http://driveelectricvt.com/blog/drive-electric-blog/2013/08/02/tesla-factory
Todd is coming to speak to our class on November 7th!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Cadillac Commercial Deep Dive
“Re-imagined, re-inspired, reinvigorated: all designed to reignite the soul. The all-new 2010 SRX, the Cadillac of crossovers. “
Theme: This Cadillac will transform you (the purchaser/driver) into a new and improved version of yourself. After all, the designers of this crossover have put a lot of work into re-doing…
Power Tools #1:
- This commercial is almost entirely appealing to the limbic brain. Its catchy music, reassuring male narrator, nifty cinematography, all illicit general good vibes from the viewer. Even more, important factors – such as safety, gas mileage, and price – that should (but often do not) play a role in buying a car are not mentioned; the neocortex is purposefully not engaged.
Power Tools #2:
- Epistemological shift: this shift is present, as the creators of the commercial relied more heavily on image than words. When words are displayed on the screen, they do not appear in full sentences or even phrases. The use of a single word is therefore more likened to symbols because it can only evoke a few emotions. Oppositely, a sentence connotes a wider range of interpretations.
- Technological Shift: a shift in technology is present through the way that I accessed this commercial – YouTube; although it originally aired in 2010, I can easily look it up three year later due to our digital information storage. From an data inquiry perspective, this shift is very positive
- Aesthetic Shift: through this Cadillac commercial the convergence of advertisement and art is apparent. The creative use of music and cinematography, fields that are seemingly unrelated to automobility, are testament to this point
Power Tools #3:
- Production techniques: as stated above, this commercial is employing a variety of techniques that appeal to the senses, causing consumers to have an emotional rather than rational reaction to Cadillac’s product.
- Value messages/Meanings: I feel that the value messages portrayed in this commercial are that the Cadillac can be driven (maybe not owned) by a range of ages and both genders. This overarching value message then elicits individual meanings for each person. For example, hip music, fast driving, and female driver appeal to the young person, male, and female drivers respectively.
- Pacing: the quick camera cuts in this ad also prevent the consumer from rationally thinking about the product, as the really don’t have the time to. Even though the ad is only about 30 seconds, I had to watch 5 times in order to properly analyze it.
Power Tools #4:
- Flatter: although it is not explicitly stated that driving the Cadillact SRX crossover will make you a better person, it is heavily implied. And since this car is supposed to be a new and improved extension of the buyer, the pleasant adjectives used to describe the vehicle are also meant to flatter the consumer.
- Beautiful People: The woman driving the car is not overly beautiful (as that may be intimidating to some), but she is definitely easy on the eyes.
Relation to Carjacked:
- Lutz suggests that gender norms are still played out in our contemporary culture of automobility. For instance, men typically know the mechanics of a car and enjoy driving fast, while women may be seen carting the family around. I feel that this Cadillac commercial may be the beginning of a gender-neutral car campaign (not as an attempt to foster gender equality, but simply as an attempt to increase sales). Evidence that the commercial is likely to appeal to both genders can be seen through fast driving, as well as the female motorists. Even the type of vehicle, the crossover, gives off a general feeling of ambiguity.
Relation to Republic of Drivers:
- The virtually empty streets in this commercial – with the exception of one other vehicle/free spirit – causes the audience to associate freedom with driving, as well a sense of adventure; even in a cityscape that has been traversed by millions of people, driving the Cadillac SRX will add novelty to the expedition.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Kia Optima 2011
Cleopatra Doley
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_CRONANoyI
KIA optima “one great ride”
Thesis: Everyone wants to ride the KIA Optima because it can take you anywhere.
Triune Brain:
The storyline catches the attention of the reptilian and limbic brains first and foremost There’s a lot of explosions and special affects to capture the viewers attention. The car starts off on earth, and then gets transferred to aliens, and then another dimension, and is very exciting the whole time. The music is very dramatic and helps the viewer to have an emotional connection with the car. However, as the car goes through many scenes, the reader cannot rationalize the car’s structure because all of the images go so fast and the commercial gives the viewer no actual information on the car, therefore the Rational Brain is not addressed in this commercial, only the reptilian and limbic Brains.
