Appendix 2: Semiotic analysis
1.0 Textual analysis
1.1 Move structure
The following analysis is based on Corbett & Connors’ (1999) rhetorical strategies. The
communication in David Cornfield Melanoma Fund’s (DCMF) video Dear 16-year-old me is focused
on second person, through the pronoun you. In the beginning you is directed at the fictional 16year-old version of the persons in the video. After this, you is directed at the viewer who is hereby
directly addressed. According to Bühler (2011), the use of second person is a persuasive tool. This
is also evident for this video because the use of it draws the viewer into the context of the video
by talking directly to the people watching. By doing this, a relationship between the viewers and
the people in the video is created, which makes it easier for the viewers to identify with the
message in the video.
DCMF uses several other rhetorical tools to persuade the reader of the message. One
of the tools used is ethos, which signals trustworthiness and credibility. This is evident in the video
in several ways. Firstly, when the doctors speak about melanoma and explain what it actually is,
credibility is added to the video. This is because they are experts in the field and hereby the
viewers rely on the information to be true. Ethos can also be found in the other people in the
video, who are not experts but who have experienced melanoma on their own body. An example
is the passage: “This is where they took the cancer out” (l. 9). The personal stories throughout the
video have the function of showing that melanoma is real. The viewers will most likely identify
themselves more with the people in the video who are not experts, and therefore their stories
increases the video’s credibility by supporting the claims that the doctors put forward.
Another persuasive tool is logos, which appeals to the viewer’s sense of logic and
describes facts about the video’s topic. In the video logos is most prevalent in connection with the
two doctors’ statements. They are clear in their way of explaining and use numbers and statistics
in order to make the viewers understand the important points in the video. Examples are: “[…]
you’re at a higher risk if you’ve got more than 50 moles” (l. 29) and “you have less than a 10%
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chance of surviving if we don’t [catch it early]” (l. 32). By stating these clear facts the viewer has
concrete numbers and statistics to relate to, and will therefore more likely be persuaded. There is
nothing to doubt in the claims being made, they are serious and straight forward, and is
persuasive in their way of expressing the logic consequence of not being aware of the decease.
This is seen in the following sentence: “It is the second most common cancer in children and
teenagers and one of the most common in young adults, and it can be deadly” (ll. 48-49).
Finally, a persuasive tool is pathos, which appeals to the viewers’ emotions and
which is very dominant in more ways in the video. Pathos is used to move the audience and is
applied in various ways. The video is introduced with a humorous and safe statement, where the
people in the video fictionally give themselves advice as 16-year-olds by looking back at things that
teenagers usually go through and regret. The special thing in the introduction of the video is that
the thing regretted are not serious: “Whisky? Tastes even worse on the way out” (l. 6) or “Please,
don’t get that perm, it’s not as awesome as you think it’s gonna be” (l. 4). By introducing the video
in a humorous way, the video appeals to the audience’s emotions of “feeling good”. Humour can
be effective in getting the audience to understand the message in the preferred way and is used as
a tool to reduce the viewer’s resistance of the message. (Solomon et al. 2010: 301). Therefore, this
is a way used to make the viewer keep watching the video, which will also be discussed in relation
to the AIDCA model.
After the humorous introduction, the topic and pathos take a drastic shift: “This is
where they took the cancer out” (l. 9). From appealing to the feelings of fun and wellbeing through
humour, the emotional appeal turns to fear. Throughout the video words related to melanoma are
strongly emotional and frighten the viewer of the consequences of not preventing melanoma. This
can be seen in expressions like “aggressive treatment” (l. 22), “a year of chemotherapy” (l. 23) and
“you’ll need to do some of the injections yourself” (l. 24).
The viewer is also appealed to through emotions of sadness. This is where the people
in the video tell about the people they have lost to melanoma: “She’ll be diagnosed when she’s 22
and will lose her battle when she’s just 26”. […][Melanoma is] gonna take the strongest man you
know, your best friend and the love of your life (ll. 43-44). These are sad stories that no one wishes
to experience. Hereby, pathos is used to make it clear to the viewer that if no precaution is taken
towards melanoma, he or she might also experience this. The language and the topic are serious
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and the strong use of pathos has the intention of inducing fear in the audience in order to take
action and fight melanoma: “It can be deadly” (l.49).
