Dolce and Gabanna 2010 : Behind the Ad

Dolce and Gabbana recently released their 2010 Holiday Makeup Collection advertisements, featuring the always sexy, voluptuous vixen, Scarlett Johannson. Dolce and Gabbana ads are notoriously known for their risque advertising, engorged in high levels of sex appeal. I found this ad to be particularly appealing because Scarlett always looks absolutely gorgeous whenever you see her. She is definitely a natural beauty, and looks like even more of a goddess in this makeup ad. You almost just want to identify with her, and feel the same level of starlet that she must experience everyday.

This advertisement has several appeals, all of which include: sex, an aesthetic sensation, dominance, and attention. These appeals are all used through the means of grabbing the attention of the audience. The ad is suggestive towards sex, as Scarlett and the very hunky, male model accompanying her are sprawled out on a luxurious silk bed set. He is dressed in a very sophisticated fashion, as she is merely covered by the blanket (which further highlights the Dolce and Gabbana makeup.) The audience may feel the sexual tension between Scarlett and her suitor, and will possibly imagine them to be an item.

There is a particular aesthetic sensation to the Dolce and Gabbana ad. They selected one of Hollywood's leading ladies, a woman so classy and refined. She brings an overwhelming sense of beauty into the emotional appeal of the audience, which is very captivating. The masculine Italian model also adds his beautiful appeals to the table as well. Surely women will want to feel as beautiful as Scarlett looks, and be able to attract themselves a man of such dignity.

Scarlett has a sense of dominance over the entire endorsement. She prevails over her male counterpart very easily. When you first look at the advertisement, your eye automatically is drawn to her. Her body language, makeup, and her choice of "clothing" lures the attention to herself. As she appears to be primarily focused upon herself, her gentleman friend does the same, and fixes his attention all on her.

Bottom line, this advertisement is absolutely sensational, to say the very least. Dolce and Gabbana successfully captures your attention, and you are ultimately transfixed upon Scarlett, who beautifully displays their latest Holiday Makeup Collection. This advertisement is a terrific exemplification of the means of sex appeal, aesthetic sensations, and dominance.

The Three Act Structure of Beauty and the Beast

Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast aptly follows Hollywood's three act structure. I know this is typically just seen as a children movie, however, it did win two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. With that being said, I do like to claim that this movie was one of the best that Disney has ever produced. It is, of course, "a tale as old as time."



The movie starts out in a small village town in France, where Belle lives with her father (crazy inventor, Maurice). He gets lost in the woods on the way to a convention, and finds himself to become prisoner in the enchanted castle of a monstrous beast, who is placed under a spell for having a cold heart. Belle, the protagonist of the story, makes the decision to offer her place for his imprisonment, so that her sick father may be released. Belle's decision to become the Beast's new prisoner is our first plot point, as this influences the course of the rest of the movie.




In the second act, Belle starts off on a rocky foot, and doesn't particularly enjoy the Beast's company. She slowly becomes well acquainted with the rest of the magically transformed occupants in the castle. As time passes on, her friendship with the Beast develops beautifully, and he begins to fall in love with her. Once he falls in love, and gets fallen in love with in return, the enchanted spell is supposed to be broken, mind you. When Belle discovers that her father is lost in the cold and is traumatically ill, the Beast releases her from being a prisoner. Which brings us to our next point plot, as this decision leads to his realization that he is in love with Belle.



In our third and final act, the antagonist (Gaston) has arranged to have Maurice forced into the insane asylum, unless Belle agrees to be his wife. The whole town gathers in front of Belle's home, and Belle argues that the Beast is completely real, and that her father is by no means, crazy. She reveals the image of the beast through the magic mirror that the Beast gave to her as a gift. The townspeople then decide that the Beast is a threat to them, and that they must kill him! Once they march to the enchanted castle, the townspeople engage in a battle with the occupants of the castle. Meanwhile, Gaston sets out to be the one to personally kill the Beast. When the two meet, the Beast doesn't want to fight at all, because he is lost in his own feelings of remorse and depression, and his yearning for Belle to return. Gaston takes advantage of this situation, and attacks him. When the Beast discovers that Belle has arrived back to the castle, he fights Gaston back in an epic battle. Gaston falls off the castle, into a rocky pit of mystery below the bridge to the castle. When Belle sees that he is injured and dying, she reveals to him that she loves him. At the same time, the last petal of the rose falls (which was used as the measurement of time he had to fall in love). This is the climax of the movie, because the whole time the audience wonders when Belle will fall in love with the Beast.



