Re: 2. Barthes Project
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 10:48 pm
Barthes Article Response:
In Roland Barthes’ text, The Responsibility of Forms, he dissects an advertisement for Pates Panzani pasta, pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese. He analyzes this ad by discussing the linguistic, denotative, and connotative messages that are portrayed by the combination of image and text. The linguistic message is the textual data shown on the packaging of the food as well as the lower right-hand corner of the ad that reads, “Pates-Sauce-Parmesan A L’Italienne De Luxe.” Barthes’ describes the denotative message as the message that depicts what is actually shown or is actually happening in an image. In the Panzani ad, the denotative message is the presence of the string bag holding pasta, sauce, Parmesan cheese, an onion, mushroom, tomatoes as well as the colors in the advertisement of red, yellow, and green. Without having any prior knowledge to Italian food, the French language used, or any art historic background, the denotative message is what is presented and what we see. Lastly, Barthes’ describes the connotative message as being a message that is implied or is symbolic. For instance, in the Barthes’ advertisement one of the connotative messages lies within the cornucopia shape of the string bag that is shown overflowing with fresh vegetables, and ingredients for the pasta. Art history has shown us that when a cornucopia is shown in a painting overflowing abundantly with food, the message depicted is that there is a wealth of food. Further, wealth in food implies satisfaction and pleasure. The Panzani ad uses the aesthetics that a cornucopia painting portrays, and uses this symbolism in the ad to depict that by using their Panzani product’s (pasta, sauce, and parmesan cheese) there is an abundance in food. We can apply Barthes’ knowledge of linguistic, denotative, and connotative messages when looking at any other image or video. For example, I will now discuss how I used Barthes’ image-theory when viewing both Youtube video’s “Dove Evolution” and “Dove Evolution Parody.”
Personal Image Analysis:
In this picture that I pulled out of one of my albums, I can also use Barthes’ theory on finding the message that lies within an image. Though there is little evidence of any linguistic messages portrayed in this image, the viewer can read text on the back of the bags of chips. By viewing the text on the back of the bags, the viewer can assume it is a commercially mass-produced product of some sort of food. The only really text that the viewer may be able to pick out is on the back of the bag on the right of the picture that reads “Nutrition Facts.”
Further, the denotative message depicts two young girls photographed at night with bags of chips shoved down the front of their shirts. The female on the right is giving an awkward smile and a peace sign to the camera and has her arm around the girl on the right. On her left hand, that is seen wrapped around the other girl’s shoulder, are tiny drawings. She is wearing a white tank top shirt and a bracelet on her right wrist. The girl pictured on the right is looking down at her chest frowning. Her shirt is off her shoulder and her bra is showing. She is seen staring down at the bag of chips that is stuffed down her shirt. She is seen wearing a black shirt and a silver necklace around her neck. The denotative message, again, is what we see as an audience, rather than what we know.
Finally, the connotative message comes from background knowledge that the photographer (which happens to have been me) is aware of. The scene takes place in the middle of a street in Isla Vista in Goleta. These two girls are on their way to a birthday party and were stopped by some people in the middle of the street giving away free snacks. The girls pictured took the snacks and then presumed to pose for a picture of them wearing the snacks. What is implied is that these girls were out partying in Isla Vista because the scene takes place at night and neither of the girls are smiling directly into the camera which would signify that they were completely coherent. It is also implied that these girls were hungry because there are multiple bags of chips shown in the picture.
I thought this picture was interesting to dissect because it shows a picture of two girls in the Santa Barbara night-life. I chose this picture because I thought it related to my video because both have to do with advertisement. The girls shown in this photograph can be viewed as advertising the food products, although showing the product backwards. This comes across comical because if you were trying to sell a product, you would probably not make this mistake and would show the product properly. Also, I found it interesting because the photographer was me and I was in control of what was to be shown in the picture. The focus of the picture was to show the two girls with the bags of chips shoved down their shirts, completely disregarding what was going on in the background. As the photographer, I was able to depict a scene from a crazy and random night in Isla Vista.
