unit 15- m1

 M1

back to school- sandy hook promise

This is an advertisement produced in 2019 by the sandy hook promise, they are a foundation made to raise money to prevent school shootings in the USA. The foundation was started after a mass shooting at sandy hook elementary in 2012 where 26 people were killed, 20 of which were children aged 6-7 years old and 6 being staff members of the school. This video was released to spread more awareness for a serious ongoing issue, in this advert it changes from using signified readings of happy children in a calm environment showing off their school supplies to one with very serious connotations of horror theme with blood and terror embedded into the children some of which getting injured. The narrative of this advert follows the school children's "day to day" life showing real children going about their day discussing the supplies they're excited to use to suddenly going very dark linking to the sandy hook shooting.

 

The setting for the advert is a stereotypical American school which relates to the topic because these kinds of things are more commonly associated with that particular region, this is also showcased by the clothing they wear connoting it is quite casual but most other countries in the world use uniforms for school children. For this topic in particular the lighting changes throughout due to the dark theme it is displaying making it go from a brighter lighting to a darker one to show a change in pace and mood and acts as a big signifier at both stages of the advert. They also use quite a few props to make it clear that its a "back to school" video like backpacks and shoes, the most significant one that they use is the skateboard as they use it to signify the change in mood as he goes from exclaiming his excitement for getting it to breaking the window which has all sorts of negative connotations. They use the camera movements and shots for effects getting mid shots and close ups to signify emotions and longer shots to show the setting. For editing the use things like jump cuts instead of smoother transitions which creates a dramatic effect and not only that but the camera is a little pit wobbly in certain scenes leading me to believe that it was hand-held, however it fits the style and theme of the advert connoting it being urgent like there is somewhere else it needs to be. There is use of dialogue to signify the emotions of the children and how this changes and this is supported by the music which is vert low but has connotations like a thriller film. The directors and producers use the certain school objects to their advantage without actually saying what's going on, like the children using the scissors and colored pencils as weapons to protect themselves without actually saying what they're protecting themselves from. As discussed they also use the music to set the mood and change it because when it starts they have some regular upbeat music playing behind the talking then like half way through it stops, allowing the screams and background noise to show the severity of the situation speak for itself. 

back to school- Asda

This is an advertisement that was produced in 2022 to promote a company, which is Asda. This is a very popular supermarket in the UK, and are known for having all sorts of things ranging from clothing, like school clothes and pajamas, to frozen foods in this case it is used to advertise their school clothes. It is shown to be for the UK because of the iconography such as the way its laid out like the uniform that the students are wearing because American schools don't use uniforms and the building that they are using looks more like a UK school as it is quite old and looks a bit run down whereas American schools are usually made to look very modern and well kept. The body language connotes happy students through the whole thing and it doesn't change tone like the my first advert. The lighting is bright throughout signifying the upbeat tone and this maintained throughout creating a dramatic party feel. The advert uses dramatic transitions to go from scene to scene which links to the upbeat and lively children who seem to be performing and are very confident which the advert is trying to link to the brand. There is use of animations and graphics which add more color to the advert which will appeal to the young audience  and connotes things like art and coloring which you do in primary school. In the advert they have also used quite upbeat music to signify the joy and happiness coming from the children, whilst also being customized to their values like changing the lyrics to describe the support of the trousers around the knees, because young children are stereotypically known for scuffing up the knee area of their trousers by playing rough. It also has very quick camera movements which could have been used to connotate that they sell out quick or to grab the audiences attention. They also use many props like the megaphone at the beginning and playing hopscotch, which makes it look really fun and out there, whilst also presenting that they're at school in their uniform. the lighting is also very constant throughout not changing from light to dark and vise versa to keep the mood the same. The pace of the edit is medium fast so the audience can see what is going on but it is fast enough to connote an upbeat vibe we see often in young people. The advert ends with a dramatic zoom backwards which also looks in slow motion of the group of children with lots of colorful graphics signifying a colorful and memorable end to the advert.