Leah Moriyama
Critical Practice 1 T 3:30-6:30
Rosetta Brooks
31 March 2009
Final Paper
Kill Bill: A Post Modern Masterpiece
Motion pictures have been entertaining people for many, many years now. Over the years there have been many evolutions of film style and content. Today we live in a world where there are four or five new movies coming out every weekend. When we go to the local movie theatre, there are about twenty movies to choose from at any given time. Of course these movies consist of many different themes, and subjects and also display an array of different styles. When it comes to post modernist films, Quentin Tarantino is definitely a filmmaker to look at. Many of his films are great examples of post modernity and Kill Bill is definitely one of them. This film, like its predecessors, is unique and creative. Kill Bill Vol.1 and Vol. 2 are filled with a mixture of styles and their discontinuous narratives take us on a journey filled with many post modern characteristics and allow us to see the world in a different way and in a different context.
Kill Bill is a story about a group of assassins called the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad. At one point the group consisted of the bride played by Uma Thurman, Oren Ishii played by Lucy Liu, Vernita Green played by Vivica A. Fox, Elle Driver played by Daryl Hannah, and Budd played by Michael Madsen. The leader of the Assassin gang is Bill played by David Carradine. The story mainly revolves around the character of the bride who was Bill’s lover and his favorite of all the girls. When she becomes pregnant with Bill’s baby and finds out about her pregnancy while on a job, she decides that she does not want her child to be born into the life that she is living and the world that surrounds her. To avoid this, she runs away and tries to start a new life. She meets a new guy and makes new friends in the desert somewhere and is planning to marry her new boyfriend, start over in a “normal” life, and hide her identity and her past life. However, Bill finds out what is going on. He had been mourning her death assuming that she died on the job and then finds her pregnant and about to get married. Being that he is the leader of an assassin gang he and the entire squad go to her wedding and kill everyone. Right before Bill shoots the bride in the head, she tells him that it’s his baby. The bride does not die but she goes into a coma. When she comes out of it she immediately looks down at her stomach and sees that she lost her baby. She then breaks out of the hospital and begins her journey to get revenge. She makes a death list, which includes the pre-mentioned members of the Deadly Vipers and Bill, and she plans to seek each of them out and kill them one by one. Throughout the film, the bride seeks out each person on her death list but as they are all professional assassins of her caliber, she encounters many hurdles and has many intense, action packed fights. However as the woman scorned, she gets her revenge but when she finally finds Bill she discovers that her baby survived and that Bill has been raising her all along. Even though Bill still loves the bride he has done her wrong and they have unfinished business, her daughter is all that is important to her now. The bride and Bill discuss everything and they have a fair fight, which she wins. The bride had no idea that she still had her daughter to live for and the movie ends with her starting her new life with her daughter Bebe.
Quentin Tarantino’s strategy in the making of Kill Bill is one important aspect in the post modernity of the film. He uses a unique and signature style of structuring time and place for his audience. This style is basically discontinuity. In this film, Tarantino breaks up the continuity of the story. He mixes up the chronological order of the events in the story and thus delivers a discontinuous narrative. This totally defies what the audience expects. Tarantino’s use of the discontinuous time structure is amazing because it really takes away the predictability of the story and it adds to the suspense, anticipation, and excitement of the film. Even though this structure is somewhat complex, because Tarantino is so good at what he does, the audience does not get confused at all as to what is going on in the story. He often uses location, dates, times, and chapters with titles to label and organize the different events in the film. Also, the story of Kill Bill is broken into two parts, which are the films Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. However, they can be regarded as one film called Kill Bill, because the second part is really not a sequel to the first and the first is not a prequel to the second. The films were both filmed together and released one year apart. The main reason for the two separate movies is simply that to complete the entire film and tell the entire story, it would be impossible to squeeze everything into one feature length film time. That in and of its self is something unique and questions normal structure of filmmaking. Furthermore, Tarantino’s structure of time and place in this film stretches throughout both of the films as if they were one.
Another aspect of the structure that is an example of postmodernism is the use of the story’s multiple characters. Part of the discontinuity of the film structure is the changing of the main character involved in the different events and scenes that make up the narrative. Instead of watching a completely linear and chronological narrative from the point of view of the main character and everything he or she is doing, the film is broken down into sections or chapters regarding the stories of each of the characters involvement with the main character. The chapters are not in chronological order but they are however, organized to fit and create the arc of the narrative. For example, at the beginning of Vol. 1, the Bride gets a small piece of her revenge and kills Vernita Green and then later goes to Japan to find Hatori Hanzo, get her sword, train, and then kill Oren Ishii. However, chronologically, the bride actually goes to Japan first, after she recovers from her coma. After she kills Oren Ishii and all of the people that protect her, the bride leaves one character, Sophie, alive to deliver the message to Bill and the others that she is coming for them. Then she continues down her list and kills Vernita Green. However, by switching the order of these particular events, we start the movie with startling action and end the movie with intensity and drama. Because of this we also find out right at the end of the first half of story, that the bride’s baby is alive. Throughout this film the stories of other characters like Elle Driver, the story of Oren’s past, and the story of the Deadly Viper Assassins Squad are all woven in.
