Television Advertisements Structures: Form and Style

Different forms are used in advertising in different ways Different forms are used in advertising in different ways. Depending on the audience and product or service, the form of an advert will vary. Form

 Animation The term animation encompasses a wide range of techniques from 2D images all the way to CGI. Animated images are often used in television advertising so that more fantastic or impossible scenes can be used.  Examples: Guinness - Evolution Milky Way - Red Car, Blue Car  Come up with 1 of your own examples Form

 Mini Fictions Many ads present mini fictional narratives, including a main character with whom we are asked to identify, and a little scenario/situation within which they successfully operate to overcome some problem or issue.  Examples: Yellow Pages Lynx – End of the World Come up with 1 of your own examples Form

Documentary Documentary style adverts are used to suggest ‘real people’ who are using the product. They borrow from the trust we have in documentaries to ‘tell the truth’.  They may also involve celebrity or ‘expert’ endorsement. Examples: Bob Monkhouse- Prostate cancer The Salvation Army – £19 Christmas appeal   Come up with 1 of you own examples Form

Talking Heads Following on from documentary, the celebrity or expert may be presented as a ‘talking head’, usually addressing an implied interviewer. A talking head may also be a satisfied customer saying how much they love the product. Examples: Yasmin – Oral B Pampers – Baby Dry Come up with 1 of your own examples Form

Form Stand Alone ads Versus Series Ads   Most ads are stand alone ads, which advertise a product or service and do not link with any existing advertisements for that brand, product or service. Examples (stand alone): Think! - Slow Down Cravendale - ‘Cats with thumbs’  Come up with 1 of your own examples Form

Series Ads Some ad campaigns use a series of adverts to promote a single brand, product or service. Sometimes the adverts differ slightly in the content but it can also result in a progressive narrative over a long period of time and over a number of singular commercials. Occasionally these series last for many years.   Examples: Nescafe Gold Blend - Antony Head Daz - Cleaner close BT - Infinity Come up with 1 of your own examples Form

We have now explored the different forms of existing advertisements, now we will be focussing on style. Style

Style Humorous Can be tongue in cheek, silly or cute Usually harmless and stick in our minds Frequently used in alcohol ads   Examples Have you got a WKD side? - WKD Nanas knit Shreddies - Shreddies Come up with 1 of your own examples Style

Style Surreal Audience are not too sure what the product is Plays on being different and away from the ‘norm’   Examples David Lynch - PS2 Belly’s gonna get ya - Reebok Kevin the hamster - Levi’s (banned) Come up with 1 of your own examples Style

Style Shocking/Dramatic Gets our attention and makes us feel bad/sad Shock tactics to appeal to softer/kinder side and we feel empathy Examples NHS - Give blood/stop smoking Think! - road safety Bob Monkhouse - Prostate cancer Come up with 1 of your own examples Style

Style Parodic/Intertextual References existing texts and makes fun of the original subject matter We feel smart/glad to get the parody/homage Examples The A-Team - 118 118 Wacky Races - Vauxhall Corsa Come up with 1 of your own examples Style

Style Nostalgic Plays on our sense of nostalgia/fondness of the past Audience remembers older days/adverts Examples Through the ages - Hovis Through the ages - Bisto Through the ages - Fairy Liquid Come up with 1 of your own examples Style

Style And finally… TECHNICAL ELEMENTS When analysing ads, just like when analysing any other moving image media text, you’ll need to make sure you cover the technical elements of the text: Camera use (angle, shot, movement, composition) Mise-en-scene/iconography/lighting Editing Soundtrack (sound effects, music, dialogue) Style