The two adverts that I chose are specific to their own goals but they both have similarities and contrasts (Max Steel and Nancy School Nursery). The main difference between the two adverts is the idea of the toy and its own play purpose. As in the girls advert the idea is given across that you should stay at home and teach children and then play with them in the nursery. Whereas in the boys advert you are told to go out and defeat the evil “bad guy” and to be “manly”. This is a stereotypical view given to young boys that will follow this role model and the same effect goes to the girls as they are being told to be like a stereotypical 1950’s American middle class housewife.
I also see that the boys advert has more of a narrative theme towards it, which is the same as the action man advert, which could be evidence that the makers of these type of adverts work on a basis idea that they have found to work better on the young boy audience. So therefore will use it to create the best response to the product sale. But as the advert is aimed at a younger audience it won’t become noticeable to the child. Though when looking at the girls advert I see that there isn’t really a narrative towards it rather than it being a group of ideas that could be used when you play with the toy. Also in the girls advert the stereotypical view of a woman is given as she usually is wearing a dress and high heeled shoes, pushing out the idea of that is what they need to be like to be successful in life like the doll presented.
The editing between the two adverts seems to vary in difference but the most common to use is the straight cut, possibly trying to push in as many shots as possible. The Max Steel advert though does use some wipe shots E.g. when the hand glider flies past screen. Or a straight cut is masked by an explosion that pulls towards the screen giving the viewer an idea of been there in advert. As a result a feel of action and power is given to the toy advert. A contrast to this though is in then Nancy advert as most of the editing is shown as being usually a straight cut and the use of editing is quiet plain compared to the Max Steel advert.
The focus in both adverts stays sharp throughout usually. In the “Nancy” advert when the doll is shown with the girls face the camera slowly focuses out to give the girls face a more beautiful complexion with blemish free skin. This could possibly make the child think that’s what they will look like if they possess this product. Since the boys advert seems to have more of a narrative towards it the dialogue is slightly different in comparison with the girls advert. As in the boys advert the dialogue is presented by a deep gruff male voice and reads out a type of story towards the child which repeatedly puts out the products name towards the audience (possibly so the child remembers the name of the toy and tells their parents who are the more likely party to purchase the product). In girls adverts the dialogue does not really tell us a story rather than it gives the idea that this is a how young girl should act. It is presented in a very typical feminine voice, sometimes to the backing of a quiet thumping beat.
The sound effects in the girls advert are diegetic and not many that are shown are non-diegetic for example the sound track or voice over. Some of the sounds included in the girl’s advert are related to the product for example, the school bell and children laughing. This gives the toy a more realistic feel to it. An opposite to this is in the boys advert, the sounds are still diegetic but are much more emphasised and action packed, for example in the Max Steel advert the sounds used are explosions and missiles been fired. A similarity between the two is that they both have background music but the difference in the two is that the Nancy advert has a more “piano” effect giving a form of femininity whilst the boys advert is more “forte” and giving a faster pace effect that people relate to masculinity.
The lighting in Max Steel is a three point lighting in a fill light to knock out the shadows, possibly so that the audience isn’t distracted by the shadows which could be quite distracting as the product is constantly moving in the advert. This would be a downfall, as the audience may not remember information about the product. In the Nancy advert the lighting has been put in a back light to define and enhance the product making it more appealing to the audience as the toy is the only object in the advert.
The differences in the camera movement of the two adverts isn’t that vast as both use a pan effect especially in the girls advert as the camera pans around the product about 180 degrees. This defines the object where as in the boy’s advert the camera stays fixed on the object but moves as the product moves. The camera shots in both adverts are also very similar as both stay in a long shot giving definition on the product, this is more appealing to the audience.
In conclusion I find that there is a difference between boys and girls adverts that is apparent to us as an older audience but to a younger audience aged between eight and nine years they would just see it as a window into a new way of playing. The restrictions of price cost aren’t comprehensible to them. There is a line that splits boy’s adverts from girl’s adverts that we as an older audience can tell by sound definition whether an advert is for boys or girls without even needing a visual aid.
