This brief was taken from the blog of our teacher Mr Nick. (Who took it directly from Cambridge)
In this project, we were to create a 15 minute radio show with a maximum of 3 songs, create an advertisement to be featured on our show, create a logo for the show, include progress reports of what we did on our blog, and finally write a 600 word creative critical analysis of what we learnt and how our project went.
The House
Research
Horror:
- Conjuring 2: Silhouette of a little child standing on a symmetrical window frame, with rays of light surrounding them creates a supernatural effect around it.
The mysterious, hand, standing to the left of the poster offsets the symmetry, which creates slight discomfort. The hand holding a religious cross, symbolizing that it has religious connections. The shot used is a long shot, which creates a wide frame. The colours used are very low contrast and use blue/green colours expressing a very cold and empty tone.
- The Haunting of Hill House: This poster uses a combination of a close up and an establishing shot. The close up the woman showcases her tears, and cold, chapped and dry lips, which emphasizes her fear of what is next to come. Furthermore the establishing shot of the house cuts the woman's face in half & covers her eyes, which may imply that the house itself is what makes her scared, and thus cry.
The colours used are very low contrast and use blue/green tints expressing a very cold and empty environment, which may also emphasize fear.
- The Nun: The poster uses a medium close up shot and is combined with two pictures framed exactly the same way. The colours used are mainly black and white, which symbolizes evil and good. The medium close up shot of a beautiful woman dressed in white wearing a cross is seen to slowly disappear with a burning paper effect. It reveals a menacing character with gray lifeless skin, yellow inhuman eyes, dressed in black.
The font used reverses the third letter in “NUN” further implying the contrast or mirror concept. The letter “T” in the word “THE” also uses a religious cross to imply the religious connections.
Romance:
- 500 Days of Summer: Popular actors name at the top.
Collage of hundreds of pictures of the female protagonist make up the large majority of the poster. - This combined with the “500” written in larger font than the rest of the text indicates how these pictures are of the female protagonist throughout the “500 days” they were in a relationship.
Collage of pictures tinted yellow form a picture of the sun while the background is tinted a light blue, which correlates to the title of the movie as the bright yellow sun and blue sky is often associated with the summer season, and in this case indicates that the female MC is named summer, due to the pictures of her seemingly forming the sun in the blue sky.
Male MC is seen engrossed in his sketchbook as he sits on a grassy hill that isn’t real, but instead drawn. Furthermore, since the collage of pictures of the female MC forms the sky, this metaphorically shows how the male MC is given light by the female MC, and how she also gives him inspiration. This could imply that what he is actually drawing, is a portrait of the female MC, due to most shots of her in the collage seeming like pictures that an artist themselves could draw. This then emphasizes how the male MC fell in love with the female MC.
Thriller:
- Stranger Things: The two protagonists are facing face to face with expressions of seriousness, anger, and even pain to show the intensity/rivalry between the 2 MC’s which also shows that there will be a battle between the “hero” and “villain” at the end of the show, and may also be the climax of the story.
The “line” that splits the poster in half at the bottom show the cast of characters in the real world, and a upside down world, which could indicate how these different “realms and realities” will play a big part in the show.
The advert I have created titled Coca Cola; Closer Together, focuses on the ideas of Coca Cola being associated with the high’s of love and romance that one may experience in their younger years. The advert specifically emphasizes how Coca Cola will improve the time you spend together with the people/person you love.
My advert doesn’t stray too far from the norm of other adverts in the soft drink industry. Compared to other Coca Cola adverts and competitors like Pepsi as well, the conventions of being fast paced, showing an idealist/exhilarating lifestyle, and showing viewers the “way of life” associated with drinking the soft drink are all still prominently shown. The advert is filled with multiple different codes and ideas, most specifically the thrilling and blood pumping adventures the 2 protagonists go through. Specifically, the advert is set in multiple scenic environments people would love to go with their significant other, for instance, scenes showing the couple in their convertible sports car, at a mansion by the pool, on the edge of a beautiful cliff, in a retro 60's diner, lighting fireworks by a lake, and on the beach as they walk along the coast line. All these scenes denote, and increase the overall feeling and idea of having an extravagant and electrifying lifestyle. Another way my advert embraces the conventions of soda adverts is the music used. The song “Getaway” by Saint Motel, perfectly encapsulates the fast pace and exhilarating romance the actors go through as they quite literally make their own spontaneous “getaway” as shown in the advert.
