Night-time Photoshoot - Victoria Mills

The main (new) building and Walkway

The old building (over the Tennis Court)

The Fountain and Runway (Lighter Filter)

The Fountain and Runway (Darker Filter)

The Chimney

Yesterday, I was staying over at Victoria Mills, and was captivated by the sights of the chimney and the walkways all illuminated. I took a number of photographs, with the intention of manipulating the strangest one to suit the style of my Comic-book storyboard idea (see below).

The images above are all quite dark, but this was deliberate. I had a go at using different filters on the Camera to get different effects, but found that to tie in with previous entries about darkness, shadow and contrast, leaving the settings to compliment the hour of day worked really well.

The images require careful study to make clear sense of what they depict, due to the intense use of shadow. But by adding in captions beneath each image (Anchorage and Relay, Barthes), I can explain a little easier the key features shown.

The Chimney Base (Original)











The Chimney Base (My Manipulated Comic-Style)

Analysis of the Cadbury Gorilla Advert

courtesy of macegrove at YouTube.

This is, quite possibly, one of my favourite adverts of all time, just because it is so unusual. At first glance, there is very little in the way of content to associate the ad with the product being advertised. I see no bars of chocolate in sight until the outro. Only people who recognise the subtle hints as to who the producers are prior to the end of the ad would have any idea that this is, in fact, a tremendously massive company.

The purple colouring refers to the packaging. The 'Glass and a Half Full Productions' slogan was created and plugged as being the official slogan for the company's forthcoming series of chocolate adverts (including this one). The silver of the drumkit symbolises the inside wrapping of the packaging. But... I see no actual chocolate bars to demonstrate they are, in fact, still a chocolate production company. For all the advert suggests, they could be promoting Phil Collins, a Drum-kit company, a famous Gorilla... who knows?

But that is the point. The advert is lacking anchorage until the outro kicks in. This is a deliberate marketing technique. It's so unusual, it will stick in your head. Viewers remember the ad, will remember who made it because it is so bizarre, and are subsequently more likely to purchase a product because the advert made them smile.

The gorilla is a signifier for happiness. The happiness that customers will experience if they purchase this particular brand of chocolate. I can deduce this from the happiness and freedom expressed by the gorilla when he begins his drum-solo. It is almost as though the majority of the ad is in place to build up to this one moment. The suspense. Which, in turn, could signify the suspense consumers will experience as they're waiting to take that first bite.

In conclusion, I believe that the advert for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, while being controversial due to a possible lack of understanding for some people, is a great example of advertising. It grabs viewers’ attention, mixes audience’s likes of music and chocolate with an unusual main character and, above all, advertises the product enough to increase profit, which is, essentially, any business’s underlying goal.

Roland Barthes - Anchorage

Reference to:

Barthes, R. (1977) "Rhetoric of the Image." Image, Music, Text. Ed. and trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Hill and Wang. 32-51.

The concept of an image having endless interpretations without an attached caption to ground the viewer's rogue imaginations fascinates me.

Barthes believed, "... all images are polysemous; they imply, underlying their signifiers, a 'floating chain' of signifieds, the reader able to choose some and ignore others."

In a sense, he describes an image's ability to give off a great (sometimes limitless) amount of different interpretations, depending on social, ethical and stereotypical inclinations of the viewer in question, who can then choose for themselves what they believe to be the truest interpretation. What is depicted for one type of person will differ completely from what another person sees in the image; due to reasons like social status, personal upbringing, cultural reference and individual opinion. Without a caption to ground the image and describe / explain EXACTLY what is depicted, there is no way of saying for certain what the true purpose / description of the image really is.

Anchorage does this - adds a description or a caption to an image, giving the reader absolutely no doubt as to what the content actually displays. This way, the media artist can get across a specific meaning, one that will be virtually universally recognised for what it is. Without this 'anchor', the possibilities are endless.

People will believe what they want to believe until it is proven otherwise.

Take the image on the right as an example.

I could tell you that it's actually an image of my great uncle. And unless you'd seen the image before, there's absolutely no way to disprove my interpretation. (The fact that I did have a great uncle who looked rather like him is irrelevant).

Similarly, I could admit to you that it's actually a sketch-drawing of Roland Barthes, himself (if Wikipedia is to be believed...). But there's nothing to say I'm telling the truth (even though I am). Thus, demonstrating that Barthes' thesis does actually make sense: without an anchor, viewers are free to interpret the image in any way they choose.

Like I said. Fascinating.