TV Advert Comparisons

'Tree' - St John Ambulance

For my first advert I chose to analyse was an advert made by St John Ambulance to help raise awareness of learning first aid. This advert is in the form of realist as it is set in 'our world' it presents a realistic scenario to it's audience. The advert shows a dad playing football with his son, whilst a women (who you're lead to believe is the mother) is watching through the window. Next the dad gets distracted by his phone and the son climbs a tree before falling dramatically and severely hurting himself. From here we see the alleged mother run out to find that she isn't actually at the same scenario and the young boy is left hopeless with his dad not knowing what to do. This therefore shows that this TV advert is in the style of dramatic, although it started off very casual and happy, there was a sudden change in atmosphere and the child hurting himself is serious making it very dramatic. This advert would be far from parodic or humorous as those styles both instate humour and a silly atmosphere and situation which this advert is far from.

Women looking through the window while washing the dishes.

Furthermore, as for mise-en-scene the first thing I noticed was the weather, it's very sunny and breezy. The iconography of this presents the idea that it's a summers day therefore it's a happy, casual time for the characters; whereas if it was a thunderstorm it would show that it's a sad or even scary time. Additionally the son and dad are playing football, this shows the idea of father/son bonding and family values, therefore when the audience is shown the end of the video (the young boy falling) it adds to the shock factor. Also at the start, the woman is doing the dishes, this represents the idea of gender stereotypes - the woman at home cleaning, meanwhile the boys are out playing or working. The reason the advert may have done this is because it presents the idea of a traditional, relatable family and therefore they can reach a mass market audience. However if it was a untraditional family, such as same sex families, multicultural families, interracial families, although now becoming more accepted and common, for the advert to be relatable, by keeping it traditional it means that more people can watch it and relate to the scenario and situation. Interestingly though, although this presents the gender role stereotypes, later on by the voice over we are told that the women in the advert is a first aider, which contrast with the stereotype because conventionally men would do all the dangerous jobs and women would stay at home. Earlier I mentioned that we're led to believe that the women in the advert is watching the father and son out the window, this is not only because of the way it was filmed - her looking out a window and watching - but also because of the the things around her (mise-en-scene). For example, there were drawings on the fridge which gives the impression that a child (the boy outside) had drawn them and she hung them up because it's her child's work - a common convention for parents to do. Lastly for the mise-en-scene and iconography of the advert, the child climbing a tree shows the idea of youth and fun, commonly kids would climb trees and therefore this gives the audience the idea that everything is fun and okay - so when the kid falls painfully and dramatically this also adds to the shock factor that something so simple can completely change a persons life. This then therefore gives the meaning that no matter who you are or what you are doing, knowing first aid will come in extremely handy because you never know when you'd need it - this means that the advert achieved it purpose of raising awareness for learning first aid.

Another thing that makes this TV advert effective is its use of camera, the different shots, angles and techniques shown. First of the first shot (0:01) is an establishing shot of the women in her kitchen washing up; this is effective because it tells the audience what's going on so that the rest of the advert makes sense. There are many more shot types used in this advert such as long shots, over the shoulder shots, tracking shots and POV (point of view) shots. However the ones that I find to be the most effective are the extreme long shots and the POV. The extreme long shot (0:51) shows the dad trying to revive his son; the fact that it's an extreme long shot shows the audience the emptiness of the surrounding area, that there is no one around to help. This is effective as the moral of the ad is to tell the audience that you never know when you'll need to know first aid, therefore the fact that the dad is the only one around if he knew first aid then the fact that he is alone wouldn't matter - if this exact situation happened but in a busy area then it's more likely that someone will come to help but for the adverts dramatic style the secludedness is very effective. Lastly, the use of a POV during the child is falling out of the tree (0:28) is quite effective because it plays to the audiences fears and desires, this angle lets the audience feel as if they are in the child's shoes and it's them falling, or even worse for some, that it's their child falling. This is an effective use of camera because the audience would obviously fear to be that child, this means that they feel persuaded to not ever be in this situation and therefore they'd feel compelled to learn first aid.

Lastly the use of sound and music is effectively used in this advert a few times. Firstly there is no music, this adds to the fact of this advert being in a realist and dramatic form/style - if there was upbeat music throughout it would necessarily be a representation of real life and it would definitely take away from the dramatic atmosphere as the happiness of the song would class with the serious situation. Furthermore, the advert starts and you near birds chirping and the breeze blowing therefore making it seem like a summers morning therefore presenting a happy, calm atmosphere. Then, once the child falls there is thunder and rain starting therefore this shows a much more sadder and somewhat scarier atmosphere. This is effective because it makes the advert far more dramatic and also lets the audience feel more shocked. Lastly there is a voice over towards the end of the advert; this is effective because it gives the audience information on what the advert is about and what it is trying to raise awareness for it.

'Slide' - Barclays

For the second advert I have chosen to analyse is a an advert for Barclays to promote the new system of swiping your bank card. The form is in the style of anti-realist as it is set in real life however the situation isn't realistic as it shows a man sliding around the city on a water slide. Therefore this then told me that the style of this advert is not only humorous due to the man wearing tight swim shorts, leaving his office job and sliding around town casually; but it is also surreal because there is a huge water slide through the city which is quite bizarre and seems unconnected to what the advert is trying to advertise. Overall the advert shows the audience a man getting up from his desk in a very common-looking office building, getting changed into almost speedos, proceeding to a closet where he then jumps down a water slide and glides through the city doing errands on the way such as picking up some groceries - all in which he pays by simply scanning his Barclay card.

