Super.Human

• Social and cultural context

  - The advertisement seeks to focus on the fact that these are real people - 'Human' rather than 'Super' - which makes them more accessible to the audience.

  Relatable to people with disabilities
• Stuart Hall's Reception Theory

  • Upbeat soundtrack
  • Use of personalisation
  • Positive representations of the event and the athletes as both 'Super' and 'Human'
  • Encourages an audience to accept the ideologies and intended meaning of Channel 4, the encoder, in creating the advertisement
  • Use of real people creates a preferred reading that the audience should invest in their narratives and subsequently watch the Paralympic Games
• Audience adopts a negotiated position

  • Acknowledging the legitimacy of the encoder's position, but may feel more distanced from the sporting theme of the event
  • May be more open to the positive approach of the advertisement and examine their misconceptions about disabled people and their lives more generally
• Audience adopts an oppositional response


  • May come from those who are not supporters of Channel 4 and its ethos of giving voice to those who are under-represented
  • They may be older, not regular viewers of Channel 4 or not interested in sport of any kind
• Stuart Hall's Reception Theory

  This theory can be challenged. People may become more open to the representations which creates a more open view of disabilities.
• Audiences


  • The use of personalisation will reach the audience
  • Superhuman deals with real, human stories focusing on the day-to-day struggles of being an athlete in training and disabled
• Technical codes


  • A lot of close-up shots, some of which are uncomfortable, for example, the popping of the blister
• Editing


  • Cuts between the athletes' grueling routines and clips of cartoon moments, lightening the mood and engaging the audience through humour
• Audio codes


  • The soundtrack is a recognisable song from the musical Bugsy Malone, So You Want To Be a Boxer
  • The choice of this upbeat, stirring tune grabs the audience's attention with its connotations of struggle and hard work paying off
• Representations in the advertisement

  • Avoids negative stereotypical representations of Paralympians as victims to be pitied, or heroes, 'superhumans', to be viewed in awe
  • Creates a realistic, 'blood and guts' feel to the advertisement
• Narratives in the advertisement

  Centered around real people, but through re-presentation, a representation of reality is constructed focusing specifically on the challenges that the athletes face
• Representations in the advertisement

  • Close-up shots of the athletes and their challenges during training and their home lives
  • Ordinary people who eat their breakfast, give birth, and play the drums, with whom the audience can positively associate
• Editing in the advertisement

  • Fast-paced, enables the advertisement to highlight a range of narratives and athletes with different disabilities, disciplines, and challenges
• The representations in the advertisement challenge accepted ideas regarding disability and disabled athletes
• Gestures (Body language - MES)


  • Communicate frustration, competition and celebration
• Dreamlike sequences with dramatic images, music and rich colour palette

  Contrasted with reality conveyed through ambient lighting and strident sound of alarm clock
• Iconography and settings

  • Related to the athlete and the sport, e.g. Ellie Simmonds putting on goggles in pool, training in gym
• Athlete/sport settings


  Juxtaposed with domestic scenes of everyday life as a disabled person, suggesting normality of their situation