Advertising and Marketing Assessment Task

Using media language, compare the advertisement for Lucozade Sport with the advertisement for Gatorade. 

Your answer must show knowledge and understanding of structural features and persuasive techniques.

Gatorade and Lucozade are two competing brands which primarily manufacture sports drinks, this means they have a similar demographic which is seen to be young males who are ‘sporty’. In this case, the Lucozade advertisement is only advertising one product

(orange flavoured isotonic drink), whereas the Gatorade advert is promoting a plethora of products are called ‘G Series Pro Range’. Both of these landscape advertisements clearly depict a visual narrative of the product of which they are advertising, but it is not the main focus, in fact the main focus is the sports star endorsement used to help promote the drinks, whilst also attracting the eye of their target audiences. One being Gareth Bale and the other involving one of the Brownlee brothers. However, both portray very different careers, Gareth Bale is a well-renowned football player, and the brownlee brothers are triathlon runners.

By featuring the sportsman Gareth Bale within the Lucozade advert, looking determined and serious (no positive emotion shown), the target audience would be more encouraged to buy the product because it creates the illusion that Lucozade aids his success so it could help others be as successful as him. It also encourages the fact that his face will be easily recognisable by those who enjoy football because the photograph used is a direct gaze, mid shot portrait. However, those who do not particularly participate in sport will not be able to recognise him, which places a border on who Lucozade is aiming to promote this product at.

It could be argued that both endorsements used are equally as successful, thus, creating an association that the drinks being advertised played a part in helping these sports stars get to that point. The photograph used for the Brownlee brother is not as clearly shot as Gareth Bale’s portrait, it is only clear as to who the athlete is within the advert because it boldly states ‘BROWNLEE’ upon the runner’s shirt.  

The blue and yellow colours in the advert links well with the image of the footballer Gareth Bale on the front. All the colours effectively link with each other as the yellow compliments the colour of the Lucozade drink and the different shades of blue in the background compliment the blue bottle. Bale’s eye colour has been emphasised so that it matches the light blue shade of the background as well as the bottle. The bright and vibrant colours attract the young, active target audience. Considering Bale is a young male, it encourages other young people to drink Lucozade as it may be considered more acceptable amongst their generation. in opposition to this, Gatorade has used a monochromatic image, this infers a more matured look and also causes the visual narrative of the products being advertised to stand out more, this is because they are in colour unlike the portrait of the athlete. The portrait of one of the brownlee brothers is an action shot, and therefore makes it appears as if he is running towards the viewer, making a clearer statement that this is a sports drink. Even though Gareth Bale is not shown to be in action, it is noticeable that there is sweat on his forehead, making the audience assume that he is a hardworking individual and the Lucozade drink is aiding him to progress further by providing him the energy that he needs.

Neither involve a quote from the sports star involved in the visual narrative aspect of the advert, but mutually they have a copy that suggest that the drink(s) being promoted are proven to be beneficial by ‘experts’. These references to authority such as ‘scientifically proven’ and ‘experts say’ attracts more educated people to purchase the drink because they believe that it will be beneficial for the body. The audience would also like the large copy which states ‘In a different league’ as it suggests that Lucozade isn’t like any other sports drink, it enables you to be on Gareth Bale’s level of success if you drink it creating an impression that the drink is highly beneficial. This quote can also be instantly associated with Gareth Bale due to the fact word play has been used with the word ‘League’ as is a common term used within football. On the other hand, as well has having the quote mentioned by the Brownlee Brothers co-coach: “If you don’t take the right fuel for the race, you’ve got a very good chance of coming second”; the Gatorade advert also has a hash tag, which is: ‘#Winfromwithin’. This incorporation of a hashtag further emphasises Gatorade’s target demographic, because hashtags are commonly used on social media- a huge platform used by young people.

