Planning what to do next -

I'm getting to a point in my research where im coming to a halt, and i have no sense of direction, so i am going to create a new list of what to do next, hopefully to keep me on track, and give me some deadlines to meet -

- Decide on the product to advertise (1st october)

- conduct research around this product - how it is conventionally advertised - as much market research around the product as possible (20 october)

- Brand the product - packaging, audience, USP ( 24 october )

- Market research on decided audience - questionnaires, viewings of existing adverts ( 1 november)

The plan is to get this all done around half term, so that when i come back i can focus on planning and producing the advert.

Camera angles

 high angle from the right

 birds eye view

 high angle from the left

low angle

eye level

When i shot my practice stop motion i was aware that the camera angle wasnt as effective as it could be, and i decided to look back at some different shots, and how they added to the effect of the piece. From my research into stop motion i have found that close up's tend to be quite popular and the most effective, and that a high angle or eye level shot is often used. I thought the eye level shot has a nice effect, as all the objects look the best at this angle, althought the road looks a bit flat, perhaps a slightly higher angle, but still eye level. The low angle shot worked nicely too, as it made the objects seem bigger and more upright, and looked less like a set.

advert analysis 4 - Chipotle

I came across this advert for the food chain Chipotle when i was researching into animation styles, it is by my favourite stop motion animator Johnny Kelly, and is entirely created using stop motion. I love the aesthetics of it and the way it looks however, it is a lengthy advert and takes time to get to the  peak in the narrative.





Basic analysis - camera, sound, editing, mise en scene


- the advert opens with a long shot of a field scene
- a fade in is used, as well as the lighting changing from dim to bright, so the whole scene starts dark and is slowly illuminated, this shows its the beginning of the journey
- there is non diegetic birdsong which connotes that all is calm and fine, and the mood is fairly high.
- The camera continuously slowly pans across the scene
- traditional narrative, starts calm and serene, a problem arises, is overcome, and then returns to calm and serene
- The scene is very colourful, the grass is overly green and the sky is exaggeratedly blue, this makes the scene look very natural and is hugely important as later it contrasts hugely with the grey colours used as the farm starts mass production, showing the bleakness of the situation, as opposed to the bright uplifting colurs at the start. the use of the change in colour is a key part of the narrative.
- There is a soundtrack throughout the whole advert that fades in at the start "the scientist" by Coldplay, but sung by Willie Nelson, a famous country singer, both the lyrics and the choice of music genre connote the narrative, the simple, country feel.
- a couple are shown with a baby and a pig, connoting the humble beginnings of the company, a family run business
- there is a tire swing in the background, connoting playfulness and happiness, it re appears at the end of the advert towards the end of the narrative when calm is restored, so the connotations re appear.
- first pens are constructed out of wood - simple and nice, then constructions get bigger and grey, shows the transformation between family farm and industrial farm
- camera angle changes at this point from a high angle to a low angle as the industrialisation starts, this makes the buildings look bigger and harsher, and connotes they are dominant in the scene, dominating the area.
- the background changes at this point too, the sky turns grey and the rolling hills disappear
- there is a dead tree, denoting the lack of nature
- eye level close up of the farmer shows us his expression, thoughts of his farm are shown in bubbles
- as he makes the decision to return to simple farming, the whole mise en scene changes, the scene brightens, and returns to colourful green and blue, the trees also start to re appear bushy, this is the end of the classic narrative when normality is resumed.
- the song increases tempo and volume, so it is quite triumphant, and connotes there is something good happening, this changes the mood quite alot from the previous slow tempo, which was quite saddening
- the camera then pans across the scene, and ends with a traditional sign with the company slogan "cultivate a better world", the sign is also backing up the idea that it is very humble and homely, a wooden sign.


- what is being advertised?
Chipotle the mexican grill restaurant, the advert is trying to push the ethical approach to farming that the business use


- where and when did the advert appear?
I do not know exactly where it was featured, but it wasnt a TV advert, it is too long and the company havent got a large enough budget for that, it was more of a promotional video. It is fairly recent in the summer months of 2011