A main concept in the film that is also postmodern is the way that the story is told. One interesting point is that at some points in the film, there is a narrator with voice over. The bride is the narrator and she mostly narrates the parts of the story where she talks about the history or back-stories of the other characters. This narrative voice is not consistent throughout the film because most of the time there is no narrator at all. Usually when a film has a narrator it is pretty consistent or reoccurring in the film. This inconsistency also adds to the mixture of styles in the film. Another thing is that the main character is unnamed at first and known only as the bride even in the credits. In one of the very early scenes in the movie where the bride fights Vernita Green, there is a part where her name is said. Green introduces the bride to her daughter but when she says the bride’s name, it is literally bleeped out. It is so different that the viewer stops and questions whether or not they just heard what they think they did. From that point on it is a mystery as to what her name is. This aspect of the film is very unique and it changes the way that we see everything in it and also the way we view other movies and the world from that point on. Tarantino used a convention used to sensor curse words in music or other things like that, to create a sub plot in his movie. He basically changed the usage of a commonly used convention and changed the way that we think of it and of movies. Then when we finally do find out her name the film is edited with a clip scene of a grown Uma Thurman sitting in a children’s classroom replying to her name being finally said as if she is just responding to the roll call. The clip is just a snippet and we go back to the film. This is very post modern because it is as if we actually take a pause from the movie for this little snippet that is not an actual possible scene in the story but it is part of the plot and solves a mystery in the film. This is like having mixed media and genre in the film.
One of the most striking and interesting postmodern aspects of Kill Bill is the mixture of cinematic styles that Tarantino uses in the film. The movie is filled with a variety of different visual styles and although he jumps from style to style at times, he manages to maintain a consistency throughout the film. Everything is refreshing and fluid because he has developed his very own postmodern style. The beginning of the film and for certain scenes throughout the film, everything is in black and white. These are mainly the parts that tell the story of what happened in the massacre at the church in the past tense and in memories. The majority of the film is in color and the color scenes are mostly scenes that can be considered the present tense of the story at any time and the scenes that are progressing forward in time in the film. A couple of examples of the color scenes are those in Vernita Green’s chapter, in Japan, and in the hospital scenes. One of the most amazing changes in cinematic style comes when the movie that the audience is viewing suddenly transforms into an animated feature with unique and distinct style. These scenes are the ones that tell the story of Oren Ishii’s history and how she became an assassin. The use of anime for these scenes is interesting because they are the scenes that deal with a child. In a way they reflect Oren’s innocence and youth. Also, these scenes contain some very graphic subjects such as the killing of parents in front of their child, and the sexual act between a “sukebe” or perverted old man and a young girl followed by the act of her murdering him. It definitely affects the viewer differently to see these scenes animated as opposed to acted out physically by real live actors. The use of animation in the middle of the film is very creative and changes the way in which we view the world within the film and also around us.
The final fight scene in Vol. 1, is set in a traditional Japanese garden where the bride and Oren Ishii have a Japanese sword fight reminiscent of the sword fights in Japanese samurai movies. In Vol. 2, there are scenes that are filmed in a traditional Chinese kung fu film style. These scenes depict the bride’s training with Pai Mei. The camera does high speed, quick zooms to the face of the kung fu master, which is one major characteristics of the kung fu film style. Also in Vol. 2, there are scenes in which the bride is driving her car to find Bill and these scenes are in black and white. However, unlike the other black and white scenes, these scenes take on an old Hollywood cinematic look. The scene is lit with Hollywood lighting and everything looks dramatic, exaggerated and glamorous. Even the car seems to glide through the scene alone on the road. The style is reminiscent of a classic film noir movie. During the crazy 88 fight scene in Japan we also see black and white while there is tons of blood shed going on. This takes away the redness and gore of blood and allows us to view this mass murdering as entertaining and exciting as opposed to disgusting. When the film switches from color to black and white, it switches with the blink of the bride’s eyes while we are focused in on them.
Kill Bill is also very postmodern in that it deals with and questions the concepts of gender and race. The main character and all but one of the members of the assassin gang (minus their leader Bill) are women. In fact the name of the gang is the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad and if this is broken down into an acronym it becomes DVAS which can easily read as DiVAS. This definitely has a female connotation. Although the bride is getting married, pregnant and protecting her baby, which are typical female conventions, she is a deadly assassin and a hard-core killer. Oren Ishii is a half Japanese and half Chinese female who avenges her parents by killing their killers. This defies the typical ideas of what a woman could or would do but even more so defies these ideas because she is in Japan where traditionally women were very subdued and passive and subordinate to men. Furthermore, she becomes a highly renowned professional assassin and the leader of the Yakuza, which is the Japanese Mafia. This is considered highly atypical because she is a woman and because she is only half Japanese. These questions of her race and gender are directly referred to in the film when her challenging of these traditions and common stereotypes angers Boss Tanaka. Oren responds by chopping off his head to settle the argument once and for all. This directly challenges the idea of females and mixed race people being subordinate to others. Gogo also questions these ideas and also ones of social and cultural contexts. Gogo is a hot young Japanese schoolgirl, who represents a Japanese pornographic icon. She is the epitome of a little-girl like sexual taboo. However she counters these ideas of gender, race, culture, and social context. She is strong, empowered, and aggressive, and one of the star killers in the film. Something similar is also repeated in Elle Driver’s character that appears as a hot, blond nurse when we first meet her. This is also a typical male pornographic stereotype and stereotypically a very feminine profession, and Elle defies this stereotype as well by being another of the assassins in the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad. Vernita Green also defies her social role of being the housewife, mother living in the suburbs, married to a doctor when she fights the bride to the death in her kitchen. She is also one of the assassins. She protects her home and her family the way a male would.
