ASSIGNMENT 2 ( research)

First Advertisement

This advertisement generally showing what type of man that women are after, whether the man comes in rich background, musician, different race or different appearance. It might not necessary to advertise the idea of woman likes who drinks alcohol. It is just a trend that people who drink alcohol will have something in social matter, they always go to club and meet people. This advertisement of Vodka clearly sends a message that all kind of men consume it. The advertisement might be intended to visualize the social trend that happened in the present time. 

Almost every subject in this advertisement has cultural assumptions or codes. The human body parts of a male in the text have different meanings. The hand represents a romantic and perfect lover boy since he is holding red roses in his hand. Red roses remind us of love and passion towards our loved ones. The lower body part of a male which is wearing torso represents rich and cultured guy. We assume that only a rich guy would wear torso and an expensive pair of black shoes. The other hand with tattoos and guitar resembles a Hard-Rock Musician. The tattoo is a part of the culture of a Hard Rock Musician. The abdomen part resembles a 6 pack abs black man while the head looks like a nerd man. Men with thick black glasses always remind us of nerds. All these body parts carries out information that guys are various types outside in the world and no one is perfect. Besides that, the polystyrenes on the floor also carry out a meaning to the audiences. The polystyrene flakes show that all the body parts come from the box written ‘THE PERFECT MAN’ on it. The urban setting shows that the lady is a rich lady because her house looks neat and well organized. Since perfect men are not exist, she is trying to assemble all these body parts using a manual and create one for herself. Her bare feet show that how desperate and keen she is in creating a perfect guy for herself. Besides that the symbol of Mars Male on the carton reinforces the heterosexuality. The miniature pincher lying next to the carton shows how homely and loving the lady is. 

There are few others alternate readings for this advertisement. Red roses not only represent to love and passion, it also has been represented in countless works of art, from classical paintings and poetry to modern day music and media. Other than that, the head with glasses also symbolize to a smart and well-educated guy. Apart from that, the head also represents he is having an eye sight problem. We also see a muscular body in the advertisement that represents a sportsman body and well-built body. On the other hand, a dog can be seen in the advertisement also that shows the lady in the picture could be a pet lover. We can also see a tattooed hand holding a guitar that represents a teenager’s hand that has interest in music. In the advertisement, we can also see a man’s leg upside down that represents that the man is in hurry and running somewhere. The place in the advertisement looks like in a very posh condominium as we can see from the view outside that it is a high building. 

In Saussure's version of semiotics, the basic unit of meaning is referred as “Sign”. All the signs have two aspects which are the signifier and the signified. The signifier is any material or things that signify an expression, image and many other things. For a clear illustration of the signified meaning, words on a certain page, a facial expression and a picture are some of the examples. Meanwhile the signified is the concept that a signifier refers to. The basic, most elementary form of sign, are mostly denotation which means the literal meaning of a sign.

We can see many signifiers in this advertisement when we relate it to Saussure’s version of semiotics. All the elements used in the advertisement have a signified meaning. The first signifier that we can see are the parts of the human body such as face, hand, leg and body that belong to men which are all around the floor. The body parts are mixed in terms of the colour of the male. The face appears white, the arms again white, but peculiarly the chest and the abdomen are in a darker skin colour. This indirectly tells us that the chest and abdomen human part represents a black male. The box also had a statement that says “The Perfect Man”. As we all know, a perfect man is supposed to buy roses for his woman. He is supposed to be polite & work as a professional. He may have other interests such as playing the guitar and it for most women out there, the perfect man have to own a six pack abs. This description of a perfect man is related to the male body parts that are in the advertisement. Therefore this is why we can see a nerdy head, a hand holding roses, a though body part, a pair of formal attired man and also a hand that was covered with tattoo and holding a guitar.

Even the place setting used was an urban setting with a modern furniture and decor. The posture of the girl who is reading a blueprint of the package that has arrived is also a signifier in this advertisement. The place setting and the dressing of the female give a signified meaning of the time and the age-group that the advertisement addresses. Finally the last signifier would be the dog. The dog in the ad appears to be observing the woman who is assembling the man. It looks kind of scared as opposed to snooping around the body parts. It signifies the confusion that the dog is while seeing a human body in this form.

