1. University of Western Macedonia School of Education Postgraduate Studies Program Cultural Studies: Semiotic Structures & Practices Visual Analysis of Teen Drama Promo Posters: Gossip Girl vs. Skins by Konstantia Liouza postgraduate student 15th Early Fall School in Semiotics “Sociosemiotics III”, September 2009, Sozopol, Bulgaria.

2. Intro
Aim of this work is the visual analysis of teen drama promotion posters; in particular posters of the advertising campaigns of two teen drama TV series, Gossip Girl (american)& Skins (british).
Within the framework of cultural studies and social semiotic approach.
What’s the role of these promo posters in culture, how teens and youth are represented and why?

3. Cultural Studies & Social Semiotics
Images are cultural artifacts of representation as a ‘textual practice’ of culture (Lister & Wells, 2001: 61); it’s necessary to understand how are they produced, enacted and consumed.
Images are presumed as constructs of reality (van Leeuwen & Jewitt, 2001: 5).
The analysis of advertising images can reveal the nature of such constructs.

4. The analytical framework
Visual social semiotic analysis - as it is developed by Kress and van Leeuwen:
three ‘metafunctions’ of images: representational, interactive and compositional.
Barthian visual semiotics - layering of meaning
denotation (what/who is depicted)
connotation (ideas and values that are represented).

5. Description of the sample
Promotional posters of Gossip Girl and Skins.
Teen drama focuses on teenage characters.
Both:
are very recent (began in broadcasted until now),
high ratings,
the context is a realistic frame.
Why?
sharp criticism received, especially because of the ad campaigns which implied an inappropriate context to be shown to underage teenagers (considered as minors).

6. Gossip Girl: OMFG
Two teens are depicted in a sexual scene(Serena and Nate).
Intense pleasure: position of female face (lips, closed eyes, head leans back…),
Vivid motion (hair)
Serena accepts eagerly the action of kissing.

7. Gossip Girl: OMFG Salient visual element is ‘OMFG’: Oh My F--king God.
Young people are familiar to this kind of textual expression.
Ideal consumers of this ‘encrypted’ message.
Anchors the meaning of what is represented.

8. Gossip Girl: “EVERY PARENT’S NIGHTMARE”
Serena ‘suggestively’ being kissed at her neck by a faceless young man.
The ‘hidden’ face – insignificant. Semantic weight is centred on his action.

9. Gossip Girl: “EVERY PARENT’S NIGHTMARE”
Enjoyment and sexual pleasure is the potential meaning inferred from characteristics of Serena’s face (leaned head , closed eyes, half opened mouth, hand entangled in hair…)

10. Gossip Girl: “EVERY PARENT’S NIGHTMARE”
Quote from Boston Herald is used for advertising.
Re-framing changes potential meaning.
Construct of teenage girl (“daughter”) in contrast with the implied adult (“parent”).

11. Skins: In the edge of death
Tony is depicted lying submerged in a bath with his eyes open.
Neglect and depression (dirty tiles, bathtub, water, darkness…)
In the edge of death/ threshold of consciousness.

12. Skins: In the edge of death
The ‘point of view’ - a position of symbolic power.
Frontality - maximum involvement.
Viewer is directly confronted with the depicted face and the directly gaze.

13. Skins: Banned ‘orgy’ poster
This promo poster was banned from the Advertising Standards Authority in UK.
It features Michelle and Sid surrounded by couples apparently taking part in an ‘orgy’.

14. Skins: Banned ‘orgy’ poster
Salient visual element is Michelle (placed on the foreground, lighted with exiguous dim light).
Despondency and neglect (smudged makeup, only underwear, looking disheveled).

15. Skins: Banned ‘orgy’ poster
Representational meaning: Sid looks at Michelle (‘transactive reaction’), while Michelle looks out of the frame (‘non-transactive reaction’).
Interactive meaning: Michelle is closer to the viewer (‘medium shot’) than Sid (‘long shot’).

16. References
Kress, Gunther & Theo van Leeuwen (1996). Reading Images: The Grammar of the Visual Design. London: Routledge.
Lister, Martin & Liz Wells (2001). “Seeing beyond belief: Cultural Studies as an approach to analysing the visual”, in van Leeuwen, Theo & Carey Jewitt (eds.) (2001) Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage Publications,
van Leeuwen, Theo & Carey Jewitt (eds.) (2001). Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage Publications, 5.