→ The image: 3 of the greatest american presidents (Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy) - suggesting the opposition between them and the new elected, incomparable president (Donald Trump), that will probably ruin both the country and its history of great presidents (as the title of the article suggests).
→ “IT'S PRESIDENT TRUMP” (red, top of the page): The title of the most important article in the newspaper magazine (also why it is the first page).
→ The white text (at the top of the page): Rhetorical question, giving the audience an idea of what they should ask themselves but insinuating that they know the answer. Builds up tension and makes the reader want to buy the paper and once they start reading, keep reading it.
→ The red text (at the bottom of the page): Implies danger, attracts the public's attention and intrigues them. The ellipses (“ ... ”) hint to how bad the situation is and the disappointment of the press and the audience. “See page” points out the page number for the advertised article, making the reader's job easier.
→ Top right corner: Gives us an idea of what other type of articles we can find there.
→ Top left corner: The paper's name (who it was produced by) - brand loyalty (customers that are only reading this newspaper as its got the articles they're interested in) / customers that heard about it - word of mouth. + their website.

Ghostbusters poster 1984 vs 2016

Transgressive Appropriation

Examine how the poster for the remake of Ghostbusters confronts dominant ideologies regarding masculinity and feminity :

→ The 1984 poster foregrounds 3 masculine figures as the main characters, suggesting that what they're about to do is viewed as a job for men. Back then, the society had an exact view of what a "woman's role" and what a "man's role" was, how women are "supposed" to behave, how they are "supposed" to be and what they are or aren't "supposed" to do. From this poster, we can tell that the main characters are supposed to be brave and fight some ghosts - something pictured as the opposite of what a woman would've done (or would've been allowed to do in 1984), but rather something that men should do - fight fearlessly and save the day.
→ However, the 2016 poster for the remake of Ghostbusters presents 4 of the main characters as female characters - showing the evolution of how the women are viewed. This highlights how much the film industry changed and developed (and not only the film industry but in the society in general) - Women can be whatever they want to be, they can be heroic, fight and win.

Tide advert (1950) compared to a modern advert

                Tide advert (1950) 

 

• Z-line
• Very colorful - bringing attention and creating a happy mood
• Shows us a picture of the product so we'll know what to look for in the shop
• A rough rule of thirds (e.g. "Tide does all three")
• Comic strip style image in the bottom right-hand corner with two women ‘talking’ about the product using informal lexis - approaching the reader in a friendly way.
• Suspense is created through the enigma of “what women want” (Barthes’ Hermeneutic Code) and emphasized by the tensionbuilding use of multiple exclamation marks (Barthes’ Proairetic Code).
• Hyperbole and superlatives are used in order to make Tide look superior to other products and accentuate its washing power (e.g. "Miracle", "Worlds whitest wash")
• The use of bright red on some words highlights and attracts attention to their importance, making the reader feel somehow excited to try the product (e.g. "Cleanest", "Whitest", "Brightens").
• The use of the 2nd person pronoun "you" next to the word "women" shows who the advert is aimed to, catching the customers' attention, but also insinuating that it is a woman's job to buy it and use it.
• "Remember!" , used at the end of the advert indicates what the most important part of the advert was, reminding you why you should buy their washing powder
• The Semantic code - e.g. the hearts in between the woman and the washing powder box suggests love.
• The Symbolic code - creating a typology regarding women at that time : using Tide washing powder represents a better housewife.

             Revlon nail polish advert (2013)

• Very powerful colors used in contrast - implying the power of the nail polish.
• “FLAUNT YOUR STRENGTH” - double meaning:
  1. The strength of the women.
  2. The long-lasting effect of the nail polish.
  