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Massive Attack 'Unfinished Sympathy' Context and Timeline

Massive Attack 'Unfinished Sympathy' Context and Timeline

60 Second Film Competition: Take 2

60 Second Film Competition: Take 2

'The Power of Red'

 

Assessment : Analysis Of Katy Perry 'Firework' Music Video

In 2010, Katy Perry released the pop song 'Firework' for her third album release called 'Teenage Dream'. The song was initially released with the meaning to self-empower her targeted audience of teenage boys and girls. The video showcases multiple mini-narratives that cut in between close ups of the artist in order to infer her influence upon the story line. Also, the emotional and soulful facial expressions of Katy Perry imply how passionate she is about the subject and this confirms the serious tone to the song, even though it is upbeat. 

At the beginning of the video we experience a series of establishing shots from a high angle to set the scene. Upon research, we know that the video for 'Firework' was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, however it’s not a set fact within the video. By this I mean that the establishing shots are taking at night and all we can see are light exposures which causes the fact that its Budapest to be unclear to the audience. We then move on to see that Katy Perry is stood upon (what appears to be) a palace balcony. The juxtaposed idea within this section of the video is that she is looking out onto a typical, scrubby modern-day high street, while she stands in a glamorous ball gown in an elegant persona. This can connote that she is supposedly 'God-like'. The high-angle shot from her position gives a sense of power on her part, we know from here onwards that she is the main attraction within this video. Although the artist is looking very graceful due the aesthetics from the mise en scene, Perry is only wearing a cream dress, which is a plain shade that does not connote any descriptions of her- therefore not drawing the focus of the audience away from the topic of the song. In addition to this, the artist’s purple hair and her tattoo can be seen within the video to portray the quirky side to her character.  Throughout the video we are constantly reverted to close-up shots of Katy Perry lip-syncing to the song. These close-ups reveal the denotation that she is wearing makeup as well as stylish jewellery leading to the inference that Katy Perry is a symbol of beauty.  

After, we are introduced to the setting a Katy herself, we are then prefaced with the narratives, which all involves youth of approximate ages ranging between 12-18 years. Examples within the small narratives are; a boy whose parents are arguing while his trying to reassure his distressed younger sister; a girl who is clearly uncomfortable with her body image at a pool party; a cancer patient who is isolated within a hospital; a boy who is sat alone at a part who is not confident enough to be truthful about his sexuality; and a boy who is walking in a dark alleyway and is a victim of an attempted robbery. 

The video becomes slightly abstract after a high-angle establishing shot occurs which reveals that fireworks are coming out of her chest. The use of special effects within the next set of scenes that reveal fireworks coming from Katy Perry do not entirely fit the words of the song, however they do link to the overall message and title of the song. By involving 'exciting' CGI within the video through the fireworks, it makes the video more memorable to the audience; therefore, promoting both the artist and their work. The video has been edited in a fast-paced, montage style which is clearly very well thought out as the shots change to the beat of the music, making the video more interesting for the audience, keeping their attention throughout the video. The firework element within this area, showcases that Katy Perry is indeed a firework herself. We are then gradually exposed to see a series of close-up camera angles that reveal fireworks coming from the chests of the protagonists within the narratives. This shows Katy Perry's spark/message has spread onto her audience, and they have then obtained the confidence to overcome their issues. We see the young boy break-up his parent’s argument; the girl at the pool party take off her clothes and jumps into the pool, the cancer patient escapes her isolation and goes outside; the boy at the club, goes to another teenage boy and grows the confidence to kiss him in front of everyone else; and the boy walking in the alleyway uses his magician talent to save himself from a robbery. All these 'happy' endings to the mini-narratives occur while the protagonist of each one of fireworks coming from their chest, like we saw Katy Perry first experiencing. 

The fast-paced montage style editing in the video is very well thought out as the shots change to the beat of the music, making the video more interesting for the audience, keeping their attention throughout the video.