Limbic: Explosions -> fight and flight
Shifts/Trends
The cultural shift is illustrated in the speed of the commercial. We are forced to be process information quickly, and visually. our culture is moving to fit more images in a small time frame to get across a message quickly.
The epistemological shift is shown clearly because we're viewing this on youtube. It has no words, and can be viewed by almost anyone in the world with internet and a working computer.
5 "Facts"
- If you use this car, everyone will be jealous of you and want to use this car too.
- if you use this car, you will go on many adventures.
- This car can travel through different dimensions.
- This car is wanted by everyone and everything.
- This car can whether any circumstance. like being handled by a sea monster, for example.
3 Principles
- Value messages: if you’re friends are jealous of your car, you will have the best car. The value of this car is based in the jealousy of other people.
- Production techniques: are digital and very vivid. The viewer is enticed by many scenes, all of which don’t correlate too well together because they’re literally from different dimensions. The are very few realistic attributes added to this car.
- Pacing: The pacing between each scene is incredibly fast. It doesn't give the viewer time to consciously process all the frames, and therefore it's much more difficult to analyze.
5 Persuasive Techniques
- Bandwagon technique: If everyone else on earth, from outer space, and other dimensions want this car, why wouldn't you? This commercial said everyone else wants this car, you, the viewer, should be buying what everyone else wants and making them all envious of you.
3 SEPRITE themes
This car relates to the liberation of cars as expressed in Republic of Drivers by Cotton Seiler. helps one to view the car as a strong trans-dimensional object that everyone wants, and can take you anywhere in the universe. That theme travels through out the commercial, taking the viewer from one scene to the next at an extremely fast paste!
Then, Seiler writes about the experiences of White women with automobile culture. In this video, their oppression is being upheld because White women are portrayed as props in this video. One White woman is seen handcuffed with a man by a police officer who stole their car. She doesn't have much of a role. Then, on the boat White women are seen in bikinis. This is to illustrate the man's dominance in the situation, and to express his masculinity by over feminizing the women around him. (Also, he may or may not be in Brown-Face. I'm not sure.)
Seiler also talks about the different experiences People of Color (POCs) have with automobiles. I Thought this commercial was interesting, but there are 2 POC clips were all the way at the end of the commercial and in the helicopter, and it seemed like some sort of Aztec native group (?) and it seemed like they were worshiping the car in the middle of a ritual. And the fact that this group of people were depicted to be stranger than the aliens before hand. The commercial grows in “strangeness” through out each scene, starting with a White couple, then a White cop, and then continues on with a helicopter, a yacht, a sea creature, an alien, and then Aztec(?) people. It was just unsettling how “othering” this commercial is to that culture they were trying to portray. It's making fun of Native traditions and religions to portray them as "worshipping" a car. Also, the POC in the helicopter might have been middle eastern (?) and he is shooting a missle-looking car-claw from his plane. That was also depicting him in a negative light as the attacker. But really, at the end of the day, putting the one middle eastern person in the commercial to shoot a missile looking contraption usually isn't the best idea if media wants to battle islamophobia and contributes negatively to islamophobia. It's quite unfortunate how negatively this commercial illustrates POCs.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_CRONANoyI
KIA optima “one great ride”
Thesis: Everyone wants to ride the KIA Optima because it can take you anywhere.
Triune Brain:
The storyline catches the attention of the reptilian and limbic brains first and foremost There’s a lot of explosions and special affects to capture the viewers attention. The car starts off on earth, and then gets transferred to aliens, and then another dimension, and is very exciting the whole time. The music is very dramatic and helps the viewer to have an emotional connection with the car. However, as the car goes through many scenes, the reader cannot rationalize the car’s structure because all of the images go so fast and the commercial gives the viewer no actual information on the car, therefore the Rational Brain is not addressed in this commercial, only the reptilian and limbic Brains.
