Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera hur djävulsgestalten används som visuell metafor för depression i den animerade kortfilmen How Have You Been? (2020) skapad av Polly Nor och Adam Baker. Detta med målet att skapa bredare förståelse för hur visuella metaforer kan användas inom visuell kommunikation för att gestalta känslor. Studien utförs med hjälp av en semiotisk analys samt metaforanalys med teoretisk utgångspunkt i semiotik och metaforteori. Uppsatsen resulterade i kunskap kring hur den visuella metaforen förstärks genom personifiering av depression samt en stark relation mellan protagonist o antagonist. Även förvandling av djävulsgestalten har stor betydelse för hur den visuella metaforen tolkas. Ytterligare framkom det att filmskaparna använder symboler samt ickeverbal kommunikation för att förstärka den visuella metaforen. / The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the devil figure is used as a visual metaphor for depression in the animated short film How Have You Been? (2020) made by Polly Nor and Adam Baker. This with the goal to create a wider understanding about how visual metaphor can be used in the field of visual communication to portray emotions. The study is carried out with the help of a semiotic analysis as well as a metaphor analysis with a theoretical basis in semiotics and metaphor theory. The thesis resulted in knowledge about how the visual metaphor is enhanced through the personification of depression and a strong relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist. The transformation of the devil figure is also of great importance for how the visual metaphor is interpreted. Furthermore, it became clear that the filmmakers use symbols and non-verbal communication to enhance the visual metaphor.

Uppsatsen har gjort i syfte att undersöka porträtteringen av kvinnliga antagonister samt protagonister i två Disneyfilmer för att se om porträtteringen skiljer sig filmerna emellan. De filmer som varit aktuella för undersökningen har varit Snövit och de sju dvärgarna (1937) samt Trassel (2010). Materialet har analyserats utifrån representationsteori med nedstamp i stereotyper, genus samt mise-en-scéne inom animation. De valda metoder för analysen är en narrativ samt semiotisk analys där karaktärernas handlingar samt utseende tolkats för att sedan jämföras. Antagonisterna och protagonisterna från båda filmerna porträtteras likadant och har liknande narrativa funktioner, där antagonisten är kontrasterande och binär gentemot protagonisten som ses som filmens normala. / The purpose of this essay has been to analyze the female antagonists and protagonists in two films from Disney to see if the portrayal of these characters differentiate. The films fitting for the analysis are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Tangled (2010). The material has been analyzed through a perspective of representation theory as well as stereotypes, gender and mise-en-scéne in animation. The methods chosen for this essay are a narrative analysis and a semiotic analysis where the characters’ actions and appearance  are being interpreted and compared. The antagonists and protagonists from both films are portrayed in a similar way and have narrative functions that are similar, where the antagonists are contrasting and binary opposite the protagonists who are viewed as the normal.

The refugee crisis is an ongoing challenge for the European Union. Refugees from the Middle East, the majority of them Syrians, are risking their own and their children’s lives, putting their money –both figuratively and literally speaking- on the chance of surviving the almost six-year long war in Syria.The brutal death of thousands of refugees in the Aegean Sea’s waters was the reason why the EU mechanisms have started to mobilize seeking a solution. The ‘problem’ was not possible to be hidden under the carpet anymore. It was reaching the highly developed Europe’s doorstep.The media coverage of the crisis has started to emerge in a greater extent throughout 2015, as a result of the ‘explosive’ increase of the refugee flows. In the beginning it was just a synthesis of innumerous personal tragedies, before it became an official European ‘problem’.If we ‘leap’ through time and refer on today, we can observe that the massive death toll in the Mediterranean was only the starting point of a vicious circle, which is strongly related with developmental, political and communication issues.Through this thesis my goal was to examine how four European newspapers (which represent both Europe’s North and South) have reported on the biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the World War II. What strikes me as a very interesting aspect is that the refugees, as representatives of the developing countries have come in the territory of the European developed countries. Therefore I believe that there is space for a wide development dialogue and I would like to examine at what point the media seized this opportunity to reflect on development issues, through their cover stories.I have performed a combination of quantitative/qualitative methods of analysis. A full scale content analysis of 85 articles has been performed as the quantitative part and this was my primary research method. My secondary method of analysis was about the visual elements used by the newspapers and I have relied on semiotics to examine 141 photographs.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest-grossing film franchise that nurtures superhero stories within their narratives. However, in recent years the franchise has undergone a substantial shift in its adversary portrayal, with introducing Russian characters. Therefore, this study’s purpose is to expand the knowledge on the construction and development of Russian enemy images within the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, by focusing on three key movies: Iron Man 2 (2010), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and Black Widow (2021). The research utilizes a diachronic case-oriented comparative design, wherein the selected movies are analyzed through a unique analytical framework, which consists of semiotic analysis and enemy images as theory. The study’s results demonstrate that the construction of enemy images in each movie resembles an ideal type and remained somewhat similar in terms of the demarcation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and the characterization of ‘their’ essence throughout the years. However, the study’s findings indicate two developmental shifts: first, in ‘our’ character, where similarities are observed with ‘their’ violent behavior, and second with expanding ‘their’ threat from solely physical to psychological aspects as well.

