The trailer for the music video: Feather - Sabrina Carpenter (2023)
This product sell's due to its use of star theory, the man in the elevator scene with Sabrina is a famous actor called Milo Manheim he is an ideal partner for the main target audience of women aged 17-24. The music videos use of relatability also makes the product sell many women can relate to being sexualised and cat called, this subject will create discussions online and in person spreading awareness of the product. Its use of comedy helps the music video sell as it is entertaining to watch.
this video educates the audience on the misogynistic treatment of women and informs the audience on how women are treated in society this video follows the narrative of karma as all of the men that sexualised the strong females lead are killed in an 'accident' or kill each other without her involvement following Earps and kats theory that men have a pathological need for violence and control. Entertainment is caused through the fast editing and constant eye contact Sabrina has with the screen as no other character looks at the screen this makes the audience feel involved and special like the audience is her friend. entertainment is also caused by the comedy and action i.e. Sabrina acting like she doesn't understand she's endangering the elevator man looking towards the audience, the gym men fighting each other, the men being hit by the truck, the irony of the men on the street reading a feminist book and then turning to follow and cat call a woman.
Production techniques
mis-en-sen : all of the costume are on trend with the latest fashions making the clothes relevant to the audience so that they can feel engaged. All of Sabrina's outfits cause the audience to view her as an ideal self/ ideal partner. As her outfits are so extravagant she is pushing self expression choosing to ignore the male gaze and ignoring how men choose to sexualised her. Her funeral scene outfit features a mesh mini dress she where's with black tights gold jewelry large black heals and a black mesh embroidered vail over all this outfit it vey extravagant and lavish this costume connotes performing and boasting . Her sidewalk scene outfit is more relaxed as she wears a baby-T with lyric graphics and a pleated blue mini skirt but she still wears large black high heals and many accessories such as a silver studded belt as well as a leather belt chunky silver necklace and a bright blue cap making the costume still connote flashiness and performance. Her gym scene outfit utilizes a continuous pink colour pallet that makes her appear stereotypically feminine week and soft she wears contrasting blue mini gym shorts and knee high blue striped gym socks that connote 80s fitness with contrasting bold pink high heals that seem stereotypically idiotic to wear to do a physical activity. her elevator scene outfit again looks like a performance outfit with the baby blue mini dress neon green belt and pink feather earing comically juxtaposes the elevator mans professional suit. Her funeral scene make-up has a neutral colour pallet it is elegant and simple, her sidewalk scene makeup is again has a neutral colour pallet but features bigger eyelashes and a matt lip her elevator seen makeup is very similar to this, her gym scenes makeup has a pink colour pallet there is a heavier amount of blush soft pink eyeshadow and a pink lip. props include: sunglasses, a feminist book, work out equipment, mobile phones, towels and finally a handbag.
camera work : establishing low angle shot in church showing the painted ceiling, close up of a frame saying 'he was ok', downwards panning shot of a church, close up of license plate, tracking mid shot of Sebrina, still mid shot showing men that were cat calling her getting run over, wide shot of Sabrina in a gym, close up of the gym men poking Sabrina's arms, still mid shot off special effect blood being splattered on Sabrina, tracking full shot of Sebrina walking around the unconscious men, two shot of Sebrina and a man in an elevator, full shot of Sabrina dancing in a church with allot of religious iconography like crosses.
The editing is fast pace in order to keep the narrative in time with the sound as it is fast and poppy matching with the fast pace and harsh lyrics of the song. visual effects such as the title of the song and credits have been edited into the start and end of the product, the text is flowy, elegant and stereotypically femenin matching the aesthetic of the music video.
Codes and conventions
narrative: The equilibrium starts with Sabrina arriving at the church and continues with a different scene of her listening to music and walking down the street, the disruption begins when a group of men form and begin to follow and cat call her, The act against the disruption is assumed to be karma the group of men get hit by a truck when she has safely crossed the rode , A new equilibrium forms the men that pester her and treat her like an object succumb to death while she sits down and takes selfies of herself. In the elevator scene the last mans death is less so incidental, he takes a pitcher of her behind without her knowledge or her consent, she sees this over her shoulder and proceeds to flirt with him so that he is distracted as she exists the lift she holds the mans tie in the elevator doorway the elevator doors begin to close trapping the mans tie as the elevator closes and continues to move upwards, blood drips down the doors connoting the man has been beheaded by the tie.