Limbic: Explosions -> fight and flight
Reptilian: Music and special affects -> creative and captivating
Rational: not addressed Shifts/Trends
The cultural shift is illustrated in the speed of the commercial. We are forced to be process information quickly, and visually. our culture is moving to fit more images in a small time frame to get across a message quickly.
The epistemological shift is shown clearly because we're viewing this on youtube. It has no words, and can be viewed by almost anyone in the world with internet and a working computer.
The Personal shift is illustrated because we can view this on youtube, and comment on what we think of the commercial.
5 "Facts"
- If you use this car, everyone will be jealous of you and want to use this car too.
- if you use this car, you will go on many adventures.
- This car can travel through different dimensions.
- This car is wanted by everyone and everything.
- This car can whether any circumstance. like being handled by a sea monster, for example.
3 Principles
- Value messages: if you’re friends are jealous of your car, you will have the best car. The value of this car is based in the jealousy of other people.
- Production techniques: are digital and very vivid. The viewer is enticed by many scenes, all of which don’t correlate too well together because they’re literally from different dimensions. The are very few realistic attributes added to this car.
- Pacing: The pacing between each scene is incredibly fast. It doesn't give the viewer time to consciously process all the frames, and therefore it's much more difficult to analyze.
5 Persuasive Techniques
- Bandwagon technique: If everyone else on earth, from outer space, and other dimensions want this car, why wouldn't you? This commercial said everyone else wants this car, you, the viewer, should be buying what everyone else wants and making them all envious of you.
- Strength: They also show how strong the car is, and how it can take you through so many adventures in your lifetime.
- Hyperbole: Their exaggerated claim is that the car can go through different dimensions and arrive at every location safely.
- Beautiful People: beautiful people are shown on the boat, they are obviously upper-class.
- Group dynamics: groups of aliens, groups of "Native" people, both want the car, even goes as far as to worship the car and summon it from another dimension.
3 SEPRITE themes
This car relates to the liberation of cars as expressed in Republic of Drivers by Cotton Seiler. helps one to view the car as a strong trans-dimensional object that everyone wants, and can take you anywhere in the universe. That theme travels through out the commercial, taking the viewer from one scene to the next at an extremely fast paste!
Then, Seiler writes about the experiences of White women with automobile culture. In this video, their oppression is being upheld because White women are portrayed as props in this video. One White woman is seen handcuffed with a man by a police officer who stole their car. She doesn't have much of a role. Then, on the boat White women are seen in bikinis. This is to illustrate the man's dominance in the situation, and to express his masculinity by over feminizing the women around him. (Also, he may or may not be in Brown-Face. I'm not sure.)
Seiler also talks about the different experiences People of Color (POCs) have with automobiles. I Thought this commercial was interesting, but there are 2 POC clips were all the way at the end of the commercial and in the helicopter, and it seemed like some sort of Aztec native group (?) and it seemed like they were worshiping the car in the middle of a ritual. And the fact that this group of people were depicted to be stranger than the aliens before hand. The commercial grows in “strangeness” through out each scene, starting with a White couple, then a White cop, and then continues on with a helicopter, a yacht, a sea creature, an alien, and then Aztec(?) people. It was just unsettling how “othering” this commercial is to that culture they were trying to portray. It's making fun of Native traditions and religions to portray them as "worshipping" a car. Also, the POC in the helicopter might have been middle eastern (?) and he is shooting a missle-looking car-claw from his plane. That was also depicting him in a negative light as the attacker. But really, at the end of the day, putting the one middle eastern person in the commercial to shoot a missile looking contraption usually isn't the best idea if media wants to battle islamophobia and contributes negatively to islamophobia. It's quite unfortunate how negatively this commercial illustrates POCs.
Range Rover Evoque
Range Rover Evoque
Thesis: You can’t leave it, once you've touched it.
Triune Brain: This commercial appeals to the limbic brain.
