The document provides an analysis of the advertisement for Ed Sheeran's 2011 album "+". It discusses several aspects of the advertisement including the character representation, narrative events, iconography, setting, and technical codes. Specifically, it notes that the character portrayal shows both conformity and breaking of stereotypes. It suggests the narrative implies a love storyline through flirtation. Iconography uses include Sheeran's surfer-like appearance and lack of other symbols. Low lighting makes the setting difficult to identify but hints at themes in Sheeran's songs. Technical aspects involve close-ups and placement of information.

1. The advertis promotingEdSheeran’salbum‘+’which
came outon the 9th
of September2011
Character:withinthe advertthere isa male representation
whichbothupholdsandbreaksthe stereotype.Forexample,
there isuse of indirectmode of addresswiththe artist
lookingtowardsthe ground. Thiscouldbe implyingflirtation
whichissynonymouswiththe ‘lad’/barculture,therefore
followingthe stereotype of early20smen‘pickingup’women
at a bar.However,because he islookingatthe groundhe
couldbe seenas submissive.Thisthenbreaks the stereotype
of malesbeingdominantandfemalesbeingsubmissivewith
a role reversal.Thoughthe artisthimself seemstobe ashy
personinreal life whotendstomake little ornoappearances
withinhismusicvideos.
Narrative events:Asstatedinthe charactersectionabove the
artistis smilingatthe ground,whichsuggestsflirtation.This
couldbe implyingalove/romance narrative.We donotsee
the personparticipatinginthe flirtingwhichcouldhave been
done fortwo reasons:One wouldbe tomake the audience
feel like itisthemparticipatingashe has a large prominently
female fanbase;the otherreasonwouldbe thatit wasdone
to create narrative enigmawhere fanscouldpossiblyfigure
out whothe otherpersonisif theybuy the album.
Iconography:there islittle use of iconographyonthisadvert
whichlinkstothe ideaof him beingasoloartist whowrites
hisalbumindependently.Hisoverall appearanceissimilarto
whatwe associate withsurfers.Withshaggyhairandwhat
seemstobe a stringnecklace commonlyassociatedwith
surfers.Howeveritishardto decipherdue tothe lowkey
lighting.Connotationsof surfersare:downtoearth,cool and
calm.The artistcouldbe tryingto projectthese personality
traitsonto himself andhisworkbydressingthisway.
Setting:Itisdifficulttoname the settingwithinthis
advertbecause of the lowkeylighting.However,
because of the positioningof the lightwe couldassume
that he is stoodundera streetlightoran outdoorlamp.
Thiscouldtie in withthe flirtingstoryline.Peoplego
outside the bar/pub/clubtocarryon flirtingor
conversationsinaquieterplace. The darksettingcould
be hintingtowardssome of the dark themeswithin
songssuch as ‘A Team’ whichisa song aboutdrugsand
prostitution.
Technical codes:there isuse of close up.Thiscreated
intimacyandthe illusionof asmall area.It linkstothe
flirting/lovethemesestablishedpreviously.A similarshot
isusedon the frontcover of the album.The artists'
image takesuparound 2/3rds of the advertisement
includingthe primaryoptical area,strongfallowareaand
readinggravity.Thisisbecause the artistis usedas a
sellingpointandcapturesthe fansattention.Inthe weak
fallowareaandterminal areaisgeneral informationsuch
as the albumname and release date. Thisisseenon
mostalbumadverts,includingthe othersIhave
researched.