• What appears to be the intended audience?  it is a fairly mass audience, young adults, middle aged to older adults, families, on a fairly high income, people who are interested in the welfare of animals and ethical farming over price of food
• What suggests this? the narrative shows the companies ethical approach, which is often valued by young adults upwards, rather than younger adults and teens who are more bothered about price and quantity. The advert is quite classy and doesnt seem aimed at lower income people
• What graphic mode(s) is/are used (e.g. still photography, drawing, animation, live action)? it is entirely stop motion using figures, wooden, paper etc. 
• Describe the overall design. - it is very colourful and quite childish, wooden figures look like childrens toys, uses block exaggerated colours. shapes are literal and not meant to look realistic, so hills are just semi circles and pigs were quashed into cubes. lots of use of texture and a mix between 2D and 3D which is interesting
• Where is it set in space and time? It is set on a farm somewhere in the UK, the location is not key to the narrative. it is set back in time slightly, as it shows the journey that Chipotle have come on over a few decades
• Who are the participants? the characters, farmer, wife and child, animals
• What do they do? whilst they are featured they dont do much, they are objects in the scene
• What key objects are featured? the machinery is key, it shows the transition between natural farming and industrial farming, also the trees and use of scenery which changes with the narrative. 
• What part is played by words (choice of words, typography/voiceover)? the piece is left deliberately without a voiceover, as it would ruin the mood created by the soundtrack, which is effectively acting as a voiceover as the lyrics convey the message
• What part is played by the use of sound and/or light? It uses sound and light really well, the track used mirrors the narrative, speeding up tempo as the narrative does, also the lyrics reflecting the mis en scene. The use of light backs up the narrative, as it changes as the farming process changes and makes the mood dip and then peak.
• what key inferences must the viewers make to make sense of the ad? the narrative is very straightforward, following a classic structure, so little is left to be interpreted, it is easy to make sense of. prior knowledge of the company would increase understanding of the process. if the viewer noticed subtle details that were not explicit in the advert, such as the tire swing, and that the farmer at the end is the baby feature at the beginning, giving a sense of timescale, then they would get a better understanding of the narrative
• how else does the ad seek your involvement? it ends with a website address to prompt the viewer to visit the website. It forces the viewer to question the ethics of mass production and industrial farming, as it is quite emotional
• what does the ad suggest about gender roles, class,status, age or ethnicity? It features male farmers, a fairly sexist view as farmers are conventionally male, but not neccesarily. 
• what is made of humour and to hat effect? there is a level of humour involved which lightens the deep message and breaks up the lengthy advert. when the pigs are blown up into balls and squashed into squares, while it is a serious subject it is conveyed in a humerous manner. this keeps a sensitive issue from being too hard hitting.

Advertising psychology

I feel like i havn't got a deep enough understanding of the theory behind a TV advert, how they connect with the audience, and why some are so successful, what techniques they use. I am therefore going to do some research into the psychology of advertising, and how i could keep this in mind when developing my own TV advert.


The main objective of advertising -

This arrow highlights the steps that a advert needs to prompt a consumer to make, they need to capture their attention before they can arouse or hold their interest, and do the first two steps before they can make a lasting impression, so the main aim of an advert, primarily is to capture the attention of the desired audience

The effects of a successful advert are split into three sections:

Thinking, Feeling and Taking action

cognitive - (thinking)

awareness/recognition

memory

affective - (feeling)

interest

positive emotional response

emotional bond

conative - (taking action)

purchase

consideration of purchase

These are the effects an advert should have on the consumer, and they must appeal to each of the parts of the brain. The congitive fucntion is the ability to remember and process information, this is the first area an advert must target, as they need the consumer to remember them firstly, they then need the consumer to like and prefer the brans, this is down to the affective, the art of the brain which feels emotion and is responsible for emotionally driven behaviour. The conative is the aspect of our brain that is responsible for action or change, including impulse to buy a product. All three work together, somewhat subconcsiously to drive a consumer to buy a product or service and become affected by a brand.

A clever advert could do all three, but most adverts will aim to appeal to one aspect, depending on the aim of the advert. An advert that aims to build a brand identity may only need to get people to think and feel something about the brand, and therefore appeal to the cognitive and affective, those however that wish to boost sales will need to appeal to all and the advert will need to make the viewer think and remember the product, feel good about it and wish to buy it, all at once.

Consumer Involvement Theory

This is a theory to understand the behaviour of your target audience, depending on the product type and price, it is important for understanding your audiences buying behaviour. Involvement refers to how much time, thought, energy and other resources people devote to the purchase process, which differs between products, meaning the type of advertising differs too. The theory considers the balance between emotional preference and purchase, and rational preference and purchase. The theory categorizes audience reaction into four sections -

High involvement / rational

These are usually expensive big decision purchases such as a new car, financial services or major appliances. They are high involvement, meaning they take a lot of time, energy and thought into the devision to purchase, and ten to be very rational, based on need rather than want. advertising for these products need to have clear explanations of competitive advantages and benefits need to be well highlighted, so the consumer has all the information needed to consider the product, therefore these types of products are often advertised using predominantly "Unique Personality Property" styles, where the product can be fully explained, these are very technical and feature the product in use.

High involvement/emotional

these products also tend to be expensive items, but are not chosen on benefits or product features. items include holiday destinations, jewellery, cosmetics and fashion. These products can differ between people depending on their income and status, someone who is fairly wealthy may buy a car that reflects their personality, rather than for function, this is therefore a high involvement/emotional product. advertising here should focus on imagery and emotion and looking appealing, they are "want" not "need" products so need branding and clever advertising, they therefore often use Associated User Imagery

Low involvement/ rational

consumers put little thought into purchasing these products and they are chosen for their benefits and product attributes, so the consumer will pick a brand that satisfies the need. Example products could be a ready made sandwich, Deoderant, shampoo, milk. They are cheap everyday products and once a consumer ahs settled with a brand that fulfils the need they are reluctant to change and try other brands. Advertising therefore needs to focus on differentiating the product, making it stand out from the rest, whether this is actual differentiation or perceived differentiation ( differentiation in the eyes of the consumer achieved through clever advertising and branding )

Low involvement/emotional

These are impulse products that provide quick benefits, like pleasure or gratification,  but they wont last long, so consumers spend little time choosing between brands. Examples include Chocolate, magazines, birthday cards and movie rentals. There is usually strong competition and products must differentiate well and have strong branding to compete. Advertising must clearly outline the benefits.

Affective conditioning

- this is a theory by Melanie Dempsy and Andrew mitchell about the consumer choice, after they did several studies. It involves the use of association of a product with other positive factors that we feel good about, so putting a product like detergent with fresh flower and sushine will transfer our feelings from these positive elements to the product. this transfer is called Affective Conditioning. 

Their stuides involved telling a sample of people about a group of pens, and telling them one brand had better properties than the other, expecting that the audience would therefore pick that product. before making the choice a section of the sample did a test n which pictures flashed on a screen, some involving the brand name of the worse pen, so they were pairing the pen with lots of positive items. this was creating affective conditioning. when asked to choose a pen, the group that did not go through the affective conditioning process all chose the pen with the better properties, however the group that went through the process, 80% of them chose the pen that had been paired with the positive items, even though they had information that the other pen was better.  the results of this suggested that the most powerful effect of advertising is to create a great feeling about a product by surrounding it by other things that the target audience likes. 

We tend to pick products we feel comfortable with and good about, over products that we are told are the best or are superior, because we want to feel good about something, our emotions are important in choosing a product. of course this relates back to consumer involvement theory, because emotions are not part of the decision process for rational purchases, so despite the emotions involved, we are likely to choose the best product for rational products. This theory s suited to emotional products, where the decision is based much more on the feeling rather than the thinking behind it. 

Lighting and camera angles

The key to good stop motion animation, and good advertising is getting the lighting right, so i decided to experiment with the effects of a spotlight, what mood was created and what the connotations were. I used a spotlight lamp and the set of my practice stop motion.

 

 

The spotlihgt coming in fomr the right creates the most interesting shadows, and is almost connoting mystery and danger, suspense even. The spotlight on top is the most visually striking, but doesnt add any thing to the piece other than interest. I like the strong light fomr the right though, second picture down, because it is so dramatic, although this would not suit most situations, it is a nice effect.

Branding

Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes your product or service different to, and more attractive than, your competitors'. This includes a logo and brand identity as well as associations with other products, brands and programmes. effective branding makes a product stand out as the clear winner, important in competitive markets. a range of methods can be used to make a product stand out, including a particular colour or packaging that competitors dont use, which will create an impression in the customers minds, appealing to their emotional or reasonable judgements. A storng brand will increase value of a product and will apply the same values to each product in a range, making bringing out new products easier, it will also create added value to products. Branding often considers these question -

• What are we offering?
• What makes us different?
• How can our business stand out?
• What do our consumers want or need?
• Where is there a gap in the market?

it also includes the companies visions ( whats it wants to do, where its going), values ( the businesses values and ethics, part of Innoecnt Smoothies branding is their strong ethical approach to business ), and personality ( this could be through graphics, colour, language, tone)

Branding for different sectors is very different, but im looking at new business start-ups, start up products often brand themselves to be unique and challenge the conventions of the sector they are starting in, often called "challenger brands"

designing a successful brand -

- graphic design is important in coveying the companys message, like the Nike tick which connotes energy and movement

- brand name - descriptive - the name states what the brand is or what the product or service does, evocative - it suggests associations to the brand without describing the offer precisely, abstract - it makes no reference to the nature of the business

- other design elements - colour, shape, name, sound, typography.

an example of really successful branding is cadburys, their brand identity consists of:

- the deep purple colour - classic cadburys colour, very iconic
- the typography - reflects the creaminess of the chocolate, colour of milk

- british brand - association with coronation street

- slogan - glass and a half full of milk

- shape - unique chocolate shape

 

What have i learnt?

