Super. Human

• The advertisement was created to promote the 2020 paralympics by Bradford going the Oscar nominated cinematographer and the first African American cinematographer to be nominated for an award in 2017 for his work on the film arrivall
• It was devised and created by channel 4's in-house creative agency 4 creative and produced serial pictures and some such a global production company
• The advertisement explores the sacrifices made and trailers endured by paralympic althetes in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo paralympic games
• All advertisements employ a recognisable repertoire of elements of the adversting form but will have a set of conventions specific to the sub genre
• The aim of charity advertisements and those designed to raise awareness of issues and events is to have an immediate impact upon the audience to make them take notice therefore these advertisements need to be memorable and hard hitting
• The producers of this subgenre are very aware of compassion and fatigue and so will often aim to make advertisement that offer a different perspective on the issue or event usually one that is positive and upbeat
• This approach is evident with the use of audiocodes . The choice of the soundtrack so you want to be a boxer effectively communicates the struggled of disabled althetes while giving the ad a positive feel
• The more typical conventions for example a voice over and dramatic music appear at the start of the ad but rapidly change to the alarm and daily realities of daily life
• Sound effects underscore the music emphasising the battle of training including grunts groans and tape being applied
• Advertisrments have limited amount of time to convey their message and so rely on technical codes and editing to do this rapidly. This advertisement uses close up shots of expression to engage the audience and to portray aspects of disability in a non victim way emphasing that this is part of their lives
• For example a range of shots are used to convey the strength and determination of Ellie simmomds cutting between an establishing shot showing her alone in the pool a close up of her putting on her swimming goggles a low angle shot creating power and an extreme close up of her eyes connoting concentration
• Slow motion is also used to show the cycling track crash combined with muting the sound for a more dramatic effect
• Visual codes also communicate meanings
• The iconography and settings are related to the althete and the sport. For example Ellie Simmons putting on her goggles in the pool or training in the gym hut those settings are juxtaposed with domestic scenes of everyday life as a disabled person suggesting the normality of their situation
• Gesters communicate frustration competition and celebration visually highlighting the result of hard work
• The narrative follows the lives of the paralympians and their battles through training. The sequence where the althete is trying to sing happy birthday to his daughter in a mobile ogons whilst training on a bike reinforces the clash between the sport and family establishes the althete as real people
• There are more stylised sequences constructed to convey meaning. The dream sequence reappears later in the advert and is edited with a channel 4 news clip announcing the postponement of the games. The impact of this is shown as althetes fall over the edge
• The advert uses humour to convey info for example the image of hamster on wheel and puke bucket are recognisable visual signifers if struggle. The animated sequences also insert aspect of comic into what is a gruelling regime
• As ads have to communicate meaning rapidly they use recognisable codes and conventions that signify messages for audiences to decide
• In this advertisement consider the connotations of the signs used
• Clothing is used to rapidly place the althetes within their sport. For example the track cyclists of the swimming costumes contrast with the althetes in their everyday life such as the hospital clothing when the woman is giving birth or casual clothing when the wheelchair user tries to access the cafe. These signs serve to illustrate aspects of the lives of people and create realism
• Signs and codes yo challenge creation of myths around disability
• The images of grueling training regimes are contrasted with the celebratory images at the end of ad when success is achieved
• Further visual binary opposition is created between the dreamlike sequences with dramatic images music and rich colour palette and reality conveyed through ambient lighting strident sound of alarm clock
• Animated and archived footage are included in opposition to real life actions to introduce humour and reinforce the narrative
• The on screen graphic to be a paralympian there's got to be something wrong with you creates a conceptual binary opposition between audience perception of paralympic althetes and the reality
• It challenges how lang is used set against the reality of the positive images in the ad. It is this opposition that the audience is encouraged to reflect upon. The juxtaposition between being a paralympic althete at the peak of your powers and being unable to get in a cafe for a drink is pretty shocking. And tells the story in a brty simple way
• Lynsey atkin 4 creative executive creative director said following the last two paralympic adverts was no small task they exploded attitudes around disability. Yet we spotted an opportunity to present paralympians in a way they hadn't been shown before by pointing a camera at the realities of their lives and as with many elite althete the sacrifices thru make in pursuit of greatness. Collectively these choices paint a story of mental determination not disability
• Decision was made to change the focus of a previous campaign. Meet the superhumans and instead in the 2020 campaign to emphasise the human rather than the super and to juxtapose the images of the training regime with those of the everyday life's of the althete with the intention of making them relatable to audiences
• Dominant groups in society largely control what is produced and as a result, minority groups tend to be marginalised creating an unrealistic view of the contemporary world. This ad attempts to address the marginalisation of certain social groups in this case those with disabilities
• It's aim reflecting the ideology and ethos of channel 4 is to give a voice to those who aren't usually represented positively in other areas of the media
• According to you gov research 65% of viewers felt that the coverage of the paralympics had a positive impact on their perceptions of disabled people
• 82% of viewers agreed disabled althetes were as talented as able-bodied as althetes
• The advertisement actively avoids negative stereotypical representation of paralympians as victims to be pitied or hereos superhumand to be viewed in awe
• Instead the representation create a realistic blood and guts feel to the ad. The representation cover both genders and give a different view of the world of disability to that of having somethingwwrong with you
• The narratives are centred around real people but through re-presentation a representation of reality is constructed specifically on the challenges that the althete face
• The filming editing and audio codes combine to construct a representation of this social group raising awareness and creating positive representations of the paralympians as althetes first rather than disabled althetes doing their best
• Producers have aimed to avoid the stereotype of disabled althetes as having to overcome their disability in order to acheube success instead celebrating them as high performance althetes in their own right
• Close up shots of the althetes and their challenges during training and their home lives create positive representations of ordinary peuple who eat their breakfast give birth and play the drums with whom the audience can positively associate. The fast paced editing enables the ad to highlight a range of narratives and althetes with different disabilities, disciplines and challenges
• According to hall meanings are communicated through signs. This is very true of the advertising form where easily recognisable signs rapidly communicate meaning to an audience in a short space of time. For example expressions of endurance and struggle are easily recognisable and understood