Question 1:
The genre of the poster is unclear but it has connotations of drama. The women are looking in opposite directions and that creates the idea of conflict between them. This tells the audience that they might have different interests in mind or even have conflicting interests with one another. There are also connotations of romance and closeness between the characters as they are conjoined with each other hinting at a possible close relationship between them. This gives the audience the idea that they might be romantic partners going through a dispute or friends having trouble. There is also a gun placed between them which is a proairetic code for danger and makes the audience think that the gun has something to do with the conflict they might be having. The gun looks like it was tossed after being used which creates a mysterious tone for the audience as they don’t know why the gun is there.
Two hegemonically attractive women are denoted in the poster which appeals to the female demographic as it suggests they might be the main characters in this film. The women take up most of the poster which signifies that they are important characters and that the film centers around them. This tells us the target audience might be women because they are not sexualised to get the attention of the male audience and instead tries to appeal to the female audience. Both of the women have different ethnicities to appeal to a larger demographic.
The mise en scene of the palm trees and the colour purple connote a tropical, 80s Miami vibe to the audience and might be hinting at where the film is set. A tropical setting would appeal to the audience as it’d provide diversion for them as they’d wish to be in a tropical place like that. The 80s Miami feel tells the audience that the film might be set in a city like Miami and might be appealing to fans of shows that were set in Miami before.
“Gemini” has a sans serif font however its spaces between the letters give it an elegant, simple look. This could perhaps be saying that the film is based around a lavish lifestyle in a fancy place. This would appeal to a working class audience as they’d be interested in what a lifestyle like that entails and could also appeal to a high class audience since they’d be able to relate to the lifestyle themselves giving them the ability to personally identify with it.
The word “Gemini” means twins. This could be referring to the two female characters as twins metaphorically. This might be because they’re dealing with a similar situation or problem as each other or could be referring to the relationship between them being close like twins.
The name of the actors at the top tells the audience who appears in this film. An actor might be recognised from their appearances in other films and therefore give the audience an idea what type of film this might be if their previous work is similar. This could also hype the movie up if any of those actors are seen as high profile by the audience.
This film poster appeals to a niche target audience. This is because of there being no traits in the poster which clearly define the genre of the film. This leaves the genre up to interpretation for the audience upon looking at the poster and might entice the audience to go see the film to find out what the genre is for themselves.
The image of the palm trees is flipped upside down on the poster. This shot might connote that the women’s lives have been flipped upside down and that might relate to the gun at the bottom of the poster as well. The gun could be the reason for their lives being flipped upside down and this is further supported by their “worried” facial expressions as well. They both look worried about something that happened or might happen which creates a suspenseful tone to the poster.
Question 2:
Daily Mirror is owned by Reach plc and is horizontally integrated. Ownership influences many traits of the newspaper. This could be the target audience of the newspaper. For example, the Daily Mirror’s target audience is the middle aged working class. This is supported through the use of a colloquial lexis throughout the newspaper and headlines typically being puns or a play on words.
The Daily Mirror also includes promotions and deals. These are typically for gambling and offer £5 free bets. For example, Ladbrokes horse racing is a good example for Daily Mirror. This is to support the stereotype that the working class is into gambling and have gambling habits in hopes to make more money out of it.
Ownership can also dictate the political ideology of a newspaper. For example, Daily Mirror is a left wing newspaper as most of the working class is left wing. They show their ideology by showing bias towards left wing politicians and left wing parties. The stories they write about them will be supportive of them and their actions and will try to display them in a positive light. They will also use more appealing images of left wing politicians, typically of them smiling to connote positivity towards them. Right wing politicians will typically be cast in a negative light and the images chosen of them will be much more unappealing to display them as the villains.
The Daily Mirror also puts a bigger emphasis on soft news like celebrity gossip, tv shows and new movies being released. This to appeal to the working class audience as they are seen as less educated than the middle class so stories about the economy or politics are typically kept to the minimum.
The Daily Mirror also has a much bigger images to copy ratio. This is again to appeal to the working class as they are seen as less educated and therefore not being able to read large amounts of text. Images are easier to look at and the text is kept short typically.
Question 3:
Audiences can interpret adverts in many ways and can either interpret it as preferred by the producer or have a completely opposite interpretation to the producer’s. The preferred reading of Wateraid is that it shows what kind of result the donations are having. This is to entice the audience to donate so they can contribute to the joy being seen in the advert. However an oppositional reading would be that the African community doesn;t need help anymore as they got what they want and are happy already so they don’t need any more donations.
The advert could also be seen as racist by some audiences. This is because the advert shows that they need help to actually live a good life and can’t do it themselves. This would be an oppositional reading for the producer.
The advert can also be seen as an unconventional charity advert as instead of showing the victims suffering with sad expressions on their faces with a sad song playing in the background, it shows the progress being made by the donations to the cause and everyone looking cheerful. There is high key lighting and also the bright coloured clothing being worn that connote positivity and joy in Wateraid.
The audience might also see Wateraid as a more effective type of advertising. This is because so many people have seen the traditional format of charity adverts that they have become desensitised to it and no longer feel the guilt the advert is trying to get them to feel. Wateraid instead shows hope as to what happens when they have been donated to.
Some audiences might see the Wateraid as a waste of money as well. This is because the advert quite clearly has high production value which could make them question as to why the money didn’t instead go to the actual cause instead of a video. This could make the audience question whether the money they donate actually go towards the cause or to something else.
Audiences might also personally identify with Claudia as they might have been in a similar situation to hers before. This would make them be able to relate and show sympathy towards her, perhaps making them more inclined to donate.
Some older audiences might also recognise the song she is singing which would give them a feeling of nostalgia.
