Wateraid revision

 reception theory:

how the audience decodes the ideology of the producer. Encoding/decoding model. The audience can choose to receive the ideology of a media product in many different ways 

• preferred reading - agree with producer 
• negotiated reading - agrees but also disagrees with certain bits 
• oppositional reading - disagree with producer 

Wateraid advert:

• 90 sec adverts are expensive so midday is the cheapest slot to show it 
• Unconvential charity advert 
• Wateraid dominant ideology - water is essential to life and happiness. We the audience are responsible for Claudia's happiness
• Wateraid preferred reading - The audiences will agree with the ideology and will either donate or intend to donate money. We believe donating money is the right thing to do, and is an efficient way of making people's like Claudia's life better. We are in a better position than 'them', and must use our advantage to help 'them'. 
• Wateraid negotiated reading - Donating money to charity may help people, but we actually don't know exactly how our money will be spent. The advert was clearly expensive, so perhaps this was too extravagant. Helping people is good, but some audiences may not be in a position to regularly donate money, which may mean the advert is upsetting and guilt tripping. Finally, some audiences may agree with the charity but might see the representation of 'Africa'  as being broad and offensive. Some audiences may also find the advert annoying 
• Wateraid oppositional reading - The audience may believe that Claudia is not entitled to help. she clearly already has water and therefore doesn't need help. Audiences may also believe that this is not their problem and that again she is not entitled to help. 

Explore how different audiences can respond to the wateraid advert? (12)

knee jerk reaction:

Some audiences may agree with the dominant ideology, while other audiences may disagree

DAC introduction:

Audience refers to the people who engage or consume a media product. Audiences are absolutely essential because they essentially financially the media product. The producers must therefore ensure audiences engage with and consume a media product. In this essay, I shall argue that by and large, most audience members will confirm the preferred reading of the ideology, while some audiences will reject this ideology. To back this up, I shall be looking at the Wateraid Claudia advert, which is an atypical charity advert. 

One way which an audience can respond to the advert is a sense of responsibility and a duty to donate money. this idea encoded through the frequent use of binary oppositions. The initial establishing shot features the MES of rain and a boring radio voiceover, which positions the target audience in the UK in winter. However, we immediately cut to a dry sandy location, presumably 'Africa'. This binary opposition symbolically communicates a sense of British privilege and even guilt to the target audience. The intended response is clearly to donate money. 

One of the key target demographics for charity adverts includes stay at home mothers.  Typically working class, this group may well have a sense of empathy towards young children. The producer has cast a young woman in this advert with a british name, and she is also singing clear English. This may allow the audience to identify with the character of Claudia far more effectively than the anonymous representation of starving africans often seen in this kind of advert. 

How and why does Wateraid use stereotypes?

An oppositional reading to traditional charity adverts is that they are extremely exploitive and manipulative. In older wateraid adverts, children are shown drinking dirty water in a way that surely hurts them. The justification is that this raises awareness, but all audience members wil agree. The claudia advert takes a deliberately  different perspective, and is able to engage viewers more effectively.

Use of Lexis: text 'SUNNY'. Use of language is overwhelmingly positive, and positions audience in a positive, helpful and power position 

MES of group of smiling villagers around the waterpump reinforces the ideology that water is a source of happiness. This emphasises the idea of positivity and helpfulness for target audience 

Sunny, blissful setting is emphasis through high key lighting filtering through trees. This functions as a symbolic code, suggesting freedom happiness and autonomy

MES of colour becomes brighter and more saturated as advert continues. This is symbolic of the impact of water on the community of villagers 

Claudia sings in an African tinged version of a 90s pop song. This song will appeal in particular to middle aged and older audiences who may have more expendable income or money to spend on charity campaigns. The song itself positive, uplifting, and also sung in english.

By singing in English, Claudia is more relatable to the target audience. Claudia is hardworking, is interested in the same ancient pop songs as the target audience and is wearing bright optimistic colours. Claudia is a relatable name that is easy to pronounce, and speaks clear, easy to understand english 

In what ways can audiences use the Wateraid advert, and how does this reflect their identity?

In this advert, the audience are positioned in a position of privilege. They are positioned in a way that they have mans and the finances to donate money. Therefore, the Wateraid advert sells a lifestyle of being a good and charitable person

The wateraid advert deliberately uses a process of othering to position the target audience in a position of privellge, but more importantly, to position 'African' people as vulnernable and in need of cahrity. This is a highly stereotypical representation 

The claudia advert uses stereotypical, postcolonial representations of Africa in order to create sympathy for its target audience 

Claudia and other villagers are represented as stereotypically poor/ Claudia is establishes through an establishing montage that shows her walking down a hot and dusty path to collect water. This is a slightly stereotypical 

Dry and dusty MES, and in particular the red sand is highly stereotypical of representations of Africa 

Claudia's shoes are extremely important, and are established in a close up, low angle tracking shot. As the audience are posistioned 'in her shoes', we are also confronted with another stereotype. Claudia's footwear is cheap and flimsy looking, which emphasises that she is poor

The advert makes use of extensive binary oppositions. We are intially positioned in a stereotypical representation of the uk. It is raining, and the desaturated colours connote that it is cold and miserable.