When it comes to the mise-en-scene of the advert the first thing I noticed was the fact that the actor was presented to be an office worker. The iconography of this (the office building) is that it presents a sense of casualness and that it's just another normal day - this allows the audience to relate to the situation more as working in a office is a common occupation to have. Furthermore the fact that the main character is wearing tight swim shorts conveys a sense of humour, a average, common man that isn't amazing looking wearing very tight swim shorts is always funny to almost everyone. Moreover, when the man first gets into the slide it is at the top of a skyscraper, this shows a sense of danger but the fact that the man isn't fazed and just continues to slide down create ironic humour by making the situation seem normal and casual, which then therefore to the audience becomes more humorous and fun - in this alternate universe getting on a huge water slide from work to get home is a normal thing. Another part of mise-en-scene that I noticed and found to be effective iconography was when the actor got stuck on the slide when entering the library. From here he had to push himself and making a loud sound, and in turn disturbing the library - it's just ironic how the whole ride had been smooth until he got to an area where he had to be quite. From this it also adds to the humorous style because the situation is just so ironic and ridiculous as a whole. Lastly for mise-en-scene, whenever the man uses his bank card it is held at an angle that it is clearly seen. This lets the audience know what the advert it for, also because he uses the card so simply while whizzing past on a slide shows the hidden message of how simplistic Barclays new system is and therefore you should all sign up to them.

Main actor leaving office building.

Compared to the previous advert I analysed this TV ad doesn't have as many camera shots, it has many long shots (0:22), establishing shots (0:10), POV ([point of view] 0:13), birds eye (0:15) and close ups (0:29). However the ones that I found the most effective for the adverts purpose was the use of close ups and POV shots. A close up was seen of the bank card being scanned (0:29), this was effective because it brings the audience's attention to it, whereas if it was a long shot of the card then the audience wouldn't have a very specific thing to see therefore they may not have noticed the bank card. This means that the audience are aware of not only what the advert is for but they see the hidden message Barclay wanted to convey - this new bank card scanning system is so easy. As for the POV shot, it is from the actors point of view of initially going down the water slide. This is an effective use of camera work simply because it makes the audience feel as if they are in the the actors position of going down the slide, this then creates excitement and even a feeling of adrenaline for the viewer meaning that they would find the advert fun and captivating - they would pay more attention to the advert and therefore the ad's message would be presented clearly to the viewers.

As for the editing within this television advert I found that it wasn't anything too different or interesting - it was quite standard. However what I did pick up on was the fact that almost all of the cuts of the shots were fast  jump cuts; jump cuts allow the advert to seem more fast paced and upbeat. This would therefore suite the form and style because it creates a happy, fun atmosphere which the advert had to convey. Furthermore the most obvious part of the editing that was clearly effective was the special effects of making the water slide look realistic. This was a good use of editing because if the water slide looked very fake then the audience wouldn't find the advert to be believable therefore possibly not find the advert as captivating and persuasive. Therefore that would mean that the audience would loose interest in the ad, not picking up on the hidden message meaning that the advert's purpose of promoting it's product would not be achieved. Within editing there sound effects and music, this advert throughout has an upbeat, cheery song playing; this conveys themes of fun and happiness which in turn would rub off onto the audience and persuade them to feel happy and this puts across the product thats being advertised to be a good, positive thing. Also, at one part during the advert, the man gets stuck on the slide whilst in the library, here the music is immediately cut and exaggerated sound effects of him trying to shuffle down the slide are played. This creates ironic humour that fits the advert's humorous style very well. Another use of sound that helped secure the ad's style was at the end when the actor finally gets off the water slide you here him say "Get me a towel" which creates humour. The last use of sound that I picked up on was the fact that towards the end of the advert a voice over is inserted of a women telling factual information to the audience. This is effective because not only does it tell the audience what the advert is about - if they hadn't picked up on it already - but it gives more secure information about the product and this therefore makes the advert factual and informative meaning that it's not just a funny ad, it actually puts across a message and promotes a product well. 

Overall both adverts contrasted thoroughly as they use completely different forms and styles to achieve their purpose. The first advert took a very serious and dramatic approach that played with the target audience's fears and desires in attempt to persuade and raise awareness. On the other hand, the second ad was far more humorous and surreal, it used hidden messages to promote it's product as well as presenting the idea of lifestyle appeal - persuading their audience by linking their product to a fun, easy, happy lifestyle where you just take a huge water slide home after work. Although both advertisements in my opinion were very effective and achieved their purpose, there were many other techniques that could've been used to help persuade their audience even further. For example the use of celebrity endorsement (using a celebrity in the advert) would persuade the audience because they would look up to said celebrity and believe anything they say. Also they could have used different forms such as animation or series however this would mean that they would possibly have to change their target audience - animation is more than likely presented to younger kids. But to conclude both adverts like I said were very effective and everything done in them were chosen and done for a reason - to appeal to their target audience. It's useless to make a childish, animated advert that was very simplistic if it's trying to promote a new banking system - it doesn't/wouldn't reach it target audience of young adults/adults.