- branding is very important for creating a differentiated product, very important to mke if i look at perceived differentiation and creating a mass product with a brand twist

- branding must be consistent and point to the same values

- branding must consider all the companies values, personlaity and hopes for the product

- my product is likely to be a "challenger brand", challenging the conventions of existing product

Further research into animation

I have become quite interested in the stop motion type animation, and i want to look further into stop motion styles, how it could be used, and what i could do with it. I have looked at many existing videos using different styles and experimenting with different media, and i may do some practice animation using different styles, as i think this is going to be a really important aspect of the advert, and i want to find a style i can really work with and would look really effective. I am therefore focusing on the mise en scene of the advert.

This is an animated short clip i found using paper stop motion in a different style, it is entirely 2d, made out of white paper only and shows the process of cutting it out, like the Molskine ad did. I rally love the simplicity of the animation. I am going to do some practice top motion in this style, as i think it is really effective, but can be extremely difficult.





- the narrative is very short and simple
- horse is beautifully animated, and the way the river rolls itself is a good idea, small details like this make an animation
- fast paced, pace is important here

I found another example of this style of paper animation, a Beringer wine advert that is a proffessional animation, so is amazingly constructed, the use of camera is really good here, the angles are very varied and the use of close up shots to show the details are really effective. the song is also so simplistic and beautiful, i think one of the reasons it is so good is the relaxed feeling,and how minimalistic it is with one colour and a single background track.






- The whole advert is done using stop motion and simple white paper

-          the camera angles are very varied, they use movement really well, which can be difficult in stop motion to make the camera move freely and with a flow

-          the narrative shows the simple home grown background of the wine

-          the use of light and shadow is effective, it looks as though they have used a spotlight, as it is very bright in the middle and darker towards the edges of the screen, a lovely effect, the shadow on the figures is really effective too, it makes everything look more 3D and animated.

-          The camera angle when they are moving through the trees is a point of view shot, which makes the viewer feel involved in the process

I also watched a clip on how the advert was made, to see if I could get any tips of pick up any techniques from the professionals. It’s a cleverly made advert. They use the paper animation technique because it connotes the handmade qualities thagt are in every Beringer bottle. The scene is a recreation of their first vineyard, and shows how far they have come, yet how they are still connected to their small humble roots. They also wanted to subvert convention, which are in their heads, smiling people, beautiful valleys and clinking glasses. They also thought art was a good way to sell wine, as wine is art too. To keep the camera moving smoothly they moved the camera each frame as well as the animation so it is never static. To model the trees they worked backwards, making whole trees and slowly clipping off piece off the vines.

I am going to try a practice stop motion in this style, 2d using blank white paper, to see if i can make an effective animation.

Choosing a product - making a decision

Deciding on the product or service i want to advertise has proved difficult so far, because its a big step in the process. My research has been very broad based on many areas of TV advertising, without me narrowing my research to specific types of products, this has given me an overview of advertising as a whole, but i want to look deeper now into advertising in the particular area of the product i may choose.

After some research i have already decided the following things , these may change, and i may add to the list, until i decide on the product. Here i am just trying to explain my thought process -

- i want to advertise a physical product, rather than a service or something digital based, purely as a personal choice, because i think i would prefer to advertise a physical object

- something simple, a new brand of an everyday item, i want something mass market and not neccesarily different to other brands, as i am interested in perceived brand differentiation, which is where the product has no real differentiation, and its competitive advantage is created through the way it is advertised and marketed.

I am no closer to deciding on a product because it is such a big step towards the end product, i dont want to commit to a product too early and rule out other options.

web advertising

I am going to look into web advertising as it is another of my ancillary tasks, i am going to do some basic research, what they are, how they work and what they tend to look like (conventions)

­In the beginning, "advertising" on the Internet meant "banner ads" -- the 728x90-pixel ads you see at the top of almost all web pages today . These work by offering a hyperlink to transport you to the companies web page, therefore bringing viewers to the customer page.

I made a really simple banner advert in flash, based on the company Cravendale, that when clicked on transports the viewer to the cravendale website, it took a matter of minutes to make. Unfortunately i cant upload it onto blogger, because it cant read the swf file.


