Teenage Dream Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE&ob=av2e

To take a break from ads, our group chose the song "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry.

Specifically in the video, we see Katy Perry riding in a car with a man. She seems happy and excited for wherever they are going, and a few friends in cars adjacent from them feel the same way. These cars stop at a beach and the passengers get out. They all begin to strip and run toward the water. Katy is still singing with this man and never leaves his side. We then see them enter what looks to be a hotel room and begin to strip further, to which one can assume they are going to have sex. We also are brought to a party and a pool with this lovely couple before the video ends.

An interesting part I noticed while watching this a second time, is that you see the two presumably meet for the first time, when she is staring at him from afar at the lockers. I'm still not sure why he is punching a punching bag alone in what looks to be a school gym, but I guess it's not that unheard of. It just seems random, but whatever. It's almost like she is gazing at him while they are in their high school/teenage years, and while the song is taking place, they are slightly older, passed the "teenage dream".

The video is a representation of (most likely) Katy's "teenage dream", with careless weekend trips to the beach, sex, and plenty of partying to follow. In the actual lyrics, Katy describes how this boy that she is refering to, and who we see in the video, makes her feel youthful and carefree. The lyrics tell the listener how much this boy cares about her, by thinking shes pretty "without any makeup on" and other innocent romantic traits within their relationship. Here are the lyrics to gather a better understanding:

You think I'm pretty
Without any makeup on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punchline wrong
I know you get me
So I let my walls come down, down

Before you met me
I was alright but things
Were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February
You'll be my Valentine, Valentine

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance, until we die
You and I, will be young forever

[Chorus]
You make me feel
Like I'm livin' a
Teenage dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's run away and
Don't ever look back,
Don't ever look back

My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance and
Don't ever look back,
Don't ever look back

We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance, until we die
You and I, will be young forever

[Chorus]

I'mma get your heart racing
In my skin tights jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

[Chorus]

I'mma get your heart racing
In my skin tights jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
(Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight)

The song itself is about romance, young love but what can it say about sexuality?

1.) If the analysis of the "meeting" scene is correct, and the song/ video represents the present, slightly older couple, what does this song assume about teenage sexuality and relationships?

2.) Even though most of this video involves people taking off clothes, the exact styles of the actors seem very important to the message. What can someone pick up about sexuality simply based on the wardrobe chosen (or lack there of) for this video?

3.) Katy Perry refers to the "teenage dream" alot. But what exactly is it? Based on this video.

A&F Ad

In this A&F ad, we see a man and a women making out in a car. We noticed that in the bottom left corner it say "Back To School," which is wierd because guys don't go to school shirtless. Beside the girl is what looks like a stack of notebooks or textbooks and maybe homework or some sort of notes from school. What A&F is trying to do is get the customers of A&F or possibly new buyers to purchase their clothes by showing them what might happen if they do. We believe that this ad may be for a women audience. The guy in the ad has no shirt on, so what could men possibly buy from them in this ad. Showing the woman in the car with that dress would show the women viewers that if they buy this dress they would be very capable of finding a sexy, shirtless guy to makeout with, in his car when school starts. For the most part the ad is in black and white, but the brand of the clothing line as well as the words, "Back To School," are in red. This may be because the designers wanted the words to pop out and the background to seem somewhat old-fasioned and sensual.

Discussion Questions

1.) What do you think the words, "Back To School," has to do with the behavior shown in the ad?

2.) Why does the paper in the background has any significance to the ad?

3.) Why is it that you can only see the woman's clothes and they guy has none that we can see?

Calvin Klein Ad

This Calvin Klein ad shows a woman in a men’s bathroom standing over a urinal. The black and white format makes the product, the underwear, more pronounced. The model is standing like a man using the urinal. This is not typical for how a woman uses the restroom. Her stance is very masculine in the way her legs are spread apart and where her hands and head are. Even though she is acting like a man, she is still very feminine by what she is wearing. She has on heels and she has long hair.

