Form-Narrative Structure

A TV adverts main purpose is to try and convince a consumer to buy their product, so to do this they create different types of stories.
A narrative is the name for the actual story, the structure of the narrative is a suggestion to the ways in which the story is revealed.
Linear Narrative- A linear narrative is the easiest way of telling the story, a linear has a beginning, middle and an end in the correct order.
The Nationwide advert is an example of a linear narrative, the ad starts off with beginning part of the story, this involves the character Vicky Pollard form the TV show Little Britain going into a bank and asking for chips and other food. the middle part of the story includes the banker tells the characters about the different saving accounts. The end of the advert shows the characters still not understanding as they say they want an account, but with ketchup on the side. This advert is targeted at a wide range of people, they want as many people as possible to see it. The Little Britain characters are iconic and are known by most people so when seeing the advert people instantly know who is being used in the advert.

Introduction

Advertising is all around us and is integral to everyday life. It is one of the largest sectors of the media industry, adverts being presented in a wide range of media such as television, film, radio, magazines, posters, billboards, the press, and the internet. Of all of these, television advertising probably has the highest profile, some television advertisements being so effective and memorable that they become classics and part of the cultural background for a whole generation of viewers. Television is used to market almost every product one can imagine from everyday consumables, like washing powder, to extravagant sports cars, whilst some advertisements promote a service such as insurance, banking or vehicle breakdown cover.

Television advertising has become more and more sophisticated, utilising the very latest digital production techniques. Content and style can be simple or complex, using traditional narrative structures or less obvious surrealist imagery, and messages can be overt or understated.

In this blog I will show my understanding of the structures and techniques used in television advertisements.

I will cover the following structures relating to form, style and the codes and conventions used in adverts.

I will also discuss with examples the different techniques that advertisers use to promote a product.

Structures of Advertisement

The structures of television advertisements relate to its form, style and the codes and conventions used by media producers. Over the next series of blog posts I will discuss each of these in detail with examples.

Form-Animation

Animation has become more popular in advertisement and is used frequently. Animation can be used in different ways from hand drawn to computer generated. Using animation over normal actors can have different benefits, they can have a certain appeal that is difficult to create with actors/actresses. Animation can be changed easily to go with time and so they can be run for long periods of time.
The Frosties advert shows the Character Tony the Tiger which is the mascot for Kellogg's Frosties, this character has been going for over 50 years, this shows the ease in which animation can be used and how much people of any age can enjoy and animation. This advert is aimed at children and parents, because such an iconic character is used children ask their parents to buy the Tony the Tiger cereal.

Form-Documentary

A documentary is a way of convincing viewers that the claims they are making are true,  it will normally be an expert from the area in which is being advertised.
The 4head advert is an example of a documentary advert, it is an advert for 4head, a medicine that helps get rid of headaches, it makes many scientific claims about the product, the narrator in the background sounds like an expert of the product, which makes the audience trust and believe the product that is being advertised. This advert is aimed at mums, or someone who deals with the medicine within a home, they need to know all the information and be able to trust the product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81W1VyHWdY&feature=player_embedded

Form-Talking Heads

Talking heads is a way of letting the viewers relate to the people on the advert. The audience can relate to these people as they are normal everyday people and are in the same situation as they are. If the results at the end of the advert are good then the audience may think they are more believable and so it must be true.
The ASDA advert  shows some friends going into ASDA to do the ASDA price guarantee, they then later discuss the results of their shop. The advert shows the friends reactions and opinions which can then give the audience the opportunity to shop their. which can give the audience different views and opinions about what is being advertised allowing them to make up their own minds. This advert is aimed at mums, it gives the chance for them to relate to the people in the advert because they are in the same position themselves.

Form-Stand Alone/Series

A stand alone advert is just a single advert that a company would have put their time, money and effort into making without thinking about the next avert or if their will be another one. A series of adverts is and on going advert that is telling a story over a period of different adverts.
An example of a series of adverts would be the BT adverts, they show a story and over a period of time the story and the characters develop, the above link shows an example of one part of the series. this attracts viewers and bringing more people to watch and see the product that is being advertise due the story being told. This advert is aimed at families, it tries to let the audience sympathise with the characters being used in the story.