Barthes’ text on how to read the message that lies within an image is helpful on dissecting photographs. It makes sense that both text and image play a role on how a message can be interpreted and how in order to understand the full message, we must dissect first the linguistic message, the denotative message, and the connotative message individually to understand how those messages can act and stand on their own. Then, when we put the messages and outside knowledge we have about a certain image together, we can receive a deeper meaning and interpretation of the image.
Advertising Analysis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-kSZsvB ... re=related "Dove Evolution Parody"
“Thank God our perception of real life is distorted. No one wants to look at ugly people.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOS ... re=related "Dove Evolution"
"No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."
In the Youtube video titled “Dove Evolution Parody,” the short act mocks the “Dove Evolution” video created by Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” In the “Dove Evolution” video, the video depicts a young, average looking woman getting pampered, airbrushed, and photo shopped for a billboard campaign for a beauty company. Dove’s goal in broadcasting this video was to exemplify why society’s perception of beauty is tainted-the beautiful women used in advertisement’s often have their image completely altered by the time the final photograph is completed. The Dove company wanted to demonstrate to female’s that women should not compare their beauty to model’s and actresses used in advertising because the “ideal” beauty shown in the advertisements are fictitious. In the video (“Dove Evolution Parody”) I am referring to for my project, the ad pokes fun at Dove’s goal in creating the ad—promoting self-esteem for young women. The parody of this video takes a stab at the Dove campaign by depicting an average looking male and creating him to be a slob by using the same airbrush and photo shopping that the Dove advertisement portrayed. Please note that in order to fully understand the parody video, it is useful to have viewed the original video of the “Dove Evolution.”
Linguistic Message: The linguistic message displayed in the “Dove Evolution Parody” clip is shown in the opening sequence of the video when the words “a film: Slob Evolution” are flashed across the screen. The second linguistic message is displayed 51 seconds into the video-clip when the word “Lardo” is shown next to an overweight male on a billboard. Lastly, 1 minute and 1 second into the clip, the words “Thank God our perception of real life is distorted. No one wants to look at ugly people.” As the video is coming to a close, a website address is shown saying http://www.campaign against real life.com. The linguistic message that Barthes’ describes in his text can be applied to this video as well because there is text shown in the short clip. The linguistic message strengthens the message portrayed by the denotation and connotation that is shown by the images that are viewed. The linguistic message illustrates that society is more pleased when good-looking models or people are used in advertisements.
Denotative Message: The denotative message shown in this parody film is represented by a young male coming into a studio for a casting call. He is shown chugging beer, smoking cigarettes, taking shots of hard liquor, eating mass amounts of food, gaining weight, getting bags under his eyes, visibly looking older, looking grungy, and then being photographed, airbrushed, and photo shopped to look as ugly as possible. His ugly mug shot is then displayed on a billboard following a closing view of a bird with a cigarette in its mouth. The denotative message is the message that the audience views—the message that is literal. We literally view the evolution of this man from an average looking male, into an overweight and unattractive slob. This message is portrayed without ay prior knowledge from the viewer—hence the original “Dove Evolution” video.
Connotative Message: The connotative message represented in this parody video comes from having knowledge about the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” video that is titled “Dove Evolution.” In the “Dove Evolution” video, the goal is to portray an average looking female and show how the advertising industry destroys female perceptions of beauty because of the overuse of Photoshop and image altering tricks that are used in beauty campaigns. Having seen this video, the “Dove Evolution Parody” video implies that the reason ugly people are not portrayed in advertisements is because the audience wants to look at attractive people. It also takes a stab at the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” because although Dove reports using “real women” to model for their campaigns, there is still a heavy amount of Photoshop and other image altering settings applied to their advertisements. The parody is pointing out how ironic it is that this “real campaign” rallying for positive self-esteem for women, in actuality is completely hypocritical because if the message wanting to be interpreted is for real beauty, then the campaign should not Photoshop or image alter anything in their advertisements. The connotative message also implies that our modern American society is shallow and dependent on looks—therefore, when a company is attempting to advertise a product, the company should choose good looking models or people to represent the product because that is what our society wants to look at. Our American society would choose to look at good-looking people, rather than ugly people.
