I chose brief three for my project; which was to create the image for a new musical act and music company. I decided that I was going to use artists Kate Nash and Eliza Doolittle to inspire my products. I did research into how each of them advertised and promoted themselves, looked at their posters and websites and decided on which I could then get my ideas from. I decided that my artists name would be Rosie Day, as I feel it suited the target audience well and would create an appropriate image.
Firstly, I decided to re-create Eliza Doolittle's website for my individual artist. The website is quite complicated in design; there are many moving images and things that are different to your bog-standard website. So far I've managed to create the rough design for it and taken my own photos, trying to get them as similar to the ones on the website as possible. I'm working on trying to add scroll bars to my news page and making it look more professional; also I am going to make my own background for the home page instead of using one from the internet.
I chose a Kate Nash tour poster and based mine entirely upon it. I noticed that the ribbons and images used in the background of the poster looked hand drawn, and so I decided that I needed a hand-drawn copy too to scan onto the computer. I'd already done one photo shoot which was more focused on photos for the website; so I did another with my friend whom I'd chosen to model, so that it'd be as similar as possible to the poster that I am copying for my artist. I am currently working on editing those photos and putting the poster together. I can then start work on my album art also inspired by one of Kate Nash's designs, which can be done yet again by hand and being scanned in.
1) How does the advert engage the audience?
Firstly, the advert engages the audience by using a non-diegetic song right the way through which isn't particularly a Christmas song - but still links nicely to the genre of love that is portrayed. The ending lyric of the song - "make love your goal" links the video nicely as it portrays the journey of a snowman eager to get a special present for his loved one. The use of a popular song could also potentially engage the audience more.
The advert doesn't follow the usual conventions of Christmas adverts that audiences have seen before - instantly making it stand out amongst the crowd and be recognised. The use of snowmen with human-like emotions as apposed to actual people works effectively as it would be seen as abnormal and so it makes the audience want to watch it.
The many different uses of camera shots and zooming also help to keep the audiences attention. For example, after the children run inside the house there is an over the shoulder shot of the snowman looking at the snowlady in front of him, and also they use a slow zoom-in (shortly followed by the same shot, but instead looking over the snowladies shoulder at the snowman, where we see his expression change) This would engage the audience as it shows the first kind of 'magic' happening, and it also portrays their newly-formed relationship.
It also plays with the audiences emotions; the snowman leaves the snowlady on her own and this makes the audience feel particularly sympathetic for her; especially as there is no insight at this point into where the snowman has gone or why.
2) What does this advert communicate about the brand John Lewis?
The advert vaguely suggests to us that John Lewis sells perfect presents to give to loved ones. This is only communicated right at the end when we see the used wrapping paper lying on the ground and the snowlady wearing a hat, gloves and scarf. However, it is not until the last few seconds that we are told that the advert is actually John Lewis. As the advert does not give the audience much detail at all about what John Lewis actually sells, it communicates that the store is already well-known enough to provide little detail; they do not need to include specifics or any particular information as the audience is most likely to already know what the store is all about.
It also communicates to us that John Lewis is suitable for families at Christmas time. At the start we see a little girl and her brother creating the snowmen and her mother calling them inside; creating a representation of a typical family.
3) How is the genre of love represented?
The adverts strongly shows us the idea of love at first sight (When the snowmen first see each other the audience can immediately make the assumption that they are in love - this is due to the romantic genre of music and the mise-en-scene of the scene).
It's also represented as being something that you have to fight for. We see the snowman going on a difficult journey through harsh snowstorms, and according to Todorov, problems that would disrupt the equilibrium (such as a lake being in the way of his path.).
4) What techniques are used in the advert?
The advert uses a range of camera shots and angles. There are lots of long shots used, and this is to help the audience identify the location of the snowman. Panning is also used effectively, for example when the snowman is going through a dense forest the camera pans; and this is used to suggest movement and the time that this journey is taking to complete.
It as well as the advert using non-diegetic sound right the way through, we also get small pieces of diegetic sound (such as when the robin is singing and when we hear the wind whistling), which is used to make the advert seem more realistic and natural.
The advert has smooth and quick editing techniques so the transition from scene to scene looks good; or it uses subtle black-outs to round off the scene.
