Katy Perry One of the Boys and Tomb Raider Under World texts Analysis
I will be analysing two different texts, “Katy Perry – One of the Boys” and “Tomb Raider – Under World”. I will consider three different things; Visual codes, mode of address language and layout design.
Firstly I will be looking at “Katy Perry – One of the Boys”. Katy Perry releases mostly pop music, she is also known widely around the world. The scenery in this text is a complete juxtaposition against the title ‘One of the Boys’, there is a lot of feminine colour, the stand out one being candy pink. Stereotypically boys are not associated with such feminine colours. This shows the text to be unconventional. Also unconventional could be seen in the fact that Katy Perry is the dominant figure in this picture, this is very unusual when an extreme long shot is used. When using the word pop artist usually the words perfection come to mind, however the text suggest imperfection, this could be seen with use of the cloud its covering the beautiful clear blue sky.
This could be linked back to the title “one of the Boys” suggesting boys are allowed to show imperfection and this can hint towards the direction of the lyrics in this song. Katy Perry also draws further attention to herself by looking directly at the camera, she is addressing the audience directly. The fact they haven’t used a real bird, suggest the need to look perfect in the pop industry and enhance the fake side and the fact everything is put together and has its place.
Secondly I will be annotating “Tomb Raider – Under World”. Tomb Raider is generally based around a female in very revealing clothing completing very daring mission. The scenery of the text consists of different shades of green and yellow. The Yellow shades look similar to the colour that is create when the is a massive explosion and the models pose looks very unshaken, this can show her to have a very high shock level. The green shades are typical camouflage colours which are usually associated with the army, this can suggest that the game consist of violence and unexpected action. However the game has a user’s age of 12+. This tells the audience that the game won’t consist of extreme violence, because a 12 year is able to play it.
This devalues what the game looks like it is all about, violence. This can demotivate older audience member such as 18 year olds from buying the game. There is some sex appeal from the costume she is wearing. The models eyes are cut out of the picture which suggests secrecy. This can also enhance the sex appeal of the cover, a mysterious woman. This game can be played on the Wii console which is generally advertised as a family console, this is very far from their usual games they choose to release
I have analysed both text and in conclusion, “Katy Perry – One of the Boys” is unconventional, this is shown through the scenery and camera angles. It also suggests imperfection through the scenery and use of text. This text is goes against the normal. This is probably to engage the audience. “Tomb Raider – Under World” sends out mixed signals because of the age that is allowed to play this game and the violence that is suggested is in this game because of props and scenery. Also the fact it is playable on the Wii console would usually mean it is a family game. Both texts are unusual in different ways, but this in fact makes them stand out more.