The location of the music video is New York we see this on the hearse's license plate. There are multiple setting in the music video such as a church set out for a wake, A pink hearse, A side walk A street, A gym, An elevator and a corridor. These settings work well to target the audience as they are relatable to the majority, many viewers will be at similar locations in there every day life except maybe the pink hearse.
iconography: religious items decorated aesthetically to target young women e.g. a pastel blue coffin decorated with a pastel multi coloured cross, A license plate on pink hearse relays the name of the song, A book titled tampons should be free, she wears her stapled large heals with every outfit in this video this is iconography for her brand. The gym equipment that all of the man are using connote strength where as she is wearing pink boxing gloves with hart decals that connote a costume or fiction. In the gym scene she has a brand deal showcasing the Samsung flip phone.
The movie trailer for mean girls (2024) - YouTube
This product sell's due to the engagement they have with there demographic as this movie reaches a large audience due to its multiple forms of mean girls media there are mean girls musicals, re boots of the original mean girls, the original 2004 movie of mean girls and of cause the new mean girls 2024 movie based on the musical. As there is such a large time gap between the original and 2024 reboot it will now target nostalgic audiences allows for multiple audiences to be engaged eg 16- 36.This is proven in the advert as visual effects such as text on screen that reeds 'this isn't your mothers mean girls' .As they are showcasing teenage characters this will be there largest demographic as it allow for audience to engage and relate to the characters. They also use iconography like the 'burn book' prop from the first mean girls movie to generate nostalgia in the viewer. The characters archetype of Regina being a popular spoilt rich girl targets an ABC1 audience. This product uses star theory by including actors from the first mean girls movie such as Lacey Chabert who plays one of the mean girls Gretchen Wieners.
The mean girls trailer educates and informs the audience on misogamy, stereotypical females in media and females relationships, however its main goal is to educate us that treating yourself and others kindly is more important than popularity and image.
Entertainment is caused through the - comedy, celebrity's, action, dance and songs.
Mis-en-scene falls into the stereotypical mean American girls aesthetic
costume: hot pink heals juxtaposing her casual genes connoting she's trying to be something she's not, blue plaid shirt links her character to the 2004 version of the same character as she is wearing the same costume. Make-up: follows relevant rends of the clean girl aesthetic. Props: phones, the burn book, skate bored, a food tray, tweezers, a sketch book, pen, drinks, American flag, musical instruments.
sound: Olivia Rodrigo's song 'get him back' is used because it links to the plot and is relevant and popular with the target audience, there is also high intensity acoustic music that engages the viewer as its loud, fast and connotes action, hand clapping is used in this music to connote themes of popularity, praise and social power.
camera work: includes a close up, wide shot, mid shot, over the shoulder shot, two shot, establishing shot, point of view shot, long shot, tracking shot, extreme close up. A close up two shot of the antagonist and love interest of the main character kissing connotes intensity and secrecy. The high angle over the shoulder shot of the main character eating her lunch on the toilet connotes her lack of power, nervous demeanor and lack of self confidence the other characters seem to have as they are looking down at her.
The editing of this trailer is fast pace as they want highlight the action and 'fun' in this movie, this is shown in a title screens saying 'mean, has never been, this fun' separated by different small fast pace clips from the movie.
narrative: The trailer starts with clips that foreshadows what is to come later in the movie, then the trailer starts its equilibrium with a teenager starting high school, the disruption occurs when the antagonists i.e. the 'mean girls' of the school enter the cafeteria. the act against disruption begins when the main character befriends the 'mean girls' with the intent of spying on them for her new friends, The equilibrium however is not revealed their for creating mystery in order to keep the audience engaged and excited to watch the movie.
setting : is in a high school, a house party, a mansion, a field and a street. This makes it relatable for their teenage target audience as this is setting they are currently in.
The tv show promotional video for umbrella academy - YouTube
The purpose of this promotional video is to inform the viewer of this content being released, and to entertain and engage the viewer in order to hook them to the show and purchase a subscription to Netflix to watch it.
The target audience for this trailer are late teens and young adults. This is because there are mature themes and dark humor in the trailer and the main characters purposefully target the audience by being in the same age range causing the viewer to see them as ideal selves and ideal partners. This trailer stereotypically targets males as there is allot of violence and the background music is rock stereotypical preferred by males. However this trailer also stereotypically targets women by including as stereotypical rom-com dance scene and having two main female characters. As the character Klaus brakes many stereotypes they also target audiences outside of the binary. They target a broader audience by having an ethnically and culturally diverse cast. Star theory has been used for their cast as they have hired many famous actors such as Robert Sheehan who plays Klaus Hargreeves.
