Advert Analysis

Channel 4 Paralympics 'Meet the Superhumans' 2012 and British Airways 'The Race' 2012

British Airways Advert
Channel 4 Super Humans

The contextual factor of the 2012 summer Olympics and Paralympics was key to the narrative of both of these adverts, with one focusing on the athletes involved and the other targeting the spectators and travellers to the games. The narrative of the Channel 4 advertisement has a non-linear structure which is effective as it creates a backstory for the athletes giving examples of how some of them became disabled and subsequently gives the characters more depth. This is emphasised by the use of diegetic sound and absence of music with the song by Public Enemy 'Harder Than You Think'. There is use of diegetic sound with the athletes swimming and the basketballs bouncing to immerse the audience into the action and in tandem with the close up shots this creates a sense of intimacy as if the audience are actually there. This sense of intimacy is emphasised further through the use of close up shots with the athletes using a direct mode of address by looking straight down the lens with the non-diegetic track playing over saying 'thank you for letting us be ourselves'. The word 'you' explicitly targeting the audience and highlighting the theme of unity and inclusion between those with disabilities and abled body people.
The visual code of light, or rather absence of light in some places is effective in communicating the message of 'meet the super humans' in an attempt to disregard old opinions and stereotypes of what is to be a disabled person. The initial entrance of the athletes shows their silhouette of the athletes entering the shots, which effectively represents the idea that what people know about Paralympian's and the sports they can compete in is very limited, that they are 'in the dark' about these competitors. This is then juxtaposed with the second half of the advert where the athletes are heavily lit with bright close up shots which connote hope and shows Channel 4 to be 'shining the light' on these unsung heroes or 'Super Humans' of the games. The purpose of the advert was to excite and partially educate the audience about the Paralympics and therefore the theme of hope throughout is simultaneous with the narrative.

Similarly, with the British Airways advert, there was an outlining theme of hope to the narrative, with the advert following a young girl and her cases in a race against the other countries to make it to London 2012. The use of non-diegetic sound of a sports style voice-over is effective in explicitly linking the advert with the upcoming event. The title of the advert, 'The Race' is mimicked by the quick cutting of the shots which suggests haste and sets a fast pace to the advert like that of an actual race. The narrative structures of both adverts are similar with juxtaposing cuts during the commercial. In the British Airways advert the little girl watching the television on her flight contrasts with the tension being build surrounding the racing cases which emphasizes to the audience the smooth, relaxing atmosphere on their flights despite any chaos happening outside of the aircraft. This contrast was used to show the positive outcome of the characters despite what other events are happening which is similar to the Channel 4 advert which shows quick shots of the causes of the athletes disabilities such as an army explosion, troubles during pregnancy and then a car crash. This structure helps to create a relationship between the athletes on screen and the audience as it gives there athletes more a back story, this twinned with the music saying 'thank you for letting me be myself' adds to the overall feel of the acceptance and highlights the athletes ability to overcome adversity.

Weekly News 25

School is slammed for asking students to wear their expected A-level grades on 'nooses' around their necks to 'make them aware' what they're aiming for

This story comes from the Daily Mail and is written by Kate Samuelson

I chose this story as I felt it was relevant due to our own upcoming exams in a few weeks.
It is a story about a school in Bedford  which now requires it's students to wear their targets around their neck as a way of identification and as incentive to do well in their exams.

However, students are hitting back complaining that this new system adds more pressure to the already stressful period.

I personally do not agree with this system as it not only a physical embodiment of the pressure that target grades impose on people, but also makes students who aren't as academically adept feel inadequate and isolated from the rest of the students, and if Coulsdon introduced the same policy I would feel like my grades would be an unfair way of categorising me based on my potential academic ability rather than my effort.

 

This highlights the modern issue of education how grades are seen as more important than the students actually learning and are a way of comparing people despite it being a platform that not everyone can excel in. The article seems to side with the students on this occasion which is unusual as usually teenagers are represented as delinquents involved in illegal activities but in comparison this shows them to be victims of 'the system'

Weekly News 24

Theatre actor murdered Army veteran and friend so he could steal money to pay for his wedding

This story comes from the Daily Mirror and was written by Gail Shortland .

The tone of writing is very opinionated and presents the story as almost a piece of gossip rather than an objective report of what happened in this case.

The man in the above photograph Daniel Wozniak, murdered both Sam Herr, 26 and Julie Kabuishi, 23 in an attempt to steal $40,000 to pay for his wedding and honeymoon the following week. 

I found this story interesting because of the inclusion of the men's occupation, like it had something to do with the motive or the execution of the murders. The writer stressed very strongly about how much of a good person Sam was and how the tragedy was emphasised as it was done to someone who 'defended their country'which somehow suggests that his death is a greater loss than Julie's or if he were not a solider- even though as a solider serving in Afghanistan Herr is most likely to have killed others himself due to the nature of his work.

I personally think that the way in which this story is presented takes away from the seriousness and sadness of what has actually happened and makes it seem like a bad plot for a serial drama. 

Weekly News 23

Emergency biscuits flown into UK due to national shortage

- This article is from the Independent Elsa Vulliamy, however I originally found it on Twitter with the caption 'I have never heard  of anything more British'

This is the story following two cargo planes bringing emergency biscuits into South Yorkshire after United Biscuits factory in Carlisle- manufacturer of McVitie’s, Jacob’s and Crawford’s products- was forced to close after a flood.