It opens with a yeti in the snow-covered mountains, who happens to stumble to
the sight of a Range Rover Evoque. While the yeti enters the car, sits down,
and grips the steering wheel, we here calm and soothing music, appealing to the
sounds and music portion of the limbic brain. This commercial also uses the neocortex when it projects "You can't leave it, once you've touched it." The reptilian brain is projected through the standoff between the man and the yeti -neither run away that we see.
3 Shifts/Trends: The first shift is the epistemological
shift from word to pictures and images. Rather than just hearing about how the
Range Rover can take you to the mountains and find yeti, we can see both the
yetis’ discovery of the car and the surprised response of the driver. This
commercial also shows the aesthetic shift and the convergence of technology.
I can watch this on youtube on my computer, smart phone, iPod, notebook , etc. One trend I saw in the filming of this was the use of panning and scenes. It's a very slow paced commercial with only a fair amount of different cuts in the short picture, creating a smooth and calming effect.
5 Facts :
1. Yetis do exist.
2. You can drive to the peaks of mountaintops with this car.
3. You cant’ leave the steering wheel once you've touch it.
4. Yetis don’t like getting their pictures taken.
5. The steering wheel will make a yeti cry its so warm and comforting.
1. Yetis do exist.
2. You can drive to the peaks of mountaintops with this car.
3. You cant’ leave the steering wheel once you've touch it.
4. Yetis don’t like getting their pictures taken.
5. The steering wheel will make a yeti cry its so warm and comforting.
3 Principles: The first principle I noticed was Reality
Construction. The commercial creates an alternate reality where one can drive
to the tops of mountains and interact with yetis. This can be seen as a good thing to get in touch with nature, but in reality it would be much more difficult and expensive. There is also an Emotional Transfer as
we see the yeti sheds a tear of joy an comfort, a truly beautiful moment. This
commercial did have a value message and its that this car take help you get to the outdoors and even in the winter when its really cold because it now have heated steering wheels.
Persuasive Techniques: The first technique we see is humor
and the yeti discovering the great warmth of the steering wheel, as well as
when he rips the steering wheel off the car and the bag later explodes in his
face. The next technique is the warm fuzzies when we see the yeti begin to cry.
We also see hyperbole in the phrase “You can’t leave, Once you’ve touched it.”
It appeals to plain folks as well, the average adventurous man would want a car
like this. I thought this whole commercial was an example of diversion for Range Rovers. To me this commercial says our car is great and really expensive, but look- we have heated steering wheels, warm enough to bring tears to a yeti's eyes.
SEPRITE: Environments was the first theme I saw. This car
can take you to all sorts of different environments, including the mountains.
It is using the environment as a way to attract people to its automobile and showing how you can go great places and see great things with the car. The
next theme I noticed was technology, now we not only have the technology to get
you to the top of that mountain, but we can also keep your hands nice and warm
will you get there. This relates to the economics theme also, because just as
we learned from Seiler, the car seems like it is available for everyone, but
only certain socioeconomic classes can afford it.
Amazing 90's Volkwswagen ad
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BIOW9fLT9eY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Thesis
Driving a Volkswagen is conducive to meaningful friendships and making memories.
Triune brain
This ad really stimulates the limbic brain by acting on the audience's emotions via romantic images and music. There is a huge starry sky, a rural landscape where only the highway is illuminated, and a moody Nick Drake song. This ad captivates the limbic brain so strongly that the neocortex and reptilian brains don’t need activating.
Shifts/Trends
Technological shift: I saw this on youtube, where many other Volkswagen advertisements are accessible. Before youtube, video advertisements could only be seen on television, where the audience does not have a choice as to what appears on their screen.
Epistemological shift: This advertisement represents a shift from word to image. The ad uses images and music as its method of communication, rather than words.
Economic shift: Nick Drake’s music didn’t sell well during his lifetime. Decades later, Volkswagen included a song of his in one of their ads, positive that the ad would aid them in selling cars.
Facts
A Volkswagen provides you and your friends with meaningful experiences. Driving at nighttime in a VW is more meaningful than going to a big party. A moving VW is a great place to look at nighttime scenery. (Text at the end of the ad says – “The Cabrio/Drivers wanted”) The VW wants to be driven.