Even though all of these characters in the film question the social roles of these women in regards to sexuality, culture, and social context, the questions go further to rethink or question themselves within the film. For example, the bride still has an underlying traditional conservatism because she is about to become a mother and a bride and she is happy to take on these traditional roles and it is when they are taken away from her that she becomes enraged and she fights for them. Also, Gogo is strong and empowered but she is also psychotic, which is shown when she kills the businessman in the bar. This example could be questioning the role reversal and suggesting that perhaps there is something that deforms a woman when she becomes too much like a man.
In the movie Kill Bill, Tarantino creates a world of his own. In his world, there are cool assassin gangs of hot girls and cool cavalier men. In this world, there are no police officers ever. The world is real and not fantasy, however it is tweaked or bent a little. It is a world where the Yakuza boss rides in her black Mercedes Benz while being escorted by a gang of Yakuza henchmen who surround her car riding motorcycles with their samurai swords attached to their sides in plain sight. The bride also keeps her samurai sword next to her on the airplane. It sits in the empty passenger seat of a public airplane, at her side. The cops never come while two women have a sword fight outside a restaurant in the snow, while inside the restaurant there are pools and pools of spilled blood covering the floor and dead or dying bodies and limbs scattered all over the place. This is like the opposite of hyper reality. Instead of using natural like effects, Tarantino uses extremely exaggerated dramatic effects to make what seems to be real become a new kind of real. It is not supposed to be fantasy but it is not really replicating life, as we know it. It is like real life with a twist of the imagination.
The music in the film Kill Bill also adds to the postmodern style of the film. The original soundtrack of the movie is composed and produced by the RZA who is an amazing and very renowned producer in the hip-hop world. He is a member of Wu Tang Clan and also produces all of their songs and albums, basically creating their unique, important, and influential sound. The songs that RZA produced for the movie give the movie a cutting edge sound and add a great feel to the film. The movie is also filled with other types of music that make it a beautiful eclectic masterpiece.
In Vol. 1, in the restaurant scenes leading up to the massacre, a band plays a live set on the stage in front a dance floor full of parting people. The band is a real Japanese rock band called The 5.6.7.8’s. The band consists of all girls who are rockers with American style up-do hairstyles reminiscent of the hairstyles worn by American girls in the sixties. It is also interesting that the rock band consists of all girls, which is also against the stereotypical rock band image, which is usually all men. Furthermore, the girls have tattoos and are rocking out, which is something that is not what old traditional Japanese women would be able to do. Oren Ishii still wears the full Japanese traditional attire of the kimono, tabi socks, and zori slippers, which cover her up and are not revealing and sexy like the little gold dresses that the band members wear. This brings attention to the previous topic of gender roles, and social context. It also references culture and tradition and brings to our attention the way that we view the world.
Later, during the scene with the crazy 88 fight in the restaurant, a very fun, up-beat, rock n roll, party song is played and it really spins the scene and gives the fight a fun, crazy, entertaining feeling. The scene could have been completely different if a different song were juxtaposed with all of the killing and madness. In the final fight between Oren Ishii and the bride, a rendition of the song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by The Animals plays. The juxtaposition of the traditional samurai sword fight in a snow-covered traditional Japanese garden is amazing. This juxtaposition crosses time and era as well as culture and style. Not long after this fight, during the end credits of Vol. 1, a very traditional Japanese enka song is played. The song is very old fashioned and traditional in the Japanese culture. It really gives an amazing feeling to the end of the movie. Where as this is the song played at the end of the movie, the song that is played at the very beginning is “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down” by Nancy Sinatra. It is an American song by a very American artist. The song is mysterious and even a little eerie. It is the perfect introduction song to the film especially because of its subject matter mirroring the event that occurs at the beginning of the film. It is very interesting that the movie begins with an American song and ends with a Japanese song. The mixture of all of these different musical styles definitely complements the mixture of all of the cinematic, structural, and narrative styles of the film. The music is used in the film to sometimes contradict what is happening, which creates an irony and a contradiction. Other times it just brings out the emotion or feel of the scenes. All in all the mixture of styles in the soundtrack help to shape the way that we interpret this film and the soundtrack is definitely one of the postmodern elements in Kill Bill.
Kill Bill Vol.1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 are both excellent examples of postmodern films. They truly change the way that we interact with them, with other movies, and with the world. Among other things, these films question and transform our ideas of social context, gender roles, culture, race, and communication. Postmodernism is very complex and with these films, Quentin Tarantino has truly created a postmodern masterpiece. Through a mixture of styles, impeccable taste, and amazing artistic ability, he has become one of the greatest postmodern filmmakers of our time.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Journal #4 "Blow-Up"
I think that the film Blow Up is pretty interesting. I think that the movie is mostly about reality and fantasy. It really makes you think. I think that as a viewer, you are supposed to question what is really real and what is not. I am a photographer myself so I was automatically interested in the film because it revolves around one main character who is a photographer. The film mostly spans one day I believe. Perhaps it is two days? Either way, the photographer has a very nonchalant attitude about everything. He seems to be very confident, or cocky even. He seems to have no shame and goes from one strange situation to another with very little reaction. I think that perhaps this may be about indulgence. It is interesting to watch the way that he reacts to everyone and everything around him. The only time he really reacts in a huge way is when he notices the strange body in the photograph and starts obsessively making enlargement after enlargement. Even then however, when the two young girls come and interrupt this work he just stops to play around with them, totally has this wild orgy interaction with them and then kicks them out to resume his obsessive work.
