Reading an Image :)

 Reading an Image

In this advert, 50 Cent is strategically placed on the left half of the advert whilst being surrounded by darkness with a serious expression on his face. This darkness successfully presents connotations of mystery and perhaps presents a symbolic code for his hidden past/secrets he wants to keep hidden. There has been a use of low-key lighting here which causes there to be a lot of shadows which successfully reiterates the connotations of mystery and perhaps even crime. The right side of the advert offers a different interpretation as it shows some fingerprints with some text over it. Fingerprints often have connotations of crime and due to the grey scale of the advert, a dull and mysterious perspective is given which allows us to wonder what criminal past 50 Cent might have. The text that reads "I am what I am" alludes to the fact that 50 Cent might have had a troubled past but he has come to accept it and due to the relatively large size of the text, we are able to infer that 50 Cent truly means it as he wants to make sure that it's one of the first things that can be seen on the advert and it juxtaposes the hiding that he used to do when it came to his past- his present is something that he isn't ashamed of. There has also been a 50/50 split on the advert where it can be suggested that as well as the darkness he has endured in his life, there is also a lightness that follows afterwards. There is smaller text on the right side of the advert which reads "Take advantage of today because tomorrow is not promised" and this was written on top of some fingerprints. This further develops the idea that he has a criminal past because it seems that he has figured out that lesson through personal experiences and suggests that although he may have has a troubled past, he is learning as a person and growing to accept what has happened. There are some props in this advert that have significance, such as the chain around his neck which successfully connotes wealth and perhaps this allows us to see that despite your hardships, nothing is impossible to achieve. Another prop that has significance is the cap that he is wearing because this has connotations of the hip-hop music genre that 50 Cent is notoriously recognised for having a huge impact on. 

This is an advert for a show about firefighters and we can see the main firefighters placed on the right side of the advert with the Seattle Space Needle behind them. We can see that each firefighter has a serious facial expression which emphasises the seriousness of their jobs and the fact that these characters are taking up a majority of the advert gives connotations to how significant they are in helping keep everybody in the city safe. The title of the show and the little bit of text that reads "First to respond. Last to surrender." has been written in red and red commonly has connotations of fear and danger which successfully corresponds with the danger that comes with their jobs. In this case, it can be said that the red of the text also has connotations of fire and because fire is such a significant aspect of their lives, it is reflected in the colour of text as well. We can also see a slight red hue on the left side of the characters and yet again, this offers symbolic code of both the danger and fire that goes hand in hand with their jobs. The Seattle Space Needle can be seen behind the firefighters which is an important landmark in Seattle so by putting the characters in front of it, it gives the impression that they are what keeps the city in tact, including its biggest monuments. This allows the audience to get a sense of how important these firefighters really are in keeping the city safe and allows us to gain respect for them for putting their lives in danger for the safety of others. We can also see dark smoke surrounding them which denotes the smoke they encounter on the job and isn't likely to have any underlying connotations. There has also been a use of high-key lighting in this advert due to the absence of significant shadows and this allows us to infer that there are no secrets and they put their entire lives on the line- they are completely invested in their jobs and have given it their all. Also, we can see that all of the characters are illuminated by some sort of light and none of them are in the shadows and this is significant because it allows us to understand how each character is significant and equal when it comes to their responsibility for keeping the city safe.