This week we begin talking about textual analysis and a key to the whole textual analysis equation is what has been coined as “noticing”. Noticing according to our lecturer Rachel, is the process of simply noticing media texts in our daily lives, she showed us an example of an ad in Vietnam for washing product OMO. We discussed as a class how it differs to an ad for the same product in this country and how the societal factors and ideas of wealth and cleanliness differ substantially across cultures.

From my high school Media and Visual Communication studies, I thought of the idea of noticing very similar to the techniques we used in visual analysis. This was a very important skill in VCE and I think it has become an important part of my life particularly in writing. My father and I have watched the advertising show The Gruen Transfer for years and the show is fantastic for drawing attention to the things we take for granted in the audience/producer relationship and how advertising has the power to influence you by essentially placing you within the ad itself. A fantastic example was the hotel ad we viewed in class, it showed a man and his child in a perfect hotel setting that had a very clear intended meaning.

We also discussed the difference between connotation and denotation. This, I found particularly fascinating because I have never known what the technical way of talking about surface observations in an analysis context was.

I am excited because I am started to see the separation of the theory and practical sections of the course and there is definitely a feeling that it is leading to studio based practise.