Background on Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is an academy award nominated French actress reputed for playing a series of ice maidens during her early years in film. To the French, she is the very model of elegance. For more information on her, do visit her profile on wikipedia.
Analysis
Iconic Signs
Catherine, as explained earlier, is iconic of French elegance, an attribute they are known for. The LV prints on the trunks, on the other hand, has become iconic of the brand it represents over the years. Today, the logo is associated with upper class society as only the wealthy can afford to carry LV products.
Indexical Signs
In this image, the smoke is indexical of a steam train that runs on coal. This helps to create an aged 80s feel to the image. The old film light setup further enhances this portrayal. The film light is also indexical of a film setup, which is closely related to Catherine's status as an actress who was well known in the 80s. All in all, this serves to cast the image of an 80s film set in the minds of the viewer.
Symbolic Signs
I feel that to understand the symbolic value of this photo, one must look into the history of the brand. LV started off as a trunk maker in the past, thus by portraying scenes of travel, the brand is trying to draw a link with it's heritage. The 80s set and steam train represent a period of economic boom and travel, which goes well with the theme in this series. Catherine embodies both past and present as she was well known for her films in the 80s, and yet her name has lived on in the present, as LV has.
Denotation and Connotation
The image was created to serve as a "window" into the past. Furthermore, it denotes both Catherine and the brand LV as a symbol of class and status.
Semantics
Train and Station - Travel
Heels and Coat - Power, Prestige and Status
Film Set - Limelight/ Center of attraction
1980s Travel setup - LV's roots in trunk making
Pragmatics
Train - Mobility of cosmopolitans
Communicative Effects - Symbol of social status and prestige.
Codes
The genre of this image is fashion. It, however, also serves as a "snapshot" into the 80s. Kinetically, Catherine's posture speaks of sensuality and feminism, coupled with an aura of strength in her cool and aloof expression.
Comparison
We have decided to compare Catherine's image with that of Agassi and Mikhail Gorbachev from the same series.
These images are similar in the sense that the big coats that the models are wearing serves as a symbol of power and prestige. The train, the big car and the hotel room all serve to promote mobility and give the idea of travel. Lastly, the closeness of the luggage to the models suggests that it is an integral part of travel.
The differences in the images are that the one with the couple is more casual as compared to the other two. The hand carry luggages in the other two images suggest that LV can be a handy choice in short travels too.
Conclusion
What makes Catherine's shot stand out is what she represents. To the French, Catherine is the embodiment of their culture. Thus, for the French label to feature Catherine in the image best portrays LV's roots as a trunk maker will touch the hearts of the French public.
This however, will lose its impact when promoted in countries outside Europe as many will not have been exposed to Catherine's films. It will thus be difficult for them to draw the link between what Catherine symbolizes.
Self Evaluation
What I have learnt through this exercise is that the theories for analyzing an image can overlap one another easily. The same image can be interpreted in many ways using the same theory. But for an image to have it's intended effect, there needs to be a certain amount of consistency in the viewer's interpretation of the image regardless of the theories used.
For this exercise, I would give Gerald and I 95/100. We both feel that we have given a very thorough examination of the image.
Peer Evaluation
I liked Yikang's group's analysis of the portrayal of Hawaii. He had provided ideas on how the posters had portrayed the island to the foreign eye and how it was not in line with reality. For this, I will grade his team 88/100.
The presentation that left a deep impression on me was Jieying's group's presentation on the series of air pollution images. Not only was the presentation well developed and designed, the images had brought about a fresh perspective to what air pollution images could be instead of the common "wasted landscape" portrayal. For this I will rate her team 100/100.
Therefore, using Jieying's work as a perfect 10 standard,
my group gets 9.5/10
and Yikang's group 8.8/10
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