Afterwards, the spell is broken and everybody is transformed back into their human forms. The Beast and Belle stay together in the castle (eluding to the fact that they were married, possibly?) And there's the typical "happy ending". The "I love you" served as the resolution in the ending. As you can see, this film aptly followed the typical Hollywood three act structure we are so accustomed to.

Television Sitcoms

Television sitcoms all share very similar characteristics, respectively. Sitcoms are episodic, meaning that the show typically keeps the same setting during the entire run time, the characters keep their personalities and behaviors, and the episodes tend to raise a main question that they will solve within the half hour time frame. Sitcoms have to live up to being funny and a bit absurd. The audience can usually predict the plot as the episode becomes more developed, but at the same time, the sitcom must evoke a few surprises. The characters will usually have a problem, and resolve it by the end of the episode. Sitcom episodes are always different from the one before, and don't have to strictly follow a highly developed story, such as one a drama would follow.


My favorite sitcom would have to be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This show definitely adheres to the structural characteristics of a sitcom. Every episode has a new and exciting story to tell, and the "gang" always has a new scheme or adventure up their sleeves. The show follows Dennis, Mac, Charlie, Frank, and Dee, whom are owners/operators at a local bar in south Philadelphia. In every episode, Dennis and Mac will have some sort of scheme up their sleeves, Charlie will be doing something ridiculous and insane (like bringing out his infamous Green Man routine), Frank will be bailing the gang out of the trouble they cause, and Dee will be formulating her own side plan. Their personalities don't change much at all, and in fact, they just get more and more absurd. The show is always exciting and unpredictable, though.



Photo Credit: http://www.tvovermind.com/tv-news/comedy-central-grabs-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-for-syndication/11728

The Road : Behind the Shots

In John Hillcoat's, The Road, a father and son travel from place to place during an unexplained world wide catastrophe. They are traveling to the coast, in order to make a safer living. Most of what they see is abandoned and lifeless, and there are typically corpses and other remains littered all around them. This is an example of the Long Shot, which suggests to us that the boy is living in a sad and bitter world. The only person he has is his father, and has no other relationships in his life. They are constantly moving, and he witnesses his father do some unthinkable things in order for them to survive. This shot makes the audience want to sympathize with the young boy, as no one should want a child of innocence to feel such loneliness.




This is a Medium Shot, which supplies us with information regarding the relationship between the man and the child. They have the bond of being father and son. You can clearly see the weapon being held in the father's right hand. They are in a dangerous, littered area, and the father must protect his pride and joy. He wants to keep his son as safe as possible, and guards him to the fullest extent. The man tries to pass on all of his knowledge to his son in a short time, as he knows that he will not live forever.




In the Close Up shot, the audience can see Viggo Mortensen's unnamed character in greater detail. You can see that his lifestyle has drastically aged him. His hair has started to gray, and his skin is starting to wrinkle very noticeably. His eyes are a very icy blue and bright, which contrasts with his overall dirty, mangy appearance. His eyes show us that he still has a good amount of life in himself.

Hollywood's Shining Stars

The vertically integrated studio system of Classic Hollywood invented a very crafty star system that would sell their films all over the country. The studios would hire agents to 'discover' the next big thing; They wanted promising actors and performers of all sorts. The studios wanted a large compilation of contracted actors that would ensure the success of their films. Many actors would become widely associated with particular movie genres, and well known for their popular talents, such as singing or dancing. The studios would also hire writers to create scripts that were sure to be instant hits, as they would throw an appropriate actor/actress from their pool of talent. Their stars ultimately ensured the success of the films, and most importantly, of the studios.

The star system of classic Hollywood ultimately caused a great amount of the films that the studios' made to be "B movies", as they were made incredibly quick with a small budget (Media Now, 195). The studios would still produce extravagant, and highly prestigious films that they new would be successful, however, they took advantage of the influence and popularity that their starlets held. They were able to make high profits off of their cheap B movies because they would sell on the simple fact that a well known actor or actress starred in the film.