Going back to the fantasy thing, one main hint about the “what is reality” thing is at the end. The fact that mimes are present right away brings up the question of reality. Right when you see them at the end, you remember them from the very beginning of the film and right away it signifies a kind of tying up or a kind of theme thing. Then, the mimes become the center of what is going on when they start “playing” tennis. When the main character joins the game and interacts with them it ties him into the reality, non-reality thing. When he throws the ball to them and then you hear it that is where it becomes really trippy. This right away makes you wonder if what has happened in the film has been really happening or at least really been what it appeared to be. This idea is also supported further when the main character disappears in the giant field of green grass. One very interesting thing about the film is that if I remember correctly, the main character does not have a name. Maybe I am remembering incorrectly but if they actually never say it in the film what could that possibly be about? Many of the events, or actually it seems like all of the events in the film are left unresolved. What happened to the girl? Who came into his studio? What happened with the murder? These unresolved issues make you think about them and question them. The story is very suspenseful. I’d like to learn more about the story and the film because it is interesting, however I am not sure if I am right on all of these thoughts and would like to know any other meanings behind the story.
Going back to the fantasy thing, one main hint about the “what is reality” thing is at the end. The fact that mimes are present right away brings up the question of reality. Right when you see them at the end, you remember them from the very beginning of the film and right away it signifies a kind of tying up or a kind of theme thing. Then, the mimes become the center of what is going on when they start “playing” tennis. When the main character joins the game and interacts with them it ties him into the reality, non-reality thing. When he throws the ball to them and then you hear it that is where it becomes really trippy. This right away makes you wonder if what has happened in the film has been really happening or at least really been what it appeared to be. This idea is also supported further when the main character disappears in the giant field of green grass. One very interesting thing about the film is that if I remember correctly, the main character does not have a name. Maybe I am remembering incorrectly but if they actually never say it in the film what could that possibly be about? Many of the events, or actually it seems like all of the events in the film are left unresolved. What happened to the girl? Who came into his studio? What happened with the murder? These unresolved issues make you think about them and question them. The story is very suspenseful. I’d like to learn more about the story and the film because it is interesting, however I am not sure if I am right on all of these thoughts and would like to know any other meanings behind the story.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Mid Term - "Yaris: The Cool Car?"
Leah Moriyama
Critical Practice 1 T 3:30-6:30
Rosetta Brooks
24 February 2009
Mid Term Paper
Yaris: The Cool Car?
The advertisement that I have chosen to analyze is an advertisement for the Toyota Yaris. It is published in the magazine Complex. We are surrounded by thousands of advertisements and editorial images every single day. Some of them work on us and some of them do not. If we actually take the time to really look at the images, it is very interesting to break down their immediate denotation and also to analyze their connotations as well. If we take a closer look at them, as I have done with this advertisement, we can see what is really going on to make us think and feel however we do when we interpret images.
The denotation of the advertisement is an image of two cars in a box. The box is open and the lid rests against the left side of the box. The box is black and it rests on a perfectly seamless white background. The box has a shadow on the viewer’s left side, and a slight reflection on the front, which is facing us. The two cars fit snuggly in the open box, lying on their sides with their roofs facing each other. The car on the left faces downward towards the bottom of the page, while the car on the right faces upward towards the top of the page. Each of the cars has its tires facing outwards towards the sides of the box. The car on the left is a bright, orange, fiery, red color and the car on the right is a bright, true, blue color. The cars are also different models. The red car on the left is a four-door or sedan, while the blue car on the right is a three-door or hatchback. Each is clean and shiny. Both of the cars also have shiny, silver rims. The inside of the box is brown and we see that the box is made out of cardboard. Inside the box, under the cars, there is brown, wrinkled paper with Toyota logos all over it. The box also has Toyota logos on it. There is one on the lid and two on the side that faces us. The logos on the black box are white, while the logos on the brown paper are black. On the side, there is also a white rectangle with logos, small symbols and text, and a bar code. The image of the cars in the box is mostly centered on the page and fills most of it. However, it does not really go far beyond the edges of the pages. We see the image in its entirety and we look down upon the box from an angled view. The view is not directly above. The box rests on the shiny white surface diagonally. The box has one point perspective going away from us, the viewer, towards the imaginary vanishing point.
The advertisement also consists of denoted text. In the upper right hand corner of the page, over the plain white background are the words “Yaris,” “fresh,” and “kicks.” There is a thin vertical line between the word “Yaris” and the words “fresh kicks.” The word “Yaris” is in bold style type and is also in a clean and simple, futuristic font. The words “fresh kicks” are in a very simple, plain, thin font. The word “Yaris” refers to the name of the car featured in the advertisement. The word “fresh” means brand new, newly made, previously unknown or unused. One example of this meaning would be used to describe fresh made bread, “fresh out the oven.” “Fresh” could also be interpreted as a feeling, as in the way we would feel after a good nap or a nice shower. The word could even be interpreted to describe the way something or someone looks. For example, a young and energetic girl could look fresh. In this advertisement, the word “fresh” also refers to the urban terminology or slang used to describe something hip that is well liked. This usage would be similar to other slang terminology such as, cool, dope, tight, or boss. The word “kicks” is also used in reference to urban terminology. This terminology refers to footwear and is commonly associated with sneakers, tennis shoes, or trainers.
On the box is the word “Yaris” again, this time shown in a stronger style font, which appears to be the logo for the car model. The word “Yaris” is above the Toyota logo and again, is also white in color. To the right of the logo is white rectangle which contains the Yaris word logo again in white on a smaller black rectangle within the white rectangle, a black Toyota logo, and the small numbers 10, 11, 28, 15.5, and 29, in small boxes. Below this are black/white/gold and a long number. All of this text in the rectangle is very small.
