Semiotics Assignment

Semiotics Assignment

Shauna Brennan B00032593 Group A

Date: 26-11-2009

Semiotics Assignment The Brief: Signs and symbols all around us are just that, signs and symbols, and not things themselves, we can come to take for granted. The media provide a flood of different, sometimes contradictory signs, symbols, narratives, and myths, and codes. You are tasked with composing three celebrity portraits (use the same celebrity image for all three) supporting a myth or ideology associated with three different statements: •

I am masculine

•

I am feminine

•

I am evil

•

I am wealthy

•

I am popular

First of i looked at the various statements and brainstormed them: muscles, strong, fighting, war, rough, tough, bold, mean, cold, hard, stubborn, childish, ego, immature, stupidity, cruel, selfish, gym, dogs, loud, cars blue, sqaure, sharp, cool, slick , big, dark

I am masculine

batman, superman, hero, james bond

charming, handsome, prince, king, white horse, david beckham, power, farther

quiet, soft spoken, bitchy, focused, beauty, hair, clothes, shoes, cleaning, kitchen pink, flowers, hearts, soft, small, round, narrow, bouncy,

oprah winfrey, beyonce, I am feminine

fluffy, puffy, twinkle, star, glow,

wonder woman, cat woman, megan fox, clever, diva

bright, colourfull, cute, gentle,princess, queen, beautifull, fertility, birth, mother, laughter, bubbly

hell, fire, mean , cruel, war, fighting, monster, disease, poison, drugs, tabacoo, alcohol, devil, ouiga board, ghost, red, black, dark, sharp, bold loud, scary, menacing

I am evil

society, people, bullying, lost, afraid, terified, bombs, killing, guns

money, gold, silver, green, paper, mansion, cars, holidays, gagets, diamonds, celebs, famous, red carpet, rich music, rappers, bling,

catwalk, fashion, models I am wealthy

entrepreneur, franchise

50 cent, business, mac donalds, brown thomas,

mines, sierra leone, youth, hollymood, america, dreams, lotto, millionaire

mean girls, pink, purple, long hair, gorgeous, america, clicks, cool, liked, envied, resentment, jealous, bitchy money, new,

girls, cheerleaders, jocks, I am popular

idealised, adored, daring, different

wanted, red, foul loved, stand out,

nice, funny, intresting, pretty, entertaining, red carpet, dresses, photographers, photos, Next I choose my celeb........ Lady Gaga.....???

Perez Hilton...???

I decieded on...Marilyn Monroe

'Marilyn Monroe, drawing by Al Hirschfeld ' “Marilyn Monroe personified Hollywood glamour with an unparalleled glow and energy that enamored the world. Although she was an alluring beauty with voluptuous curves and a generous pout, Marilyn was more than a '50s sex goddess. Her apparent vulnerability and innocence, in combination with an innate sensuality, has endeared her to the global consciousness. She dominated the age of movie stars to become, without question, the most famous woman of the 20th Century.”

I choose Marilyn because i do believe she has one of the most well known 'celeb' face's on this earth. Just about everyone knows who she is. I choose this particular picture to work with because it's a picture of an instantly recognizable famous Monroe photo....

I choose to do a collage instead of photoshop as i have no experience in photoshop what so ever and felt the more time I wasted learning it myself the less time i'd have to focus on the assignment itself. I'm glad i stuck with collage i think it turned out really well. Part of what was asked was how would an advertiser convince a consumer of a product association with one of these statements? So I had the idea of making the three images into advertisements. Just to make them a little more intresting. So first of was 'I am popular'. This one was difficult to encorporate into the image, I first looked at my brainstorm of ideas, 'photographers, photos, adored,purple,daring, pretty, stand out'. This is what i came up with.....

<--Heres a photo i found that i partially based my idea on. I wanted Marilyn to be center of attention, all eyes on her. Originally i had silouets of paparazzi in the background but it flooded the image and took the focus of her, so i simply added cameras flashes. I used star like shapes to symbolise the camera flashes, so even tho you don't see the paparazzi you no they are there. I used bold striking colours so it would pop out of the page. It is a asymmetrical image. I made it into a camera advertisement, i think it works really well.

Next up was 'I am feminine'. Firstly I looked back on my brainstorm, 'soft, pink, gentle, flowers, cute, bright, cleaning, kitchen'. Heres what i got.....

I choose not to draw a black outine on the one, i thought the softer pink lines were more suited to being feminine. I also placed this one on a pink background instead of a white one, which made it more girly and soft. By changing the font to one with flowers it instantly changed the feeling in the image. Here some images i found that helped me along.....

This were very helpfull toward a sutible colour pallete. I also came up with the idea of a fabric softener as my advertisement. A tad bit stereotypical but i think it works well. The tag line reads “ Give your clothes a lift, with flower blossom fabric softener”. I gave it a pretty font and badazzeled it with flowers. This like the image before is quite simplistic, but i always believe less is more, i let the few images speak for themselves. This is an asymmetrical image. Main focal point is marilyn. The washing machine and fabric softener image symbolise cleaning, and the pink and flowers appeal to women. Last but by no means least ' I am Evil'. This was by far my favourite of the three. I was the most fun creativly and the most effective image overall. Brainstormed words, eveil, devil, fire, black, red, poison, alcohol, dark, sharp, bold, menacing. Heres what i came up with.....

I set this one on a black back groud, again not much on the background, but less is more. I used fire flames instead of a grate blowing up her dress. I used mainly black and red, bold contrasting colours that are also associated with hell, fire, evil, dark, scary....

Heres some images i used as guidelines. I decieded to do an alcohol advertisement for this one. Origi i thought of Vodka, but i thought black absinthe was more suited. It's stronger and therefore more dangerous. The tag line reads, 'bad girls love... Pandor Black Absinthe. I changed the writing to a more evil font. This image is a drastic change to the other two, the main difference being the colour scheme. I used devil horns to symbolise the devil and evil. I maintained the same composition in all three images, because one it worked really well the first time and second because i wanted colour, symbols, and shapes to do all the talking, i didn't wan't to take away from the focus.