Theorists and Theories

Theorists and theories used to analysis a music or film product.

My first theorist is Roland Barthes (12th November 1915 – 25th March 1980) he was a French social and literary critic and he developed the theory concerning layers of meaning.

Roland Bathes. He founded the following theory of layers of meaning.

The first level of signification is denotation which is the description of what we see. Denotation is a visual significance of a product, nothing more.

E.g. Front cover to a digipak has a picture of a band on it.

The second level of significance is connotation. Connotation is what we think of the denotation, so connotation is what we think when we see an image.

E.g. Colour red suggests danger, threat, aggression and evil but also passion and love.

The third and final level of significance is myth or ideology. Myth or ideology is simply when you combine all the connotations together and try to grasp what the big picture of a product is.

E.g. Pictures of childhood toys and a strong mix of red insinuates that the product is playful with a sense of danger.

My second theorist is Laura Mulvey (15th August 1941 – present) how is a film and media studies professor. She developed the theory of the males gaze.
The male gaze is the theory that films and T.V products are film in a male’s point of view, they show males desires and males needs while neglecting the needs of a women.

E.g. In certain rap videos females are portrayed to be objects of sexual desire and nothing more or pictures showing male superiority over women.

My final theorist is Karl Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883). He was a German philosopher who stated that everything in our capitalist society is focused around making a profit.

E.g. Music videos play it safe and don’t bring up controversial discussions as this might affect sales and limit profits.

Voyeurism is the act of viewing the activities of other people unbeknown to them.

E.g. watching a movie or television the person watching it will be known as the voyeur as they are watching someone else undertake activities whom of which are unaware.