Long Shot Of The Dancing Girl's Back example essay topic

English Coursework- Media Study The purpose of adverts is to encourage and attract people to buy a product or service. To do this advertising companies use language, images and sound very carefully to make sure that their product or service is as appealing to a potential customer as possible. A good advertising executive can expect to earn a great deal of money as it is their ideas that will make a product successful. Every advert has a core proposition- the main claim made about the product. This is meant to make the product seem more attractive than all its competitors. To convey the core proposition every advert has a strategy.

There are many different methods used such as humour, sex, science, self-improvement, an appealing lifestyle, guilt, peer pressure, panic buying, music and celebrity endorsement. The slogan is an important factor as it is frequently the main thing people remember about the product. The advert I have chosen to study is an advert for 'Gap's tretch jeans. It was shown (on this occasion) at about one o'clock on Saturday afternoon on channel five during the advert break of an American teenage comedy called 'Popular'. I would expect the target audience to be teenagers or possibly pre-teenagers, mainly female.

The core proposition of my product was partly music and partly showing an appealing lifestyle- if you buy these jeans you will be fashionable, chic and stylish. In the advert there is a teenage girl, of about seventeen years old, and a woman in her early fifties singing and dancing together while wearing 'Gap's tretch jeans (naturally). The older woman appears to be conducting the younger girl, while she does a bizarre, bendy dance. The first shot is a medium shot of the woman's foot tapping in time to the music. The camera shot moves up her leg and then switches to a medium shot of the girl's upper body and head.

After that there is a shot of the girl's thighs as she dances, panning out to a long shot so you can see all of her. Succeeding this there is a medium shot of the woman's thighs, swaying slightly. Following this there is a shot of the girl's lower legs, then her top half (both medium shots), and then there is a long shot of the dancing girl's back. Next there is a shot of the woman's upper body and head followed by a close up of the girl's face and a long shot of her dancing again. After that there is a shot of the woman dancing and then a close up of the girl as she address the camera. It then cuts to the sign 'Gap Stretch Jeans'.

After this the camera cuts back to the woman as she addresses the camera and there is a final shot of the 'Gap's ign. The images used in this advert are cool, fresh and sharp. The whole advert is set against a plain white background, which draws the viewer's attention to the people. Its simplicity prevents it distracting any attention away from the main action.

Both the woman and the girl are dressed in plain, dark clothes (all, of course, from Gap). The denim they wear is dark and fairly simple. Neither the woman nor the girl has any particularly striking features. They both have darkish blond hair and appear tall and slim. The only really prominent characteristics they have are the large amounts of jewellery the woman wears and the dramatic make-up the girl wears.

The only really noticeable difference between their clothing is their shoes. They both wear footwear suitable for their ages, the girl wears combat boots while the woman wears more sophisticated heels. This is meant to show that Gap have bridged the generation gap, both the woman and the girl look chic and stylish wearing similar clothes while still managing to look suitably clad for their respective age groups. Throughout the advert both of them (but especially the girl) continue to sing and dance. This is supposed to show how stretchy and flexible the jeans are; you can do strange, twisting dances wearing them with the utmost ease. The overall image is one of a chic, relaxed and yet very modern scene.

The music used in this advert compliments the images and overall style perfectly. It has a laid back, syncopated beat, which is catchy without being overly stylised or ostentatious. Both the voices singing are sonorous altos. The woman has a rich, almost fluid tone while the girl has a more throaty sound. The contrasting timbre prevents ambiguity and results in a sophisticated yet natural and relaxed sound, which harmonises with the general theme and gives a contemporary feel to the advert. There is no voiceover on this advert, but both the girl and the woman speak.

The girl's voice is drawling with a thick American accent, making her words a little unclear so you have to strain to hear them. The woman's voice has a slightly over pronounced accent, which sounds sophisticated. This woman is very elegant yet she wears Gap jeans. This is meant to make you think that Gap jeans can be elegant and stylish as well as being dressed down and relaxed. The copy in this advert is fairly short and basic. I think this is a good idea in this case as the imagery is very strong; the copy seems merely to be backing it up.

The copy is: "For showing off the long and leans. For every generation". The first sentence implies that with Gap's jeans everyone can have endless, slender legs like the model. The second sentence is very simple: 'For every generation'. These jeans are for everyone, they make everyone look good regardless of age or background. The woman says this line with a knowing smile, which appears to give a message to her contemporaries saying 'Yes, these jeans are fantastic for older women too.

They can make us look stylish and trendy without being "mutton dressed as lamb" '. I think this simple copy works very well. I personally tend to find that with longer copies I don't really pay attention, whereas with a shorter message it is more dramatic and punchy and more likely to persuade me to buy that particular product. I think this advert was extremely well made and cleverly planned. Gap adverts (and this one in particular) always seem to stay in peoples' memories. Most people I mention this advert to recognise it instantly, which shows the advert is certainly working.

This advert is fairly new, Gap tend to churn out new adverts on a regular basis. There is quite a large market for jeans and quite a lot of competition for Gap, although not many jeans companies have regular, televised advertisements. Overall I think this is a high-quality advert, and I am sure it will significantly help increasing sales.