A pop-up ad is ­an ad that "pops up" in its own window when you go to a page. It obscures the Web page that you are trying to read, so you have to close the window or move it out of the way. Pop-under ads are similar, but place themselves under the page you have open. It is much the opposite of the banner ad in that instead of clicking on the ad to get to the website, an ad pops up, prompted by clicking on a website. It is therefore involuntary and can be very annoying.

Sponsorship sequences

one of my ancillary tasks is to make a sponsorship sequence that would appear alongside my advert, so i am going to look into TV sponsorship, where it has been effective and what are the conventions it it, as i am unsure of what they usually involve, i know they are only short and so wont include much, but i need to know what is often included in them, the types of information and how it is presented in such a short space of time.




What is it?

TV sponsorship is a great way for brands to become associated with particular content. It is particularly effective if the content is relevant to the brand and/or the sponsorship deal lasts for a long time, such as coronation street sponsored by Cadburys for many years.According to a study by Thinkbox, sponsorship can help make brands famous by association. The study shows that for fans of the content, brand fame is increased by up to 10%. It also proved that sponsorship increases purchase intent, so viewers are more likely to buy the product. Viewers who are dedicated fans of the sponsored programme will respond to the brand better, because subconsciously they are linking a favoured programme with a product. They also proved that sponsorship together with an advertising campaign is very effective. Sponsorship has been used in the past very effectively to promote a brand image and mix the brand identity with that of the programme.

One possible problem for tv advertising is that most tv commercials are 30 seconds and are clustered with other advertisements. This means that marketers have a short amount of time to tell their story and make their brands stand out among the other commercials. If you have a limited budget and can only buy a couple of spots, there is a good chance that the message will get swallowed up by other advertisers or forgotten by the audience. However this is less of a problem for tv sponsorship, because the sponsorship commercials or “bumpers” work by advertising before the show, in the centre break out of show, centre break in to show, and the end break. Research shows that these bumpers allow sponsorship messages to be received as an isolated message to a more receptive audience and are seen in a more positive light when compared to tv spots.




What can be sponsored?


Television sponsorship works by sponsoring a programme, channel or even a tv genre. For example;
Programme: TalkTalk sponsor X Factor, domino's sponsor britains got talent
Channel: Blackberry sponsor Sky Atlantic
Strands of programming: Fosters sponsor original comedy on Channel 4, tasty bingo sponsors ITV daytime with 10 second adverts before and after each show




when choosing what to sponsor, companies must think of budget, and what image they want to create, whether they want to reach a mass or niche audience etc. A company such as Dominoes will sponsor a very successful programme like Britain's Got Talent because they can afford to, they want to reach a mass audience, and the show is aired quite frequently. Tasty Bingo have sponsored a whole area of programming on TV, for the same sorts of reasons, they are reaching their target audience, because they are advertising on daytime TV, which is stereotypically watched by older people and stay at home mums, this means tasty bingo are sponsoring many of the audiences favourite shows, such as Jeremy Kyle, This Morning, Loose Women. This is going to be more effective as the target audience will see a repeat of the sponsorship sequences, and subliminally remember them, and associate them with their favourite programmes. This is an example of well targeted Sponsorship, the right brand with the right programme, that is reaching the right audience.




What does a TV sponsorship look like?

A TV sponsorship sequence usually consisting of an opening bumper, and a closing bumper, although may have a bumper for each end of the ad break too. These are typically 10 - 15 seconds long, and often don't have much of a narrative of plot, they aim to associate the brand with the channel or programme and often include elements from the programme itself, or with the main TV advert of the product, to create synergy in the campaign.
 i researched some examples to help understand what they consist of -

These cadbury Brunch Bar sequences are an example of how an opening, break sequences and a closing sponsorhship work together. They are not very different from each other, and follow on a common theme, creating synergy between them.









Analysis -

- All 3 clips feature cadburys signature brown clay animation, which was used as the style for all cadbury/coronation street sequences for many years
-  The opening and closing sequences are very similar, with the closing bumper following on the narrative from the opening bumper
- The break bumper is considerably shorter, only 7 seconds long, and is very simple, just featuring the product, and the programme logo, tying the two together, but giving very little information
- The same voiceover is used in each, with the same phrase, which is repititive and will be memorable, it also means they are all the same
- Cadburys famous purple colour is featured, this is iconic of the cadburys brand, and will help the audience relate the bumper to the company.
- The Coronation Street logo is featured at the end, central, fairly large
- The Ad's tie the programme in with the porduct because they are featuring the street life element of coronation street, using the setting of the programme. This is very effective for tying the two together in the consumers mind
- they have a small narrative, very simple, this is fairly common for sponsor sequences, because it can continue throughout the sequence, however they still make sense on their own, and are not reliant on each other.

