Colour Use, Denotation and Connotation

DATE: Today’s Lesson Objectives:

To recognise that producers use colour to convey meaning;

To understand the terms denotation and connotation

Today’s Challenge word:Denotation – how many words can you make out of the letters. Words must be 3 letters or

more!

The Psychology of Colour:

• Colour science is real! It is proven that certain colours have certain effects on human beings and, in order to study non fiction texts, we need to know what these effects are.

• On the following slides, you will see just a block of colour.

• Your task is to literally write down, on your whiteboard, what feelings and emotions…or messages that colour conveys to you.

• Listen carefully to all that you are about to learn, as there will be a detailed test on the colours that

• Is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed

• Invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming

• The physical and mental effects:* Calming and sedate* Cooling* Aids intuition

• The natural greens are seen as tranquil and refreshing

• Green is considered the color of peace and ecologyThe physical and mental effects

* Soothing* Relaxing mentally as well as physically* Helps alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety* Offers a sense of renewal, self-control and harmony

• Is about optimism, enlightenment, and happiness

• Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future

• The physical and mental effects: * Mentally stimulating* Stimulates the nervous system* Activates memory* Encourages communication

• Connotations of danger (STOP)• Connotations of sex and passion• Love, blood and the heart

• The physical and mental effects:* Increases enthusiasm* Stimulates energy* Encourages action and confidence* A sense of protection from fears and anxiety

What colour are you?• Which colour you choose, will say a lot

about you as a person… what type of person you are.

• From the colours below, on your whiteboard, choose the one that most appeals to you and hold it up for us all to see:

• Fun and flamboyant orange radiates warmth and energy

• The physical and mental effects: * Stimulates activity* Stimulates appetite* Encourages

socialising

• Provokes a sense of mystic and royal qualities

• The physical and mental effects:* Uplifting* Calming to mind and nerves* Offers a sense of spirituality* Encourages creativity

• stability, reliability, and approachability

• The physical and mental effects:* Feeling of wholesomeness* Stability* Connection with the earth* Offers a sense orderliness

• Projects purity, cleanliness, and neutrality.

• The physical and mental effects:* Aids mental clarity* Encourages us to clear clutter or obstacles* Evokes purification of thoughts or actions* Enables fresh beginnings

• Is authoritative and powerful

• Evokes strong emotions

• The physical and mental effects:* feeling inconspicuous* a restful emptiness* mysterious evoking a sense of potential and possibility

The Colour Quiz:• List 1-10 in your books:1) What colour is seen as trustworthy and

dependable?2) What colour is seen as authoritative and

powerful ? 3) What colour is associated with purity,

cleanliness, and neutrality?4) What colour would make people feel

happy and optimistic?5) What colour do people associate with

stability, reliability, and approachability?

The Colour Quiz:6) What colour would is seen as fun and

flamboyant and radiates warmth and energy?

7) If I was advertising a natural and tranquil product, what colours should I use?

8) If I wanted to create an advert that warned people against something, what colour should I use most?

9) Which particular shade of which colour promotes the idea of wealth to come in the future?

10) If I was advertising anything that I wanted to seem mysterious, what colour should I use?

1What colour is seen as

trustworthy and dependable?

2What colour is seen as

authoritative and powerful ?

3What colour is associated with

purity, cleanliness, and neutrality?

4What colour would make

people feel happy and optimistic?

5What colour do people associate with stability, reliability, and

approachability?

6What colour would is seen as

fun and flamboyant and radiates warmth and energy?

7If I was advertising a natural and tranquil product, what

colours should I use?

8If I wanted to create an advert

that warned people against something, what colour should

I use most?

9Which particular shade of which colour promotes the

idea of wealth to come in the future?

10If I was advertising anything

that I wanted to seem mysterious, what colour

should I use?

PEA

• Producers use colour for a certain reason;

• Based on everything that you have just learnt, I would like you to analyse the use of colour in the following text and attempt to write about it using PEA

PEAP The colours used in

this advert are important because….

E The Producer has used blue in…

A This suggests…

Extension:• The producer has also

used white, to give an impression of…

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Words and images in media texts can work on more than one level.

You will come across the terms denotation and connotation throughout your lessons.

They are important terms for you to understand.

DENOTATION is the straight forward or common- sense meaning of a sign.

Literally what is actually shown in an image.

A red rose is a flower – that is its straight forward meaning or denotation

An apple is a fruit we eat-

A lamb is a young sheep-

CONNOTATION is the extra, linked meaning that goes with any sign.

The connotations of a sign will be much more personal than the straight forward denotation because they are to do with personal ideas and feelings about it.

The connotations will not be the same for everybody.

What is it?

• It’s a flower (denotation)

• But, the connotation is everything that we associate with it.

• What so you associate with roses, record it on your boards!

For romantics a red rose can be a symbol of love.

In Lancashire it is a symbol for the county.

It has even been a symbol for a political party.

These are all connotations or extra layers of meaning that the image carries with it.

What is it? (denotation)

what do we associate with it? (connotation)

Think about the apple…

It can be a symbol of health.

It can have associated meanings of New York -“The Big Apple”.

It can even have stand for sin.

These are all connotations or extra layers of meaning that the image carries with it.

What is it? (denotation)

what do we associate with it? (connotation)

And the lamb…

For some a lamb has linked or extra meanings to do with Wales..

For others it has religious meaning.

It can even stand for a season- Spring .

A two step content analysis of pictures. 1. Denotation. Straightforward reading

of what is in the picture.

2. Connotation. The extra, linked meanings that go with the picture.

1 :- Sky. Sand. Girl. Boy. Donkey.

2:- Beach. Seaside. Holiday. Family holiday. Traditional British holiday.

Notice how other pictures can have different denotational suggestions but the same connotational suggestions.

The connotations for all of these pictures is the same as the previous one- traditional,family holidays.The bright colours, blue skies and smiling faces have connotations of happiness.

Putting it all together:

• On the following page, you will see another advert.

• This time, you will read the images to look at the denotation and the connotations of it.

This advert depicts toddlers in roller skates and this is the

denotation of it. However, what are the connotations of it?

Colour Use, Denotation and Connotation

Today’s Lesson Objectives were:To recognise that producers use colour

to convey meaning;To understand the terms denotation and

connotation

The term denotation means:

The term connotation means: