Charity Advert Water Aid - Claudia singing

Water Aid Advert- Claudia sings Sunshine on a Rainy day:

• Focuses more on the positives
• Water is shown to bring the community together
• Showing her as not a victim which differs from other charity adverts

Establishing shot of the next country

English accent on the radio
Establishing shot 
The rain also makes us feel bad as we have rain which
 provides us with water whereas in Africa they
 don't have that opportunity.

Shows a sense of community from them having the water.

Binary opposition between the dull weather in England between the bright colours at the end when they're together getting their water.

Ideology-



Statistics have been used of 650 million people still needed to be helped. This makes the target audience feel bad for those who don't have clean water and makes them feel as though they could help and change peoples lives by donating the money. 

Symbolic code- the water symbolises hope,happiness, and new opportunities

Charity Advertising

Purpose: 

• Design to make the audience feel guilty.
• Encourage members of the public to donate.
• To establish a cause and get an audience to agree to the ideology.

Mode of address:

• A sad tone is used.
• Distressing music and camera footage.

Conventions:

• Soft comforting voice over.
• Direct address.
• Over the top emotional scenes.
• Distressing images.
• Personal pronouns.

NSPCC Advert - Open your eyes (2000):

• Black and white (editing)- powerless, misery 
• Sounds as if they're begging
• Repetition of  £2 a month- makes audience feel as though they don't have a choice
• Camera angles make children look weak(high angle shots)
• Direct address- children looking straight into the camera
• Child crying shows representation of like as an abused child
• Audience positioned as the abuser
• Actors and fake names are used to protect identity 
• Slow paced editing- makes audience feel uncomfortable
• Implies we're just as bad as the abuser if we don't donate 

Water Aid Advert - Urgent appeal:

• Shows footage which looks as if it's real
• Vivid images 
• Repetition of them having "no choice"
• Direct address- they look straight into the camera
• People from Africa are represented in the Advert looking straight at the audience
• Audience- British people
• Doesn't fully represent african people as not all of them are poor as it's a continent not a country.
• Binary opposition- goes from dull dark colours to bright happy colours and children

Audience Responses:

• Uplifting 
• Don't really care
• Positive, feel happy for the Zambian villages
• Annoyed
• Cynical 
• Cute
• More positive than average charity advert
• Rewarding, feel good
• Frustration- she wouldn't be singing in English- isn't a real representation
• Felt sorry for her as all she does is collect water and sing
• Expectations are challenged as it's uplifting

Print adverts 1980

• Implying the female body is what's important.
• Very little text
• Very sexists

Theories Of Identity

David Gauntlet:

He believed that audiences construct their won identities through what they see on television. 
He also believes there are many more representations of gender than the traditional 'gender binary'.

Representation and identity

Anchor Spreadable Butter Advert:

• Older generation

• Younger generation

• Family

Connotations:

Close family

Mise-en-scene suggests this with the picture on the fridge

• Teenagers and pre-teenagers

Connotations:

Lexis- informal 

Hunched shoulders

Hoodies

• People with dementia

• Grandparents and Grandchildren 

Connotations:

They're into cooking

Appeals to people within different groups

• Jamaican/Caribbean accent:

Connotations:

They're into cooking 

Accent is relaxed and laid back

Appeals to people within different groups

Second generation immigrants (the children)

All these groups are used to be inclusive so it appeals to a larger target audience therefore more of the product will sell.

Pot noodle- You can make it Advert:

• Family

• Low income families

• Working class

• From up north

Connotations:

Poorer 

Working class

• Teenagers

• Establishing shot- messy teenager

• The bright lights of Vegas form Binary oppositions compared to the dull colours from the North.

• Positive ideology in terms of his sexuality

• Black people are shown to be sex obsessed within this advert 

How we define ourselves:

• What we wear
• Make-up/hair styles
• Tastes in music 
• Where we come from
• The way we talk- accent/language 
• Ethnicity 
• Friends 
• Hobbies
• Our grades
• Race
• Sexuality 

Representation

Representation: To show something again. The ways in which a media product constructs the world and aspects in it, including social groups, individuals, issues and events. Producer is who does the constructing.


Stuart Hall-Theories of representation.


Lindt Lindor  'Do you dream in chocolate?':

• Sophisticated 
• Is is a Representation of chocolate 
• Classy Chocolate
• Well spoken female 
• Classical music keeps a smooth, calm atmosphere- a connotation of the chocolate itself.
• Close up of the females face- in bed
• Soft golden lightening
• If you buy this its all you need, just as good as a man
• Transition shot- fading to the next shot, connotes smoothness.

Superbowl commercial break 2015:

• Positive representation of disabled people
• America- 'the American dream' people who work hard will succeed (opposite to British perceptive) 
• Gives a message that America is powerful as is the truck being advertised- if you buy the truck you'll be a better person
• American revolution is seen in one of the tax adverts- Cultural code- dominant ideology showing Americans really know they're own history
• Insurance advert- stereotype of women cannot drive, challenges the stereotype of women being nice,caring and controlled.

Stereotypes:  A commonly held belief about a certain group of people.

Richard Dyer- The role of stereotypes:

• An ordering process 
• A short cut (for producers)
• A reference point (for audiences)
• An expression of dominant societal values

terrible advert- half completed

Ideology's

Function of an advert: To promote an object/product to make you feel as need it in your life. Makes you feel as though your life is incomplete and missing something. To promote different roles and types of people.

Producer: The maker of a media product.

Dominant ideology: the set of ideas or culture that is most common or widely accepted in a society. The dominant ideology can change over time.

Stereotypes of English people:

• Stuck in our ways
• Drinks lots of tea 
• Support the monarchy
• Roast dinner on a Sunday 
• Like to que 
• Very passionate about football
• Posh

Stereotypically pretty. Ideological assumption- she needs makeup to look pretty/ attractive.
In order to achieve this level of looks you need this product. Considered unattractive without the make-up of this product, also implying she will be disorganised without this product. An on trend advert.

Tide advert

First impressions/ assumptions: 

• Stereotypical 
• Assumes women do all the washing
• Aimed at women
• Simple, straight to the point
• A lot of text unlike modern adverts
• Appeals to middle class women

This is advert is very stereotypical of post war time women. With the lady hugging a washing powder which is very specific assumption on what a female wants. This is also a  code which implies the women need/ want this product giving the impressions she needs this product like she needs a man. The z-line of the advert goes straight to the slogan of " Tide's got what the women want!" then missing out a lot of information as there is alot of text within the advert.
Colours connote that this product will lead to a better life, also the colours used are what are seen as female colours.

Context of the advert:

•  An American advert and company
• Still leading brand in America today as it was in the 1950's
• Designed for heavy duty
• A large well respected and loved company- DMB&B
• Was well know for their use of the "house wife" character
• Tide is loved by women- their unique selling point.

A low angle shot has been used to give the impression that the "house wife' character is more powerful which would appeal to the target audience. I think a proairetic code has been used which suggests she's about to do the washing.

Sans-serif font has been used within the advert which would appeal to the middle class audience.
The colour red suggests women are only there for the cleaning and for a relationship.
direct address has been used as it address the women about buying the women. The close up shot of the women which indicates she is the main character of the advert.

the symbolic code of the colour white in the back ground symbolises purity and also cleanliness.

The z-line sums up the main parts of the advert without having to read all of the writing. Summing up the narrative of the advert as the Advert was also played on the radio, this advert also has a TV feel with the narrative.

The use of makeup implies the product makes you feel better about your self as you get dressed up to do the washing.

Language analysis:
There's a very direct mode of address used within the advert. Also the use of direct makes the advert have a more personal feel especially with the quote " No wonder you women by more TIDE then any other washday product!' This also gives women a sense of community as "the housewives."
However the use of "you women" gives a great sense of authority of them looking down on the women.

"sudsing whizz" is an example of archaic language which was everyday use of language for the working class in the 1950's.

Language has also been used to exaggerate the product describing it as a "miracle". Even though it isn't as its just soap.

Ideology- Women like and want to clean, and that they should clean.

Media terminology

Media terminology

Z-line: The direction our eyes go across a media text, in a large Z shape.

Rule of thirds: The subject of the shot is placed on the crossing points of each third on screen (positioning on screen).

Headings and sub-headings: Main title and extra information.

Serif fonts: Formal font- with the flicks.

Sans-serif font: Informal font- no flicks.

Lexis:The choice of language used.

Mode of address: The way the media product speaks to the audience.

Claude Levi- Strauss Theory

 Key Theory- Claude Levi- Strauss 

Structuralism:

Binary opposition: Where two concepts, messages or values are presented in direct opposition with oner another. Levi-Strauss suggested that our perception of the world is based on binary opposition.

Exam information- Roland Barthes

Exam information

There are 3 components to A-Level media:

• Component 1 exam 35%

Analysing media language

• Component 2 exam 35%

• Component 3 coursework 30%

Practical skills



Key theory 1-
Roland Barthes (semiotics)

• Signs - anything that can have meaning
• Signifies - the thing that creates meaning 
• Signifieds - the meaning that is created 

Codes- an element of media language that creates meaning for the audience.

• Hermeneutic code - something within the media product that creates mystery or suspense.
• Proairetic code - (action codes) refers to something within a media product that suggests that something will happen.
• Symbolic code - something within media product that creates a deeper meaning for the audience.

Advertisement

It can be clearly seen that the advert is selling mascara. 

The use of a close up shot draws attention and forces the audience to look at the model who has the mascara in her had. The close up also exaggerates the product as it fills the screen. The font that has been used is sans-serif which creates a more informal feel to the advert which would appeal to a wider target audience as they believe its more affordable. Cluttered layout- appeals to a younger working class audience who have busy lifestyles. New York symbolises expensive, busy, made for a busy lifestyle. Large brandname suggests its expensive as well as well established. Also could suggest its a basic and essential product for most women. Mystery of why the model is applying the makeup. Connotations of independence.

In this advertisement, the company is selling the bag. this is obvious in the composition of the two photographs. The two photographs draw our attention to the bag as the mise-en-scne highlights the bag in the second photograph as it takes central point. The company have used layout and design to empathise the bag they're selling. Also a close up has been used to show the detail of the bag. With the use of setting in the first picture it creates an atmosphere of sophistication. It also would attract the target audience as they want to achieve that lifestyle of being successful in New York. 

Evaluation

Short suspense sequence- Evaluation

Over all, I think the quality of our short suspense video was good, with a mix of sound and video clips. Including a wide range of camera angles with the mise-en-scene being considered in every frame.

During the filming we followed the storyboard closely so we knew what we were doing. However we had to adapt it at certain points. For example we had planned for one of the scenes was the reeds blowing in the wind to increase suspense, However on the day of filming it wasn't windy so we adapted our plans. Another complication we faced was we had planned on changing the saturation on the video clips to create a spooky mood, however this wasn't allowed as we weren't allowed to apply that level of editing skills. This meant we had to carefully rethink our camera angles and positioning. Overall the filming process went well and as planned.

When it came to the editing process it took us time to get use to the programme we were using as we had never used it before. However once we got the hang of it we found it easy to learn the basics which was all we were allowed to do. We found it easy to drag and drop the video clips into different slots and move them around until we were happy with the arrangements and timings. The only difficulty was it took us longer than we'd expected to edit so we then ran out of time to include all sound clips and in the right arrangements. Therefore not as much suspense was gained.

Overall I am happy with what we achieved in the time we had.

Short film

Key Terms:

Editing- The selection and assembling of a media product.

Shot- Uninterrupted sequence of footage.

Shot duration- How long a shot lasts before it is cut.

Mise-en-scene- Anything thats put in a scene or plot.

Cinematography- Everything to do with the camera.

Low Angle- The camera is positioned below the subject.

High Angle- The camera is above the subject.

Shot Types-The distance between the camera and the subject.

• Long Shot
• Extreme close up-  Shows subject emotions

Positioning-  The way the text locates members of the audience.

My Top 5's

Post 1

Top 5 films...

• Bridesmaids 
• The backup plan
• Legally Blonde 
• Fault in our stars
• My sisters keeper

Top 5 music artists...

• Rita Ora
• Demi Lovato
• The Script 
• Ed Sheeran 
• Little Mix

Top 5 TV shows...

• Baby Daddy
• The big bang theory 
• How I met your mother
• Outnumbered
• Casualty 

Top 5 Actresses...

• Sandra Bullock
• Kayley Cuoco
• Jennifer Lawrence 
• Emily Blunt
• Anne Hathaway

Top 5 Actors...

• Jean-Luc Bilodeau
• Daniel Craig 
• Harrison Ford
• Samuel.L.Jackson
• Sean Connery

Best opening theme tunes...

• The Big Bang Theory
• Friends
• Eastenders 
• Starwars
• Universal
• 20th century Fox television