The support actors used in this advert are made to make the out side world look extremely dangerous through the eyes of a young vulnerable girl. The way in which they do this is by having scenes of people being physically and verbally violent, loud, shabby and generally unhappy. For example one man is preaching loudly and his mouth is up close showing that he is unshaven and very scruffy. Also there is a man shouting, "I cannot
believe this" because his car, clearly not a Volkswagen has broken down. He again is very unhappy and shabby. The clothes they are wearing highlight the difference in class off the family and ordinary people.
The soundtrack used in this advert is 'God Bless the Child' by Billie Holiday in the 1930's, a period renowned for jazz and blues music. It used because it is quite a classy song and again highlights that the Passat is not just any ordinary car. The actual meaning of the song is that it is good for those who have money but not for those who haven't. The ambient sound in this advert is scary to the girl e.g. police sirens. As soon as she enters the car all the ambient sounds stop but the music carries on which suggests the car has the capability to protect the girl from things that may harm her.
My final study on the Volkswagen advert is the cinematography. In the advert reaction shots play an important part in that they show how the girl is reacting to what she sees. For example when the street preacher is shouting there are shots of her face showing that she is scared of him. Also there is one birds eye view of Manhattan underlining the point that she is very small compared to the world and that it is dangerous. This shot is also rotating creating a feeling of disorientation. The girl looks up at the tall skyscrapers again giving the effect of scale and that she is very small. Some scenes in the advert are at a slant again creating disorientation. The shot of four men getting arrested is quite wobbly making it more disturbing and more real life to both the girl and viewer. Cross fades of the skyscrapers are used to add a sense of confusion to the little girl. The advert is shot in black and white to make the car classier and therefore more desirable but the "vw" sign is the only thing in colour making it stand out. In the last few scenes a traffic policeman waves the car on ahead of the traffic suggesting it is special.
Having studied the techniques used in the Volkswagen advert I shall now move on to the Levi's advert and again study the techniques used.
The basic story line of the Levi's advert is that a biker comes in to an office full of people hard at work through the lift, he searches through the office and finds a woman on the phone. Then she and the biker ride a way and they are seen crossing the bridge before the end.
To begin with I shall analyze the biker. Firstly his coolness is enhanced by the fact that you have to have a lot of "bottle" to ride into an office block on a motorcycle. He is wearing a traditional leather jacket and jeans which all make him very cool and young. I use cool not in the 'hip' kind of way but in the relaxed and with no emotion. By wearing the jeans he
is endorsing the product and saying, "you can be like me if you have them". He is wearing glasses, which make him untouchable in a way because no one can see his facial expression and that he is scared. His hair is gelled in stylish and trendy fashion, which is attractive to young people. The use of the bike gives the impact of freedom because you can go anywhere quickly if you have one. The lift he comes out of is brightly coloured contrasted to the dull office highlighting he brings coolness. This warm colour is again scene as they cross the bridge which symbolizes that the are leaving behind the boring life and heading to a better one.
The other people in the advert are used to draw contrast between the stylish biker and the boring lives of the ordinary office workers. For example at the start there is a scene where the camera zooms out from the office showing the many people hard at work in their boring jobs. Then as soon as the biker comes in every one takes notice. The security man stands up from reading his paper and can only watch as he goes by again suggesting that he is untouchable. When the biker is riding, looking for the woman the other people have to clear the way as if he is important and just stare at him. Also as the biker gives her the jeans a woman who is not the most attractive woman ever is surrounded by other office men and looks at the men wishing that someone like the biker could rescue her.
I will now move on to the sounds used in the advert. Firstly there is the ambient noise of the office, for example people talking. As soon as the biker enters the office the song starts playing, again suggesting he brings life into the boring office. The music used is a traditional "cowboy" song, which associates the biker with freedom and roughness of the west part of America. The song has the words "some people call me the gangster of love" emphasizing that women are attracted to him.
Lastly I will study the camera techniques used in this advert. The first part of the advert is where there is a view of an office and the camera zooms out showing the people hard at work.. This creates the sense of scale of the office. A panning shot is used when we are following the biker while he looks for the woman as the woman comes into our view the camera focuses on the woman and leaves the biker. This outlines the fact that he has come looking for her especially. When the motorcyclist drops the jeans on her desk the camera zooms in on them to identify the product otherwise the advert could be selling motor cycles.
My conclusion is that both adverts use different ways of making their product desirable and they associate the product with different qualities. This
is mainly because it is aimed at different people i.e. the Passat is for thirty or so year old parents who want to take care of their children and don't really care about looks and having fun. While the Levi's advert is associated with freedom and coolness but not safety because young people don't mind about being safe.