In Roland Barthes’ text, The Responsibility of Forms, he dissects an advertisement for Pates Panzani pasta, pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese. He analyzes this ad by discussing the linguistic, denotative, and connotative messages that are portrayed by the combination of image and text. The linguistic message is the textual data shown on the packaging of the food as well as the lower right-hand corner of the ad that reads, “Pates-Sauce-Parmesan A L’Italienne De Luxe.” Barthes’ describes the denotative message as the message that depicts what is actually shown or is actually happening in an image. In the Panzani ad, the denotative message is the presence of the string bag holding pasta, sauce, Parmesan cheese, an onion, mushroom, tomatoes as well as the colors in the advertisement of red, yellow, and green. Without having any prior knowledge to Italian food, the French language used, or any art historic background, the denotative message is what is presented and what we see. Lastly, Barthes’ describes the connotative message as being a message that is implied or is symbolic. For instance, in the Barthes’ advertisement one of the connotative messages lies within the cornucopia shape of the string bag that is shown overflowing with fresh vegetables, and ingredients for the pasta. Art history has shown us that when a cornucopia is shown in a painting overflowing abundantly with food, the message depicted is that there is a wealth of food. Further, wealth in food implies satisfaction and pleasure. The Panzani ad uses the aesthetics that a cornucopia painting portrays, and uses this symbolism in the ad to depict that by using their Panzani product’s (pasta, sauce, and parmesan cheese) there is an abundance in food. We can apply Barthes’ knowledge of linguistic, denotative, and connotative messages when looking at any other image or video. For example, I will now discuss how I used Barthes’ image-theory when viewing both Youtube video’s “Dove Evolution” and “Dove Evolution Parody.”
Personal Image Analysis:
In this picture that I pulled out of one of my albums, I can also use Barthes’ theory on finding the message that lies within an image. Though there is little evidence of any linguistic messages portrayed in this image, the viewer can read text on the back of the bags of chips. By viewing the text on the back of the bags, the viewer can assume it is a commercially mass-produced product of some sort of food. The only really text that the viewer may be able to pick out is on the back of the bag on the right of the picture that reads “Nutrition Facts.”
Further, the denotative message depicts two young girls photographed at night with bags of chips shoved down the front of their shirts. The female on the right is giving an awkward smile and a peace sign to the camera and has her arm around the girl on the right. On her left hand, that is seen wrapped around the other girl’s shoulder, are tiny drawings. She is wearing a white tank top shirt and a bracelet on her right wrist. The girl pictured on the right is looking down at her chest frowning. Her shirt is off her shoulder and her bra is showing. She is seen staring down at the bag of chips that is stuffed down her shirt. She is seen wearing a black shirt and a silver necklace around her neck. The denotative message, again, is what we see as an audience, rather than what we know.
Finally, the connotative message comes from background knowledge that the photographer (which happens to have been me) is aware of. The scene takes place in the middle of a street in Isla Vista in Goleta. These two girls are on their way to a birthday party and were stopped by some people in the middle of the street giving away free snacks. The girls pictured took the snacks and then presumed to pose for a picture of them wearing the snacks. What is implied is that these girls were out partying in Isla Vista because the scene takes place at night and neither of the girls are smiling directly into the camera which would signify that they were completely coherent. It is also implied that these girls were hungry because there are multiple bags of chips shown in the picture.
I thought this picture was interesting to dissect because it shows a picture of two girls in the Santa Barbara night-life. I chose this picture because I thought it related to my video because both have to do with advertisement. The girls shown in this photograph can be viewed as advertising the food products, although showing the product backwards. This comes across comical because if you were trying to sell a product, you would probably not make this mistake and would show the product properly. Also, I found it interesting because the photographer was me and I was in control of what was to be shown in the picture. The focus of the picture was to show the two girls with the bags of chips shoved down their shirts, completely disregarding what was going on in the background. As the photographer, I was able to depict a scene from a crazy and random night in Isla Vista.
