TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

So in discussing my essay topic with one of my tutors (the contemporary fashion film - focusing on Gareth Pugh/Ruth Hogben) she suggested I firstly break it down into a textual analysis of each of the films I am looking at. I have already looked at 4 Gareth Pugh fashion films (see previous posts) - I'm not sure that there are any more to date. Apparently there is not much academic literature out there at the moment that is based on the modern consumption of the contemporary fashion film.

So this got me thinking. I needed to remind myself of how to in fact deconstruct a text:
I googled it and this is what I got:

A Basic Guide to Textual Analysis

Analyze the Rhetorical Context

1. Who is the writer? GARETH PUGH
2. What is her or his role or position? FASHION DESIGNER
3. Who is the intended audience? ANYONE INTERESTED IN ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS
4. What is the exigence which prompted this writer to write? I BELIEVE GARETH PUGH WAS TAPPING INTO THE CONSUMPTION OF BOTH FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY COMBINED. HE IS AWARE CONSUMERS HAVE A HUNGER FOR IMAGERY, FOR "NEW THINGS". THEY ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON, IT IS THE WHOLE NOTION OF BEING "PLUGGED IN". PUGH RECOGNIZES THAT THERE IS A BIG AUDIENCE FOR THAT. HE ALSO SAYS THAT THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG WITH A FASHION SHOW. 43 OUTFITS CAN MEAN 43 "BAD" IMAGES THAT WILL DEFINE A DESIGNER FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. AS A DESIGNER, HE IS NEVER HAPPY WITH THE IMAGES OF A LIVE CATWALK SHOW - THEY ARE NOT THE IMAGES HE WANTS CONSUMERS TO SEE. THE FASHION FILM IS THEREFORE ALL ABOUT BEING IN CONTROL, HAVING THE CAPACITY TO EDIT, "CLEAN IT UP". IT IS ALL ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY; TO SELL THE CONCEPT AND THE CLOTHING AS "EXPENSIVE, SLEEK AND WELL CONSIDERED".
5. What discipline or discourse community does this text seem to be a part of? FASHION, DESIGN, ART

Analyze the Textual Features

1. What issue is being addressed? IT IS FUELING CONSUMPTION BY ADDRESSING MODERN DAY IDEOLOGIES SURROUNDING TECHNOLOGY, GENDER AND ARTISTIC VISION. PUGH UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS WHAT GETS MODERN DAY CONSUMER GOING. HE IS USING IT TO HIS ADVANTAGE BY CREATING PHANTASMAGORIA WITHIN THE SPECTACULARITY OF FASHION.
2. What position does the writer take? THE IMAGINATOR, THE ART DIRECTOR
3. What is the author's major claim or thesis? THE FASHION FILM IS A COMMUNICATION OF HIS IDEAS. HE INTENDS TO CREATE A LANGUAGE ABOUT HIS CREATIVE VISION THROUGH CINEMATIC IMAGERY.
4. Is the claim qualified (does the author hedge)? If so, how? PUGH SAYS HIS FILMS ARE VALIDATED ACROSS ALL AUDIENCES. HIS FASHION FILMS ARE NOT TARGETED AT THE FASHION INDUSTRY, BUT RATHER INTENDED FOR ANYONE TO WATCH AND APPRECIATE BEAUTY.

Place the Text in a New Context

1. How does this text relate to other texts you have been reading? LITERATURE THAT TALKS ABOUT FASHION BEING USED IN FILM AS A SPECTACLE. MOVING AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL USE OF COSTUME TO ASSIST WITH THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE & CHARACTER. USING THE CLOTHES TO TELL A STORY BY THEMSELVES. STELLA BRUZZI TALKS ABOUT THE COUTURIER USING COSTUME TO CREATE SPECTACLE AND THE COSTUME DESIGNER USING IT FOR NARRATIVE IN HER BOOK "UNDRESSING CINEMA".
2. How might another writer (or you) use this text? I PLAN TO USE GARETH PUGH'S FASHION FILMS TO DECONSTRUCT THE IDEA OF USING FASHION IN FILM AS A FORM OF SPECTACLE. MOVING AWAY FROM THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE, AND ENTERING AN INTERFACE BETWEEN CINEMA AND TECHNOLOGY, WHERE THERE IS OFTEN NO NARRATIVE. IDEOLOGIES ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY HAVE SHIFTED - IMAGERY IS BECOMING ASEXUAL AND NOTIONS AROUND GENDER ARE BEING BLURRED. PUGH'S FASHION FILMS ARE ABOUT PERFORMANCE, CHRYSALIS, REBIRTH, THE BODY; THEY ARE NOT SEXUAL. CONSUMERS ARE ACCEPTING THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE "PLUGGED IN". FOR THE MODERN CONSUMER, IT IS ALL ABOUT SELLING TECHNOLOGY - GARETH PUGH UNDERSTANDS THIS.

Link for Template for a Basic Textual Analysis: http://www.engl.niu.edu/wac/txtanal.html viewed 25 June 2011