At the very bottom of the page in small text and thin, plain black font, starting from left to right are the words, “YARIS LIFTBACK STARTING AT $12,965. SHINY, NEW AND READY TO GO. TOYOTA.COM.” Below this in even smaller black type are the words, “MSRP excludes delivery and handling fee. Excludes taxes license, title and other available or regional equipment. Dealer price may vary. © 2008 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.” We quickly denote this as car a sales disclaimer, legal jargon, or fine print. Next to these lines, in the lower right hand corner of the page, the Toyota logo, consisting of both the symbol and the word “TOYOTA” in their signature font. Below this logo are the words “moving forward” which is the Toyota slogan.
The connotation of the advertisement is that the two cars are supposed to resemble a pair of shoes. The black box is the shape of a shoebox and the logos on the top and sides of the box resemble the logos that would appear on a Nike, Converse, of Adidas box. The wrinkled brown paper inside the cardboard box also resembles the tissue paper that wraps the shoes and fills the space inside the shoeboxes. The white rectangle on the side of the box is placed there because it is supposed to be a label that would be found on a shoebox, denoting the style, size, and color of the pair of shoes it contains. The two cars lay on their sides inside this box exactly the way two shoes or sneakers would inside a shoebox, each facing opposite ends of the box, with their tops facing each other. The words denoted on the top of the page that say “fresh kicks” in this case, refers to the cars as “fresh” sneakers. The words in the advertisement imply that the cars are young, hip, and cool, and also that they are shiny, clean, and brand new. They imply that the cars are brand new off the lot, and also new and innovative in design as well. When the advertisement says, “shiny, new, and ready to go,” it refers to ready to get out the box like a new pair of shoes you want to wear, and ready to go off the lot, like a brand new car you want to drive home.
Furthermore, this advertisement connotes that the Toyota Yaris is a hip, young car that is made for a hip, young driver. The targeted consumer group for this car is probably of the teenage age group. The Yaris is probably an inexpensive car that is supposed to be fun and cool looking. Young people are very interested in urban fashion and street-wear. One of the main aspects of this urban, fashion culture is the sneaker craze. Sneakers are very popular in the street-wear and urban fashion sub-cultures and are often collected and sought after. The brand new, shiny, colorful cars in the shoebox are meant to connote the feeling that one would feel about a brand new pair of really cool sneakers fresh in the box. The way the box lid is open and resting next to the box, it invites the viewer to go try them on, or in other words, go test drive one today.
The Yaris advertisement has a style that uses a lot of computer graphic imaging and has a computer animated look. Although the images of the cars and box appear to be derived from photographs, the images appear to really be digitally processed. First of all, the size difference between a shoe and a car is great. Therefore the cars are made to appear very small or the box very large. Apart from the obvious digital imaging in putting the cars in the box, the overall appearance of the advertisement has a very digitally rendered look and feel. This look also implies a connection to a younger crowd that is more drawn to this digital world as opposed to a more traditional photographic look more associated with a more mature crowd.
This advertisement also connotes that the Toyota Yaris’ driving performance is subordinate to its trendy image and fun, youthful appeal. Nowhere in this advertisement, is there any mention of any engine or performance specifications. Nor are their any images of the motor or other performance parts. There are hundreds of car advertisements that connote their respective cars as machines built with speed, agility, traction control, extremely sensitive break and suspension systems, and many other fine automotive characteristics. Even if these characteristics are not listed in words, they are often connoted by images of cars zooming around tight turns on canyons or stopped at the edge of a cliff. Often, photographic techniques such as blurring, or canted angles add these energetic effects to the images. However, the Yaris advertisement is nothing like those. The Yaris is not about speed or performance, or even safety apparently. It is generally marketed to be a fun, bubbly, young car that is inexpensive, cool looking, and fun to drive.
It is very interesting to take a closer look at the denotations and connotations of an editorial image, an advertisement, or any image for that matter. When we really break them down, we see the statements and suggestions that a simple image can make. It is interesting, to think about the way that we interpret an image and how we can interact with each other through these visual codes. By looking at these images this way, we begin to see the importance of the many aspects of an image, and how we can better express ourselves visually.
Critical Practice 1 T 3:30-6:30
Rosetta Brooks
24 February 2009
Mid Term Paper
Yaris: The Cool Car?
The advertisement that I have chosen to analyze is an advertisement for the Toyota Yaris. It is published in the magazine Complex. We are surrounded by thousands of advertisements and editorial images every single day. Some of them work on us and some of them do not. If we actually take the time to really look at the images, it is very interesting to break down their immediate denotation and also to analyze their connotations as well. If we take a closer look at them, as I have done with this advertisement, we can see what is really going on to make us think and feel however we do when we interpret images.
The denotation of the advertisement is an image of two cars in a box. The box is open and the lid rests against the left side of the box. The box is black and it rests on a perfectly seamless white background. The box has a shadow on the viewer’s left side, and a slight reflection on the front, which is facing us. The two cars fit snuggly in the open box, lying on their sides with their roofs facing each other. The car on the left faces downward towards the bottom of the page, while the car on the right faces upward towards the top of the page. Each of the cars has its tires facing outwards towards the sides of the box. The car on the left is a bright, orange, fiery, red color and the car on the right is a bright, true, blue color. The cars are also different models. The red car on the left is a four-door or sedan, while the blue car on the right is a three-door or hatchback. Each is clean and shiny. Both of the cars also have shiny, silver rims. The inside of the box is brown and we see that the box is made out of cardboard. Inside the box, under the cars, there is brown, wrinkled paper with Toyota logos all over it. The box also has Toyota logos on it. There is one on the lid and two on the side that faces us. The logos on the black box are white, while the logos on the brown paper are black. On the side, there is also a white rectangle with logos, small symbols and text, and a bar code. The image of the cars in the box is mostly centered on the page and fills most of it. However, it does not really go far beyond the edges of the pages. We see the image in its entirety and we look down upon the box from an angled view. The view is not directly above. The box rests on the shiny white surface diagonally. The box has one point perspective going away from us, the viewer, towards the imaginary vanishing point.