How do sponsorship sequences work with a full length advert?
For my coursework i need to make two TV adverts and a sponsorship sequence, as well as a web pop up, and i need to be able to create synergy between them for the ad campaign to be successful. I am therefore going to look at how sponsorship sequences work with the full length advert, where they mirror them, or if they are in fact quite different.

I found these adverts for Brighthouse, a 30 second TV ad, and two shorter sponsorships for Home and Away, released as part of the same campaign. They have some of the same features, which is what i was looking for.






- There are many similarities between the two, with the most obvious being the narrative, both feature the idea that BrightHouse customers are celebrating on the new furniture they were able to buy. In this way they are both very similar. They also both feature the yellow glow, that highlights the new product, and the yellow colour, which is symbolical of BrightHouse. They also use down to earth middle class actors to appeal to a wide middle class audience. Lastly, they both feature the company logo, name and slogan, with the same actor used for the voiceover.

- The BrightHouse advert and sponsorship sequences are very similar, and are of the same style, so there is strong synergy between thetwo, however some adverts and sponsorship sequences are not so similar to each other, and some can be quite independant of each other. I will revisit this later, and do some more research into the relationship between sponsorship sequences and tv advertising when i come to my planning stage


From my research, what do i consider to be the conventions of Sponsorship sequences?

- They are 10 - 15 seconds long, and feature one opening bumper, one closing bumper and sometime break bumpers, which are even shorter, at only 5 or 10 seconds long
- they sometime mirror the programme they are sponsoring, so features of the programme are in the bumper
- they dont contain much of a narrative
- they have large logo's, product names and slogans, as this helps the audience remember it subconsciously
- they often follow on from one another, so an closing bumper will follow on from the opening bumper, but are still understandable if viewed apart.
- because they are so short, and aimed at the subconscious mind, they make use of symbolism, such as colour
- they feature the physical product


 

to do next?

- research into sponsorship sequences and web pop ups. so far i have focused on the main advert and not looked into the ancillary tasks, i need to be make the extra tasks just as effective as the main task, and make sure there is synergy between them


- create a product, then narrow down my research around the product- how similar products have been advertised - conventions, and what not to do.


- brand the product - i think to be able to make s uccessful advert, i need to have a strong brand identity first, so create a few logo's and some packaging. Often adverts use the logo's main colour, such as cadbury adverts which always feature the purple colour, and coke adverts often feature red.


- audience research and target and audience - i will do questionnaires and in depth surveys to see what the audience respond to


- Look back at advert styles, and see how the product could fit these styles, this will help me to start thinking of ideas and brainstorming


I need to do these tasks in the next few weeks.

practice stop motion

I had a play around with stop motion using paper models, inspired by some of the paper animations i looked at. I cut out a road, tree's and bushes and a small VW style van, all in coloured card. I used white card as an infinity screen for the backdrop. Unfortunately i shot it out fairly late at night and struggled to get enough light in the shot, but this is just a practice.

There are many problems with my first attempt -
- The camera angle is a bit too high, i think it would work better if it was more of a eye level shot rather than a high angle shot, because the objects would look better
- The camera moves a little bit, i used a tripod, but it was screwed on fairly loose and the camera needs to be really still so each picture looks the same
- The lighting is obviously an issue, i need to probably introduce some artificial light, and get it really bright, so the colours pop and the white background is really white.
- I put the song on just for some sound, but it really could do with some sound effects, like a cars engine, maybe some leaves rustling, for some verisimilitude. at the moment it is a bit flat, not very lifelike.

I'm glad that i made an attempt at stop motion, and i really enjoyed the precision of it, taking the photo's and setting up the scene. however it was very time consuming, it took 3 or 4 hours to make the props and set it up just for 5 second animation, so to make a 30 second advert would be quite difficult, however, editing afterwards is qutie quick, and putting it together isnt an issue. I'm undecided whether i will go down the stop motion route with my advert, i guess it depends on the product and the audience.

Stop Motion animation

Stop motion is an animation technique that makes mhysical objects move on their own. the object is moved in tiny increments between idividually photographed frames, creating the illusion of mvoement when played as a sequence. The first instance of the stop motion technique can be credited to Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton for The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1897), in which a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life. It has since become popular in many films and TV series such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Wallace and Gromit, and very recently Fantastic Mr Fox, which all use clay or plasticine type figures for their ease of movement and remodelling. Stop motion animation can be done with an array of media, including real objects, people, clay, paper, food etc. in both 2D and 3D and some fo the best often mix media and play aorund with dimensions.


