Littlewoods Autumn advert analysis

Littlewoods Autumn advert
-The setting of this advert is in a mystical, dream-like location making it seem fun and magical.
-The sound effect of the women touching the other girls' outfits and it magically turning into something else from Littlewoods, reinforces the magic and desire for Littlewood clothes.
-The target audience for this clothing is evidently older women, middle aged.
-Halfway through the advert, bottom middle of the screen, there's text: Representative 0% APR. Credit subject to status, over 18's only.' This also represents their target audience as they are encouraging older people to buy their clothing and not young people.
-Moreover 'Low Weekly Payments' suggests the target audience is middle/lower class that maybe can't afford to buy the clothimng all at once and therefore can pay for it in monthly instalments.
-The women are the location of a fun play area. Reinforced by the small merry go round with horses. This infers the clothing will make you feel young and free. - Again I am noticing that most clothing adverts are selling not only the clothes, but a lifestyle.
-Ends with a mid shot of Mylene Klass centered. This is representative of what the clothes will transform you into- beautiful, young looking, middle aged.

"What are you hoping to achieve in your skills development?"

From AS to A2, I'm hoping to achieve a much more detailed understanding of all stages of creating a piece of work such as a thriller/advertisement. Linking to my critical perspectives exam, the key areas are:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and Planning
• Post-Production
• Conventions from real media texts 

 I'm hoping to improve my work noticeably from AS to A2 as I already feel I am a lot more confident and prepared for all stages of the coursework in A2. Moreover, I also feel less restricted because during AS, my knowledge was limiting and in some ways I felt that it was hard depending on a group. However, I feel that it will be challenging as I will be creating my final product independently which will be a lot more work and increasingly harder.

I hope to achieve improvements in all stages, but specifically, I really want to improve on my creativity as I didn't feel I explored everything and used any sources for help that were available to me. This time, I hope to broaden my ideas and explore any possibilities. Furthermore, I want to be more prepared and therefore will be doing a lot more research and planning, making sure I refer back to the questions throughout. I don't feel I was very prepared in AS and didn't refer back to my storyboard as much as I could have. This year for A2 I want to achieve confidence with digital technology which will enhance my final product.

So far, I feel that I have looked at many adverts on clothing which is what my idea is at the moment. I already feel I have improved in my effort in researching as I can easily identify target audience and the normal conventions of an advert. I also feel confident in what I need to do to achieve a good overall product.

Missguided spring/summer advert analysis

Missguided - Spring/Summer 2013
-This advert begins with a model centralised from a low angle shot. This is a wide shot which also establishes the location and the colourful smoke behind her which is eye catching and draws attention to the advert.
-Beginning with #MISSGUIDED immediately establishes a younger generation target audience as these are the main people that are on twitter and social networks.
-The colours are very bright and colourful which is eye catching for the younger target audience of girls mainly aged 15-25.
-The editing slows down when showing off the clothes which draws attention to their outfit.
-None of the models in the advert are smiling which gives them attitude and confidence. This would appeal to their target audience as they look dominant and edgy.
-The majority of the angles are low angles which portray the models as superior and this gives them dominance. Missguided want teenagers to think that if you buy into their clothing, you will feel superior.
-Missguided bring out adverts based on the season. This is a Spring/Summer advert. Therefore, they are influencing and encouraging the target audience to buy what they think is in fashion this Summer.
-The Missguided logo appears on the girls hat, raising brand awareness.
-The appealing location makes people more interested in watching the advert.
-The logo below of the 'peace, love and fashion' is sharp and catchy. Moreover, the fact that 'fashion' is in capital letters, makes it stand out and tells the audience that they will be following the fashion by wearing Missguided clothing. As well as this, the peace symbol and the love heart attract a young target audience as the symbols are used by mainly younger people.

Initial Idea + advert analysis

My initial idea is an advert for an online clothing site, similar to asos, therefore I have been researching and watching different adverts from clothing sites and shops. This consists of adverts by ASOS, H&M, Boohoo, Jack Wills, Very.co.uk, Littlewoods and so on.

It is clear from watching these adverts, who the main target audience are because the target audience heavily feature in the advert. For example, Jack Wills...