Principles
Individual meaning: This ad communicates a very powerful emotion in a vague way, so the viewer can feel like the ad is about his or her own unique memories.
Value messages: The ad portrays the value of friendship, and asserts the VW as the perfect place to spend time with friends.
Reality construction: Nostalgia distorts the way people think about their past. This ad persuasively constructs a reality where the viewer’s youth is just as good as they remember it.
Persuasive Techniques
Group Dynamics: The group of friends driving around in the VW eventually decides that their time is better spent together in a small group than with drunken strangers.
Nostalgia: The music, imagery, and plot of this ad are all nostalgic. Driving a VW feels like reliving moments the viewer nostalgic for.
Symbols: The VW logo is displayed in front of a starry sky at the end of the ad.
Big lie: Driving a Volkswagen is conducive to meaningful friendships and making memories.
Either/or: The viewer is persuaded that riding the Cabrio throughout the night is better than anything else they could be doing.
Seprite themes
-Social structures: the ad makes a divide between partygoers and the people in the car, and makes those in the car seem cooler.
-Ideology: people use the car as a means of performing freedom, as described throughout Republic of Drivers, which is especially important to people who don't have the amount of power they want. These are high school kids, who don't yet have the power of independence, who use the car to feel free.
-Technology: there is irony in how the kids in the car (a highly complex piece of technology) use it as a means of experiencing nature's visual beauty and stimulation (wind). Even if it's not experiencing nature, it's the same feelings people experience when deeply connected with a certain slice of nature.
-In Republic of Drivers, Seiler talks about the highway as a place to perform freedom. In the ad, the passengers opt out of going to a party, favoring the highway.
-In Carjacked, Lutz & Fernandez talk about how romantic notions of driving for some people stems from the image of a man driving a vehicle with a woman at his side. In the ad, a man is the driver, and numerous women are passengers.
Thesis
Driving a Volkswagen is conducive to meaningful friendships and making memories.
Triune brain
This ad really stimulates the limbic brain by acting on the audience's emotions via romantic images and music. There is a huge starry sky, a rural landscape where only the highway is illuminated, and a moody Nick Drake song. This ad captivates the limbic brain so strongly that the neocortex and reptilian brains don’t need activating.
Shifts/Trends
Technological shift: I saw this on youtube, where many other Volkswagen advertisements are accessible. Before youtube, video advertisements could only be seen on television, where the audience does not have a choice as to what appears on their screen.
Epistemological shift: This advertisement represents a shift from word to image. The ad uses images and music as its method of communication, rather than words.
Economic shift: Nick Drake’s music didn’t sell well during his lifetime. Decades later, Volkswagen included a song of his in one of their ads, positive that the ad would aid them in selling cars.
Facts
A Volkswagen provides you and your friends with meaningful experiences. Driving at nighttime in a VW is more meaningful than going to a big party. A moving VW is a great place to look at nighttime scenery. (Text at the end of the ad says – “The Cabrio/Drivers wanted”) The VW wants to be driven.
Principles
Individual meaning: This ad communicates a very powerful emotion in a vague way, so the viewer can feel like the ad is about his or her own unique memories.
Value messages: The ad portrays the value of friendship, and asserts the VW as the perfect place to spend time with friends.
Reality construction: Nostalgia distorts the way people think about their past. This ad persuasively constructs a reality where the viewer’s youth is just as good as they remember it.
Persuasive Techniques
Group Dynamics: The group of friends driving around in the VW eventually decides that their time is better spent together in a small group than with drunken strangers.
Nostalgia: The music, imagery, and plot of this ad are all nostalgic. Driving a VW feels like reliving moments the viewer nostalgic for.
Symbols: The VW logo is displayed in front of a starry sky at the end of the ad.
Big lie: Driving a Volkswagen is conducive to meaningful friendships and making memories.
Either/or: The viewer is persuaded that riding the Cabrio throughout the night is better than anything else they could be doing.