The advertisement also consists of denoted text. In the upper right hand corner of the page, over the plain white background are the words “Yaris,” “fresh,” and “kicks.” There is a thin vertical line between the word “Yaris” and the words “fresh kicks.” The word “Yaris” is in bold style type and is also in a clean and simple, futuristic font. The words “fresh kicks” are in a very simple, plain, thin font. The word “Yaris” refers to the name of the car featured in the advertisement. The word “fresh” means brand new, newly made, previously unknown or unused. One example of this meaning would be used to describe fresh made bread, “fresh out the oven.” “Fresh” could also be interpreted as a feeling, as in the way we would feel after a good nap or a nice shower. The word could even be interpreted to describe the way something or someone looks. For example, a young and energetic girl could look fresh. In this advertisement, the word “fresh” also refers to the urban terminology or slang used to describe something hip that is well liked. This usage would be similar to other slang terminology such as, cool, dope, tight, or boss. The word “kicks” is also used in reference to urban terminology. This terminology refers to footwear and is commonly associated with sneakers, tennis shoes, or trainers.
On the box is the word “Yaris” again, this time shown in a stronger style font, which appears to be the logo for the car model. The word “Yaris” is above the Toyota logo and again, is also white in color. To the right of the logo is white rectangle which contains the Yaris word logo again in white on a smaller black rectangle within the white rectangle, a black Toyota logo, and the small numbers 10, 11, 28, 15.5, and 29, in small boxes. Below this are black/white/gold and a long number. All of this text in the rectangle is very small.
At the very bottom of the page in small text and thin, plain black font, starting from left to right are the words, “YARIS LIFTBACK STARTING AT $12,965. SHINY, NEW AND READY TO GO. TOYOTA.COM.” Below this in even smaller black type are the words, “MSRP excludes delivery and handling fee. Excludes taxes license, title and other available or regional equipment. Dealer price may vary. © 2008 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.” We quickly denote this as car a sales disclaimer, legal jargon, or fine print. Next to these lines, in the lower right hand corner of the page, the Toyota logo, consisting of both the symbol and the word “TOYOTA” in their signature font. Below this logo are the words “moving forward” which is the Toyota slogan.
The connotation of the advertisement is that the two cars are supposed to resemble a pair of shoes. The black box is the shape of a shoebox and the logos on the top and sides of the box resemble the logos that would appear on a Nike, Converse, of Adidas box. The wrinkled brown paper inside the cardboard box also resembles the tissue paper that wraps the shoes and fills the space inside the shoeboxes. The white rectangle on the side of the box is placed there because it is supposed to be a label that would be found on a shoebox, denoting the style, size, and color of the pair of shoes it contains. The two cars lay on their sides inside this box exactly the way two shoes or sneakers would inside a shoebox, each facing opposite ends of the box, with their tops facing each other. The words denoted on the top of the page that say “fresh kicks” in this case, refers to the cars as “fresh” sneakers. The words in the advertisement imply that the cars are young, hip, and cool, and also that they are shiny, clean, and brand new. They imply that the cars are brand new off the lot, and also new and innovative in design as well. When the advertisement says, “shiny, new, and ready to go,” it refers to ready to get out the box like a new pair of shoes you want to wear, and ready to go off the lot, like a brand new car you want to drive home.
Furthermore, this advertisement connotes that the Toyota Yaris is a hip, young car that is made for a hip, young driver. The targeted consumer group for this car is probably of the teenage age group. The Yaris is probably an inexpensive car that is supposed to be fun and cool looking. Young people are very interested in urban fashion and street-wear. One of the main aspects of this urban, fashion culture is the sneaker craze. Sneakers are very popular in the street-wear and urban fashion sub-cultures and are often collected and sought after. The brand new, shiny, colorful cars in the shoebox are meant to connote the feeling that one would feel about a brand new pair of really cool sneakers fresh in the box. The way the box lid is open and resting next to the box, it invites the viewer to go try them on, or in other words, go test drive one today.
The Yaris advertisement has a style that uses a lot of computer graphic imaging and has a computer animated look. Although the images of the cars and box appear to be derived from photographs, the images appear to really be digitally processed. First of all, the size difference between a shoe and a car is great. Therefore the cars are made to appear very small or the box very large. Apart from the obvious digital imaging in putting the cars in the box, the overall appearance of the advertisement has a very digitally rendered look and feel. This look also implies a connection to a younger crowd that is more drawn to this digital world as opposed to a more traditional photographic look more associated with a more mature crowd.
This advertisement also connotes that the Toyota Yaris’ driving performance is subordinate to its trendy image and fun, youthful appeal. Nowhere in this advertisement, is there any mention of any engine or performance specifications. Nor are their any images of the motor or other performance parts. There are hundreds of car advertisements that connote their respective cars as machines built with speed, agility, traction control, extremely sensitive break and suspension systems, and many other fine automotive characteristics. Even if these characteristics are not listed in words, they are often connoted by images of cars zooming around tight turns on canyons or stopped at the edge of a cliff. Often, photographic techniques such as blurring, or canted angles add these energetic effects to the images. However, the Yaris advertisement is nothing like those. The Yaris is not about speed or performance, or even safety apparently. It is generally marketed to be a fun, bubbly, young car that is inexpensive, cool looking, and fun to drive.