2. Setting:the settingwithinthe advertisementseemstobe
inthe middle of ahousingareaor close to a busyroad.
Eitherwaybecause the act is takingplace insuch a busy
area itseemstobe more defiant.Inthe past
representation/stereotype of rockartistswassynonymous
withrebellionand'breakingthe rules'attitude.In
addition,thiscouldalsobe linkingtothe narrative
establishedpreviously.Theyare goingagainstsomething
to stickup for whattheybelievein.Furthermore,thereis
alsoa contrastbetweenthe fire andsnow.Bothare
extreme conditionsandone againcouldtell the audience
whatto expect.
Narrative events:the image usedonthe advertisement
linkstothe Young BloodChronicles.Specificallyone song
on the album'My songsknowwhatyou didinthe dark
(lightem'up)'whichistheirfirstsongfor the albumand is
5x Platinum.Therefore itisone of theirmostrecognisable
songsand videos.The narrative depictedinthe videois
linear.Itisabout a group (asseenonthe advert) whoare
tryingto save musicfrombeingabolishedaroundthe
worldbyanothergroup.
Character:the groupare wearingthe same coloursand
appearas some sort of gang. Theyare all stoodarounda
fire throwingvinylsintoit.The charactersonthe cover
linktotheircharacters inthe resistance groupthe Young
BloodChronicles.Manyalbumadvertisementshave links
to the musicvideotocreate a familiar
theme/characteristicforthe audience torecognise.Itis
alsostereotypical male representation.Whenwe thinkof
gang culture or defiantbehaviour,we rarelythingof
femalesinitially.
Technical codes:Firstly,there isuse of lowkeylighting.
Thisis usedtobeingattentiontowardsthe fire forreasons
statediniconographyandwhat the fire symbolisesinthe
primaryoptical areaand strong fallowareawe can see the
name of the artist,whichisa common feature of album
advertisementsandcanbe seenonthe OllyMursadvert
as well.Anothercommonfeature isforanimage of the
artistto be placedonthe readinggravityto be usedas
star quality/sellingpoint.Following conventionalsoisthe
general informationbeingplacedinthe weakfallowarea
and terminal area.Lastly,the typographyusedforthe
name is the same typographyonthe albumcovermaking
it more recognisable.
The Fall Out Boy advertpresentedis advertisingthe album
'Save Rock AndRoll'whichwas releasedonthe 12th April
2013 and in2014 releaseda50 minute longvideonamed
'The YoungBloodChronicles'toaccompanyeverysongon
the album.
Iconography:firstlywe are drawnto therefore becauseof
the amountof lowkeylightingusedonthe restof the
advert.Fire issynonymouswithpower,dangerandalso
passionsitcouldbe and insightintowhatwe as an
audience shouldexpectfromthe album.Inaddition,
rebellionlinkswithfire whichlinkstothe musicvideo.
Furthermore,theyare seenthrowingvinylsintothe fire.
Thisis the firstalbumreleasedafter3yearsfor the band.
Throwingthe vinylsintothe fire couldsymbolise anew
soundfor the bandand what we shouldexpectforthe
newalbum.

3. The advertis promotingthe debutalbumof artistOlly
Murs whichis entitled'the debutalbum'andwasrelease
on the 29th November2010.
Character:withinthisadvertthere isa stereotypical male
representation.Hisfacial expressionsvaryfromcheeky to
suave to smug.It isplayful andteasingtowardsthe
audience.Thisisaregularoccurs be to appearinthe pop
genre whenthere isa male representation.There are also
several copiesof him.Thiscouldbe usedasa salestactic
followingthe successof fellowXfactorcontestantsOne
Directionthe yearprior.In addition,the middle twocopies
are usingdirectmode of addresstowardsthe camerato
forma connectionwiththe audience.Againcommonin
the pop genre.Artistsare usedasa romance iconmuch
like artistssuchas JustinBieberorN-sync.
Narrative events:eachexpressionhe isusingis
symbolisingatactic of tryingto impresssomeone overa
short periodof time.Thispersonisunnamedand
unidentifiedthereforethe targetaudience are able tolive
vicariouslythroughthe pointof viewof the personhe is
tryingto impress.Eachcopy representshistactic
throughoutthe time he istryingto achieve hisgoal.For
example the secondtothe leftcouldbe attemptingto
dance to impress.Thisnarrative isalsocarriedthroughhis
videossuchas 'Please Don'tLetMe Go'. The narrative in
thiscase islinearhoweverthere are some elementssuch
as he unnamedpersonthatcreatesnarrative enigma.
Iconography:There isa strong use of red whichisthe only
monochromaticcolourusedonthe advert.Redhas
connotationswith love andpassionwhichisadirectlink
to the narrative establishedpreviously.Hisclothingis
casual rather than formal tobettersuitthe audience.The
hat alsohas a resemblance withthose associatedwith
1920s men/gangsters.The 20s,knownasthe 'Roaring20s'
was a periodknownforbeingslightlyrebelliouswith
speakeasiesandflappers.Infilmssetinthistime period
the menare portrayedas suave andcharming.Thiscould
be a reflectionof hisattemptstoimpressthe unidentified
personmentionedpreviously.
Setting:the backgroundisjustplainwhite which
providesthe audience withthe meanstocreate
and illusiontodeveloptheirownnarrative and
imagingtheirownsetting.Inadditionthe plain
backgroundalsomeansthe audience isnot
distractedfromthe artist.Thisis commonfor
popgenre advertswithartistssuchas Jessie J
alsousingmy the technique.The white
backgroundisalsosuggestingaprofessional
studiowhichinstallsthe ideaof professionalism
and highqualityalbum.
Technical codes:there isuse of Photoshopusedtocreate
a group of people thatseemboybandlike.Asstated
previouslythisisusedfollowingthe successof boyband
One Directionandcouldbe a marketingtactic.
Furthermore,the use of redon the coverhas connotations
of love,passionbutalsodanger.Thiscouldfollowthe idea
of the 1920s gangsterbeingdangerous,charmingand
playful.Thisiscreatingandattitude forthe artistto make
himseemmore appealing.Lastly,inthe primaryoptical
area and the strongfallowareawe can see the name of
the artist whichisa commonfeature of an album
advertisement.The artists'image beingonthe reading
Gravityis usedas star qualitytomake the people
interestedandwillingtobuythe album.The general
informationislocatedinthe weakfalloware andthe
terminal areabecause the image andartistname capture
the attentionof audience membersmore.