What Techniques do the charity adverts Cartoon and Cribs use to get their audience's attention and are they successful or are

Rakesh Sorathia

What Techniques do the charity adverts “Cartoon” and “Cribs” use to get their audience’s attention and are they successful or are adverts too shocking for TV?

Introduction,

In the advert “Cartoon” a “Cartoon” boy is seen to be thrown around by his father who is very violent. The father has just walked in from work and the “Cartoon” is happily watching T.V, when suddenly the father gets angry and starts to hit the “Cartoon”, at the end the child is running when the father pushes the “Cartoon” down the stairs and we discover that the “Cartoon” is actually a real boy lying dead on the floor. In the advert “Cribs” a young teenage girl is showing us around her so called crib. Whilst the girl is showing us around, she mentions her swimming pool and as she takes us to see it, she is run over. It’s actually after she is run over, that we realise that all the scenes before, was her future projected and that now she is a school girl. The focus of this essay is to compare both the “Cartoon” and the “Cribs” adverts and to discuss how which advert has been more successful on getting the audience’s attention, which is mostly teenagers aged 12 to16. The devices that have been used so far are that: in the “Cartoon” advert the setting which is the house is very dirty and dark showing that there are bad memories within this house whereas in the “Cribs” advert the mansion is very bright and colourful, this shows that the people living within this house are very happy. I think that the “Cribs” advert isn’t really as shocking as the “Cartoon” one because when the “Cartoon” is being abused, the “Cartoon” bounces back and the audience think that it’s a joke but at the end when the father throws the “Cartoon” down the stairs then the audience realises what kind of message this advert is trying to give out. The techniques that I am going to use in this essay are: alliteration, onomatopoeia and other various techniques.

Paragraph Two,

This is a preview of the whole essay

Paragraph Two,

In the “Cribs” advert the type of shot that is mostly used is the medium shot, which shows equality, there are also some close-up shots, which indicate all the little details within the advert. The emotions used in the “Cartoon” advert mostly relate to the theme of sadness and hatred because of the entire abuse taken place within the Mise en scene in the “Cartoon” advert. In the “Cribs” advert the emotions that are used are happy and peaceful until the last two scenes where the girl sees the car and when she is knocked over. In the “Cribs” advert there are a few high angle shots showing vulnerability; one where the girl jumps onto the bed: this shows that she is a teenager, also there is a low angle shot showing the audience that the girl is in control; when the girl is coming down the spiral shaped stairs wearing a black dress, this shows that the girl was dominating that particular scene. In the “Cartoon” advert there are a few high angle shots showing that the father is in control because these shots are from the “Cartoon” boys’ point of view. Also there is a particular scene where the “Cartoon” boy is in the light and the father is in the dark; this shows that the boy is proven innocent whilst the father is guilty of abusing the child. I think that the camera angles used in both of these adverts are successful and do grab the audiences attention.

Paragraph Three,

In the “Cribs” advert the mansion is very glamorous and exotic showing that the people living within the mansion are very happy and lead a good life, the iconography used in the mansion is that; there are pictures on the wall of the girl’s Grandmother, this shows that the girl is a teenager because of this picture. Also when the girl jumps on the bed shows that the girl is a teenager. The way the girl dresses show that she’s a teenager and the way she talks, walks and acts also shows the audience that the girl is a teenager. This suggests that most people who are likely to get run over whilst getting distracted on the streets are most likely to be teenagers. In the “Cartoon” boy advert the house is very dark, unwelcoming and very dull. We know that the “Cartoon” was a boy because of all the toys on the floor and in the boys bedroom there are some posters of football players and the bed duvet, which was of some rockets. The kitchen is very dull because it is dirty and dull but still the boy was paying in there just before he was abused, also in the “Cartoon” boys’ bedroom in the corner the boy is in the light and the father is in the dark which shows the boys’ innocence and the fathers’ guilt.

Paragraph Four,

The “Cribs” advert starts off at high key or hyper colour at the beginning because of all the happiness that reflects the house but when the car hits the girl the light changes from light to dark indicating that something bad has just happened and this shows sadness. In the “Cartoon” advert when the boy is watching television the light is bright but when the dad walks through the door the light changes to dark, also when the “Cartoon” boy is playing in the kitchen the light is bright but when the father starts to abuse the “Cartoon” boy the light changes to dark again, also when the “Cartoon” is playing in his bedroom the light is bright but when the father walks in again the light changes to dark but when the “Cartoon” boy is being abused the “Cartoon” is in the light and the father is in the dark showing the child’s innocence and the fathers guilt. The whole advert uses low key lighting because the house is very depressing and bad things go on within the house such as the cartoon boy getting beaten up and thrown down the stairs.

Paragraph Five,

In the “Cribs” advert there is stuttering in the beginning when the camera moves towards the “Cribs” house. Most of the shots are faster than the other shots in the advert showing that these scenes are unhappier and that the advert makers want the audience to watch those slower scenes more carefully; the shot when the girl opens her fridge, the shot when the girl jump on the bed. The music that is playing is R ‘n’ B so this indicates what most teenagers are into. In the “Cartoon” boy advert the shots are not as quick showing sadness and unhappiness. The movement by the “Cartoon” boy is unrealistic e.g. the boy bounces off the wall. But at the end the boy is seen to be dead when the father pushes the boy down the stairs.

Conclusion

The adverts are very successful, this is because when the “Cartoon” boy is seen to be a real boy at the end this really catches the audiences eyes and makes you feel sorry for the boy, I think that these sort of adverts are not shocking for television because the adverts get the right message across to the target audience which is teenagers, male and female aged 12-16. I think that the “Cartoon” boy is a more horrifying advert than the others because at first you see a boy in the figure of a cartoon and then when the boy is thrown down the stairs, the audience finds it more shocking. At first, the audience also thinks that the “Cartoon” boy advert is going to be funny but when the father starts to abuse the “Cartoon” boy, the advert is seen to be more u realistic.

By Rakesh Sorathia

Rakesh Sorathia