However, the video does not only leave the audience senselessly scared, because it
also presents a solution that gives the viewer a feeling of hope: This isn’t about being afraid” (l.
46), “you’re not helpless” (l. 50). The function of this mix of fear and hope is that the video makes
it clear that it is a serious and deadly decease, but that it can easily be prevented if people are
aware of it. The strong use of fear and sadness forces the viewers – through the people in the
video - to experience how terrible the decease is. However, by giving concrete advise on how to
prevent it, the sad atmosphere lightens up and humour is again mixed with the serious message in
the end of the video: “[…] we both know you don’t floss, but just once a month I want you to
check.” (l. 61).
1.2 Register analysis
The following analysis is based on Halliday’s register analysis (Kasch, 2008).
1.2.1 Field
Looking at the time perspective in the video, there is a dominant use of present and future tense.
Present tense is primarily used when facts about melanoma is told. The use of present tense is
emphasising that the facts presented are reality. This has the function of making it clear that the
viewers have to act now and before it is too late: “Its’ is the kind that you have to catch before it
spreads. Because it spreads so fast, so fast, to places like your liver, your lungs, your brain.” (ll. 1718).
Future tense is primarily used when the people in the video are talking to their
imaginary 16-year-old selves. The unusual thing here is that the things that are told in future tense
have already happened: “Yours will be a very rare kind” (l. 19), “[she] will lose her battle when
she’s just 26” (l. 42). As the people in the video are indirectly talking to the audience, the function
of future tense is to make it clear that the scenarios can also happen to the audience in the future
if they are not aware of how to prevent melanoma.
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1.2.2 Tenor
The sentences in roughly the first half of the video are all structured as declarative. This means
that the sentences have the speech function as statements, e.g. “It’s a tumour that starts in your
skin cells” (l. 15) and “Fair skin and hair means that you are at higher risk of getting [melanoma]”
(l. 27). This function indicates that the sender of the video perceives itself as a trustworthy source
delivering useful information to the viewers. After the passage of declarative sentences, where
melanoma and the risk of getting it are explained, the declarative sentences are mixed with a large
amount of imperative sentences.
The imperative sentences function as commands, and support the sub goal of
inducing action: “spend more time with family”, “don’t start the tanning bed”, “start checking
yourself”. The commands are directed at the people’s 16-year-old selves but as this is of course
not possible to do in reality they are actually talking to the viewer. The function of talking
indirectly to the viewers through themselves, the commands that the people in the video give do
not seem as demanding. This shows that what they ask the viewers to do they wish they would
have asked themselves to do when they were younger. Hereby, the people in the video are at the
same level as the viewers instead of being demanding dictators of behaviour.
2.0 Visual analysis
2.1 Formal analysis
The following analysis is based on the basic principles of Mark’s (2003) theory of visual design.
Overall, the visual elements in the video are kept on a simple level. The people acting in the video
are placed in front of a neutral background and no other elements are seen. This ensures that
there are no unnecessary elements to disturb the message. In order to not make the video too
statics, there are some fast cuts from person to person, and some changes in the distance
between the people in the video and the viewer. In spite of the changes in distance, the distance is
close in all scenes, but it changes from filming from the waist and up, from chest and up, to face
only. When the people’s faces are the only elements being filmed it has the function of being
intense, and the viewer is close enough to see the tears in the eyes of the people in the video, and
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hereby the sender appeals visually to the viewers’ emotions. The close distance to the people in
the video invites the viewers into the world of people directly touched by melanoma. By getting so
close, the viewer gets the feeling of being involved in these people’s stories and hereby gets a
“personal” stake in the fight against melanoma, and are therefore more likely to act.
The viewpoint throughout the video is consistently kept in eye level, which has he
function of creating an equal relationship between the people in the video and the viewers (Mark,
2003: 26). Firstly, this equal visual relationship results in the fact that the people in the video are
not talking down to lecture the viewers of melanoma. In stead a closer relationship is facilitated,
and the information is passed on as from friend to friend. Secondly, the equal and herby closer
relationship emphasises that the viewers are at the same level as the people in the video, which
also indicates that the viewers have to take the information seriously. By placing the sender and
the receiver at the same level, the receiver is able to imagine him or herself in the situations of the
people in the video and hereby encourage them to take action.