Second Advertisement
 

The advertisement is to create awareness about breasts cancer among women. The image of a woman is used in the advertisement because females are the common gender to get breasts cancer. This does not mean males do not get breasts cancer. It simply means females have the highest count.  We can assume that it is a woman because of the body contour and skin texture. The person’s skin is smooth and shiny where else a gent’s skin is usually rough and muscular. The designer focused more on the person rather than the background since the person solely carries the message of the advertisement. The image of the woman is showed only above her chest so that people will not be misled about the pictures. It is now clearly shows that it is about breasts cancer. This designer has proved that revealing the image of breasts is not really necessary in an advertisement about breasts cancer. The lady is showing us her back but she is still showing us her face partially. Her partial face reaction shows that she is not very happy about what is happening to her body. But she is enduring perfectly whatever is happening.  
              The woman’s body is divided into puzzle pieces showing that her body cells are disintegrating because of the deadly cancerous cells. She has to endure the pain to put all the pieces together. We can also see there are some puzzles pieces are missing from her body. The missing puzzle pieces might mean the death of good cells in her breasts. The missing puzzles are directly behind the breasts. The designer conveys the message to the public clearly without using any vulgar or revealing pictures of the beautiful model. The best part is this advertisement does not carry any message through the usage of some texts. All the messages from this advertisement are carried by a simple image of a woman which is a strong and impactful medium in this case. 

             Her whole body was in a light skin colour except for the three parts where the colour was dark. The reason for the missing parts was to show that when someone has a breast cancer, the way to remove it would be by surgery which will cause them to be having only one breast.  This advertisement shows the puzzle pieces peeled out from the woman's body. Other than that, this advertisement also sharing that if the patients aware of their cancer at the beginning stage it can be cure easily. But if it reaches the advanced level, it can't be cured as the puzzles is easy to fix  when only few pieces are missing  but it will be very hard if all the pieces are missing. So the advertiser trying to say that all the women should be aware of their illness.

             The advertisement shows her back, afraid, ashamed and not facing the world just because she is facing a decease called breast cancer. We can also see that the puzzle pieces that dropping one by one that indicates that breast cancer is a slow killer that should be cured in early stage or it will eventually brings death. The dark color in the puzzle pieces represents the cancer cells that kills every woman day by day and also represents the dark days and they are counting their death. The main idea of the advertisement creator is to say missing puzzles are sometimes easy to be found if the missing parts are little and it means that if breast cancer can be cured if woman know it in early stages trough medical check up and medications. last but not least this add send a clear and serious message and awareness to the Malaysian woman's and girls to take precaution and safety measures to stay safe and also prepare themselves mentally and physically to face and fight breast cancer and stay healthy.

According to Ferdinand de Saussure, a founder of modern semiotics, sign consists of two parts; the signifier and the signified. The signifiers in this advertisement are the image of the woman and the missing puzzles. Her partial face reaction that shows she is not very happy about what is happening to her body is the signified meaning for the image of woman in the advertisement. But she is enduring perfectly whatever is happening.  On the other hand, the missing puzzles represent the disintegration of her body cells.

According to Charles Sander Pierce, there were different types of signs but the three most important are indexes, icons and symbols. Icons are the signifier that is not totally arbitrary but resembles the signified in some way while the symbols are the signifier that is totally arbitrary and conventional. In our case, puzzles are the icon and the image of the woman is the symbol. The puzzle pieces showing that a cancerous woman looses cells of her body easily just like a puzzle.

Denotation-literally

What can you see literally on the advertisement?

Vodka ad	Breast cancer ad
·         Man body parts all over the floor and some in the box ·         Each parts of body are looking different in terms of skin colour and style ·         Place setting: urban area ·         A woman trying to fix all the body parts together while looking through the manual	·         Woman’s image taken from behind and her face is pointing at the side ·         Has a bright skin tone ·         The whole image made of puzzle ·         There are 3 missing puzzle on the image that is shown with darker skin tones.

Connotation-figuratively

1) What each meaning supposed to mean? (Advertisement)

·         The figure used

-They used woman to give awareness regarding breast cancer.