It is interesting that the woman is in a men’s bathroom, acting very masculine. She appears very confident. This depicts a reversal of gender roles. It is possible that wearing this underwear will make you feel strong and confident, while still being feminine. In a way, this is the best of both worlds. Women want to be feminine in a relationship while being masculine in the workplace.

This ad is an attention grabber. The void of color helps the viewer focus in on the product. The bright white underwear stands out more than the rest of the photo. The situation, a woman standing over a urinal, is very different to what actually happens in society. But it is clear that this is a Calvin Klein product because his name is at the bottom of the ad in large font.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Why is there no color in this ad? Does it give the ad a certain mood? Would this ad have a different impact or effect if it were in color?

This picture was taken from behind. Is there a reason for that? Would seeing her face take away from the masculine pose?

We said that her standing in a very strong pose in a men’s bathroom could make you feel confident and powerful, but how will that affect how the product sells? Would this ad have the same impact if she was in a women’s bathroom?

Hugo Boss Ad (Ryan Reynolds)

We see a lot of the color black in this ad, which gives off a sense of mystery and power. The ad starts off with a revolving black bottle of the perfume and day turning into night with a shot of high-rise modern buildings, . The shot then goes into this bedroom which is again dominated by the color black , the house is decorated in a modern , expensive way and you can see buildings in the background high-rise fancy towers, which makes the target audience powerful men or men who seek power. He walks in this apartment and throws his suit coat aside like he doesn't care about the expensive piece of clothing.

Ryan Reynolds undresses with an expression of nonchalance on his face, and we then see a woman coming into the frame with the city in the background it seems like she's appearing from the city , It seems to represent that all the women of the city are attracted towards him. She's slim, blonde and wearing a hot black dress,blue eyes depicts the typical American beauty. It also shows that he is so desirable that the women are the ones who make the first move even though it usually works the other way around.

Then he has a sort of non-surprised look on his face like all this is a typical day for him. While he undresses the woman undresses too, but he still has a stone expression on his face though he looks away from the audience.

Then next scene he looks at the audience and it seems like he is trying to make a connection to the audience.

In the final scene he smiles at the audience sort of in a " see what can happen if you buy hugo boss?" way and he turns and walks into a room. The final shot shows the bottle of Hugo Boss perfume covering him as he walks into a bright room and closes the door .This gives an element of mystery because we don't know if the woman was in the room with him or if he's leaving to meet her.

Discussion Questions:

Ryan Reynolds and the blonde woman are never shown in the same scene yet we know that theres a connection between them. Do you think the ad would change if they were shown in the same frame if so , how?

Why does Ryan Reynolds seem to have such a nonchalant expression on his face even though theres an attractive woman undressing for him?

Guilty by Gucci

In this ad for Gucci Guilty, we see a man and a woman embracing one another. Neither the man nor woman appear to be wearing any clothes. The man is kissing the woman’s neck, while the woman is holding his head and looking toward the audience. A bottle of perfume is in the lower right hand corner of the ad, and the name of the perfume is used as a header across the top. The woman is wearing a bracelet with the Gucci logo, which matches the bottle of perfume. The colors used are generally neutral skin tones, except for the pink that is highlighted in the woman's lips. There is a black background and the people are the central focus of the ad.

Gucci Guilty is a womens perfume, so the target audience of the ad is women. The woman in the ad is holding the man's head and he is kissing the woman's neck. This shows the women has apparent sexual control over the man. He is also showing that he wants to pleasure her by kissing her neck, and her facial expression indicates that she enjoys this. From a woman's point of view, she may think that if she is to wear Guilty by Gucci, men will try to pleasure her and she will gain more attention.

It is interesting that the woman directs her attention toward the audience, rather than the man she is sexually engaged with. This implies that he is more invested in the act than she is. Generally, women feel subjected to only please the man in their relationship when it comes to sex. This ad suggests that men will be more inclined to pleasure a woman wearing Gucci Perfume.

