HR: Deconstructing music advertisement

Genre
How is the genre of the artist evident?
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group, and the genre of music is evident as it says on the poster Warrior's Dance Festival so you know the music genre is dance. The fact that the band is not shown means it is more focused on the music rather than the star appeal of the band.

Media Language
What visual techniques are used?
The rule of thirds has been used in this advertisement as all of the text is along the rule of thirds whether its horizontal or vertical so it makes it easier for consumers to read. The colours are fairly dark as they use black, white and orange but the name of the tour is in bright green, a contrasting colour to help it stand out. The red banner on the bottom tells consumers the date so that is another contrasting colour used. There is a black widow spider right in the middle of the advert.

How is meaning generated through these techniques?
The fact that the spider is right in the middle of the advert makes consumers feel more uncomfortable as your eye line usually sits comfortably to the side which is why rule of thirds is usually used to help break this up. The fact that the spider is in the middle helps to draw in the consumer as it is unusual and therefore makes it stand out. The contrasting colours also helps to make it stand out and it goes with the genre conventions of electronic dance music as lighting is used in these kinds of concerts so this reflects off of this. The people in the background dancing helps to create a preview for what audiences expect if they go to this viewing in cinemas.

What linguistic devices have been used?
There have been reviews by music magazines placed conventionally underneath the band's name to help make their show more impressive as this is a viewing of their concert in cinemas for "one night only". The fact they used this highlights the urgency to go and see it. They have mentioned some of the songs they play, their more famous ones so people are guaranteed to know what songs to expect "and more" gives them some mystery.

Is their any intertextuality/references to popular culture?
It makes a reference to Warrior's dance festival which is where the band had played, so it shows if the consumer went to that, they would know what kind of music the band plays. The spider could be a reference of one of their songs, so people who are aware of this symbol will appreciate it on the advert.

Representation
How are the band represented?
The Prodigy are represented as a music experience as the background shows a crowd of people with their hands up in the air. This is trying to replicate the environment to expect if the consumer goes to one of their concerts so hey are represented as having a good time. The fact the review from "Q" says "if there's only one band you see this decade, look no further" makes their star image rocket as it is from a popular magazine and shows how good they are in comparison to other bands.

Institution and audience
How might this print text be consumed?
This advert would be consumed in a magazine as it shows the date is "one night only" so therefore only the big music fans will be going so in order to get the right target audience, it should go in a music magazine. Magazines need to think where abouts in the magazine to place to adverts in order to get the most views out of it. The best place to put it would be in the middle of the magazine before a big article, that way more people are likely to see it. The problem with putting adverts in magazines is that only a select few people will see it. i.e the consumers who have purchased the magazine. To make it stand out more, I would have put it on a website (pull advertising) or as a poster on a billboard (push advertising) so it was more easily assessable for a wider audience. Also it is free for audiences to consume.