At the end of the video, we see Katy's emotion picks up as she skips down a street- while lip syncing, alongside her, a crowd of variated teens run with joy also. Throughout the entire video, we only see young people; only in the narratives do we see older or younger actors, but they are not the main focus, this helps summarise Katy Perry's target audience. The last series of shots we see, involve Katy stood in the centre of Budavári Palota (Buda Castle), while around her a mass of youths dancing in a 'firework' symbol configuration. although the 'dancers' are moving in a specific direction to create the firework symbol, they are not performing a synchronised routine, each individual is moving differently. for example, we see some women on roller skates, some jump in the air, and other skip. This could further emphasise the connotation that everyone is different. The overall message within Katy Perry's 'Firework' music video is that- 'people should accept themselves no matter what and stand up for who they are as a person'.

Word count: 991 

The Walk

60 Second Film Competition Entry And Evaluation

The Walk: 

A 60 second movie I created for the A-level Media studies course. This is my first try at Cinematography. I chose to base this video on a walk with my dog to a local Quarry. The walk took about 2 hours and in the meantime a total of 48 shots were talking in the process of filming this clip. Within the actual video, only 24 shots were used. There is no moral or message with my clip, it is purely a documentary which samples what a walk is like with my dog. I chose to make my dog the main focus because I have a massive passion for nature and animals; by filming my dog on a walk in a totally natural environment, I feel its links my persona and the things I enjoy.
Due to the fact it was filmed outdoors, there was lots of wind noise. This meant the diagetic sound was not viable to be used for my film and therefore had to be muted. To add a calm but up-beat feel to my clip I chose to add non-diagetic sound. I chose the instrumental to the Indie song- 'Sweet disposition' by the Temper tap.
The criteria asked for this movie was to include atlas 5 basic camera shots, at least 2 basic camera angles and at least 2 camera movements. In my video, I believe I included 6 camera movements, and a variety of 21 camera angles and shots. Some of the criteria overlapped one another by being used in the same clip. For example, the 8th scene shows a tracking shot, whilst also a establishing shot. As well as the criteria asked, I also managed to involve some post-processing effects, like slow motion, which occurred 6 times. I also added 2 titles, stating "The walk" at the beginning of the clip and "The end" when the clip finished.
My awareness of Mise en scene was shown by the fact I included multiple scenes just showing where we were within the Quarry. This involves scenes of the trees, the ground and the pathway. Some of these establishing shots included the 'Leading lines' technique, which helped to notify the viewer of what the walk was like and where we were going.
As my first try at producing a short video, there were obviously a few amateur difficulties. For example, I found it quite difficult to keep the video stabilised. I used a Camera cage in order to help this, but still found it tricky on such an uneven surface. Another difficulty was capturing the camera movement shots, like Arc shot and tracking shots. This was because I was using my dog, I cant tell her were to go or to stay still. So I kept it natural but she did indeed keep suddenly moving and I could not keep up with her in the process. And finally, I had an issue with focusing. I was using my DSLR camera which had a manual focus lens on, this meant that when my dog moved, she went out of focus and i had to quickly get her back into focus- which I was not used to. However, this did allow me to include a another technique called 'focus pull' within the movie, which I did often.
Overall, I really enjoyed attempting cinematography, as well as the final editing in Adobe Premiere Pro. If I were to do this again in the future, I would look at 'stabilising' the video within the editing process, and also try and cut the video more to the beat; I successfully did this towards the end, but not in the beginning. I would also try create more of a story, for example, short clips of me attaching a lead to her collar and more clips to create more of a 'vlog' style.



