How does the advert use media language to engage the audience?
The advert starts off with an enigma, you hear the voice of a woman inviting somebody in to take a seat, this voice connotes mother-like qualities, it sounds calm, loving and caring which could connote the advert to be about caring or looking after somebody or something (health advert maybe?) another enigma is who is this person the woman is inviting in? At the start we do not see the characters face which does in some way disengage the audience as they aren't able to straight away identify with the character but it could engage them due to it being an enigma, it does push away one gender or socio group due to the character being represented as that, it's trying to attract as many different types of audiences as possible, long enough to keep the audiences attention from being diverted.
The camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up as if it were interviewing the character who is being invited in. The advert is of course a Barnardos advert and this particular advert is about a life story of one of the children that was being helped by Barnardos, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise. The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child.
When being asked questions the character says he has nightmares and has a child and doesn't want his child to go through what he has been through, again this creates the enigma of what did this character go through? what nightmares has he had? this again would attract an audience, they would want to know the answers to these questions. Another thing that engages the audience is the amazing edits, the edits make it look as if there is one smooth camera movement through the life story and the character getting younger but of course as each time the character gets younger the edits cut but are disguised to look like one smooth camera movement, this type of editing is very unique and rarely ever been used in such a way and of course seeing something which seems different would attract an audience, it confuses them but makes them want to see more, the smooth edits could connote the way Barnardo deal with the children they help, they help them slowly and smoothly move and progress into a better person and live a better life.
The emotions and facial expressions created by the characters are portrayed very well, you can see and feel the emotions of the characters this allows the audience to identify with the characters, some audience members may be going through similar tough times and they can see how they aren't alone, this engages the audience as the characters could be representing feelings that the audience have. The non-digetic music which plays over as a sound bridge allows the audience to feel sympathy, the music is sad and is parallel to the video which speaks of a sad life story which progresses into a happy ending.
Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters, which would engage the audience.
How is the barnardos represented in the video?
The female voice with mother-like qualities could connote Barnardos as a caring and loving charity, they are seen as a mother which connotes love and affection and someone who is always there for you. The editing used is straight cuts which are disguised to look like one smooth movement from each actor, it could connote that Barnardos help children no matter what problems they have and they are able to smooth out their lives and improve them slowly.
Also at the start the camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up which connotes that Barnardos helps children who are feeling low and down and are struggling in life and they will help lift them up and help them with everything they can, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise.
The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child, but as the character gets younger it shows the lighting getting darker (more shadows are shown, becoming more and more low-key lighting) this could connote that Barnardos had helped this character get rid of his darkness or bad past, they helped the character improve as a person, but as seen at the start the character still has low-key lighting on his face which connotes that Barnardos were not able to fully restore the character to a perfect life, the character as he gets younger has more low-key lighting on his face meaning that Barnardos has changed the character as he has grown. The lighting connotes that Barnardos can help improve the character but there will always be some darkness in their life, but it will be less than before.
Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters. Overall, Barnardos is portrayed quite positively as a loving, mother-like charity.
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