It is very interesting to take a closer look at the denotations and connotations of an editorial image, an advertisement, or any image for that matter. When we really break them down, we see the statements and suggestions that a simple image can make. It is interesting, to think about the way that we interpret an image and how we can interact with each other through these visual codes. By looking at these images this way, we begin to see the importance of the many aspects of an image, and how we can better express ourselves visually.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Journal #1
Overall the inauguration of President Obama was a huge deal. The inaugural events were very extravagant and I feel as though the inaugeration has not been this celebrated for as long as I have lived. The celebration has been going on for a week. I think that this is really amazing because it shows how involved the American people have become in the future of our country. I feel that it has taken many, many Americans a long time to realize that the Bush administration has been extremely detrimental to our country, and we are finally going to have change.
As I watched President Obama make his journey through Washington D.C., I admired his dignity and I felt very proud. I am not exactly sure what the feelings I felt meant, because I am aware that he is yet to do any great deed as President of the United States. However, I also know that I am proud to live in this country in a time that an African American man was elected to be President. Being a minority myself, I think I feel a connection, as though he represents all minorities and not just African Americans. I like how he made a comment during his Inaugural speech about how amazing it is that he is now the president when not so many years ago his ancestors were suffering from segregation.
One thing that I liked about the inauguration occurred during President Obama’s swearing in. It was when he made a mistake and kind of forgot his line, or flubbed his line. He went on to recover the line with a great big smile. I love this part because I feel as though it shows how human President Obama is. In a way it was like a reminder that he is one of us and he represents us. I think the American people feel a connection towards him. It is obvious by the number of people who attended the inauguration and also by the way that people show their support, that the American people have great love for President Obama.
The inauguration was definitely and event that had cultural markers. One thing that stood out was how the Tuskegee Airmen were involved in the inauguration. This affected the way that I saw the event because it reminded me of President Obama’s culture and the culture’s history. This brought attention to how historic this election has been. I thought it was beautiful that they paid homage to the Tuskegee Airmen in the inaugural events.
Another cultural symbol that stood out to me was a small but strong, and bold one. During the event there was a scene where the cameras panned the crowd and showed all of the people cheering and waving their arms. Amongst the crowd I noticed one African American person holding up his fist in a black power salute. It was such a beautiful thing. This one symbol goes back in history of course and also reminded me of the Olympians who lost their medals for holding up their fists proudly. All of these thoughts ran through my head and I smiled and nodded my head as a response. This also made think about the inauguration in different ways, and one those ways was to try to imagine how proud the African American community must feel.
The event is marked as historical by a great many visual symbols. The whole event is in our country’s capitol and everywhere we look we see historical landmarks. The use of the Lincoln monument and the Lincoln bible are also major elements. We see military men from all of the American military sects and we see all of the American flags from our country’s history. We also see many of the past American Presidents and their families. The image as a whole is definitely marked as a historic moment because you can literally see all of the people who are there to witness it and be a part of it. These are just some of the visual elements that make it look historic other then the actual, obvious act of the swearing in of our 44th president.
I feel that the televised image of the inauguration was seductive in Berger’s sense because like he says, the image worked on me. When I listened to Obama speak and when I watched him up there, I believed him, and I felt hope for a better America. I feel as though he is human and he is one of us. Since the event was very current, of course, it corresponded to our observations of people. I think that he was portrayed as an honorable man and a dignified one and that this image worked on me. I believe this to be a true representation of him.
As I watched President Obama make his journey through Washington D.C., I admired his dignity and I felt very proud. I am not exactly sure what the feelings I felt meant, because I am aware that he is yet to do any great deed as President of the United States. However, I also know that I am proud to live in this country in a time that an African American man was elected to be President. Being a minority myself, I think I feel a connection, as though he represents all minorities and not just African Americans. I like how he made a comment during his Inaugural speech about how amazing it is that he is now the president when not so many years ago his ancestors were suffering from segregation.
One thing that I liked about the inauguration occurred during President Obama’s swearing in. It was when he made a mistake and kind of forgot his line, or flubbed his line. He went on to recover the line with a great big smile. I love this part because I feel as though it shows how human President Obama is. In a way it was like a reminder that he is one of us and he represents us. I think the American people feel a connection towards him. It is obvious by the number of people who attended the inauguration and also by the way that people show their support, that the American people have great love for President Obama.
The inauguration was definitely and event that had cultural markers. One thing that stood out was how the Tuskegee Airmen were involved in the inauguration. This affected the way that I saw the event because it reminded me of President Obama’s culture and the culture’s history. This brought attention to how historic this election has been. I thought it was beautiful that they paid homage to the Tuskegee Airmen in the inaugural events.
Another cultural symbol that stood out to me was a small but strong, and bold one. During the event there was a scene where the cameras panned the crowd and showed all of the people cheering and waving their arms. Amongst the crowd I noticed one African American person holding up his fist in a black power salute. It was such a beautiful thing. This one symbol goes back in history of course and also reminded me of the Olympians who lost their medals for holding up their fists proudly. All of these thoughts ran through my head and I smiled and nodded my head as a response. This also made think about the inauguration in different ways, and one those ways was to try to imagine how proud the African American community must feel.
The event is marked as historical by a great many visual symbols. The whole event is in our country’s capitol and everywhere we look we see historical landmarks. The use of the Lincoln monument and the Lincoln bible are also major elements. We see military men from all of the American military sects and we see all of the American flags from our country’s history. We also see many of the past American Presidents and their families. The image as a whole is definitely marked as a historic moment because you can literally see all of the people who are there to witness it and be a part of it. These are just some of the visual elements that make it look historic other then the actual, obvious act of the swearing in of our 44th president.
