Avery - Blog #5

“National Television: Exercise Your Mind”

There are many major signs in this piece, as each character and interaction is a reference to a song title. For example, the Queen of England is saved by the hand of God by a rolling stone, representing the title, “God Save the Queen,” as well as the band The Rolling Stones, perhaps. The Queen herself was one of the biggest symbols I saw because I instantly knew it was the Queen of England, despite being from that country. The paradigm reflects a certain set of assumptions in that it not only takes a keen eye to point out each song title (I couldn't get many), but one must have quite an extensive knowledge of music and pop culture. The piece's denotative message was to “exercise the mind,” which connotes that there is more than meets the eye in the piece. It also connotes a feeling of belonging to an “elite” group if you catch onto the song title references. The piece itself looks myth-like in its surrealism and randomness, but the only “myths” here are illustrations of the song titles. Perhaps it could be myth of how that song title came about. The piece uses unofficial language in that the imagery is fun and quirky; nothings feels like official business. The purpose of this piece was to provoke thought and awareness of music in a playful way. The intended demographic was a broad one in that anyone could have an extensive music education... the piece is playful enough to appeal to anyone, but is also cheeky enough to appeal to adults. Perhaps the only demographic left out would be young children. I feel the piece definitely substantiated brand because it showed Virgin as “knowing the answers” and having a broad range of music. Virgin wants to look “cool” and “hip,” and by playfully representing pop culture, they accomplish this.

Digital Kitchen: Six Feet Under

It is obvious that this piece uses death imagery as signs and symbols. The hands breaking apart, the feet on the gurney, and the black crow are all signs that represent death. The paradigm here was death; death is a universal accepted notion and common fear. The piece's denotative message was that someone had died, but the connotative message was that there is more to death than simply dying. For example, once someone is dead, he/she is wheeled on a gurney, travels in a hurse, and gets buried. “Life” for the dead does not end at death. The myths at work here are those of death, as no one who has died can necessarily come back and talk about it. However, the piece does not focus on the spiritual afterlife, which would be more mythical than what the piece shows. The piece uses unofficial language in that it is all simple imagery, and no words. The purpose of the piece was to introduce the show, Six Feet Under, as a comprehensive and quirky show revolving around death. The intended demographic, despite it being a late-night HBO show, is young adult to older adult. There is no childish behavior at work here; instead the images are powerful and so meaningful that it takes a developed mind to fully comprehend them. I feel that the piece accomplished its purpose in introducing the show as a dark and interesting one; having watched the show, I feel the introduction truly encapsulates the overall attitude of the series.