-The women represent each and every woman around the world

- Females are the common gender to get breasts cancer
- We can say the figure belongs to a woman because of the body contour and skin texture which is smooth and shiny
- The figure solely carries the message of the advertisement
- Partial face reaction shows that she is not very happy

- The woman is showed only above her chest

- The figure was taken from behind her. This might be because she is afraid, ashamed and not facing the world just because she is facing disease called breast cancer

- Simple image of a woman was used but it is a strong and impactful medium in this case.

- Privacy and censorship part areas for women such as breast should not be printed on an ad even if it was made to raise awareness

·         Skin tone

-person’s skin texture is smooth and shiny

·         Darker tone of puzzle pieces that are missing

- the missing puzzles have a darker skin tone.

-The puzzle pieces represent the cancer cells and it shows that her body cells are disintegrating
-Missing puzzle pieces might mean the death of good cells

- Puzzles piece dropped out from the woman's body. The advertiser  was trying to say that the breast cancer is a slow killer
- Puzzles are easy to be reassembled if the missing ones are only few but if all the puzzle pieces  went missing, it will be hard to put it back together.

-the missing puzzle also represents the dark days and tells us that they are counting their days for their death

Similarities between First Advertisement & Second Advertisement

The first and second advertisement have a very few commons. The first advertisement visually shows some body parts of a male are being fixed together by a woman and the second one is about puzzles too. Assembling and fixing all things together are the same concept of both these advertisements. Both the advertisements have deep meanings that the viewers can interpret it according to their understandings. They have open meaning for each subjects in the print ad. The both advertisements are also sending out a social message for man and woman.

SEMIOTIC STUDIES – MLS2113

TITANIUM

ASSIGNMENT 2

8^th September 2011

THIVASSINI SUBRAMANIAM                                       1091101798

VITHIYAH SANTARA SHEERAN                                     1091101410

SHASHI KUMAR BALASUBRAMANIAM                        1091102536

RUBAKUMARAN SUPRAMANIAM                                1091102537

MOHAMAD AZFAR BIN MOHAMAD NASER               1081105380

IBRAHEM JAMAL SHAMS                                             1081107019

Assignment 1- Writing

The Absolut Vodka advertisement was intended for adults’ group people, who are above 18 years old. This kind of advertisement is not meant for kids and teenagers who below 18 years old. In the advertisement, we can clearly see that there are no children involved; only adults. This advertisement might appear violent and confusing to children since all the contents of this advertisement is for adult’s understanding. So, the interpretation among the viewers may be vary and depend on the certain group of people. But in this case, the advertisement is definitely intended for adults only by judging the uses of talents, props, settings and the product itself.

Demographically, adults group come with various backgrounds and personalities that might affect with the interpretation of the advertisement. Based on our interpretation of our own demographic research of the advertisement, the adults’ range of ages is around 18 to 60 years old and the gender should be male. The education of the adults might not be necessary and the occupation will be varied. Their income range does not really matter, as long as the income fulfilled the standard salary of urban living. The adult’s race is one of the thing that we concern. Since the advertisement is about the alcoholic drinks, we definitely know that Muslim is not the targeted audience. Lastly, for the geographic location, the targeted audiences can be around the world since the advertisement is universal to any people in all the country.

This advertisement generally showing what type of man that women are after, whether the man comes in rich background, musician, different race or different appearance. It might not necessary to advertise the idea of woman likes who drinks alcohol. It is just a trend that people who drink alcohol will have something in social matter, they always go to club and meet people. This advertisement of Vodka clearly sends a message that all kind of men consume it. The advertisement might be intended to visualize the social trend that happened in the present time.

Almost every subject in this advertisement has cultural assumptions or codes. The human body parts of a male in the text have different meanings. The hand represents a romantic and perfect lover boy since he is holding red roses in his hand. Red roses remind us of love and passion towards our loved ones. The lower body part of a male which is wearing torso represents rich and cultured guy. We assume that only a rich guy would wear torso and an expensive pair of black shoes. The other hand with tattoos and guitar resembles a Hard-Rock Musician. The tattoo is a part of the culture of a Hard Rock Musician. The abdomen part resembles a 6 pack abs black man while the head looks like a nerd man. Men with thick black glasses always remind us of nerds. All these body parts carries out information that guys are various types outside in the world and no one is perfect. Besides that, the polystyrenes on the floor also carry out a meaning to the audiences. The polystyrene flakes show that all the body parts come from the box written ‘THE PERFECT MAN’ on it. The urban setting shows that the lady is a rich lady because her house looks neat and well organized. Since perfect men are not exist, she is trying to assemble all these body parts using a manual and create one for herself. Her bare feet show that how desperate and keen she is in creating a perfect guy for herself. Besides that the symbol of Mars Male on the carton reinforces the heterosexuality. The miniature pincher lying next to the carton shows how homely and loving the lady is.