I feel that the televised image of the inauguration was seductive in Berger’s sense because like he says, the image worked on me. When I listened to Obama speak and when I watched him up there, I believed him, and I felt hope for a better America. I feel as though he is human and he is one of us. Since the event was very current, of course, it corresponded to our observations of people. I think that he was portrayed as an honorable man and a dignified one and that this image worked on me. I believe this to be a true representation of him.
Journal #3
I think that the difference between looking and seeing is very interesting. This language is really something to think about. Seeing is actually a sense that we are born with. The sense of sight is a default sense. Looking is not something that we are born with. Looking is an act or an action. However, looking by definition in the dictionary means to look in the direction of something or just direct your gaze. Seeing on the other hand, by definition is to perceive and to discern. When you tell someone, “look at me when I talk to you.” What you mean is for the person to just stare in your direction. But when you ask someone,” do you really see me?” then you want a lot more than a look. You are asking them if they really know who you are and if they see you for who you really are. In this sense, the language seems somewhat contradictory and that is interesting to think about.
The show lie to me examines conventional codes of seeing by showing us what we don’t see and by giving us the chance to see the way Lightman sees. He has a heightened sense of seeing. The structure of the show and the director create this extremely heightened visual reality. First of all, when Lightman is trying to figure someone out, he looks for certain physical actions that people do subconsciously. We see them because we get a slow motion, blown up, zoomed in, close up view of the action that Lightman catches. For example when he is trying to figure out a crime, he may notice a small chin thrust, or wrinkle, or maybe a snarl. These little actions are ones that we normally don’t notice at all, nor do we think about them. This shows that Lightman sees things out of the ordinary and he breaks conventional codes of seeing. We also then think more about the way that we normally see, after watching this show. I also think it is very interesting that after showing an action, they often follow it up by cut scenes of famous people doing those same actions in various situations that we are aware of. Some of these people were past presidents Nixon, and Bush, and also celebrities like Jessica Simpson. This also ties in our ways of seeing because this relates what we see in the show to what we have seen in real life. We have seen these actions and interpreted them in their contexts of each situation.
The show is also very focused on fragmenting of the bigger picture, which is shown with the zooming in which I commented on earlier. It is also shown with the mapping and breaking down of faces, which is shown in all of Lightman’s studies, including the videos and the pictures on the wall of his office. Also since the show is primarily a mystery theme, it is about the bigger picture through theme because that is what we are trying to see since the beginning. We put all of the little parts together to see the bigger picture. This is very interesting to think about in conjunction with the way that we see things.
The show lie to me examines conventional codes of seeing by showing us what we don’t see and by giving us the chance to see the way Lightman sees. He has a heightened sense of seeing. The structure of the show and the director create this extremely heightened visual reality. First of all, when Lightman is trying to figure someone out, he looks for certain physical actions that people do subconsciously. We see them because we get a slow motion, blown up, zoomed in, close up view of the action that Lightman catches. For example when he is trying to figure out a crime, he may notice a small chin thrust, or wrinkle, or maybe a snarl. These little actions are ones that we normally don’t notice at all, nor do we think about them. This shows that Lightman sees things out of the ordinary and he breaks conventional codes of seeing. We also then think more about the way that we normally see, after watching this show. I also think it is very interesting that after showing an action, they often follow it up by cut scenes of famous people doing those same actions in various situations that we are aware of. Some of these people were past presidents Nixon, and Bush, and also celebrities like Jessica Simpson. This also ties in our ways of seeing because this relates what we see in the show to what we have seen in real life. We have seen these actions and interpreted them in their contexts of each situation.
The show is also very focused on fragmenting of the bigger picture, which is shown with the zooming in which I commented on earlier. It is also shown with the mapping and breaking down of faces, which is shown in all of Lightman’s studies, including the videos and the pictures on the wall of his office. Also since the show is primarily a mystery theme, it is about the bigger picture through theme because that is what we are trying to see since the beginning. We put all of the little parts together to see the bigger picture. This is very interesting to think about in conjunction with the way that we see things.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Journal #2
I find the article to be very intricate and pretty interesting. One point that I find interesting is that we see things differently because of what we know and what we believe. I think that this is definitely a true statement. For example, if we see a gorgeous photograph of an actress that we hate, it does not matter how beautiful the image is, because we will not like it. This is just a simple example of the point. I love the pieces by Rene Magritte that deal with this concept. He is one of my favorite artists. I also love Manet and I feel that his paintings are definitely ones that are better when you know something about them. I had seen his paintings when I was young and just always thought that they were just classic paintings because I was viewing them in a modern day context. After taking art history and learning about other paintings and about what Manet was doing with his work, I realized what a rebel he was and I loved his paintings. Now when I look at his paintings I definitely see them differently than I did before, because of what I know and what I believe. My personal beliefs affect the way I see them as well as the information that I know about the paintings, because my beliefs allow me to respond to Manet’s paintings the way that I do. Other people may look at them and hate him, and think that he is a blasphemous artist. I think that it is a good thing to know some information about the art that we see because it changes the way that we see the images. It was interesting when we discussed Andy Warhol in class. Andy Warhol is so famous now and because he has this whole persona and his lifestyle is well known, this changes the context of the way we view his work. We have this whole image of how he produced his work in his studio with all these people surrounding him, and with all of his muses, and everything. I think that since what we know affects the way we see things, it is also important to think about how what we don’t know also affects the way we see things.
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