 I found this story interesting after following our recent research into regional and national identity, and I thought that this story was quite odd how for country who is usually desperate to diffuse the stereotype that in Britain all we care about is tea, however in a usually very serious newspaper such as the Independent it represents Britain as a country only interested in very trivial things.

Regional Identity

Geordie Shore

Geordie Shore is a 'reality' television show that follows a group of housemates that lead 'Tash On Tours' around Newcastle and abroad. Geordie Shore is the English version of Jersey Shore and as aforementioned focuses on a small group of people who's job is to get insanely drunk and have sex, a lot. This programme shows a negative representation of the Geordies as it shows them as wild, aggressive and uncontrollable as often the action on screen includes arguments, fighting or general drunk chaos. Geordie Shore is also a negative representation of young people or a younger generation as everyone in the show is, or started, when they were in their early 20's and the drama that happens on screen keeps with the stereotype that young people in this generation have gotten out of control.

Until recently, the Geordie Shore cast was completely white which gives a very limited representation of people from Newcastle as obviously the whole of the population of Newcastle isn't white. Similarly, until the addition of Nathan, everyone in the Geordie Shore house was straight which again showed a very isolated, limited view into those from Newcastle.

The Only Way Is Essex

Similarly to Geordie Shore, TOWIE's cast is not a very diverse one. The majority of the cast, or at least the most featured are white and live very similar lifestyles often working in shops or real estate. The representation of those featured in TOWIE shows the cast as very self-involved and very concerned about their appearance, which is then emphasised by the majority of the cast using their fame from the programme to release clothing and beauty ranges. The representation of the people in Essex, again similarly to Geordie Shore, shows them as very confrontational, often with couples cheating on each other or stereotypical girly gossip.

One difference between TOWIE and the other programmes is the different representation of ages, as TOWIE has a wider variety of ages from children to grandparents of the main cast. This gives the audience a better indication of regional identity than in Geordie Shore.

Made in Chelsea

Made in Chelsea is again a reality television show that's main cast consists of 'well off' young white people. This series follows a more elite group, of upper class young people and represents that as unapologetically wealthy, spending vast amounts of parties and clothes and getting into arguments about clashing relationships. Made in Chelsea, like the other series lacks diversity of both sexuality, race and age, and although the shows appeal is that it is a glimpse into the lives of the very privileged, the cast suggests that this privilege is only available to white people. Although professionally, some of the characters may be very successful, another negative representation would be that they are never shown to be working, only ever spending or partying. This makes the working/middle classes question their right to their wealth.

Weekly News 22

Chinese woman took up to a month to STARVE to death after becoming trapped in lift as horrified rescuers find scratches on walls next to body

 

This story comes from the Daily Mail and is written by Joseph Curtis for the Mail Online.

I was interested in this story as the headline shocked me, especially with the emphasis on the word 'starve' which grabbed my attention. The story speaks of a 43 year old Chinese woman who was mistakenly trapped inside of a lift after the maintenance team cut off the electricity supply.

 

The story itself is brief, so much so that in order to boost content the story spoke of similar story about a woman, also in China, died from falling over an escalator in department store. The overall tone of the story is very questioning of Chinas health and safety system, even suggesting some 'accidents' such as this are the fault of corruption.

Untouchable (2011) Analysis

The story of Untouchable is based on a true story of a quadriplegic aristocrat who hires a young man from the projects to be his carer. The film then follows as  relationship grows stronger and each introduces each other into their world whist also highlighting many issues facing a range of different people in France in the 21st century.

The film highlights the representation of race, ethnicity, disability, class and issues. 

The film starts with a scene from nearer the end of the plot with a fast car scene with Driss and Phillipe being chased by the police. This is an exciting way of engaging the audience with the action and also creates intrigue as we don not yet know who these characters are, what their relationship is, and why they need to be driving so fast. Also by having the first scene in the car the camera is very close to the characters making the audience more aware of the characters emotions, creating a more personal relationship between them.

The film's representation of disability is largely a positive one, demonstrating how people with severe disabilities are really no different from any abled body person, who is highlighted through Phillipe's desire not to be pitied. It then goes on to demonstrate this equality through Driss and Phillipe sharing activities such as paragliding, visiting art galleries, and smoking joints together. The use if the paragliding is also a good use of parallels to show change in the characters as it was in a paragliding accident in which Phillipe lost his ability to move, so by showing him, now with Driss, enjoying himself in the same activity again suggests to the audience that the addition of Driss has given Phillipe a new lease of life which in turn suggests what the support of a good care worker can do.

 

Continuing on from the previous point, Untouchable also highlights the issue of insufficient healthcare staff especially those to support heavily disabled people such as Phillipe. An example of this in the film would be at the beginning when Driss initially interviews for the position among the other applicants. In the quick moving clips of the interview applicants they all were shown to be very well educated and with various degrees and qualifications but showed no real interest in Phillipe and also lacked basic human attributes- they came across as very robot-like/trained clones of one another. This could be a comment on the healthcare system, saying how care-workers and education in health and social care is too academic giving students no experience with real patients in real life situations. A specific example of this would be when Driss leaves and is replaced by the carer who insists on asking Phillipe's opinion on everything, showing no real initiative to think for themselves.