Documentary adverts

2. This documentary advert publicises a documentary on Channel Four
(Disarming Britain). The advert is laid out by having two mid shots of two
young boys (one pretending to point a gun at another's head). The way the
text has been laid out is very considerate as none of the text merges in with
the background or the clothing of the two boys. For example the boy on the
right hand side has purposely got a red t-shirt on so that the white Channel
Four logo contrasts it.
The title of the documentary is also in white with a red background which
stands out against the darkening colours on the model.
The language is very limited in this documentary advert. However there is an
additional website link at the bottom of the page so that the audience can
gain more information on the documentary.
The space within this advertisement is used well.
The landscape ad has two young boys on each side of the page, one is
giving us direct eye contact, by looking at his neutral face, we are
immediately switched to looking at the other boy pretending to hold a gun
with his fingers. The way in which this boy is positioned links in with the title
of the documentary. ‘Disarming’ has other meanings such as; ‘to divest of a
weapon or weapons’ or ‘To reduce or abolish armed forces’. From this, the
initial topic of the documentary will be about violence, war and weapons
within Britain.
The headline of this documentary advert is placed at the bottom of the page.
From other adverts I have looked at, the name of the documentary is usually
placed at eye-line level. The eye-line focus for this advert is one of the boys
pointing a fake gun at the other, this initial focus tells us that the
documentary will purely be about violence maybe within the younger
generation. The background is filled with a brick wall, however some spaces
are darker than others, for example the bricks are lighter where the fake gun
is pointed at the boy’s head. Channel Four have carefully taken into
consideration about the lighting and how to contrast the colours in this
advert together, this ultimately makes it more visually pleasing to look at.
The target audience would be a Pre-watershed audience as the
documentary is shown on Tv at 8pm, this would therefore interest
younger ages at around the age of 14+. With the use of war-related
language this could also attract an older audience who are keen to watch
about what happens in their country. As two young children are shown
on this magazine this may interest parents as they would want to know
the kind of things that maybe happens to children in Britain and how they
can be influenced in Crime and violence.

3. This newspaper/documentary advert is placed outside a train stop, this
would engage all types of demographics as a variety of mixed ages/genders
are on a train. The layout of this advert is quite simplistic as it’s main focus
is just on one young boy, who we assume is from the gypsy community.
There are three adjectives placed over the boys head ‘Bigger, fatter,
gypsier’. From these three short words we assume this Channel Four
documentary will be based on a gypsy community but maybe more about
the younger generation. Behind the main image, there is a blurred image of
another young boy who looks very excitable from the open-mouth
expression.
This boy has been presented to look as he is very loud which is an initial
stereotype for young boys. In juxtaposition to this, the image of the main
boy has a more angered look to him. Gypsy children are stereotypically
more violent and mature in a sense that they know how to fight/build
things/drive etc. The costume also reveals a lot about both boys, it is clear
to see that both of them are dressed in tracksuit hoodies, this tells us that
the documentary will be based on maybe a poorer area in Britain.
The space has been used so that the whole advert doesn’t look full, I Think
this looks for effective as people at a train stop would only take a quick
glance at this advert so it is important to have limited but important text
placed on it. A numerical date has been placed at the bottom left of the
advert. We assume this is the date of the first episode of the documentary
or the new series. Channel Fours logo has been placed clearly to inform
their target audience the documentary is produced by them.
The background of this advert is simplistic, however it highlights the text
more and the main image of the boy which is the most important part of a
documentary advert.
This advert hasn’t included what time this documentary will be shown on
TV, therefore it doesn’t state if it a pre-watershed or watershed programme.
From looking at Channel Four’s industry, they always show a On Air warning
if a documentary fits the category of it being watershed. However on this
advert it is ambiguous about the age range that could watch this, this is
due to kids being shown on the poster which would possibly attract the
younger generation to watch it. In contrast to this there are also three
comparatives which explain the gypsy community Channel Four will be
documenting about, this could attract demographics of an older audience.

4. The layout of this documentary advert is quite ambiguous but
interesting to observe. The background is of a scenic field with a
dream-like pink sky. A female bed is shown, this insinuates this
documentary will be about a female.
The text in the bottom left corner reveals in the subheading that
the documentary is about a female ‘The Girl Who Cannot Sleep’.
The title of the documentary suggests that this documentary will be
about a range of mind- related things such as Insomnia which this
episode is focusing upon.
There is minimal text on this documentary poster. Key facts such as
the date and the time the documentary is on is shown. The
recognisable Channel Four logo is positioned in the top right
corner over a contrasting colour so it can easily been seen. It is
important for the channel’s logo to be shown as this will gain more
audience attraction to it.
The overall image of the poster looks bizarre, however it links in
with the topic of the documentary of the mind. The colours used
create a calming effect which forms a image of a restful place. This
links in with the documentary topic as it is about not being able to
sleep. Channel Four have used an image of a sheep to
stereotypically inforce the stereotype of people not being able to
sleep therefore they have to count sheep.
Within the documentary title, it also has a subheading to inform the
target audience what specific mind illness this documentary will be
focusing on.
This documentary is pre-watershed which therefore means it is
suitable for all age groups to watch. I think their target
audience would be those who are typically interested in
documentaries of a medical genre, or possibly students that are
interested in subjects such as science or psychology.