Taken on a Nikon d7200, with 35mm prime lens f/1.8

Types of camera shots (phool schotos)

Extreme long shot (establishing shot) 

Long shot

Mid shot

Extreme close-up

Close-up 

Two shot

Point of view shot 

Over the shoulder shot

high-angle shot

Low angle shot

Media Language : Stereotypical Representations

Media Language : Stereotypical Representations

Media Language Assessment Task: Bond poster


This is a poster created in order to advertise James Bond 007: Spectre, a movie which was released in 2015. This was the last analogue advertisement published in order to market the film before its initial release in cinemas. During and after this poster was showcased to the public; television, radio and the internet would have also played audio and/or visual advertisements in order to market this film. 
This poster was developed by IMAX, an institution within the movie industry who would have published this poster onto other media forms. IMAX is a company that specifies in production videocameras; these cameras are not hobbyist toys, they are for absolute experts in film making. Famous directors such as Christopher Nolan commonly uses an IMAX camera to achieve a full experience within his films that causes his audience to feel like they are actually there. By presenting within this poster that it was produced on an IMAX camera infers that this movie industry has high hopes for this movie and that it will be successful (meaning the profits can cover the cost of the partnership with IMAX). The budget for this movie was $245 million to $250 million, it earned $880.7 million, presenting the fact that their predictions were correct about this movie being successful. 


The approximate audience for this movie is 18+. This is because the silhouette of a gun and the fact the man (James Bond) is holding a gun in his hand signifies 'violence' and 'death', there fore it would not be suitable for the younger ages. The pictorial style of this poster is quite minimalist, this infers maturity and so its audience is mostly likely Adults. Movie posters which are aimed at the younger generation, typically are quite 'full' of photographic content, specifically backdrops- whereas this poster has only a white and plain background. However, to my surprise, this movie is a PG13, even though violent connotations are clearly shown within this poster. Despite its financial success, the movie was not rated as highly as expected. IMBD states that the mean rating for this movie is 6.8/10. 

The poster shows a man stood to the left of the frame, whilst slightly behind him there is a woman looking over her shoulder. The 'man' in question, is James Bond- performed by Daniel Craig and the lady or 'Bond girl' as she's known, is called Madeline Swan- played by Lea Seydoux. We know he is the protagonist because he is the subject within this poster that stands out the most and is furthest to the front. James Bond is wearing a black suit, connoting that he has a high-position within society; the idea that he's holding gun whilst being dressed in a smart manner infers of his job-role, he could possibly have the 'legality' to hold a gun. A mans suit is not cheap, inferring that this is a man who has money and is most likely '1st-class'. His posture is casual, one hand is in his pocket, this could symbolise 'casual confidence' or the 'unwillingness to reveal'- meaning he may be a man of many secrets. His other hand holds a gun, the gun is aimed downwards and he is clearly not in preparation to shoot. The way the lady is poised behind him may be a sign of dominance or the fact he is almost shielding her. We can accept that there is an association between the man and woman because of how closely they are stood together. 
Madeline Swan is wearing a light blue, silk gown. The colour 'light blue' symbolises 'trust', 'loyalty', 'wisdom', 'confidence' and intelligence'. Her aesthetics consist of a gown, 'vintage' make up and a hairstyle which reveals the right ear to show an earring. This is quite a glamorous look that can not be pulled of by everyone, this could connote her economic position and the fact she has the money to afford this style. 
Within the '007' typography is imagery from the 'Dia de los Muertos' sequence that forms the opening of the film. We get the impression that this is a frame from a scene because the blur within the text is 'stretched', showing movement. Within this section, we can see someone wearing a skull mask and top hat. The depth of field within this scene must have been shallow because the figure wearing the mask is sharp in comparison to the background. The rule of thirds has also been used as he is positioned to the right of the poster, so he is not in contact with 'James Bond' and 'Madeline Swan'. The skull upon the mask may symbolise 'death', this can lead to the connotation of him being a villainous character. 
The '007' logo is repeated again, this time in a much smaller font size and only in black. The fact it is black causes it to stand out in contrast against the white background. By repeating the logo, it reinforces the idea that '007' is the main brand or title of this film. Another reason why it may have been repeated is because the larger '007' logo in the background is partly hidden due to the people in front of it. 
The 'Spectre' logo is in a font that consists contrasting colours (black and white), this use of highlights and shadows within the lettering causes the text to appear as if its being shuffled or its moving from a distance.