semiotics

The save the children advert is targeting middle/upper class families who have children, so they can sympathise with the parents and relate to the start of the video. For example, the featured girls father is pictured reading the daily newspaper so this gives the audience a sense of realism. Furthermore, this could make them worried on their own as it shows how quickly someones life could change, which encourages them to donate. However, the save the children advert is not completley accurate as it shows what is happening in syria to an extreme level so is a hyperbole. This has been done to evoke emotion from the audience and guilt them into donating.   The water aid advert is entirely different because it takes on a much more positive approach by involving singing and smiling from the character, and shows the audience what the charity can achieve as a result of them generously donating.

In this type of charity advert you would expect to see vulnerable powerless, africans, particularly children photographed from high angles to make them look inferior. This is usually done to encourage the audience to donate money.   The representation of Claudia breaks away from this stereotype because she is pictured singing, smiling and being happy whilst collecting the water. The charity is using this representation to show the audience how their donations can change other peoples lives. Water aid have presented Claudia this way to show the audience that this isn't a regular charity advert.   Claudia is dressed in bright colours to emphasise her ethnicity as part of her miss en scene. The skirt contrasts with the clothing worn in Britain because Africa has hotter temperatures and a lower rainfall.

The advert is a parody to show that other countries have problems too. It is mocking the way Africa is portrayed through the media by creating a parody. The media often portrays africans as vulnerable and powerless, so this advert is trying to imply that not all africans are like that, and can be powerful and able to help other countries. The people used in the advert seem happy and smiley, which contrasts with the sad figures we often see within the media. Africa's general issues like poverty, crime and HIV are listed to mock Norway's issues and make them see inferior. The advert reinforces that Africans can contribute and they are not all powerless, despite what is portrayed. Tessa perkins came up with the theory that stereotypes contain a grain of truth in which they are then twisted into bigger, more elaborate version, so therefore corrupting people views on certain things, which can be applied to this advert. In this case, Africans are presented as completely powerless to ...

We can associate this article with media theorist Paul Gilroy. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Water Aid Research Water Aid was established in 1981 and their first projects started in Zambia and Sri Lanka. Water Aid allows people suffering from severe poverty in under developed countries access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education which can help them take their first step in overcoming poverty. The charity operate in 37 countries in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific Region. Atomic London produced the advert in 2016, featuring 16 year old Claudia from Zambia.

The advert begins with some diegetic sound in the form of a weather forecast that can be heard from a radio, which shows that this is a western country. The clean house, modern technology and rain that can be seen through the window during this close up panning shot also suggests that this home could be from a middle/upper class family in England. I think the creators have included these features in the first few seconds of the advert to juxtapose people in Africa, who live in hot, poor and dry conditions, struggling to get water. The next shot has been edited to slow the advert down, creating some intensity and suspense. It is clear to the audience that this is a poorer country, such as Africa, because we can see some dry looking crops that would be a rare sighting in Britain, highlighting their lack of water. Furthermore, the shot features some diegetic sound of the crops rustling together, which implies that this is a quiet community, contrasting with the modern, developed, bu...