This trailer fits the series genre of action, adventure and comedy as it follows many codes and conventions such as multiple fight scenes , time travel , it features rude and dark humor, focuses around a civilization breaking down , guns and violence a dark colour scheme, themes of death, broken relationships, bold big typography, fast editing, elicit substances and superhuman powers.
Example of how the camerawork used cause the audience to view the character/program: The low angle mid shot of the umbrella academy leader/father causes us to fear him and view him as the person in power, The wide shot seen above of the umbrellas academy spreading their fathers ashes links to the comedy genre of this show as there are jokes said and awkward dark humor of the ashes falling in clumps on the floor, the full shots of the characters dancing add to the silly atmosphere that contrasts with the violence and action of the trailer. The fast pace editing links to the action genre of the series and invokes stress in the viewer therefore engaging them as they want to see what happens next. They often use the transition of fading to black this gives the trailer a somber mood and dream like atmosphere. They also included visual effect such as the umbrella icon that is frequently used in the series as iconography for the super hero team.
Sounds used include: non diegetic sound such as drums that emphasize dramatic points and scene changes, chanting echoing singing to emphasis the dangers and mystery of this dystopian world, rock music starts playing once the backstory is finished this grabs the viewers attention as it connotes an action scene will play next. diegetic sound such as a character teleporting links to the conventions of the action genre.
Mise-en-Scene: In the baby scene at the start we see they use the swimmers neon yellow costume to contrast with the darker clothed characters and dark setting around her to focus the viewers attention on her, most of the settings in this trailer follow the same dark and warm toned brown, green and gray colour pallet this connotes mystery and nature juxtaposing the scenes of destruction in the future scenes.
The costumes the characters are styled in reflect the action adventure genre well, for example the first time we see the father figure he is dressed in a very stereotypical costume for the adventure genre looking like a fighter pilot with his warm hat goggles, monocle and leather jacket. This causes the audience to view him as an eccentric rich old man.
The video game advert for 'just dance' - YouTube : Just Dance 2024 Edition - YOU CAN'T STOP THE DANCE | Launch TV Commercial
The purpose of this video is to advertise the Nintendo switch game and inform the audience of its existence, It hooks the viewer with the entertainment caused by the advert so that they buy the product. This product sell's due to brand recognition instead of using star theory to hire popular celebrity's to endorse their product, bright colours, and big name recognizable songs.
The targeted audience are young adults both female and male due to them being predominantly modeled in the advert. I think they also want to target care takers of children, this is because a woman is seen with a baby in a stroller, they want the adults purchasing this game to know they can act silly and relax by playing 'Just dance' with there children.
This advert fits the genre of a music rhythm game as it uses codes and conventions such as bright colours, dancing, smiling, game graphics, scoring system, fictional themes, objects with happy connotations for example cupcakes, brightly coloured costume and hair, animals and a mascot character.
Different techniques are used such as: Camerawork there is a log two shot of characters playing the game and dancing displaying some of the dance moves in the game. there is a mid shot a a scientist character, wide high angle shot of a character dancing in a lab, as this is a professional setting it is showing the audience the game is to relax and unwind from your professional life.
narrative: equilibrium people having fun playing just dance in their apartment, disruption an orb comes out of the screen that is playing the just dance game, the orb flies out of the window and a new equilibrium begins as the orb causes everyone it touches to dance including a dog and inanimate objects for example cupcakes. The Editing is fast pace and only uses cuts, causing the advert to seem fast pace and sporadic. The advert uses Sound to create excitement and buzz for example it uses an up beat dance song, they target a larger audience by using a Spanish song that targets Spanish speakers. They use sound effects in the advert that are used in the game such as bells. The only speaking role in the advert says 'you cant stop the dance' connoting wide spread excitement.
Mise-en-Scene? Their are multiple settings including an apartment, lab, street, bakery and meeting room. I think they chose these locations because they are relatable and inclusive meaning they can target a wider audience. All locations are appropriate for all ages this is due to Just dance having a 3 pegi rating shown two seconds into the advert placed on the bottom left of the screen. All of the locations are designed with a vibrant colour scheme that connotes happiness and excitement. Each scene is there primarily blue and or yellow. iconography : includes the just dance mascot character a blue orb resembling a disco ball with simplistic purple cartoon facial features that make the character look femenin and happy, this visual effect is used throughout the trailer to direct the viewers gaze. There are just dance characters from the game that appear in the advert. this causes the audience to look forward to what they will see in the game.