There are few others alternate readings for this advertisement. Red roses not only represent to love and passion, it also has been represented in countless works of art, from classical paintings and poetry to modern day music and media. Other than that, the head with glasses also symbolize to a smart and well-educated guy. Apart from that, the head also represents he is having an eye sight problem. We also see a muscular body in the advertisement that represents a sportsman body and well-built body. On the other hand, a dog can be seen in the advertisement also that shows the lady in the picture could be a pet lover. We can also see a tattooed hand holding a guitar that represents a teenager’s hand that has interest in music. In the advertisement, we can also see a man’s leg upside down that represents that the man is in hurry and running somewhere. The place in the advertisement looks like in a very posh condominium as we can see from the view outside that it is a high building.

In Saussure's version of semiotics, the basic unit of meaning is referred as “Sign”. All the signs have two aspects which are the signifier and the signified. The signifier is any material or things that signify an expression, image and many other things. For a clear illustration of the signified meaning, words on a certain page, a facial expression and a picture are some of the examples. Meanwhile the signified is the concept that a signifier refers to. The basic, most elementary form of sign, are mostly denotation which means the literal meaning of a sign.

We can see many signifiers in this advertisement when we relate it to Saussure’s version of semiotics. All the elements used in the advertisement have a signified meaning. The first signifier that we can see are the parts of the human body such as face, hand, leg and body that belong to men which are all around the floor. The body parts are mixed in terms of the colour of the male. The face appears white, the arms again white, but peculiarly the chest and the abdomen are in a darker skin colour. This indirectly tells us that the chest and abdomen human part represents a black male. The box also had a statement that says “The Perfect Man”. As we all know, a perfect man is supposed to buy roses for his woman. He is supposed to be polite & work as a professional. He may have other interests such as playing the guitar and it for most women out there, the perfect man have to own a six pack abs. This description of a perfect man is related to the male body parts that are in the advertisement. Therefore this is why we can see a nerdy head, a hand holding roses, a though body part, a pair of formal attired man and also a hand that was covered with tattoo and holding a guitar.

Even the place setting used was an urban setting with a modern furniture and decor. The posture of the girl who is reading a blueprint of the package that has arrived is also a signifier in this advertisement. The place setting and the dressing of the female give a signified meaning of the time and the age-group that the advertisement addresses. Finally the last signifier would be the dog. The dog in the ad appears to be observing the woman who is assembling the man. It looks kind of scared as opposed to snooping around the body parts. It signifies the confusion that the dog is while seeing a human body in this form.


By,

VITHIYAH SANTARA SHEERAN                           1091101410

SHASHI KUMAR BALASUBRAMANIAM              1091102536

RUBAKUMARAN SUPRAMANIAM                       1091102537

MOHAMAD AZFAR BIN MOHAMAD NASER      1081105380

IBRAHEM JAMAL SHAMS                                      1081107019

THIVASSINI SUBRAMANIAM                                 1091101798

Week 4 - Titanic

Who are Rose and Jack?

Jack Dawson was the main character in the Titanic movie (1997). Jack is a poor man with the age of 16 years old from Wisconsin who has been travelling in Europe (mainly Paris). He wins two third class tickets for the Titanic in a poker game and boards the ship with his friend Fabrizio.

Rose DeWitt Bukater was another main character in the Titanic. Rose is a 17-year old woman from Philadelphia. Rose boards the ship with her fiancé Cal (played by Billy Zane) and her mother Ruth. She was known to be a first class woman.

What stereotypes do Rose and Jack represent?