Joan Crawford was one of MGM's most popular Hollywood starlets. She is often associated with moving "rags-to-riches" movie genres, as is noted in her films "Possessed" and "Mannequin". Crawford was originally a silent film star, and was one of the few actresses to make a successful transition into talking movies. Crawford also began in the studio with her singing and dancing, and then became better known for portraying young, advancing women. In her films, she would often start out as "homely" and would then be transformed into a sophisticated lady, with very chic and expensive fashions. Crawford's personal life was also heavily highlighted in tabloids and other media, becoming even more popular with her audience, that would then watch her films out of their adoration and support. Joan Crawford's popularity through her typical movie roles and personal life tell-all's greatly contributed to the overwhelming success of the studio.


http://www.pics-celeb.com/2009/12/joan-crawford.html
http://www.katharinehepburntheater.org/blog/tag/mgm/

All in the Family vs the Contemporary Family

"All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" are two family based situational comedies from the 70's. "The Jeffersons" was actually a spin off show to "All in the Family". Both shows represent the same type of blue-collar ideals in two different manners. The Bunkers and Jeffersons were working class middle families. These two sitcoms challenged previous attitudes and beliefs on race, sexuality, and politics. Archie Bunker and George Jefferson use derogatory terms to other people on a pretty frequent basis. Terms such as "meathead", "Polack", "fag", "dingbat", "honky", and "nigger" have been said on the air.
One of the big differences between the shows is the point of view through two different races during the same time period. With the Bunkers being a white family, and the Jeffersons a black family, we see both families dealing with the same social problems in their own ways. Also, the role of the wife is different in these contemporary sitcoms. Edith Bunker is seen as a naive, submissive housewife who doesn't care much to argue with her beloved Archie. Louise Jefferson, on the other hand, was not as "small-minded" as her dear friend Edith. She was kind and friendly, as Edith was, but she didn't have problems getting into a heated argument with her bad tempered husband George.
As these shows were from the same time period, they deal with similar topics and issues. Both dealt with racism, prevalent political issues, and feminism. Some topics that "All in the Family" was known for challenging included homosexuality, feminism, and cancer. "The Jeffersons" dealt with some issues such as interracial coupling, suicide, and gun control.





Picture credits:
http://nocureforthat.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/all-in-the-family-%E2%99%A6-this-day-in-the-usa-%E2%99%A6-january-12/
http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Jeffersons,_The/gallery/JEFFERSONSTVS007/

Radio: A Creation for the Audience

The high, growing audience demand for a new mass medium for receiving news, entertainment, and education heavily popularized the use of the radio in the 1920's.

The factor of audience demand works in a fairly, easy-to-understand matter. It's just like the concept of supply and demand. Whatever the audience wants, and is willing to consume, that's what the media will supply in return. The more and more the audience would tune into soap operas and other talk show varieties, the radio industry would supply more shows to the audience. As radio popularized more, companies would advertise more heavily via radio because they knew that the audience would be tuned in. The functions of radio responded to many needs that America needed in the 1920's.

The population has a never-ending, growing need for immediacy, entertainment, educational information, and current news. The radio provided all of these bases, and in fact, joined together all ages, classes, races, and generations into one common culture. They all shared very similar feelings and emotions that were produced as a result from what they heard on the radio. The radio didn't have geographical boundaries that would limit the spread of information, so everybody had such easy access to it! The audience demanded more and more of the radio; People wanted to tune into their favorite talk shows, soap opera dramas, music, and advice shows. Other industries and departments began to turn to the radio to advertise their own products and businesses. The high audience demand for more radio only further popularized it, and helped make the radio the most common form of media.



In Woody Allen's Radio Days, we see that as radio became an outlet for the obtaining of mass media in American society in the 1920's. The film showed us that people of all classes, ages, and generations listened to the radio collectively (such as when the young girl fell down the well.) Similar feelings arose all through out the nation. The news was immediate, and joined a nation together. The country wanted to be further be joined together as one, and the radio fulfilled that demand.


http://alsolikelife.com/shooting/2009/01/949-91-radio-days-1987-woody-allen/
http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/radio/