I really like the different aesthetic effects that can be achieved with stop motion, they often look much more handmade and realistic, much less digitally produced than typical computer animation, that can look flat and very computerised. With stop motion inanimate everyday objects can be brought to life, and it is easy to make anything look as though it can move, walk, dance etc. I like the childlike whimsical feel of stop motion animations. however, When not proffessionally made, stop motion videos can look very amateur and poorly done, many people have made their own stop motion video's and they all tend to look really scrappily made and childish. I think it is a difficult thing to get right.


I have had a little look at some different styles of stop motion -





- This is a short film by an artist named PES, who works with real objects, rather than modelling his own, and is very clever with his ideas, often giving everyday objects new roles and personalities. I like the way he uses things around him that we use day to day and see's them differently, giving them a new function, using them in a different way. It is very comical and clever.
- The use of camera angles is good here, the way the camera is close to the action, and the angle changes quite often, keeping it quick, so it is a Birds Eye View shot, then switches suddenly to a high angle. The camera remains constantly close tot he objects though, so the surroundings are not seen, it keeps an element of surprise, because the viewer can only focus on what is shown, and doesnt know what is next or what is going on around it.
- The use of sound effects are very important, they are over exaggerated for effect, like childrens TV shows. They support the images.
- The lighting is key too, and the colour in the shots, it is very brightly lit so all the colours pop and really stand out, and the light is consistent throughout the animation





Coffee Time from wan-tzu on Vimeo.

- This stop motion uses a range of materials that are hand crafted into objects, including paper and string.
- I included this as an example of how important sound is, the sounds have been added here and over exaggerated, they are key to the whole effect. I think sound effects are one of the most important things if you want a stop motion to be really effective, because they make it so much more dynamic and interesting.
- the lighting here is good too, it is consistent and bright, and also very colourful, much like the PES film.
- i am not keen on the narrative in the film, but i think some of the stop motion effects are really good, some fo the ways the paper folds and emerges are very clever.


The Seed from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.
- Johnny Kelly is a proffessional animator who creates amazing stop motion videos, This one "the Seed", was creating predominantly with paper, and then digitally animated over the top. This is my favourite stop motion video i have found, as the effects and ideas are really clever, it is very bright, and i love the way it combines 2D and 3D, also combining very lifelike objects with artistic representations of objects, so it is very different in its style.
- I love the representation of the human body in paper - how bright and simplistic it is, but its very effective, its visually striking, and the way he represents the apple going down is very clever.
- The whole animation is very bright and not too busy - its quite simple and minamalistic
- It has a soundtrack that really fits with the action, and gives a sense of interest
- It is really proffessional looking

what have i learned about stop motion?
- It wouldn't be easy to do well, there is a chance it could end of looking sloppy if i chose to use stop motion for my advert, it is very difficult to do it as well as the professionals do
- colour is extremely important, for it to look neat and simplistic, bright bold colours look really good
- a mix of 2D and 3D makes it interesting, playing around with dimensions
- a mix of camera angles is good, Birds Eye View is good for 2D and high angle, or point of view shots work well too
- Sound is crucial - probably the most important thing in terms of making action look real and creating a sense of verisimilitude, and soundtracks are crucial for creating a mood and sense of pace

advert analysis 3 - Moleskine planners

I was really interested in the aesthetics of this advert - the use of colour and sound, and the way it has been put together so seamlessly, i am also very interested in the approach to animation, that seems to use stop motion, although some elements must have been later added, in the same style, to look like it has been all completed by hand.






basic analysis -

- the advert opens with a hand coming in from the left, holding the new Moleskine product, this is immediately establishing the product with the audience

- short clips of different coloured versions of the product are edited together, it is deliberately jumpy, and is backed up with a jumpy soundtrack that fits with the color, each different coloured journal has been given a personality, according to the person who may own it, so there is a non diegetic score that fits the personality. The score therefore jumps between different genre' of music along with the change in colour.

- The advert is very bright, with over exaggerated background colours that mirror the colours of the journals, this is to emphasize one of the main selling points, that the come in a range of colours to suit different personalities.

- the camera remains static in most of the advert, but zooms in and out of the book, so the viewer can see inside and outside

- stop motion animation has been used to show the books opening, and a small scene being played out, these also fit the book's suggested personality, and are mirrored by the sountrack

- the pace of the sound and editing, change witht he personalities too

- the use of sound is the most important thing in the advert, the way it is edited together and supports the action

- the advert ends with the company name and logo

• What exactly is being advertised?