Here, it is evident that Jack Wills have tried to portray the typical exciting teenage life that everyone of that age fantasises about. Watching this advert I would say Jack Wills are trying to attract an audience of 12-25. Due to their target audience being mostly young. They have chosen to use upbeat and fast paced music and by portraying a large group of friends in a large house at Christmas, having a good time, it makes the audience want that life. The message they are sending is that your life will be like that if you buy into their clothing. Not only this, but it is evident from the location that the people in the advert are wealthy, this is also because Jack Wills clothes are expensive and so we get a more detailed idea of who they are targeting. It is clear that Jack Wills are trying to attract teenagers from wealthy families. Reinforced by the warm colours and fire inside and the cold white snow outside, which makes the audience feel comfortable and safe. Moreover, their moto 'Fabulously British' is also confirmed by their location of a big country house and snow with a big fireplace and christmas tree. In addition to this, because the brand are already well known and popular, they don't feel the need to focus as much on the clothing and what they sell, but more the lifestyle if you have the clothing and the type of people that buy and wear Jack Wills.

IDEAS

I've drawn a brainstorm of ideas to help me decide what I would like to create an advert on. I wrote down five main ideas and I developed ideas from that. I put down services that I would like to create an advert on. However, my favourite idea for a service was a makeup service such as a MAC masterclass but there are limited adverts on makeup services which would limit me in that I wouldn't have much research and knowledge on adverts of this kind. Moreover, I decided that aftershave and perfume are too cliche to create my advert on. On the other hand, there are a wide variety of adverts that I can research on and that I can base my understanding of the conventions on. My best ideas on this brainstorm are the clothing adverts and adverts for a household appliance. I like the idea of clothing because like aftershave, there are many adverts that I can look at, and I'm interested in this so I feel it will motivate me the most.

The history of advertising

I've been using sources such as text books to find out more about advertising so that I fully understand what advertising actually is. The text book: 'The Advertising Handbook' by Sean Brierley has really aided my learning.

• Advertising came about in the industrial revolution due to the mass making of products meaning more was made than actually sold. This resulted in the need for more consumers and therefore mass advertising was produced
• Britain was the first country to introduce mass advertising techniques 
• One of the first mass advertisers was Josiah Wedgewood
• Advertising can be used for a number of reasons including; motivating consumers to buy items, influencing consumers not to buy items, to change attitudes etc.
• Advertising has changed from the traditional 'use of media to inform consumers about something and/or persuade them to do something' to a wider definition which includes all paid-for publicity.

The first ever UK advert was a Gibbs SR toothpaste advert, broadcast 21st September 1955

Comparing this to modern day adverts shows the advances in technology and effects nowadays. I have really learnt from this how advertising has changed and developed over many years. However, some features are the same. For example, the persuasion techniques of facts for the audience and using appealing words such as 'fresh' to encourage the audience to buy their product, as well as this, the background music and voice over still sometimes feature in adverts. Linking this toothpaste advert to a modern day toothpaste advert, there isn't actually much difference in the structure of the advert which links to my exam side of Media that 'everything is a remix.' This has also allowed me to realise that when thinking of ideas, I can also consider making an old styled advert. 

Ancillary Task- Sponsorship and Radio adverts

As well as creating two adverts, I also have to create a sponsorship advert and a radio advert.

A sponsorship advert is an advert to support an event, activity, person, or organisation financially or through provision of products or services.Therefore, in return for a free advertisement before and after a programme for example, the advertisers put money into the company they're sponsoring.




Radio adverts are purely audio, usually live and are played in between songs/talking. Radio adverts can now be accessed from phones, computers and radios.




I need to consider how I can make both my sponsorship advert and my radio advert as interesting and catchy as my main task. Therefore, I need to keep in mind that whilst creating a logo/slogan/symbol, I need to consider how I will create all three adverts.

Advertising for a product and advertising for a service.

 This Maybelline advert that is advertising foundation, is a product advertisement. This is persuading the audience to buy the product that they are selling. The persuasion lies in the women that feature in this advert as they are all shown to have flawless skin and are perfect women. This encourages women to buy this foundation as they would want to look the same.
Moreover, the demonstration of a normal foundation spreading over the golf ball, which still showed the flaws in the ball and the dream liquid mousse spreading over the golf ball with complete coverage is also a method of persuasion.