For an advert such as this, I believe it would be aired on programs that mainly show romance/thrill seeking shows and movies. This makes it so that people in the target audience, young adult males and females, will most likely be shown the advert. Thus, the advert will resonate more within the hearts of these thrill seeking people, and further encourage them to go out and experience these feelings, and to buy Coca Cola.
The target audience and the audience the advert appeals to would definitely be the younger generation like teenagers and young adults. The content shown would not be relatable to younger kids as they wouldn’t understand the ideas of love at their young age. Not to mention a “thrilling” kind of love. To add, older/senior citizens wouldn't be the target audience either as they’re well past the age to go on exhilarating trips and adventures and live the “high life” shown in the advert. Thus, teenagers and young adults prone to the thrills of love would be the target audience for the advert. Additionally, the advert definitely targets people living in the western world, as other parts of the world may not see the idea of romance being this thrill-seeking experience, as that is more of a convention formed in Europe and North America. Additionally, it targets the middle-upper class, as the lifestyle shown in the advert isn't as easily experienced by poor people in the lower class, and it's likely that a high income would be needed to keep up with the kind of lifestyle portrayed in the advert, thus only really being relatable to the people of that income bracket. (Middle-upper class)
Furthermore, my advert represents the social groups of both female and male teens to young adults, as it can be seen that the 2 main actors shown are both young adults, and both of caucasian descent. This further increases the relatability to the young generation, and shows that love isn't always as “cookie cutter” as it may seem. And although other races may not be represented in the advert, i still believe Asian, African American, Middle eastern or people from any other ethnic group may still be able to relate to the advert and find it relatable, as romance is one of the few feelings that can is almost ubiquitously felt in the same way by people all over the world. Thus, I believe having a romantic conception allows the advert to find a wider audience than other adverts. On top of that, it can be said that the escapades of the 2 protagonists may resemble a more “modern & family friendly” Bonnie and Clyde, as the thrills of romance blind them from the dreaded reality that people must face once the thrills of their adventure may run out. It also encompasses the “living in the moment” way of life as well, which is most common with people who are still young and don't have to worry about the stresses of work and having a job. Its also quite fitting as the song "Getaway" by Saint Motel incorporates a lyrics in the song that states "Leaving behind, tonight we're Bonnie and Clyde", and this exemplifies the adverts ideas of a thrill seeking adventure with the person you love to an even greater extent.
From Katz’s and Blumer’s Usage and Gratification Theory (UGT), I would state that this form of media/advert would fall under the category of the “diversion” need, as audiences may watch this advert to try and escape from the mundaneness of their everyday life, and to try and experience the thrills of life shown in the advert, would go seek out novelty and try new things. Of course, with a bottle of Coca Cola.
Through creating the storyboard for this advert, I have learned how to create an effective storyboard and show the ideas I have in my head in a form that can be seen by others as well. My drawing skills weren’t the best, so I had to do my best to show my ideas through text form. But I believe that I was able to create a storyboard that would be understandable by directors, actors, and all people who would be involved in creating the advert. This project helped me in improving my artistic abilities, as for sketches I first drew rough outlines using pencils, and used reference images i found online to help me put my ideas on paper. Once I had finished the sketches, I moved over to tracing with a pen to create a clearer image of the storyboard that could be more easily understood. I did not use any online design software like photoshop as I believed it was more practical to use traditional methods and draw on paper. I also do not have the required equipment to draw the storyboard digitally, although I believe it may have been easier.
