The Media Rhetorics of Advertising Film : Communication-theoretical starting-points for the study of the production and interpretation of meaning in advertising film
The purpose of 'The Media Rhetorics of Advertising Film' is to clarify the conditions of and possibilities for the study of the production and interpretation of meaning in advertising film. I have attempted to answer the following questions: How is advertising film constituted from the producers' and the interpreters' point of view? How can advertising film be constituted as a research subject from those premises? In general, the aim of the research is to locate some basis for the study of meaning in advertising film. The nature of the research is theoretical, concept-analytical and descriptive. The research approaches advertising film from the premises of semiotics, media studies, literary studies and cognitive psychology. The research is preparatory in analysing the literature and concepts of advertising film, but also in aiming to develop some basic frameworks to the future study of advertising. There has been a twofold approach to the subject of the study. It has been discussed as 'advertising film' or 'commercial film', but on the other hand it is usually referred to as 'television commercial'. The most common media of advertising film is television, but advertising films are presented on the internet and in movie theaters as well. The concept of media rhetorics refers to the dynamics of persuasion in advertising. Media rhetorics has to do with the strategies of production and design, as well as with the contemplation of the conditions of intrepretation. The study consists of three distinct parts: 'Rhetorics of Production', 'Hermeneutics of Contexts' and 'Analysis of Advertising Film'. One purpose of the study has been to extend the model of radical contextualism in the direction of production. I have proposed two different types of approaches to advertising, 'reception semiotics' and 'metadesign'. The research concludes with some suggestions for further studies. When advertising film is studied, its multimodal nature and the fact that the subject is interdisciplinary should be taken into consideration.
advertising film, advertising, interpretation, meaning, images
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