The diploma thesis "The Year 2010 - Pocitame s detmi v Ceske televizi: Programmes for Children and Youth in the Czech Television" deals with broadcasting for children and youths on Czech Television and focuses on the production of cyclic programmes. It summarizes the production of these programmes since the beginning of Czech Television in 1992 until 2010. The author also describes the structure of production centers in Czech Television that used to produce and are still producing those programmes. Furthermore, the author analyzes the strategy Pocitame s detmi v Ceske televizi which followed the previous projects - "Osudove osmicky v nadich dejinach" (the Fateful Eights in our history) and "Rok svobody" (the Year of Freedom). The analysis consists of an overview of existing, new cyclic and also planned programmes which Czech Television started or planned to broadcast during this strategy. The thesis provides quantitative conclusions such as the amount of all the programmes for children and youths broadcast during the existence of Czech Television, average time spent by children, youths and adults watching TV and especially Czech Television and the share of audience that was watching Czech Television. The author uses the tool of semiotic analysis to examine what means of expression are used to display real...

This diploma thesis describes an unexplored field of study - the medialization of the monetary separation and Czech koruna formation in February 1993. The thesis maps Czech media discourse devoted to this theme and answers the question whether the media, through its contents, could contribute to a positive perception and acceptance of this fundamental economic reform that actually completed the dissolution of Czechoslovakia process on January 1, 1993. For this purpose the thesis uses the qualitative research methods, the semiotic analysis and the discourse analysis. The introduction briefly outlines the sociopolitical situation in the country. The theoretical part describes the role of money and monetary policy, the technical preparation of the currency separation, including a new series of banknotes, and outlines Czech media trends after the 1989. The methodological part contains specific objectives, research questions and widely presents the selected research methods. The practical part analyzes media contents devoted to the currency separation in Czech newspapers Blesk (Flash), Hospodářské noviny (Economic Newspaper), MF Dnes (Today), Rudé právo (Red Law) and selected program of Česká televize (Czech Television) in the first quarter of the year 1993. The main outcome of the analysis is a...

The thesis Construction of Media Reality during Mirek Topolánek's Resignation Period analyses a total of 294 instances of media output published or broadcast between 20th March and 1st April 2010 and dealing with Mirek Topolanek's resignation from his positions within the ODS in the context of his statements for LUI Magazine. The interview dealt with the Jewish faith, homosexual orientation or the voters of the ČSSD. The theoretical part of the thesis elucidates themes related to the construction of reality as described by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, media routines, which can contribute to this phenomenon, and the creation of myth according to Roland Barthes. The research part of the thesis uses the propositions of Critical Discourse Analysis with an emphasis on Critical Linguistics, to isolate discourses, which were used to establish a connection between Topolánek's statements for LUI Magazine and his exit from the ODS and politics in general. A partial analysis also notices how the linguistic tools of tabloid and non-tabloid media were brought closer together. Finally, the Semiotic Analysis focuses on the caricatures of Mirek Topolánek and identifies myths which served as a basis for perceiving his image and the possibility of his further political career.

The aim of the diploma thesis What do the girls want? The reflection of their world in the magazines Super Dívka and BravoGirl! is to analyze the representation of lifestyle in the magazines for girls and the evolution of this representation within fifteen years. For the needs of this work, the individual theoretical concepts have been discussed, in order to better understand the problematics of media representation of reality. We defined notions such as social and media construction of reality, theory of representation, gender, stereotypes, myths and ideology. Other chapters are dedicated to the notion of lifestyle from its sociological and media perspective, to the girls' magazines themselves and to their up to now researches. These researches are concerned especially with the problematics of consolidation of gender stereotypes in the society through proposed patterns of behaviour and creation of norms of femininity. At the same time, they consider the magazines to be the holders of ideology in consumer and patriarchal society. For the needs of this thesis, the mixed analytical method has been used. The content analysis quantitatively classifies thematic agenda of magazines and semiotic analysis follows denotative and connotative level of signs and their meanings for the representation of...

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of promotional materials of the sports event - European Indoor Championship in Athletics, which took place from 5 March to 8 March 2015 in Prague. For this purpose, the method of complex semiotic analysis is used. The thesis includes introduction into context. Theoretical background of chosen method is not omitted. In the thesis is explained the application of semiotic analysis to the selected problem. The main and secondary research questions are defined and there are specified the forms of promotion or types of media, on which are the partial semiotic analysis performed, too. This thesis is aimed on revelation differences in promotional materials of the event targeting the general or the professional public. For this reason, in the course of selecting the specific forms of promotion, which are included in the research, was paid attention on the similar characteristic of the pattern for each target group from the viewpoint of media mix. In the sections dedicated to the research are, by the semiotic analysis, analysed chosen promotional materials targeting the general or the professional public. There are interpreted the meanings of symbols and codes used in the promotional materials. Outputs arising from the analysis are evaluated by answering the...

The main topic of this thesis is the role of media in society with respect to the relation between media, society and culture. The thesis aims to reassess selected issues, based on critical theory of media and society, and to verify their relevance in contemporary Czech context. These subjects are theoretically based on several concepts of authors connected with the so called Frankfurt School and on the critical theory developed by their followers. Their opinions are applied on the Czech environment through the perspective of cultural studies because of the shift in social and historical context since the former theories appeared. After media studies left the ideas of technological determinism, their dominant paradigm has changed to social constructivism, being interested in the meaning of media contents. In cultural studies, the meaning is interpreted using tools of structural and semiotic analysis. The same research perspective and method are applied in this thesis. Considering the interpretation of meaning in the representation of art in the program Události v kultuře, we could partly reflect on the mythology and ideology of Czech society in its relation to culture. The primary result of the empirical research is the fact, that media messages about art represent (implicitly or explicitly)...