Seprite themes
-Social structures: the ad makes a divide between partygoers and the people in the car, and makes those in the car seem cooler.
-Ideology: people use the car as a means of performing freedom, as described throughout Republic of Drivers, which is especially important to people who don't have the amount of power they want. These are high school kids, who don't yet have the power of independence, who use the car to feel free.
-Technology: there is irony in how the kids in the car (a highly complex piece of technology) use it as a means of experiencing nature's visual beauty and stimulation (wind). Even if it's not experiencing nature, it's the same feelings people experience when deeply connected with a certain slice of nature.
-In Republic of Drivers, Seiler talks about the highway as a place to perform freedom. In the ad, the passengers opt out of going to a party, favoring the highway.
-In Carjacked, Lutz & Fernandez talk about how romantic notions of driving for some people stems from the image of a man driving a vehicle with a woman at his side. In the ad, a man is the driver, and numerous women are passengers.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Doctor Makes a Housecall to a Farm in Markesan, Wisconsin
Subaru Car Commercial circa 1984
Thesis
The Subaru wagon will relieve your middle-class fears.
The Triune Brain
This commercial begins, steeped in fear, targeting the reptilian brain. The first sound you hear is thunder. The first image you see is a child running away from a flash to her father’s loving arms. The Subaru pulls quickly out of the driveway, which may prompt some to jump at the sight of his stop lights. A crescendo of panic is paired with the Doc speeding hastily towards the farm, through a myriad of obstacles. The family waits, and one of the girls asks, "Daddy, where is he?" again spiking the viewer's anxieties. Then, we see the car. It's climbing the hill! It's blitzing into the yard! And then, the climax is reached in the stable. Steeped in sweaty suspense, Doc wipes his face. We then see the result of another climax, being a baby calf, poised like a weak-kneed Bambi. In the limbic brain, the soundtrack of the clip and facial expressions of the actors changes our mood from panic to elation, made possible by the fact that there is a much more robust cocktail of emotions in said brain. Finally, captions prompt the neocortex to accept the Subaru wagon as a logical solution to the reflexive fears and emotional disturbances that were presented.
3 Shifts/Trends
Epistemological shift: Captions and well-spoken narration are important in this commercial. It is clean, concise language with enough story to develop characters, plot, setting, and themes. Its quintessential 1980s conservative advertising lacking much of the abstract humor that is typical of current advertising (e.g. Ylvis’ ‘The Fox’ being adapted to that wacky FOX television commercial.) This commercial is pragmatic in its simplicity.
Discursive shift: As the caption explicitly states, this is a true story! There can be no contention as this commercial creates an objective case in favor of the Subaru wagon. With vivid detail, we see that the Subaru is an infallible machine, as we it conveying Dr. Lippet through harsh landscape, conquering the elements. Its not an argument that might be made today by other products in which illusory concepts tickle our imagination, like the Lucky Charms motto (e.g. “They’re magically delicious!") or McDonaldesque slang (e.g. "I'm lovin' it!"). Instead, its no-nonsense fact.
Economic shift: Subaru is considered the unofficial vehicle of Vermont. I can't imagine that it was as popular then as it is today. This commercial came out in 1984. It was in the midst of the Reagan era, when deregulation was allowing companies to reap huge profits in an increasingly free market. This may be why the Subaru is shown against the backdrop of a tumultuous evening. This is a metaphor for the working-class family that relies less on the government and more on well-informed decisions for making ends meet, such as the purchase of a tool like a Subaru. Its also why Subaru mentions that it is “inexpensive” and “will stay that way.”
5 “Facts”
1) The first caption reads “Markesan, Wisconsin. A True Story.” Thus, this account is not simply a fiction made to persuade us. It really happened. We should think this is a fully credible advertisement.
2) There are no pickup trucks in the clip.
3) The Subaru wagon is a durable vehicle that can ford flooded sections of road, maintain traction on muddy tracts, and drives over fallen tree branches without issue.
4) The Subaru can transport everything that a professional doctor needs, as indicated by the narrator, that "when patients can't make it to Doctor Lippet...Doctor Lippet brings his office to his patients."
