Deconstructing an Advertisement: ‘The Beatles’
The advertisement I have chosen is one for ‘The Beatles’ as they were the closest I could find to the genre I wanted. This advertisement was assembled to advertise for all thirteen classic studio albums and past masters that are all digitally enhanced and remastered for the first time. The group formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Although their initial musical style was rooted back to the 1950s rock and roll, the group worked with different musical genres, such as psychedelic rock/pop.
The genre of the band is initially shown through the meat shot of the four members of the band. From this meat shot, certain star personas become clear. We see that the genre is actually a rock/pop band from the 60’s. This is highlighted by the black and white photograph contrasted with the bold red title of the band ‘The Beatles’. From the mise-en-scene we also see the genre of the albums for example the clothes that the band members are wearing, such as the round glasses that were extremely fashionable at the time of their music. The long hair in the photograph actually helps suggest this hippy style of the band, that lets us know their could be some psychedelic twist in their albums. Other visual techniques that are used are the rule of thirds. Everything on the page is lined up with one of the divisions, for example where the thirteen albums are shown at the bottom of the last horizontal division. As well as this the way that the black and white colour contrasts with the bold red connects the old with the new, as this album is all about rediscovering the band. The tone of the whole page creates this rediscovering idea, and the text anchors this statement with ‘Remastered. Rediscovered.’ This is an example of linguistic devices they have used and with the break up of the full stop in between it is clear that this is meant as a bold statement. The font uses the typical Beatles font that is a star motif for their band. It is used on all their albums, making it their own logo. Semiotics is used in the advertisement to create certain meaning, for example the way the way that the band are all looking across in the same direction. Obviously this is an old picture of the band, but the advertisers chose this photograph for a reason. The notion of looking used here could signify that the group are looking ahead towards the future or oppositely connoting the group looking back in the past at their previous albums, as this advert tries to convey that meaning of being ‘Rediscovered.’
References to popular culture are used here, but in a much more post modern way. Because these albums are all remastered versions, the meat shot of the band that has been used is in fact also an old photo, therefore making this print text post modern by making references to popular culture of the 60’s. Robert Greenfield, a former editor for Rolling Stones, said "People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original. In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were." This is an example of just how much of an affect The Beatles had on their audiences across the world. The Beatles were one of the first British rock/ pop bands to break through with an influence on American Bands. In the 1960’s there was also a wide spread influence from the band on style for example the hair cut imitations that were being seen everywhere. It encouraged the Hippie movement throughout the 60’s where there was numbers of people latching on to this psychedelic way of life. Hippie fashions had a major effect on culture, influencing music, television, film, literature, and arts. Since the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream culture. The Beatles are represented as an extremely post modern band. The fact that certain styles from the 60’s have become fashionable and up to date again, means that the advertisers have chosen now to make this rediscovery of the band, because they used creativity in their work. Creativity is an example of what Richard Dyer called Semi mythological set of meanings for the term of a ‘star.’ The Beatles possessed many values of stardom; youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism, originality, creativity, drugs/sex, and success. This advert shows the materials that The Beatles have been constructed through. Richard Dyer said that the star image is incoherent, based upon two key paradoxes. The first is that the star must be both ordinary and extraordinary, which The Beatles are, and the second being present and absent, which they are also. The type of institution that the band would be shown in these days would include both mainstream shops, and also vintage shops. The advertisement here is actually for remastered versions of all thirteen albums, and this is commercial for http://www.thebeatles.com/. This advertisement has also come from EMI, one of the largest music companies in the world showing just how popular the band have been, and how large their influence has been over the years.
The advertisement I have chosen is one for ‘The Beatles’ as they were the closest I could find to the genre I wanted. This advertisement was assembled to advertise for all thirteen classic studio albums and past masters that are all digitally enhanced and remastered for the first time. The group formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Although their initial musical style was rooted back to the 1950s rock and roll, the group worked with different musical genres, such as psychedelic rock/pop.
The genre of the band is initially shown through the meat shot of the four members of the band. From this meat shot, certain star personas become clear. We see that the genre is actually a rock/pop band from the 60’s. This is highlighted by the black and white photograph contrasted with the bold red title of the band ‘The Beatles’. From the mise-en-scene we also see the genre of the albums for example the clothes that the band members are wearing, such as the round glasses that were extremely fashionable at the time of their music. The long hair in the photograph actually helps suggest this hippy style of the band, that lets us know their could be some psychedelic twist in their albums. Other visual techniques that are used are the rule of thirds. Everything on the page is lined up with one of the divisions, for example where the thirteen albums are shown at the bottom of the last horizontal division. As well as this the way that the black and white colour contrasts with the bold red connects the old with the new, as this album is all about rediscovering the band. The tone of the whole page creates this rediscovering idea, and the text anchors this statement with ‘Remastered. Rediscovered.’ This is an example of linguistic devices they have used and with the break up of the full stop in between it is clear that this is meant as a bold statement. The font uses the typical Beatles font that is a star motif for their band. It is used on all their albums, making it their own logo. Semiotics is used in the advertisement to create certain meaning, for example the way the way that the band are all looking across in the same direction. Obviously this is an old picture of the band, but the advertisers chose this photograph for a reason. The notion of looking used here could signify that the group are looking ahead towards the future or oppositely connoting the group looking back in the past at their previous albums, as this advert tries to convey that meaning of being ‘Rediscovered.’
References to popular culture are used here, but in a much more post modern way. Because these albums are all remastered versions, the meat shot of the band that has been used is in fact also an old photo, therefore making this print text post modern by making references to popular culture of the 60’s. Robert Greenfield, a former editor for Rolling Stones, said "People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original. In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were." This is an example of just how much of an affect The Beatles had on their audiences across the world. The Beatles were one of the first British rock/ pop bands to break through with an influence on American Bands. In the 1960’s there was also a wide spread influence from the band on style for example the hair cut imitations that were being seen everywhere. It encouraged the Hippie movement throughout the 60’s where there was numbers of people latching on to this psychedelic way of life. Hippie fashions had a major effect on culture, influencing music, television, film, literature, and arts. Since the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream culture. The Beatles are represented as an extremely post modern band. The fact that certain styles from the 60’s have become fashionable and up to date again, means that the advertisers have chosen now to make this rediscovery of the band, because they used creativity in their work. Creativity is an example of what Richard Dyer called Semi mythological set of meanings for the term of a ‘star.’ The Beatles possessed many values of stardom; youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism, originality, creativity, drugs/sex, and success. This advert shows the materials that The Beatles have been constructed through. Richard Dyer said that the star image is incoherent, based upon two key paradoxes. The first is that the star must be both ordinary and extraordinary, which The Beatles are, and the second being present and absent, which they are also. The type of institution that the band would be shown in these days would include both mainstream shops, and also vintage shops. The advertisement here is actually for remastered versions of all thirteen albums, and this is commercial for http://www.thebeatles.com/. This advertisement has also come from EMI, one of the largest music companies in the world showing just how popular the band have been, and how large their influence has been over the years.
This is quite a random ad to look at? Although a very perceptive analysis and you use critical frameworks well - well done
ReplyDeleteLevel 4-
of all the adverts i looked at in the magazines this was the one that looked quite like a boy band genre. i will try and scan it in.
ReplyDelete