Jack Dawson represents a kind person. This could be seen when Jack interferes and persuades Rose not to jump from the ship. Jack also portrayed a kind character when he gave importance to Rose’s life compared to him. When the boat started to sink and both of them fall down into the water, Jack made sure that Rose is safe till the second he died.

Meanwhile Rose DeWitt Bukater represents a character that appreciate relationship and who dislike to be in control of her mother, Ruth. When Cal and Ruth remain wary of the young third-class boy, Rose has developed a friendship with Jack. Rose had also followed Jack from the first-class dinner that night to the third class party secretly and enjoyed herself there. She showed appreciation to relationship when she realized that she cannot leave Jack, and jumps back on board into the ship to reunite with him. Rose is someone who dislikes being in control of her mother because she feels that Ruth, her mother is pushing her so much into the boundaries of being a first class woman that made Rose to be in control all the time.

Are they good or bad?

Both Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater is a good person.

What complexities does he and she have, if any?

Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater had complexities when the ship started to sink. When Rose went on board and saved Jack who was arrested, both of them return to the top deck to rescue themselves but unfortunately all the lifeboats have departed. The remaining passengers on the ship started to fall down into the sea as the stern rises out of the water.  The ship breaks in half as the stern side rose to a full 90 degrees into the air. Jack and Rose ride the stern down into the ocean as the ship sinks fully. Jack had also helped Rose to get onto a nearby wall panel which will only support one person’s weight. By hanging on the panel, he made sure that Rose is safe. When Fifth Officer Harold Lowe arrived to save the survivors, Rose was saved but Jack has died.

Connotation and myths ( week 3 )

While 'Denotation' tends to be described as the definitional and obvious meaning of a sign, connotation means the hidden and secondary meaning of a sign. In connotation, meaning of a particular sign depends on each individual’s perception. For examples, the color ‘red’ can be implanted as the sign of danger, a Harley Davidson can represent freedom for men and many more. Advertisers use connotation to manipulate people’s mind to deliver their message. Using connotation in advertisement makes the advertisement more interesting and requires the people to interact back. Connotation makes people think for more information. It will get the people to get more involved with the sign barrier. Connotation might need people’s mind to remember the meaning of certain sign for the usage of next time. For an example, yellow and red clown reminds us of Mcd Mascot since we have saved the particular sign in our mind.

According to Barthes, A myth is a complex cluster of connotations frequently associated with an oft-repeated story. All cultures have developed their own mythology over time. Mythology includes the legends of their history, their religions, their valuable treasures and their heroes. People believe what has been told by the elders. Myths can true or not true. For Barthes, myths serve the ideological function of naturalization. People absorb information that has been transferred to them from the elders and history. For an example, using an old ancient sword to promote a product makes people think that the product is something strong, valuable and heroic.

Symbol, Icon and Index.

Symbol is known as a form in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is basically random. For an example, language in general, numbers, Morse code, traffic lights, national flags and many more.

Icon is a form in which the signifier is perceived as resembling the signified which means it is being similar in possessing some of its qualities. For an example, a portrait, a cartoon, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack and many more.

Index is a mode in which the signifier is not random but is directly connected in some way; physically or causally to the signified. This can be observed in the 'natural signs’ such as smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, non-synthetic odours and flavours.  Medical symptoms, measuring, and recordings are also some of the examples under indexical.

Vithiyah Santara Sheeran

1091101410

Meaning and Semiotics (Week 1)

1)    1)What is “text” in the context of semiotics?

Text' can be in any medium and may be verbal, non-verbal, or both. The term 'text' usually refers to a message which has been recorded in a few ways. For example writing, audio- and video-recording .This is done so that it is physically independent of its sender or receiver. A text is a representation of signs such as words, images, sounds and gestures that are constructed and taken with reference to the conventions related with a genre and in a particular medium of communication.

2)   2) What is “media” in the context of semiotics?

The term 'medium' is used in a variety of ways and may include such broad categories as speech and writing or print and broadcasting or relate to particular technical forms within the mass media or the media of interpersonal communication. Mass media here are radio, television, newspapers, magazines, books, photographs, films and records. Meanwhile, the media of interpersonal communications are telephone, letter, fax, e-mail, video-conferencing and computer-based chat systems. Shortly in the context of semiotics, media is known as a medium that is used to convey a certain message.