The document provides an analysis of several charity videos promoting access to clean water. It examines the media language and representation techniques used in videos by Water Aid, David Tennant, Save the Children, and Oxfam. Key points analyzed include the music, images of families struggling to fetch water, voices of narrators, and ways the videos aim to elicit emotion from audiences such as mothers and families.
2. David Tennant
Video
Media Language
There's a lot of people talking, it distracts me a bit from the actual video of the kids
who need help.
Begins with slow paste music which reflects the way there speaking and the images
that are being shown.
Music then speeds up with addition to the people speaking and the images of the
families.
Links to the water aid advert in the way that we stereotype women saying how men
do all the work but in this video you cant see any men fetching water, its all the
women and the children.
They show the water bottle ‘One’ which could represent how only one water bottle
could make a difference to them.
They use the words ‘In the UK getting water is as simple as turning on the tap’ This
plays on the hearts strings of the audience and makes them feel bad for themselves as
they know themselves how much of a easy life we have compared to those in poorer
countries.
At the beginning the video is very quick so you don’t really get to see the families
struggling but as it goes towards the end the videos on the families last longer which
represents how the organisation wants you to see the families happy so it makes you
want to help even more.
When the people are speaking the background is dark, which pulls your focus
towards those who are speaking, which makes you pay more attention because there
isn’t anything distracting in the background, but when you get into the video
containing families, its very bright which reflects how they want you to focus on
everything that is happening around them.
3. Representatio
n Slow sad music represents how much there struggling.
Happy fast music represents how much water can change their life's,
contrast between the music at the beginning and the music at the end.
Children playing around in the park represents the happiness this
organisation has provided them.
The amount of people speaking represents that there are a lot f people
who want to make a change, if there are a lot of people speaking then
there's a wide range of audiences this could be aimed at.
At the beginning of the video there are a lot of children and women
fetching water which suggest how much there struggling seeing as the
children are helping so it must be bad for them. Then at the end of the
video there isn’t anyone being shown fetching water which signifies
the good that water has done for these people.
The way some of the people are wasting the water represents how
much we have, we've got that much water it would be nice to donate
some to those who are suffering without. He's aiming this at those
who take water for granted and those who waste it.
With all the children jumping up and down and running to school
represents how much they are happy and glad that there getting some
kind of education.
4. Audienc
e With all the different actors being shown in this video this is going to be targeted at those who recognise them,
if you see someone you recognise off a programme its going to make you get more involved into what's being
shown.
Its not just men talkers being shown, women are being shown also which widens the audience more seeing as
the message is getting put out to both sexes.
The use of the children being shown struggling will pull the heart strings of those with children, so mothers,
grandparents, fathers and many more, all of which will want to help because they wouldn’t want to see there
children being in the same situation.
There is a family at the beginning fetching water which will be targeted at all different families for the same
reason as those with children because they wouldn’t want to be in the same situation as them.
5. Save the children
videoMedia language
The music in the background is very sad and slow which reflects
on the images that are being shown.
At the beginning it shows a little kid who is slowly dying due to
drinking contaminated water, the camera stays on this child for a
while which lets you focus more on effects that no water has done
to him.
The women speaking has a very gentle voice, she's not shouting it
at you she's slowly asking you to help, the tone seems a bit upset
which causes the audience to feel more emotion, the voice is ion
the background so it lets you focus more on the images that are
being shown.
The small video of them pouring dirty water into a mug is there
way of showing us what they are actually drinking, there's a slow
motion on the water which focuses our attention onto how dirty
the water actually is.
They have there logo in the corner to remind the audience who
they are, it doesn’t go off unless the images change, which allows
the audience to remember who it is doing this.
The video shows all the children fetching water for their families,
like the other videos there aren’t any men helping its more the
children which signifies how much there struggling.
They show the colour of the water which reflects how dirt it
actually is.
The contrast between the colour of the bowl and the water also
6. Representati
on The tone of her voice represents how upset she is that
these children are suffering.
The colour of the water represents how dirty the water is.
All the children gathering around the water pipe
represents how much there desperate for the fresh water
being poured out.