• Using Emma Stone as the face on the advert will influence people (fans of hers) to buy the nail polish.
• Emma is wearing a box glove with Revlon's logo on it (on one of the hands) - suggesting the strength of the nail polish and the fact that it lasts even if you practice.
• Her other hand is on the top of the glove (but not covering Revlon's logo) with her nails done - showing us that she is using one of the colors advertised and attracting us to buy it too.
• The pile of nail polishes - shows us that they've got a variety of attractive colors. In the front of the pile it's the color that Emma's wearing.
• The use of words “new” and “brilliant” makes the nail polish seem better than any other products and makes it stand out from the crowd.
• “With built-in base and top coat” - shows the different, special combination of this nail polish. Suggests that you won't have to spent more money on base or top coat.
• “in 24 brilliant shades” - there are even more colors than what they are showing us on the advert. Makes the people feel curious and interested about the rest.
• Rule of 3: “stronger, harder, knockout nails” - Mixes the adjectives suitable for describing a nail polish with words used in boxing (which is a though sport and connecting it to the box glove)
• “Pack a powerful punch of color” - alliteration makes it easier to remember for the people and sounds better. Also highlights the main properties of the nail polish and drags attention to them.

How I Met Your Mother Review

                                      I have chosen to make my summer task reviewing one of my favourite TV shows (How I Met Your Mother, in case you wouldn''t be able to tell by the title) as it has had a pretty big impact on me and how I now see some of the things in my life(some of them that I have mentioned here, and some a bit more personal that I'd rather not talk about). This being said, here's my review, hope you like it and decide to watch the show, I can guarantee you all won't regret it.

                                      How i met your mother is an amazing show about a lot of things, honestly hard to describe in words. It's the perfect combination of comedy, romance and drama, that will make you switch emotions every 3 minutes and feel everything ten times deeper. Or at least, that's how it was for me.

                                      The story is presented by the main character, Ted Mosby, who's now living in the year 2030 and has got two kids. He sits them both down and starts telling the story of how he met their mother.. except that he starts telling it YEARS before he met her. 

                                   

                                      Right from  the first episode we can tell how Ted, after his two best friends from college got engaged, is looking for the love of his life and starts thinking about marriage. Along his journey he was close to giving up many times, but every time he just ended up trying harder and harder -which is one of the main reasons  why I love this  show. Every single scene is built to make  you feel something, learn something. Sometimes it'll make you laugh with tears, other times it will make you cry because it's so deep, but it will never leave you feeling nothing.

                                      The characters are all built in a very unique way, each and every one of them. Going from the main characters, to the minor ones, they're all special in their own way. Focusing on the main ones though, they are truly fascinating and most of the times unpredictable. 

                                      Comparing their behaviour from the first episode to the last one, they do follow their own pattern, but at the same time you would never expect them to do certain things(how should I explain this without giving spoilers???!!!...

...I probably can't)

                                      For example, one of Ted's best friends, Barney, who is a true player when it comes to girls(and lazer tag), that you would never EVER see or think would be committed to any relationship, manages to make the most sweet and romantic proposal to Robin by just pretending to play her as well. However, their marriage doesn't last because of Robin working all the time so they get a divorce. Following the divorce, Barney goes back to his player life and accidentally leaves a girl pregnant (maybe I should mention that he absolutely hates children and would have never have one on purpose). 9 months later, forced by his  friends to go see his daughter at the hospital, he walks in, holds the baby in his arms, looks at her and his first reaction was "you are the love of my life". Now it might not have any kind of impact for the people who have never watched the show, but it just makes me cry every time. And for me, who has never ever even considered giving birth to a child(in the  future, obviously. I always thought i was just going to adopt my kids, if I ever wanted to have any), that scene has genuinely changed my mind about how I see all this.

                                

                                      I would certainly recommend this to anyone (aged 13 or over, because some of the jokes are inapropriate), not just because it's by far the most hilarious show I have seen, but because it involves so much more than just comedy. I love the way it was built, the tension, the mixed emotions it was giving me, the butterflies, the goosebumps, the message that it transmits and the impact that it could have. 

                                      I have recently started watching it for the second time and it's even more interesting now that I know what's about to happen as I can pay more attention to the details and the deeper meaning of everything. Everything is so carefully made, the soundtrack  that I now realise helps so much with transmitting the sentiments, the background story of evey character, even the jokes. All of them linked together build something truly captivating: The story of how Ted Mosby met his wife.

                                      SPOILER ALERT!!!