Analysis of The Guinness advert.

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Analysis of The Guinness advert

Media Coursework

Praised by the media industry, described as "the most beautiful and powerful piece of film on our screens," and voted greatest television advert of all time. The Guinness advert achieved this kind of status soon after it hit our screens in 2000.

Guinness ads, clever and flashy as they usually are have out done themselves again with this incredible piece of footage. Its provocative speech, together with the carefully designed filming techniques compels the audience from beginning to end.

It opens with a close up of a man's face. For nine long seconds, all you can do is look at him, gaze into his eyes and wonder why he's just standing there, what he's going to do, and why he doesn't speak. This draws you in, you sit, captivated as the wind ruffles his toilet brush-like hair. Then, from the silence come the words "he waits."

You don't know how long he's been waiting for, or indeed, why he's waiting at all, but you guess he's been there a long time. Three more men appear, each clasping a board, and the newly formed group of surfers run flat out towards the crashing waves of the forbidding ocean. "Tick followed tock followed tick." This further emphasises the fact that he's waiting, and extends the time that you think he's been waiting for, weeks, months, years we don't know. A faint pounding grows steadily louder at this point, as the situation becomes more desperate; I think this is supposed to symbolize the surfer's heartbeat.

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Next is the battle with the wave, several very muscular, white horses are introduced, this makes you even more aware of the very real danger which the surfers are facing, and makes them seem totally insignificant when compared to the shear size of the waves, and the beauty and strength of the horses.

There is a vital shot when it seems that our man will not be able to get into position. The designers have chosen to do a close up of his face at this point to show his panic stricken expression, he's fighting in mortal combat against the ...

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