Television Commercials Conventions Conventions of a Television Commercial

Television Commercials: Conventions

Conventions of a Television Commercial • When creating your commercial, there are lots of things that you need to consider and make choices about: • Form: Narrative or Direct Address. • Style: Humourous, Dramatic, Parodic (i. e. a parody of something else). • Codes: Shot Types, Camera Angles, Camera Movement, Mise-en-scene, Music. • Techniques: Emotional Response, Unique Selling Point (USP), Brand Identity, Repetition, Jargon, Stereotypes. • What is the message you need to convey in order to sell your product?

Conventions: Form • Narrative: • The commercial tells a story or plays out a short scene. • A good way to engage your audience and make your advertisement memorable. • Direct Address: • The audience are spoken to directly. • It allows you to convey specific information clearly and directly. • Can be done as a ‘Talking Head’ (someone on screen talking directly to the audience) or as a Voiceover. • This is generally more effective if the Voiceover or Talking Head is a celebrity, but it doesn’t have to be.

Conventions: Style & Codes • Style: Regardless of which form you choose, you can make it humourous, dramatic, or parodic (i. e. a parody of something else – a parody imitates something else in an exaggerated way). • Codes: Just like when you were doing photography, you need to think about your shot types and camera angles when you are filming your commercial. • E. g. If you want to convey that your product is important, you could use a low angle so that the camera looks up at the product. • You should also consider camera movement (e. g. will the camera pan across, tilt up and down, zoom in or out), mise-en-scene (the appearance of each frame: costumes, props, colour, etc. ) and how you can use music to enhance your advertisement.

Conventions: Techniques • Emotional Response: • Suggest that the product will solve a problem, stop something ‘bad/unwanted’ from happening or improve the buyer’s life somehow. • Play on the audience’s fear, guilt or compassion. • Unique Selling Point (USP): • Highlight the one thing that your product has/does that no other product has/does. • This may be a feature of the product and/or special deals or offers that accompany the product. • Brand Identity: • Create a unique look and feel for your product. • Consider brand name, colour scheme, logo, slogan and values.

Conventions: Techniques • Repetition: • Your audience is more likely to remember your message if you repeat it. • This can be annoying but effective! • You can also repeat images of the product and/or logo. • Specific Language: • Think about the sort of language that will work best for your product and your marketing technique. • Should you be using emotive language? Jargon (specialist language that is specific to your product)? Positive language? • Stereotypes: • Oversimplified depictions of a particular group of people, e. g. teenagers, old people, teachers, etc. • They help you to convey information very quickly (because your advertisement is short).

Conventions: Example 1 • Toastabags: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=F 6 v. Xc. Qmmjxc • Form: direct address – talking head and voiceover (style is specific to the type of advertisement) • Codes: mostly eye-level mid-shots, some close-ups of product being used, bright music starts when product is introduced, black-and-white at the start when life is ‘hard’ then colour when Toastabags are introduced. • • • Emotional response: will solve problem of making toasted sandwiches in a pan. USP: unique way to make toasted sandwiches, recipe book, 2 -for-1 offer. Repetition: “load, push and pop”. Specific language: “durable restaurant grade material” (jargon), “easy” and “reusable”. Stereotype: incompetent housewife at the start, then super cheerful family. • This advertisement focuses entirely on the product: how it works, how it will improve your life and why you should buy it.

Conventions: Example 2 • Carlton Draught: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=oo 5 zw. V 6_y. Vs • • • Form: narrative. Style: humourous, parodic (this is a parody of the classic cop chases in 1980 s films). Codes: various shots and angles, 80 s music. Brand Identity: beer is linked with ideas of being cool, clever, macho, etc. Repetition: beer is seen throughout the advertisement. Stereotype: incompetent cops, super-cool ‘bad guys’ escaping from them, ‘bad guys’ are depicted as regular blokes. • This advertisement relies on your engagement with the humour to make you interested in the product.

Conventions: Example 3 • Thai Life Insurance: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=632 CHpe. HYZE • Form: narrative. • Style: dramatic. • Codes: various shots and angles, beautiful and uplifting music. • Emotional Response: the whole point of this advertisement is to hit you in the feels! • Brand Identity: focus on positive values, “Believe in Good”. • This advertisement relies on your emotional response to the narrative to make

Product-Specific Conventions • Certain products tend to use particular conventions in their advertisements. • • • Perfume: beautiful model, usually narrative form, often about ‘escape’ or ‘freedom’. Make-up: beautiful model, close-ups of product/body parts, lost of quick shots. Fast food: close-up low angles of food, slow-motion cooking sequence, people eating. Drinks: usually narrative-based, highlight the effect the drink will have on you. Toys: lots of shots of people having fun, smiles, the toy being used. • Men’s products usually use humour and/or suggest that it will make you irresistible. • Women’s products usually use information about the quality of the product.

Product-Specific Conventions Examples Here are some examples of good product-specific advertisements. Try to figure out what form, style, codes and techniques are being used in each. • Perfume: • Lancome: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=3 El. Hpkx. Ytco • Dior: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Rm-v. Bq-1 T 1 k • Deodorant (Lynx): https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=F_Yq 6 t. XB 1 Q • Fast Food: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=UMa. HMv 3 Bs 2 g

Advertisement Conventions More Examples Here are some more examples of good television advertisements. Try to figure out what form, style, codes and techniques are being used in each. • Panda Cheese: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=X 21 m. Jh 6 j 9 i 4 • Old Spice: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=ow. Gyk. Vbfg. UE • Cadbury Chocolate: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=zd. Voc 8 FXhz 0 • Hello Flo: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=NEc. Zm. T 0 fi. NM • Budweiser: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=dl. NO 2 tr. C-mk