Purpose of the cartoon network tv ident : https://youtu.be/1twTDiFwqVw?si=Ll6bss1k_Lbl3pTE
The purpose of this TV ident is to entertain, and inform the viewer of the channels branding. The characters on scream are a family unit that are watching TV the target audience will relate to this as they are watching family friendly content on cartoon network with their own family. This TV ident fits cartoon network's main genre: child friendly comedy, as they follow Codes and conventions of the genre such as bright colours, happy expressions, child friendly slapstick comedy, weird and nonsensical fictional themes. This tv ident uses brand recognition iconography, the CN logo to sell their product to viewers instead on star power to endorse their product.
The different techniques used are:
Camerawork: establishing shot of characters running into their living room from a hole in the wall and squeezing onto the couch, full shot of character in action, close up/full shot of character in fish tank, wide shot of the family watching Tv, following the characters eye line their is a close up of the TV, this highlights the importance of the Tv and causes the viewer to focus on the brands logo.
The editing is very fast as its short form content .They utilize sound recognition by playing a jingle in the background that is regularly used in other tv idents this causes the viewer to recognize the brand of the product with sound alone. The sound effects they use are unrealistic, they instead sound like a balloon for example when the family is squishing up against each other it sounds like a two balloons squeaking as they are rubbed together, and the characters foot steps sound like a balloon being hit, by using a balloon to create theses sounds they have connotations of childhood, parties and fun linking to their child friendly content.
Mise-en-Scene: the location is a liminal space its overly colorful and looks like its a craft project fitting the aesthetic of children's content. The characters costumes are simplified to shapes and primary colours making them easy to identify. There is only one prop in the ident, a drinks bottle, the graphic that is featured on the bottle is purposefully recognizable simplified version of a character that is only seen in multiple different Tv idents, this character can be seen coming out of a hole above the family. This causes the audience to feel like they are connected to the characters do to the similarity of the scene to them making them happy to be like their ideal selves.
D1: Comparison
All of the advertisement's promote their product with the purpose to be sold or viewed. As I am a young adult myself I chose adverts mainly target my demographic, the only advert I chose out of this bracket is the cartoon network TV ident as its target audience is children. I think the 'mean girls' advertisement targets their demographic the best as due to their selection of actors that are relevant on social media and are appropriate ideal selves and ideal a partners for the target audience. they also highlight relatable themes such as high school bulying and teenage related drama.
The genres I chose differ between light and dark comedy, drama, children's content and fitness. I think the advertisement that follows the codes and conventions of their genre is the 'cartoon network' Tv ident.
The camerawork in 'mean girls' is the best out of my chosen advertisements because they use a multitude of shot types such as tracing shots, these shot types connotes energy and action that engages and excites the viewer making them want to see the action in full instead of in snippets. The use low angle shots allot to represent the power imbalance between the characters this allows the audience to easily engage in the character architypes and to cheer on their favorite character they will go watch the movie to see what they achieve or fail to do in the movies plot based on how they are portrayed in the advertisement. Most of the content such as Mean Girls is targeted at teens however the TV ident is targeted at children this is why the colours are brighter, there is more action and there are more sound effects used to engage an audience with a shorter atention span.
I believe the messages behind 'feathers' Sabrina carpenters music video is the most impactful because she references relatable feminist issues, highlighting them in a comedic and light hearted way for a mainstream audience this will spread the message of the misogynist treatment of women on a large platform to a wide audience. I also think iconography is best used in this product to denote the setting the characters are in and connote the emotions of the scene. I also think star theory is best used in this product as their target audience of teenager's and stereotypically interested in celebrity's and they chose celebrity's that depict themselves as ideal partners in media, this targets teenager's as stereotypically they are interested in romances and crushes.
The mise-en-scene in 'umbrella academy' and 'Just dance' invoke juxtaposing emotions, 'Just dance' does not connote loneliness, drama depression or realism like umbrella academy does, it instead connotes happiness, excitement and surrealism. Due to these connotations the audience anticipates to be on the edge of there seats and to get drawn into the plot of 'umbrella academy', the 'just dance' advert simply excites the audience. Because of this I believe the 'umbrella academy' video advertisement uses mise-en-scene the best.
The editing in 'mean girls' create the most impactful in making the audience excited and engaged between the advertisement, this is because they use bold white on black text to direct the viewers engagement to watching the movie in cinemas and they use fades and cuts that add to the drama of the advertisement.