Barthes’ text on how to read the message that lies within an image is helpful on dissecting photographs. It makes sense that both text and image play a role on how a message can be interpreted and how in order to understand the full message, we must dissect first the linguistic message, the denotative message, and the connotative message individually to understand how those messages can act and stand on their own. Then, when we put the messages and outside knowledge we have about a certain image together, we can receive a deeper meaning and interpretation of the image.
Advertising Analysis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-kSZsvB ... re=related "Dove Evolution Parody"
“Thank God our perception of real life is distorted. No one wants to look at ugly people.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOS ... re=related "Dove Evolution"
"No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."
In the Youtube video titled “Dove Evolution Parody,” the short act mocks the “Dove Evolution” video created by Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” In the “Dove Evolution” video, the video depicts a young, average looking woman getting pampered, airbrushed, and photo shopped for a billboard campaign for a beauty company. Dove’s goal in broadcasting this video was to exemplify why society’s perception of beauty is tainted-the beautiful women used in advertisement’s often have their image completely altered by the time the final photograph is completed. The Dove company wanted to demonstrate to female’s that women should not compare their beauty to model’s and actresses used in advertising because the “ideal” beauty shown in the advertisements are fictitious. In the video (“Dove Evolution Parody”) I am referring to for my project, the ad pokes fun at Dove’s goal in creating the ad—promoting self-esteem for young women. The parody of this video takes a stab at the Dove campaign by depicting an average looking male and creating him to be a slob by using the same airbrush and photo shopping that the Dove advertisement portrayed. Please note that in order to fully understand the parody video, it is useful to have viewed the original video of the “Dove Evolution.”
Linguistic Message: The linguistic message displayed in the “Dove Evolution Parody” clip is shown in the opening sequence of the video when the words “a film: Slob Evolution” are flashed across the screen. The second linguistic message is displayed 51 seconds into the video-clip when the word “Lardo” is shown next to an overweight male on a billboard. Lastly, 1 minute and 1 second into the clip, the words “Thank God our perception of real life is distorted. No one wants to look at ugly people.” As the video is coming to a close, a website address is shown saying http://www.campaign against real life.com. The linguistic message that Barthes’ describes in his text can be applied to this video as well because there is text shown in the short clip. The linguistic message strengthens the message portrayed by the denotation and connotation that is shown by the images that are viewed. The linguistic message illustrates that society is more pleased when good-looking models or people are used in advertisements.
Denotative Message: The denotative message shown in this parody film is represented by a young male coming into a studio for a casting call. He is shown chugging beer, smoking cigarettes, taking shots of hard liquor, eating mass amounts of food, gaining weight, getting bags under his eyes, visibly looking older, looking grungy, and then being photographed, airbrushed, and photo shopped to look as ugly as possible. His ugly mug shot is then displayed on a billboard following a closing view of a bird with a cigarette in its mouth. The denotative message is the message that the audience views—the message that is literal. We literally view the evolution of this man from an average looking male, into an overweight and unattractive slob. This message is portrayed without ay prior knowledge from the viewer—hence the original “Dove Evolution” video.
Connotative Message: The connotative message represented in this parody video comes from having knowledge about the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” video that is titled “Dove Evolution.” In the “Dove Evolution” video, the goal is to portray an average looking female and show how the advertising industry destroys female perceptions of beauty because of the overuse of Photoshop and image altering tricks that are used in beauty campaigns. Having seen this video, the “Dove Evolution Parody” video implies that the reason ugly people are not portrayed in advertisements is because the audience wants to look at attractive people. It also takes a stab at the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” because although Dove reports using “real women” to model for their campaigns, there is still a heavy amount of Photoshop and other image altering settings applied to their advertisements. The parody is pointing out how ironic it is that this “real campaign” rallying for positive self-esteem for women, in actuality is completely hypocritical because if the message wanting to be interpreted is for real beauty, then the campaign should not Photoshop or image alter anything in their advertisements. The connotative message also implies that our modern American society is shallow and dependent on looks—therefore, when a company is attempting to advertise a product, the company should choose good looking models or people to represent the product because that is what our society wants to look at. Our American society would choose to look at good-looking people, rather than ugly people.