Exam Question Paper 1 Section A Q1

Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in this save the children advert and the water aid advert. (30 marks)

Both adverts require their audiences to feel a sense of empathy for those who are suffering in order for money to be donated to their cause. In the Water Aid advert the establishing shot is of a  dreary, wet windowsill with the visual code connotations of cold and blueish lighting. Similarly, the Save the Children advert has an establishing shot of a young girl who is about to blow out her birthday candles. As it is a stereotypical representation of western culture it links back to Stuart Hall's theory as it is celebration the intended audience can relate too. Initially, the audience would build some sort of connection to the young girl. However, In the Water Aid commercial the camera cuts to an unfamiliar scene to a landscape shot of a wheat field in Africa. The lighting of this shot is warmer than the previous one. Afterwards, the main character, Claudia, begins to sing a well known western pop song by the international British Pop singer Zoe. Creators of Adverts often use inter textual references such as to engage the audience whilst keeping it relevant to the contemporary audience allowing them to respond positively or negatively depending on what emotions the creators are trying to provoke. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting that begins to emerge in the background with the chaotic and disturbing camera shots as the advert progresses could evoke a sense of guilt.

Advert creators often use intertextual references such as Claudia singing the Pop song to engage the audience whilst allowing it to be relevant for the contemporary audience therefore evoking positive or negative emotions depending on what the creator intended them to feel. This also links back to the Save the Children advert as the dark lighting begins to emerge in the background around forty seconds into the Advert. Traditionally within media dark lighting is associated with chaos and disturbance. As the fast cuts of the camera progress the advert could provoke a sense of guilt as the young girl begins to look a bit paler inferring to the audience that the conflict going on has effected her physically. In the Save the Children advert the earlier mis en scene is from a wealthy western country with the establishing camera shots displaying scenes such as the young girl going to school and getting into the car. Around forty seconds into the advert the scenery begins to shift from the familiar everyday to war torn imagery as the lighting becomes low-key. This paticular shift in tone would be when the audience recognises that something is wrong and begin to question if everything they saw in the previous shots is a potential facade as the reality of war is slowly being revealed. In these shots the young girl's facial expressions suggest fear as she appears to be afraid but aware of eerything that is going on in the background. The audience would be familiar with this representation as it links back to George Gerbner's representation theory as it tis a repreated representation of victimizing people who are struggling in society that has been used in a countless number of charity adverts. Furthermore, the shift in tone that the advert took would also resonate with the audience as it is also a genreand repeated convention audiences would be used to which links to Steve Neale's genre theory.

Unlike the Save the Children advert in the Water Aid commercial the main character, Claudia, is given a name to personalise her character allowing the audiece to feel some sort of connection to her. In the visual footage we witness brighter colours than the dull and dreary Save the Children Advert however she is walking a long distance to reach the water well. Due to this the audince may feel pity as it is unfortunate prompting them to donate to the cause. On the other hand, the save the children advert does not give the girl a name indicating that conflict could occur anywhere in the world which links to the last scene