The new Moleskin journal a smaller version in more colours

• Where and when did the ad appear?

These advert are fairly niche, so rather than appearing on mainstream TV channels, they were featured on much more niche channels to better target their smaller audience.  It first appeared mid 2010.

• Why might it have appeared there and then rather than elsewhere?

They will have had a smaller advertising budget, being a smaller independent company, so will struggle to afford mass market advertising on expensive channels, they will also be looking to target their audience correctly, so will choose channels where they can expect to see viewers that fit their target audience. This is directing the advert at the viewers properly.

• What appears to be the intended audience?

The ad's are aimed at a slightly niche audience, fairly wealthy, young adults and middle aged proffessionals, people with little time and a busy schedule, however they have aimed the advert and the product at everyone within this market segment, men and women, older and younger, as they have created a product to suit individual personalities, as is shown by the different animation in each coloured journal, showing how they could be used to suit dsifferent lifestyles. So whilst the advert isnt aimed at a mass audience, it is showing how the product could fit people in many different walks of life.

• What suggests this?

The product itself has a fairly expensive brand name, and the activities featured in the advert, shopping, ladies nights, city trips, sailing, arent cheap activities and are associated with wealthier people.

• In what ways does it utilize features of the particular medium used (poster, television, film, radio or magazine)?

It utilizes the relationship between sound and image that you get with TV adverts, as opposed to magazine or radio, as the advert wouldnt work without the sound, or the images, they help one another to portray the message, whereas TV adverts can often be more liek radio ad's with images and footage just to back up the point. They have also made use of the time they can have on TV, it is a minute long, and would suffer if ti were shorter.

• What graphic mode(s) is/are used (e.g. still photography, drawing, animation, live action)?

The advert is entirely shot using stop motion animation, the books were the real Moleskine product, they then printed sheets to mimic the real pages, and cut each individual shape out on over 300 sheets, then shot it by placing a sheet in the middle of the book, taking a photo, and then putting the next one in. This required absolute precision with the shapes, so they were the same on eahc page - extremely difficult to do.

• Where is it set in space and time? 

This is unclear and not key to the narrative, it is in the present, and probably shot in a studio.

What key objects are featured? The books are the main objects, the advert is highlighting the range of colours the new journals come in, so each colour is featured. The hand is key as it gives the viewer a scale to see the size of the journals which is another important feature, as they are smaller than a packet of tissues.
• What part is played by words (choice of words, typography/voiceover)?

There is no voiceover, the advert has been left deliberately void of any words or text, so the viewer focuses on the animation and the mood created by the music, also the diary entries, as these are all working together, any voiceover would have ruined the mood. It is unusual for a TV advert to have no dialogue however, and could means some viewers lose interest fairly quickly.

• What part is played by the use of sound and/or light?

Sound is one of the most important things in the advert, with it constantly changing between different genre's of music, the pace changes, and so does the mood with each music change. This is fitting to the different personality of the book. The changing moods is key to the advert as it keeps it interesting, with no dialogue or voiceover,  a soundtrack ro score running through the whole advert would make ti seem long and tedious, the constant change of the score keeps it quick and interesting, and should keep the viewer interested.

• What key inferences must the viewers/readers/listeners make to make sense of the ad? 

It is not neccesary for the viewer to understand the ad, but previous knowledge of the Moleskine company and their product will change the way the ad is viewed, for example someone who has many Moleskine notepads and is familiar with the brand will understand its upmarket approach.

• What intertextual references can you discern (to other ads, to other genres, to other people etc.)? 

- The ad is very similar to other ads by Moleskine in that they all use stop motion and show the books/jounrals being used and comign to life. This is also an approach used by other advertisers and filmmakers before, such as the JP Morgan and Chase advert, made before Moleskines, that features the same sort of paper pop up book idea.

- The jingling of the music as the next colour book is picked, reminds me of an fruit machine, where the different books are shown popping in and out and then one is finally landed on, and opened. this is a reference to something that everyone will be familiar with.

• With what is the product associated?

The product is associated predominantly with the brand, which is expensive and high quality.

• What use is made of humour, and to what effect?

There is little humour in the advert, except some fo the animations are fairly comical, such as the ladies night drinks animation. It is not an advert aimed to be perticularly humerous or witty, but light hearted and comical.

• What do you regard as the most likely preferred interpretation offered in the ad? 

The ad is showing the ways the journal could be used by bringing the diary entries to life through stop motion animation, there is little narrative to their isnt much scope for interpretation within the text.