As mentioned with the tears in the eyes of the people in the video, it is evident that
the video’s visual elements have strong emotional appeals. This is also apparent through graphic
images of scars that are results of surgery in the fight against cancer. Five of the people in the
video show their scars, which are filmed from a very close distance. Here, just as it was true for
the textual analysis, fear is used to appeal to the viewers’ emotions. The images are chocking,
especially because the viewer is unprepared after the humorous introduction of the video. The
sudden change to showing the scars emphasises the seriousness of the video’s message. As well as
being frightening and showing the viewer what melanoma can result in, the images also express
hope. The people who show their scars illustrate that it is possible to survive the decease and be
able to smile, and this shows the viewer that there is hope for the future if melanoma is caught
early.
The colours of the clothes of the people in the video are: turquoise, blue, dark blue,
light blue, purple. The people in the video are dressed rather casually and their clothing signals
that they wear their personal clothing. In spite of this, the choice of colours does not seem to be a
coincidence. All the colours origin from the colour blue and hereby match the content of the
video. Blue symbolises sadness and melancholy (Mark, 2003: 45), which are emotions that are
visible in the video because some of the people have lost loved ones to melanoma. Traditionally,
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blue has been considered as symbolising faith and trust (Mark, 2003: 45), which is also evident in
the video because it emphasises that there is still hope if melanoma is caught early.
2.2 Interpretative analysis
Some poses are stereotypical and by using certain poses, the viewer can get certain connotations
(Barthes, 1977: 22). This can also be seen in the video, where one of the male actors bends his
head to show the scar on top of his head. The pose of a man in an upright position with his head
bowed gives associations to Jesus hanging on the cross with his head bowed. In this way
melanoma can be compared to the people who hurt Jesus, and the man in the video has been
sacrificed just as Jesus was. This shows that melanoma is deadly, just as the Bible tells us that
Jesus died. The fact that the man in the video has survived melanoma can be compared to the
Bible story telling us that in spite of his sufferings, Jesus arose from the dead. Therefore, the divine
illustration in the video warns the viewers that they will be “crucified” if they do not fight
melanoma, but at the same time it also infuses hope because just as Jesus rose from the death
after his sufferings, people can survive melanoma.
Just as poses can be stereotypical, certain objects can lead the mind of a viewer in a
specific direction. This means that the use of certain objects can induce associations of ideas in the
mind of the viewer (Barthes, 1977: 22). In the video some of the objects used are the stethoscopes
around the necks of the two doctors. First of all, the stethoscopes let the viewers know that the
two men are doctors. Secondly, the stethoscope is an object sign that gives associations to the
intellectuality of being a doctor and hereby enhances the credibility of the video because doctors
are seen a being trustworthy.
Other examples of object signs in the video are the scars that are left from where the
cancer has been taken out of the survivors. The scars are signs of vulnerability and remind the
viewer in a direct way of their own mortality. They are honest and graphic symbols of how serious
melanoma is and send a clear signal to the viewers that they have to act in accordance with the
video in order to prevent having such scars on their own bodies.
The overall communicative goal of David Cornfield Melanoma Fund’s video “Dear 16year old me” is to make people aware of how to prevent melanoma. The sub goals are to create
attention, arouse interest, create desire, carry conviction and induce action. All the sub goals
contribute to the over all communicative goal and will be elaborated on in the analysis below.
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3.0 AIDCA
The DCMF video follows the criteria in the AIDCA model, which includes the steps of creating
attention, arousing interest, creating desire, carry conviction and finally inducing action. The model
is based on Elmo Lewis’ AIDA model, where the step of conviction is added from Lavidge &
Steiner’s DAGMAR model (Pickton & Broderick, 2005: 86). The video is introduced by different
people saying “Dear 16-year-old me”, which is repeated three times by different people and
hereby intended to attract the viewers attention. Right after this, interest is awakened in the
viewer by the mind-twisting idea of the people in the video giving their younger selves advice in a
humorous way. This is done in order to make the viewer curious and wanting to find out what this
is all about. Desire is created through the sentence “this is where they took the cancer out” (l. 9)
and the graphic images of the people’s scars. Here, the topic of the DCMF video is revealed: “It
was something called melanoma. It’s called malignant melanoma” (ll. 10-11). By revealing the
topic, the curiosity created in the attention and interest phases is answered and the video
uncovers what it is actually about. The sentence “You’ll be diagnosed when you’re 28, 18. 36, 29,
22” (l. 14) explains the perspective of the video, namely that the people in it are personally
involved in melanoma. The conviction of the audience is taking place in the main body of the video
and is where facts and examples function as evidence of the importance of the message. Here,
medical facts and solutions on how to avoid melanoma are presented. The facts are visually
supported by two doctors, and the personal stories are trustworthy in the images of people who
are clearly affected and struggling with tears in their eyes. The action phase is to be found in the
end of the video, where the viewer is encouraged to take the right precautions to prevent
melanoma and to spread the message by sharing it on social networks: “Send this to anyone who
was once 16 or soon will be 16” (l. 68), “Educate yourself” (l. 70). These are the last things said in
the video and thereby the viewer is left a clear incentive to take action.
