alley. 

One child is wearing typical, somewhat normal clothing, contrary to what most people think this kid would be wearing the counter type shows knitted jumper with jeans and trainers. This is contrasted with the other boy who wears stereotypical tracksuits and cap which has been twisted backwards. The knitted jumper and jeans shows a sort of posh look which is the opposite to what most people think they would wear. The tracksuit show a more relaxed attitude whilst the cap turned backward could connote a more rebellious tendency.   

Lastly, in the final scene the young boy walks past a bunch of men kicking and punching another man. His casual, slow walk shows that this sort of thing happens often, that seeing a violent fight between a group of people is a normal thing to see when walking down the road. Furthermore, the filler lighting gives the whole thing a more realistic feel, as if it is sort of old and rustic. Perhaps slightly more mediocre which would reflect the whole style of everything as they are in a dodgy neighborhood with simply stumbling across countless dodgy scenarios. Also, there seems to mostly be one camera angle throughout (eye level), however, there is one moment when there is a high, long shot above the children as they walk to the crime scene. This is used to show them as vulnerable and small as they walk to a dangerous place, perhaps foreshadowing a bad event. The camera pans from right to left to reveal to the audience the location, further showing a dangerous, dodgy street. This makes the audience worry for a group of children who are wondering around a dangerous area alone, the camera shots as well as the music plays on this fear.

Sound

Sound

Music (parallel) - goes with the images  

Contrapuntal - doesn't go with the images

Diegetic - background sound (cars, sirens)

Off screen - sound that isn't shown on camera

Voice over - narration or thoughts

Effect

Dialogue - speech, how the person speaks

The Hunger Games

Here you can see examples of enhanced sound, from the cutting of the rope at the start to the heavy breathing. This creates tension as well as emotion, he heavy breathing connotes terror, as she hyperventilates at the sight of a small girl being shot. It also shows effective use of diegetic sound, the slight clatter of leaves before the older boy emerges from the bushes shows that something is coming. After Katniss saves Rue from the trap the audience are lulled into a false sense of security, which is complemented by the use of now sound. We are able to hear the enhanced sound of breathing and relief as Rue is released. 

 

Mise En Scene

Mise En Scene

Semiotics

Semiotics

Semiotics is the meanings of symbols, for example, red could be the colour of love or aggression. Two opposite ideas however they are both connotations of a simple colour. 

 

 

Here you a can see the same shape however they have completely different meanings. Before the tragic events of Wold War 2 this pattern was a Buddhist symbol of peace. This is a big example of semiotics as before the late 1920's this symbol meant peace, however, now this connotes so much violence. 

Film producers use this to their advantage when creating their posters to advertise the film.

Here this horror movie implies death through the use of broken glass which connotes danger or bad luck. The fact the glass is breaking on a girls screaming face shows pain as well as a literal broken face, signifying the danger through the distorted facial expressions. Across the top of the page is the sentence "rest in pieces". This could show the unforgiving nature of death, this harsh and quite rude statement highlights the fact that death doesn't care who you are or what you have done, which is a running theme in this franchise. The fact that you might've been a good person does not stop death from coming for you, which is further implied through the use of a girls face in the center of the page. Her sunken eyes and skeletal teeth somehow take away from the humanity of this girl, but the use of a girl connotes innocence or somewhat weakness. Furthermore, down the bottom of the right corner there is smoke or fog. The use of fog could signify the inability to see, which creates anxiety as you have lost one of your main senses. This is also shown by the use of a pitch black background, this further highlights the loss of a sense which creates even more anxiety,thus, creating a suspenseful atmosphere. On the other hand, the use of smoke connotes fire, this idea of fire creates further danger as fire can be a powerful unstoppable force. Lastly, the title has a shiny look to it. This could imply a blade or sharp metal object which further shows danger and therefore, death.    

Genre

 Horror Film Posters

The dark, eerie lighting creates a suspenseful atmosphere. Furthermore, in the second picture, the walls look stone or cobbled, which make it look like the setting is in a dark alleyway at night. The object of interest in he first picture is a gun, which connotes violence and threat, combined with the lack of identity of the person with the hood further creates this eerie, suspenseful atmosphere. 

   Romance Film Poster

This idea of nature connotes purity and in some cases love,the cluster of leaves above the couple could imply mistletoe which is a very old symbol of love. Furthermore, the two people holding hands in the foreground further shows a romance between the two. The metal fence in the background could imply a boundary or obstacle the two must overcome in order to be together. Clearly we had many limits, such as setting and lighting, but in my opinion i believe we overcame these difficulties.  

Musical film Poster

This picture shows a crowd of people standing around a piano, the piano (being a musical instrument) shows the musicality as well as the sparkly cloth draped over the piano implies theatre or something glamorous. Furthermore, the glamorous smiles towards the piano player shows performance. Overall, the vibrant colours and over acted emotions imply a performance.