The difference between the mothers feeding their
children dirty water which was very slow seeing as they
don’t really want to give their children contaminated
water but they don’t have no other choice compared to
the mothers giving the children fresh water, she pours it
to him really fast representing the joy and excitement she
has giving this to her child.
The camera angle onto the kids is shows them suffering,
this is shown for around 10-15 seconds which suggests its
importance for it to be seen and it allows us as the
audience to actually pay attention to the features of the
child face which represents the struggle their going
through.
7. Audience
Again just like the David Tennant video there targeting it mainly at those with children
so parents and grandparents, the explanation of this has been explained on the other
video.
8. Oxfam Video
Media Language
Voice over is very stripped back and calm, he's not shouting the words at you
he's actually telling you what needs to be done.
The floor that they kept showing is very dry and crumbled, which connotes the
voice over because its very dry as well. He has a very husky voice with a grasp
edge to it.
Video is full of repetition, which is very smart allowing it to connote the main
importance of this money and how little it is, repeating it allows this to be stuck
into people memory and it makes the organisation become a lot more
recognisable to all the other ones out there.
Its unique to all the different videos out there because it focuses a lot more on
the positives, the videos I've seen so far consists of things that’s wrong with
those struggling and how there drinking dirty water but with this video it
focuses more on the positive aspects of what can happen to them with the help.
Its like a fresh new video as its unique to what I've seen before which could
denote the freshness of the water and the fresh new life that they can receive
with eh help from us.
There isn’t any music in the background covering the voice over which connotes
how stripped back the video is.
It’s also a nice change to see kids actually learning rather than fetching water
from dirty lakes.
9. Representatio
n
The huskiness of his voice reflects the dryness of were
they are and how dry it is without water, being shown
in the images of those in the desert and the dryness of
the floor.
The colour of both the crops and there logo is green
which could signify positivity, and how that’s what
there aiming for and what there focusing on rather
than it being focused of the negative parts of what's
happening.
Use of repetition allows it to be remembered more and
when it comes on its easily recognised.
The use of showing sad faced children and then happy
faced children reflects on how this charity has changed
there lives for the better.
The repetition of the price £2 a month represents how
cheap it is and how we can all contribute.
The rhyme within the video which is included in the
repetition also allows it to be more recognised because
if there this a rhyme then it becomes addictive and
therefore more memorable.
The contrast between the dry coloured land and the
bright coloured land represents how much help this
charity has been.
10. Audienc
e
Just like the other videos we've seen, the main audience I think is to those with children,
but its still targeted at everyone, with that repetition of YOU represents there aiming this
at everyone watching.
11. Jennifer Connelly
Video
Media language
The video consists of just music which is very soft and quiet
which suggests how they don’t need to shout there message
across to everyone.
The use of this video using a more modern day twist on
projecting the message reflects on how it would look like if
our lives were like this.
The use of the colour yellow shows it standing out in big
crowds which allows it to suggest how many people this is
effecting, seeing as when looking at the video all that
catches your eye is those yellow boxes.
The person who dropped there carton suggests the struggle
people go through to actually receive water even if its dirty.
The soft music which then has text added to the end doesn’t
really make the video very memorable and the text is very
blunt, which is they suggests there getting straight to the
point and there not sugar coating anything.
12. Representation
The long que while there fetching water represents how
long it takes to make you way to the water and the amount
of people signifies how many people are effected by this.
The struggle is represented through the women who drops
her barrel, the concept of her being on her own also
signifies how much help she actually has, there must be
that few people in her family that she couldn’t have another
person help her out with it. The speed of her running down
the stairs to the water suggests how desperate she is to get
the water.
Maybe the use of the cartons colour being yellow and then
when the water comes out it matches so that could signify
how dirty there water is comparing it to yellow which is far
from white.
With them using all different people of different colours,
age and gender represents how its happening to everyone.
The use of the soft music allows you to contemplate on
what needs to be done which is providing those without
water with water.
The long promo of those walking to get water suggests the
length of the journey they have to make to get water where
as we just have to walk about 2 seconds to get water for
13. Audienc
e
• This videos target audience is an interesting one because all the other videos have been targeting
there's at those with kid but this one targets it to all different people.
• The video shows both women and men those black, white, old and young who struggle fetching
water which represents how this effects everyone.