The black background conceals the location of the featured couple, and this adds a mystery element to the ad. It implies that this could be taking place virtually anywhere. This adds sex appeal to the ad because it can associate with viewer’s fantasies. In other words, different viewers have different interpretations of where the ad could be taking place. The woman has a tattoo across her back that is illegible, which contributes to the mystery/fantasy aspect as well.

The words "GUCCI GUILTY" are printed across the top of the ad in large white letters, while the Gucci symbol is repeated on the perfume bottle and on the woman's bracelet. This repeated use of the logo emphasizes the product being advertised, while adding to the sex appeal of the ad because the bracelet draws further attention to the woman's naked body.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you think there is something significant about the fact that the woman is looking at the audience rather than back at the man? What could this imply about their sexual relationship? How does this compare to the way the man is looking at the woman?

2. Why was the use of color in this ad limited? What else about this ad is "mysterious"? What is significant about the pink tint that is used solely on the lips of the woman?

3. Does the woman's physical position in the ad mean anything? What about her position in relation to that of the man? And why is the bottle of perfume positioned to cover her lower back, a place on a woman that can be very visually/sexually appealing?

John Ross, Ian Rowland, Nadiah Mohamed-Azmi, Caleb Mihalik
Blog analysis

In this ad for Elite Rent Luxury Car Rental service, we see a number of things. Moving from top to bottom, we see the bottom half of a woman. Next to her are the words “Get There Faster”. One can also see that the woman is wearing a black leather jacket, red undergarments, red leggings, and red high heels. The very bottom of the ad shows a pair of Porsche keys with the company name on them. The whole ad is back dropped with more red. One can also see that the heels of the high heels have stripes on them, as do the leggings.

Let’s start by looking at the colors. The main color in this ad is obviously red, as seen by the woman’s leggings, shoes, undergarments, the Porsche keys, and the background. But what does red mean? Well, it means a lot of things, for instance red is often considered the color of love and passion. It is also often associated in the car industry as a flashy or powerful color and is known for drawing attention. So, in a subconscious sort of way, this ad could be saying that by purchasing from them, you will find passion, be powerful, or draw attention, possibly from the other sex, while driving their rental cars. Also, the keychain at the bottom with the company name on it is gold, which is often associated with opulence and wealth, thus possibly saying that people who drive these cars are wealthy.

One feature of the ad that stuck out to us the most were the words at the top of the ad that read, “Get There Faster”. At first we figured that they were trying to say that the cars they rent out are faster than other cars, which makes sense because they have a Porsche key at the bottom, which is a notoriously fast car. However, after reevaluating the ad, we noticed the stripping on the back of the woman’s leggings. The stripes appeared to resemble the dividing lines one would find on any given road. If one looked at the woman’s leggings as if they were a road, the ad could be implying that when the ad says “Get There Faster” they really mean getting to the woman’s undergarments faster, thus adding a sexual component to the ad.

Another question that came to our mind was why the ad chose a female model instead of a male model. A reason they might have made this decision is because a car rental service that deals with sports cars like Porsches, tend to cater towards men more than woman. Because of this a man seeing this ad is more likely to be sexually attracted to a female model than a male model. Thus by putting a woman in the ad, a woman who is sexually posed no less, the ad is more likely to attract men to it. It could also imply that by driving one of their rental cars, a man has a chance to attract a woman who looks like the model.

Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think sex actually does sell? Do you think sex sells more for men or for women? How would the ad be different if the female model were fully clothed instead of in her undergarments?

2. Why do you think the ad does not show the woman’s top half? Why do you think the ad has the woman posed in the way she is? How would the ad be different if it was a male model instead of a female model?

3. What did you find interesting about the colors chosen for the ad? Do you think the stripes on the woman’s clothing mean something other than earlier stated? Do you think the fact that she is wearing a black jacket significant?

Practice Artifacts for Notice and Focus/The Method