This Injury Lawyers 4 U advert is advertising a service where you are protected from any accidents that aren't your fault. E.g slipping over at work due to a spillage where the wet floor was not indicated. This advert is short and just gives you the number to call if you want to use the service. The imperative tone the people in the advert have make it seem like it's necessary to call them if you're in need of help. As well as this, the woman falling over makes it seem like accidents happen all the time, it also creates a humorous tone which will cause the audience to remember the advert.

What is advertising?

After choosing advertising as my brief, I decided that the best way to start my research is to find out the actual definition of advertising.

What is advertising?
Advertising is a notice/announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service or event, or publicising a job vacancy. This is used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience to continue or take new action. In other words, people seek to increase consumption of their products/services through 'branding.' This involves associating a product with a name or image.

How can you advertise?
Mass Media: 

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Television commercials
• Radio commercials
• Outdoor advertising

New Media:

• Blogs
• Websites
• Emails
• Text Messages

Advertising falls under two categories- Commercial advertising and Non-Commercial advertising

Commercial advertising is to increase consumption in their product

Non-Commercial advertising is when advertisers spend money to advertise items other than  a consumer product or service. This includes religious organisations, political parties and interest groups.

Briefs

We have been given three briefs in which we have to choose one to do for our A2 coursework, the three briefs are:

• A promotional package for a new album, to include a music video, digi pack album cover, and a magazine advert promoting the album.
• A short film- 5 minutes long, accompanied by a film poster and a magazine review
• An advertising package for a new product or service to include two tv ads, a sponsorship sequence and a radio ad.

From the three briefs, I'm thinking of choosing the advertising package. This is because I find it the most interesting and I think it will motivate me for my coursework.

Reflection and Evaluation of key areas of my AS coursework

The 5 key areas of my AS coursework are:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and Planning
• Post production
• Using conventions from real media texts 

 I will be reflecting on these key areas as this will help me through my production process for A2 and will also help me with exam preparation.

Digital Technology

The digital technology I used in my AS coursework, I found reasonably difficult because I hadn't used it much previously. For example, Adobe Premier Pro and Garage Band. Adobe Premier Pro, was probably the most challenging piece of software I used. This is because although I knew the basics such as adding in clips and cutting them down, things like blurring out a specific part of the clip whilst zooming in was very difficult. However, I feel a lot more confident with the software now as making the opening title sequence of a thriller enabled me to use Adobe Premier Pro often.  I felt that my knowledge at the start of AS was very limiting and therefore I was restricted. I feel that if I starteD AS again now with my current knowledge, I could do a lot more and be a lot more creative. Premier Pro is probably the easiest piece of editing software and by using this I got to piece together my opening. Moreover, learning to use the camera was very interesting and It didn't take me long to get to grips with how to use it and film zoom-ins or pans. Using the camera allowed me to be creative as I got to experiment with different types of camera angles and positions to see what looked best, but also limiting in the fact that it was my first time and I wasn't aware of how to use it to my full advantage. I felt that the cameras ran out of battery too fast when filming which became a problem. As well as this, using the editing software Premier Pro, enabled me to incorporate smooth transitions from different shots. However, I did feel that I was slightly limited when it came to digital technologies as the only software I knew roughly how to use was Garage band and I felt short for choices, this meant that I found it difficult to find appropriate music/sound effects for our thriller.When editing certain parts, for example the protagonist slamming the front door, we had to edit the sound levels when on Premier Pro, as the sound of the slamming was too low and couldn't be noticed making it seem unrealistic, therefore we had to increase the volume but try and keep the music at the same volume level as before. I now realise the potential of what I can achieve as I'm constantly learning new things that will develop my skills and make my work a lot better and more sophisticated.