4) The Subaru can transport everything that a professional doctor needs, as indicated by the narrator, that "when patients can't make it to Doctor Lippet...Doctor Lippet brings his office to his patients."
5) The last caption reads “Subaru. Inexpensive and built to stay that way.” This means that I can afford the car now, and I will be able to afford future models.
3 Principles
Emotional Transfer: As I stated previously, this commercial targets primarily the reptilian brain. The sky is breeding hate! I remember being scared of lightning and thunder as a child. One time, I was standing near a window, and a streak of lighting cut a tree down in the yard, and I watched it topple over my mom's garden. As I watch this clip, that same anxiety is replaced by glee as the doctor, brow-beaten by the storm, arrives at the farm house. It was a cathartic feeling analogous to the heifer birthing her calf. We should consider that Subaru wants us to associate its product ultimately with that emotion: relief.
Individual Meaning: I am an eighth-generation Vermonter, and my family has made its living by farming. I’ve never been a patient of a house call. However, I once assisted in the breech birth of a calf, being one that is born hooves-first instead of head-first. I didn't just see a clean, wobbly, healthy calf like we do in this commercial. It was a tense, messy ordeal, as if Spielberg had taken that film from health class, The Miracle of Life, and made it into 3D. What I remember best, besides the writhing limbs, blood and amniotic sac fluid pouring out, was the relief once it slid out of its mother and its breathing was confirmed. Thus, I know what is involved in birthing a calf, which allowed me to sympathize for the Doc.
Production Techniques: Like American Graffiti, this film is dark. The story begins at night. There are no fancy computer graphics employed. Short scenes with a fixed zoom and clean, cut transitions are used to keep the story moving along quickly. It also makes the film seem more real because its less stylized. There is one fade-in transition at the beginning and end, but interestingly, there is a diffuse transition used to mark the climax. It happens between the scene where Dr. Lippet’s Subaru arrives at the farm and when we see him wiping sweat from his face indoors. Zooming out at the end, our attention is drawn from the Subaru and to the farm that surrounds it. These techniques seem to be saying that Subaru can be part of farm life.
5 Persuasive Techniques
Warm Fuzzies: In terms of things that warm one’s heart, the birth of the calf is the epitome of warm fuzzy. The little girls gripping their father's chest and leg at the strike of thunder makes you want to reach out to protect them, too.
Nostalgia: This film pivots around the theme of physician house calls, and it evokes memories of the past. Some may say, “Ah, I remember the day when we gave our doc a dozen eggs and some bread for stopping by the home” which is a story that my mother has shared with me about goings-on in Berkshire, Vermont. In fact, the film does not seem to be period-specific. The only exception is the shiny Subaru.
Plain Folks: In the same vein of persuasion as nostalgia, this film appeals to the masses because it showcases rural farmers and doctors. We’re seeing a cross-section of plain folk life in this commercial about late-night veterinary care of farm animals. Commutatively, if they are like me, and they own a Subaru, then I should own a Subaru.
Testimonial: Dr. Lippet is endorsing Subaru wagons. This commercial showcases him using it to complete an important. In fact, the Subaru and Dr. Lippet are only separated in two scenes: when Dr. Lippet is sleeping and when he is in the stable. Yet, we know its close because it brings him where he needs to be. Therefore, this Subaru goes where Dr. Lippet goes, like an omnipresent being (an angel of sorts.) We also give huge amounts of credibility to doctors because we often depend on them to survive.
Humor: Its a trying time for a farmer and the doctor who is dispatched to help said farmer with the delivery of a baby. The twist, that its not the farmer’s wife (who was never seen in the commercial) but a pregnant heifer needing assistance, is humorous because we are duped by our sensibility. The narrator knows this and pauses when saying that Dr. Lippet delivered a “72 pound...calf.” Then, everything returns to normal.
