The first advert is designed to look surreal. This is achieved to a large extent; the start of the advert shows a fat man appearing from what seems like nowhere. The lighting in this opening scene I think is particularly effective; there is a kind of eerie blue glow, which connoted ideas of futurism and space travel. This, in conjunction with the 2001 – Space Odyssey music is very effective. In fact, this could be a big selling point for the chocolate bar – the intertextual links with 2001 – A Space Odyssey would attract fans of the film to the advert and make them want to buy the chocolate bar.
Also the viewer will be gripped by the surreal images, therefore wanting them to keep watching. However the next scene, although surreal in some ways, relied more on comic effect of the fat mans belly bouncing up and down in time to the music. The editing skill used in doing this is truly reflected because everyone who watched it laughed at it. Perhaps the most ingenious part is the opening of the fridge – a kind of heavenly light seemed to be streaming forth from inside of the fridge.
I had stumbled upon this effect when filming; the room is dark and so when the fridge opened, it took a few seconds for the camera to adjust to the light. It appeared to the viewer that the chocolate bar is glowing, like a precious jewel, which will make the viewer want to buy it. This special effect signifies the magical quality of the double trouble chocolate bar – it is the kind of effect used in sci-fi films, when the maker wants to make something look interesting and awe inspiring. The closing scene of the man eating the chocolate is filmed upwards in close up.
There were two reasons for this: Firstly to make the fat man appear very large, as if the viewer were looking up at him, but secondly to draw attention to the look of bliss on his face. The music reached its climax as the man ate the chocolate bar, which is exactly the desired effect. The voiceover of the mans mother/wife (done by me) is an afterthought of the group, because to show how utterly irresistible the chocolate bar is, the man completely ignores the voice and sits back with a satisfied smile (and bounteous smears of chocolate) on his face.
“If one has had a double trouble bar, what more could one possibly want? ” The last part of the advert featured a picture of the chocolate bar with the slogan “Been Naughty? ” written in large white letters. The voiceover of a posh old male voice added yet more humour because people like to laugh at the sound of posh old men’s voices – they sound amusing. It is true to say that the first time we watched the advert we were in of laughter. This first advert used fast editing and cuts between scenes.
We used a variety of different camera angles and shot distances and we used both a tripod and hand held shots. The second advert is aimed at a young audience, and is designed to be shown on television channels viewed by young people such as MTV. To appeal to a young audience (16 – 25) we had to include that interested people of that age: music, cars, love and (of course) chocolate! The fast editing and speeded-up scenes worked extremely well; they create an exciting atmosphere. Also, the young man in the advert is in a hurry to meet his girlfriend, so the speeded-up scenes emphasize that fact.
However this advert had quite a long storyline to show in 45 seconds. When we first edited it, it was about 80 seconds, by which time most viewers would have switched channels or diverted their attention to other things. However after many hours of cutting the advert down, it looked much better and far more like a real advert shown on MTV. There seemed only to be one problem: a number of viewers said that they didn’t follow the storyline particularly well. This is because at the very beginning of the advert 9:05 appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Most of the viewers didn’t notice it, and so the advert seemed to make no sense. The great selling point of the advert (particularly to young males) is that the young man had bought his girlfriend a double trouble chocolate bar to make up for being late meeting her. This suggests that if you give a young lady a double trouble chocolate bar, she will instantly fall in love with you. Sadly not true. The advert used a wide variety of camera shots – close-ups for the actors and long shots of the car pulling away and parking.
This gave the watcher a spectators view. We changed the voiceover at the end to that of a young man with a cockney accent. It seemed to fit in better with the general feel of the advert because a young male cockney voice is associated with city life and youth culture – the voice could be that of the young man. I think this is the most professional looking advert because the storyline is complex, but the message is clear. The many hours of editing were definitely reflected. The third advert is intended to be funny.
We had originally intended another advert to be used, but unfortunately it broke one of the advertising guidelines. The original third advert featured a character named ‘Professor Diggory’, a character invented for an earlier production called ‘Media Studies – What is the need? ‘ Professor Diggory was a public school professor, and as the original advert was aimed at young children, said professor was deemed unsuitable. Small children could find him intimidating. Also there are many connotations to do with public schools such as child abuse, so showing the advert would be risky.
So, a new advert had to be filmed and edited. It opened with a scene of a sleepover party with the general mise en scene such as sleeping bags, CD’s, empty bottles and general mess. The advert aimed to sell through USP (unique selling point); the viewer is actually informed about the chocolate bar. I had also wanted the advert to be funny, which it is, but the humour came from both the irony of a boy having caramel and chocolate poured on his fingers and the comic appeal of him waking and smearing it all over his face!
This advert had a voiceover of a man with a jordy accent, which we speeded up. This to most viewers sounds extremely funny. The voiceover, “No, no, no! Its two fingers of BISCUIT laced in caramel and covered in thick milk chocolate. ” explained an otherwise bizarre (and useless) advert. Again the advert featured the double trouble logo and slogan (voiced by the old man) at the end. The music in the advert is quiet to begin with, to make it sound like a stereo being played in the background, but it is gradually faded up to create excitement when the boy awoke.
The advert is actually the most descriptive of the three. The complete and finished adverts look good enough to be shown on TV. The combination of fast editing and catchy soundtracks contributed to create an attractive atmosphere. We had done what we aimed to achieve – made three adverts for the same product, but to sell the product in different ways. I believe that, if given a similar task to do, I could do it far more quickly and efficiently, but as a first effort at television advertising I think they work very well and I am most proud of them.