4.0 Primary target audience
Based on the analyses of the DCMF video’s content is can be argued that the primary target
audience of the campaign video is relatively broad. The video is actually explicitly mentioning who
it is targeted at: “Send this to anyone who was once 16 or soon will be 16” (l. 68). This is basically
all people, but in spite of this statement, this thesis argues that the video is targeted at young
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people in the age group of 15-20 years old. This is because, as the video’s facts also state it,
melanoma is a young person’s decease and therefore it is most relevant for young people to be
aware of the melanoma and how to prevent and detect it. The specific choice from 15-20 years of
age is based on the assumption that within this age group a lot of things happen in young people’s
lives and it is a time where it is important to look good and, in the western world, to look tanned.
It is also a time where there is not always time for rational thinking which in many cases make
these young people forget to protect themselves against fake and real sun.
The DCMF video is targeted at both genders since melanoma is a decease that hits
both male and female. The equal representation of male and female in the video also underlines
the fact that it is relevant for both genders.
5.0 Semiotic analysis conclusions
In order to theoretically examine the effects of the DCMF campaign video, a semiotic analysis has
been carried out. The analysis contains textual and visual analyses of the DCFM video as well as a
mapping out of the video’s overall communicative goal and sub goals. Moreover, the primary
target audience is defined to be young people in the age group of 15-20 years.
Both textually and visually there are clear signs of attempt to create a close
relationship between the people in the DCMF video and the audience watching it. For example,
this is seen through the use of the pronoun “you”, where the people in the video are indirectly
addressing the audience and hereby creating a feeling of equality between the people in the video
and the ones watching. This can also be seen visually through the short distance in which the
people in the video are filmed, which makes the audience able to relate to them. The people in
the video are also filmed in eye level, which again creates a basis for an equal relationship
between the two parties.
The doctors and the melanoma victims in the DCMF video persuade partly through
ethos by adding credibility to the video in two different ways. The doctors do it through their
perceived trustworthiness of their profession, and the melanoma victims do it through their
experience with melanoma. Having the victims tell their stories makes it more real to the
audience, and hereby the personal stories support the medical facts brought forward by the
doctors. Furthermore, the logical appeal logos is used to persuade the audience of the seriousness
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and relevance of the DCMF video, where the numbers and the statistics mentioned by the doctors
have the effect of persuading the audience to believe that what they are talking about is serious.
The emotional appeal pathos is dominant and used throughout the video. The video
appeals to different emotions, which are humour, fear, sadness and hope. Humour is seen through
the non-melanoma-related stories that the people tell in the video. Fear is shown through the
melanoma-related stories that the people tell and when they show their scars. Sadness is
expressed through the people who have lost a loved one and through tears in their eyes. Finally,
hope is shown through their smiles and their optimism throughout the video.
The video is introduced with humour and hereafter takes a drastic shift to appealing
to emotions of fear. After this, and throughout the video, there is a mix of fear and sadness on one
side, and humour and hope on the other side. The two former emotions make it clear to the
audience that the message is to be taken seriously, and the latter two elements state that if the
audience act in the way the video asks them to, they still have hope. This also means that the sad
atmosphere that occurs around the melanoma victims telling their stories lightens up when the
audience see them smile and become aware that the people talking have survived the decease.
Based on the textual and visual analyses the overall communicative goal and the sub
goals of the DCMF video have been determined. The overall communicative goal of the video is to
make people aware of how to prevent melanoma. The sub goals have been identified through the
AIDCA model and are to create attention, arouse interest, create desire, carry conviction and
induce action.
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