Coca Cola; Closer Together
I decided to choose Coca Cola as my product as it is one of if not THE most recognizable and popular drink across the world. Everyone knows Coca Cola, and it's more likely than not that everyone you know has drank Coca Cola at least once in their lives. Creating a Coca Cola advert allows for a vast array of opportunities for ideas, as there are a huge amount of ways to promote Coca Cola, as it can relate to almost any aspect of life.
Concept: This advert follows a young adult couple who go on an exhilarating trip/adventure in a city, as they drive around in flashy red car, all the while having Coca Cola prominently featured throughout the advert. The couples story could be describe as them being so engulfed in each other that they forget the world around them. The advert focusses on their activities and how much pleasure & fun their able to have as they enjoy their electrifying escapade, accompanied by Coca Cola. The purpose of the advert would be to show the thrills that accompany the captivating romance of the couple - Furthermore showing the audience how Coca Cola can bring people closer together.
Target Audience: This advert is strongly targeted towards young people in their late teens and young adults, but can also be for people a little older who would be in their late 30's to early 40's. This is because the ideas of a heartfelt and thrill filled love would only be a feasible idea for people who are still young and able to go on these sensational adventures. People who are still kids who don't understand fully the idea of love, and don't see the interest of going on these kinds of dates wouldn't be brought in and feel the advert. Similar to old people who aren't able to do the same activities now compared to when they were young.
Race wouldn't have to be considered, as romance is experienced in similar ways by all types of people, independant of skin color. However, this advert definitely targets people living in the western world, as other parts of the world may not see the idea of romance being this thrill-seeking experience, as that is more of a norm in Europe and North America. Additionally, it targets the middle-upper class, as the high life shown in the advert isn't as easily experienced by poor people in the lower class, and its likely that a high income would be needed to keep up with the kind of lifestyle portrayed in the advert, thus only really being relatable to the people of that income bracket. (Middle-upper class)
Setting: The advert will be set in multiple scenic environments people would love to go with their significant other. Some scenes will feature the couple in their Convertible Car, at a mansion by the pool, on the edge of a beautiful cliff, in a retro 60's diner, lighting fireworks by a lake, and on the beach as they walk along the coast line.
Song: Getaway - Saint Motel (Played throughout the whole advert)
Storyline/Script:
- The advert kicks off with the couple in their flashy car, as the female Actress looks back at the camera (which is in the backseat), with sunglasses on her face, and pulls them down a little as so the audience can see her eyes. The scene then cuts to a shot at a different part of the road as the Female Actress puts her arms in the air, as she holds a Coca Cola bottle in her right hand.
- Next, a shot is shown in which the female actress is walking along a cliff, without noticing the camera, she then turns her head towards the camera, which in this case would be from the POV of her lover.
- The following scene shows the actors running down a grassy hill towards a huge mansion as the camera follows behind them, at the same speed the actors are running.
- Next, the actors are shown having a picnic under a tree as they sit on a picnic blanket with food like sandwiches, snacks, fruits, and most importantly 2 bottles of Coca Cola are shown in the hands of the actors, as they cheers and then drink from each other bottles.
- The next scene shows a close up of the 2 actors in a retro 60's diner drinking from the same bottle of Coca Cola using 2 different straws.
-The following scene shows the 2 actors are by the side of the pool, as they hold each other in their arms with the sun sets in the background
- After that, the scene switches once again to the POV of the male actor, as he watches the female actress light a firework by the edge of a picturesque lake at night. She lights the fireworks and then runs towards the male actor and jumps to him. The fireworks then go off as the scene cuts to a shot of them from behind, as the fireworks explode in the sky.
- The ending shot of the actors shows a close up of the couple's hands, as they have them tightly together while walking along the coast of a beach, by the ocean. The scene then cuts to a medium close up of the couple from behind, still holding hands, but now they're seen holding a bottle of Coca Cola, in each of their free hands. They continue to walk for a second, after-which white text is overlaid in large font which reads, "From Coca Cola, With Love".
- In the final shot, the scene switches completely to a glass of coca cola with a pure white background, as coca cola is poured into the glass, while the text is still overlaid. The song then fades out and the ad ends.
Sketches:
First Draft:
Final Sketch:
