BETH

1) Evaluate how the narrative techniques attempt to persuade and position

the audience to believe in the products (8 marks)

The Save the Children and Natwest advert both use narrative conventions
to position the audience to believe in the products through the use of
binary oppositions and character functions. The Save the Children advert
uses binary opposition consistently, to raise awareness for this global and
political issues in Syria. The binary opposition between the foreground of
the young white girl and the background of this horrific destruction and
warfare of Syria positions the majority white middle class audience to
identify (Katz) and therefore, this almost threatens the audience as the
possibility of this happening to their children becomes very real through
the advert. This links to ethnocentrism, the idea that the Western white
middle class views itself as superior
B. This positions the audience in the Syrian perspective and to consider
the speed that this transition between a safe Western ideal home to a
dystopian warzone can occur. This rapidity of the effects is anchored by
the cyclical narrative of the advert, indicating how this could all happen in
one year, which further highlights the severity of the situation as it causes
audiences to reflect on this time scale and the difference they could have
made. Further binary opposition of the colour and the sound is used to
position the audience to consider their own lives and the quality of lives
for others. The colours change from bright and vibrant to dull, which
connotes a loss of life, safety and freedom amongst the Syrian individuals.
Additionally, the opposition of the sound, starting with children laughing
and the sound of people saying happy birthday to the bombings of a
warzone and cries for help. In addition, the direct address from the girl at
the end contributes towards character functions. The audience is
positioned to feel like the villain in this corrupt world, helping this trauma
to be inflicted on the girl a there is an absence of a new equilibrium
(Todorov). This brings a sense of responsibility onto the audience and
therefore, also a sense of guilt, all contributing to the agenda of the
advert, to get audiences to donate money. The Natwest advert also uses
the narrative convention of Todorovs 3 part narrative and presents a new
equilibrium of a family buying a house, connoting that obtaining a
mortgage is simple and highlights the ease of it with Natwest. This ease
the advert is anchored by the narration of a child, which uses simple
language and reduces the time period, therefore appealing to todays
contemporary and busy audience. However, it is important to
contextualise the audience for this advert, as it may have very opposing
readers for audiences. After the housing crash, banks needed to regain
and rebuild trust. Therefore, this ease that the advert presents positions
the audience to have trust once more.

2) What are the dominant myths (Barthes) and myths underpinning

contemporary adverts? You may also refer to other media products to
support your answer. (12 marks)

Barthes theory of myths state that the audience look for signs to help
them interpret the narrative. These deeply rooted signs are based on
 expectations the audience has due to prior knowledge of old tales or
myths. In the Save the Children advert, the dominant reading (Hall) can
be the sympathy for the child, produced by the consistent close ups and
direct address, so that the audiences focus is on the foreground image of
the childs gradual decrease in health, safety and happiness. This
dominant myth of the West being greater than the East is underpinned
and enforced through globalisation and the imposing of Western ideals.
Therefore, this concept of Western superiority is exemplified in the Save
the Children advert, as its profound effect is mostly through its use of a
white actress, and therefore the situation depicted is more identifiable and
close to home for the target audience.

The dominant myths in the NatWest advert however can produce an

oppositional reading of the advert. This is because with contemporary
adverts comes a new media literate and more active audience. As a more
active audience, we are more likely to disbelieve or question the banks
security in the mortgage area, as many audiences will remember the
housing crash and the crisis this put banks in and therefore the dominant
myth of banks being unreliable may transgress into the audiences reading
of the advert. In addition, the presentation of the ease of obtaining a
mortgage may produce an oppositional reading and potentially, even
anger certain audiences who know this is not easy and therefore, further
anchor the dominant myth of banks being unreliable.

Dominant myths are also apparent in political adverts. The Green Partys
most recent advert depicting playground politics presents a simplified
version of politics in a playground acted by children. The use of children
highlights the stupidity of todays politics and therefore, anchors all
dominant myths of the partys. For example, the stereotype of the
conservative party being concerned with money and not the poor is
presented and also the labour partys left wing and more liberal policies is
presented. A verbal code presented that anchors these dominant myths is
the child Jeremy Corbyn saying I dont like when people play with
rockets. This mocks and exaggerates Corbyns very left wing views and
therefore, the green party plays on these dominant myths that the
audience already have of partys to promote their own party.

3) What impact has digital media had on desensitizing audiences from global
issues? Use only your own choice of media products (12 marks)

Digital medias continuing presence can contribute to the desensitization

of audiences towards global issues. Due to greater demand and
narrowcasting, media is now accessible constantly, whether that be
through social media, apps or websites. This constant presence digital
media has in a technology based society means that global issues can
sometimes fall victim to cultivation theory (Gerbner). This means that
because the same information or global issue is being continuously
presented to the audience, they can become desensitized to this as it can
then be seen as a commodity to the audience and lose the actual issue in
the medias representation. One example of this is the image of Alan
Kurdi, the three year old Syrian boy washed up on the shores of Greece.
The image of Alan lying face down on the shore was on the front page of
every newspaper, such as The Guardian and The Daily Express and also
circulated online and on social media. The abundance of this image could
have had an impact on desensitizing the audience as they were constantly
exposed to it and therefore, experiencing media saturation and the story
became less about the individual Alan Kurdi and more a selling point
through shock for institutions.

In addition, the impact of digital media has led to a democratisation of the

internet as there are not many regulations for Western audiences using
social media for example. Although, in Poland, it has been introduced that
the government will regulate all journalism and social media and
therefore, even as a European country, Poland is facing restrictions.
However, it can be argued that digital media actually encourages an
audience to become more active in global issues. For example, the global
issue of race is still very prevalent in police brutality in America. After the
shootings of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, both unarmed teenagers
shot, the hashtag #blacklivesmatter surfaced. This demonstrates how
the impact of digital media can actually encourage audiences to become
involved in global issues, particularly a younger audience on social media.
Black Lives Matter is endorsed by celebrities such as Beyonce, who
recently used her half time Superbowl performance to promote the
importance of this global race issue. This celebrity culture can also
contribute to creating a bigger impact of global issues as celebrities can
impact and promote them and therefore, engage a wider audience to this
issue.

However, because of digital medias availability, it can allow people to

select the media that they consume. This links to Gauntletts Pick n Mix
theory that audiences can select the media that they consume and
therefore, they do not have to be exposed to these global issues. This
change in consumption with the growing presence of digital media allows
audiences to consume more easy digestible media that requires a very
passive audience and allows easy entertainment immediately. For
example, with the addition of ITV Player, The Only Way is Essex, an easy
entertainment show with low or none news values and requires a very
passive audience, is readily available and allows audiences to choose this
easy entertainment rather than face and confront global issues.