Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Social Network Questions

How does the trailer engage the audience?
The trailer uses many techniques to keep the audiences interest such as having the first 50 seconds of trailer being a reasonably fast paced montage of supposed Facebook images from random people, this keeps us watching because the images are not what you may expect from Facebook and when watching they feel as if they are telling a story or particular occasions in someones life. Also the music used in the trailer is very dark and has an almost 'eerie' feel to it, it begins slowly and as the trailer continues and the plot becomes more fast paced, so does the music, this type of music is an unusual choice due to Facebook normally being a positive thing and having such a contrast is going to keeps the audiences attention. The structure of this trailer begins off with a dramatic sequence of pictures that will capture the audiences attention, it's also very relatable as more and more people are using Facebook and the pictures may represent the ups and down in life that may be present on Facebook. According to Propp the use of narrative shows that the main character or creator of Facebook is being portrayed as the Hero, this is going to make the film more appealing as a lot of people enjoy films with a Hero and it makes the whole thing more relevant as people can relate to him and Facebook. Also when looking at the scenes and characters we can see that Todorov's theory is used in which there is a state of equilibrium before the trailer becomes more fast paced and intense and begins to show the plot's complicated side it includes more sensationalist dramatic scenes and lines. In conclusion the trailer engages the audience effectively through dramatic scenes, editing, music and the personal identification of the plot being about a young school boy making himself successful.

What is communicated about Facebook in the trailer?
In the trailer there are a lot of features that help communicate what Facebook is, firstly the beginning of the trailer is showing images and features of Facebook such as statuses, the montage appears to be representing someone's life or important events during this, this helps communicate to the audience that Facebook is something that is always around and people use it to hold their life memories and occasions. As the trailer progresses from images of young people partying and socialising we are shown the main character in his bedroom on a laptop, this is a use of juxtapostion where one things goes to another but is very contrasting in it's nature, this may tell the audience that our perception of the virtual world and the real world are two very different things. The scenes featured in this trailer vary a lot from slower montages and clips to fast paced and dramatic scenes, this tells us that Facebook is not always an easy and positive network and that it has a negative side including the problems that occurred due to it being introduced.  In conclusion Facebook communicates to the audience that it can be a positive and interesting place to be but it is also a fast paced media network that has a controversial and negative side as well.




Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Boots Website Analysis


- The main colours used are White, Blue & Peach, they have used the Blue as this is their signature colour which is iconic to Boots, the white is very simple and does not overpower the website and finally the peach colours are used to advertise their autumn offers and remind people that we're going into the autumn weather.
- The layout of this website is reasonably simple with their main offers and highlighted products in the centre and then they have used a menu bar along the top for each section of the store so that is is easy to access the products.
- The use of "3 for 2 Mix & Match" is a sale offer which is going to attract the audiences attention and the autumnal feel to the image reminds people what the offer is for and why they should benefit from it, according to the Uses & Gratifications Theory the audience are using this to find out information so that is Surveillance.
- The website appears user friendly with a "store locator" on the right hand side, this gives the impression that they are a large organisation and they have a lot of stores nationwide which would appeal to a broader audience.
- The target audience of this website is mainly women but some men will be included in this and it will largely be women within the age range of 20-45 who take time and care in their appearance and general health, this website is aimed at women as they are going to be buying the majority of the time so they want to see products that will appeal to themselves but also their family.
- The institution behind Boots shows that they have a lot of money from the organisation because of the amount of stores they have nationwide but also the things they can offer such as their advantage points system which gives people 4 points for every £1 they spend, this demonstrates that they are able to "give back" to their customers through this but still benefit enough from purchases. They also offer Youtube and Facebook for Boots on their website which shows that they are able to connect with a wider audience through social networking which plays a large role in the media.