Creativity

Making the opening title sequence of a thriller increased my creativity because it caused me to think for myself and become more independant. Initially, we were looking at making a psychological thriller. However, we realised the idea was cliche, so I had the idea of making a political thriller. Thinking of different props and locations to use to make the thriller good was challenging, but caused us to think outside of the box, which resulted in many different ideas from all of the group. I feel the most creative part of our opening was when we thought of having a shot looking into the mirror at the protagonist tightening his tie and looking a himself. This is an important shot because the tightening of the tie creates interpretations such as his frustration as he pulls it tighter, or another interpretation that he's getting ready for something which increases the ambiguity and sinister tone. Moreover, the fact he is looking at himself connotes he is questioning himself and preparing himself for what he is abut to do with foreshadows the later events of the opening. I think that the flashbacks are quite original elements of our thriller as thriller openings don't usually include flashbacks. As well as this, I think the fact that the audience has a clear idea of what is going on -For example the flashback of the protagonist scrolling down the list of ow to make a c4 bomb also makes it original as usually the audience is kept in the unknown. However, we were influenced by other media texts such as 'enemy of the state' because this is also a political thriller and we used this comparatively when creating our opening of our political thriller. The digital technology available to us, for example, the mac books, really helped due to the software on the computer that enabled us to edit and add sound. The internet also really helped to find the perfect sound effects and music.

Research and Planning

In my AS coursework, research and planning helped me to create my overall product. Carrying out research on existing codes and conventions of the thriller genre and the sub genres allowed me to understand what to include and also influenced our decision of a political thriller. Additionally, I researched into the age restrictions and what our target audience take preference too, we did this by creating a survey that included questions such as 'what do you expect from a thriller opening?' and 'what is your favorite sub genre?' Conducting this survey helped us achieve the best results as we knew what different people liked. The planning stage such as story-boarding and producing the animatic, I also found challenging but all together allowed me to see how the final product may look, although it changed a reasonable amount between the animatic and the final opening. The storyboard was made again after our ideas had changed slightly and this really helped us with time efficiency as we always knew exactly what we were meant to be filming. However, I didn't understand the full importance of the research and planning stage at AS which I now realise could have made my final product much better. Nevertheless, the planning process helped with organisation, resulting in a better product. From my AS coursework, I think I have a much better understanding of the importance of the research and planning stage as they provide a basis for the finished product.

Post-Production

After filming, and gathering all of our sound clips and images, we mainly focused on editing and adding in bits we thought was necessary and that would make the opening better. The editing was very time consuming as you had to be careful when cutting clips down to ensure you got the right bits you want to include. As well as this, I took into consideration the transitions I would use as it wouldn't look good having too many of  the same transitions. However, not much of the text was created only in post-production as most of our opening was created when filming. To edit we used Adobe Premier Pro, this piece of software allowed us to modify many things on our raw material such as intertwining shots and changing the sound levels. We included our music towards the end of the post-production stage, our piece of music included different songs, therefore we had to include an audio transition to ensure a smooth unnoticeable change. Furthermore, we had to increase and decrease certain sound levels so that the audience would be able to hear everything clearly. This improved my overall skills with the different technologies, which will help me when creating my A2 coursework. By editing the raw material we were able to create meaning out of transitions For example, the flashbacks were shown with a 'fade to white' transition before and after the flashback, allowing the reader to recognise that he is not in present time, but in the past. We also modified the picture in the flashbacks to be black and white which also added to the audiences' recognition that it is meant to be a flashback. Consequently, using all of these modifications allowed me to develop my skills in editing and also made me aware of how to create meaning in the post-production stage. This gained understanding of the process will allow me to progress well from my AS to A2 coursework.

Using conventions from real media texts

We used many conventions from existing media texts because we recognised that the audience love familiarity between films. However, we did realise that too much familiarity could become boring, which lead us to make our opening based on conventions from real media texts but also challenge some conventions to make an exciting and unique opening. We have used conventions of night time shots and tense music which all provide familiarity. Moreover, shots we used such as the close up of the protagonist on the train, rubbing his face and the shot of him tapping his foot are also conventions that allow the viewer to understand his impatience/anxious attitude. I think the way we included the conventions was very successful. To keep our opening exciting, we challenged conventions such as having a flashback in an opening. This is unconventional for a thriller as the opening never usually includes flashbacks, and if it does, they are not shown in black and white. Moreover, the fact the audience knows what the protagonist is planning is also unconventional as thriller openings are usually very ambiguous, I am happy with the unconventional aspects of our thriller as it makes it different from other thriller openings. Challenging and using existing conventions of real media texts has made me more confident to challenge and use existing conventions of my A2 coursework.