3 S.E.P.R.I.T.E. Themes
Social Structure: Dr. Lippet is an older gentleman, and the family is young, given the father and childrens’ relative ages (though we never see the mother.) Both parties are white Americans. I suspect they both occupy the social strata, given that Doc is a veterinarian who services the family’s cows. The manner in which they exchange social niceties, specifically the wave at the commercial’s end, implies that Doc’s services are underwritten with rapport. The children have a friendly disposition framed by an impoverished look. However, the home in which they reside is well-kept. Thus, they are members of the working class, somewhere in the middle to lower-middle class.
Economics: As previously stated, these are white, rural, middle-class Americans of the 1980s. I had to do some research on the time*, but I was startled to discover that farm land had lost 60% of its value in the 1980s, during a time when Reaganomics allowed less government intervention, subjecting farmers to the whims of the market. I wonder if the cow being born is a metaphor for this reality: a small burden that will only get bigger, and for which the old Doc and poor farmer, as analogs of the middle-class, are responsible.
Environments: Wisconsin is known for its cheese, meaning that it has many dairy farms. Clearly, Wisconsin also has severe rain at the most inopportune of times. Maybe this was unintended by the marketing minds, but I noticed a marked correlation between Doc’s Subaru wagon and the chariot of Helios, the sun god, as it pushed back the grim night and ushered in a new dawn. Maybe this bit of mythology was unintentional. Wisconsinites struggle with intermittent weather and questionable topography, so they need something rugged to handle it, those flooded roads that need to be forded or tree branches that get in the way. Subaru can take on many types of treacherous terrain!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
CLASSROOM SCREENING: Landscapes of Change - How The Interstate Highway System Changed Vermont
Click here and be amazed.
And then, post AT LEAST one thing you observed/learned by connecting this project with our texts and films.
Audi Car Commercial- Heather Scammon
Audi
Commercial
Theme:
Gain the bravery
and confidence you need when you drive the new Audi.
Triune Brain:
At first,
we the viewers are engaging our emotional brain because we feel bad for the
cute teenage guy who couldn’t get a date to the prom, especially as his mom and
his nasty little sister make it infinitely worse. Then, just as we expect for
him to have a terrible night even in his tux, his dad saves the night by tossing
him the Audi keys and saying “have fun tonight”- not be careful, don’t drink,
or if you so much as scratch my expensive car I will have your head. Instantly
we are switched to the limbic brain as we experience this excitement of not
knowing what is about to happen. The reptilian brain is utilized at the
end of the commercial when he is speeding away from the fight that he had with
the prom king. Our rational brains are engaged as soon as he pulls into the
“principal only” parking spot, wondering why that spot would be open and why
there would be no consequences for parking there. Also, the kid with no date
immediately walks directly up to the beautiful prom queen with her large
boyfriend and kisses her- we are instantly wanting to stop him in his tracks
and ask him if he’s crazy.
3 Shifts:
The first shift that I noticed was that
this commercial incorporates very few words, using only image in terms of
environment as well as facial expressions and music to convey a very clear
message. This is also a cultural shift because this commercial was first aired
during the 2013 Super Bowl, which means that each viewer was monitored in order
to gain a complete count of viewers of the game, as well as to count how many
people saw this ad for the benefit of the car company. Lastly this is an
aesthetic shift because the commercial is easily accessible via YouTube, or any
2013 Super Bowl Ad page.
5 Facts:
No matter how horrible your night
started off, it will become a million times better if you so much as drive this
car a few miles. Instantly, your self-confidence and bravery will sky rocket
and, although you are attending a high school prom alone (which is incredibly
embarrassing), you will become a daredevil. You will even be tempted to and might
even break a few rules. Want the prom queen? No problem, she wants you too-
just go up and kiss her right in front of her hulking football-playing
boyfriend and prom king. You will be fine after all of this, in fact you will
even be great because you can speed away in your beautiful Audi and have had
the most amazing night of your life.
3 Principles:
This commercial uses the principle of emotional transfer by truly creating a
situation that almost every individual who attended high school can relate to- the
fear of going to prom alone because you can’t find a date. Most of the audience
is instantly attached to this kid and feeling bad for him, when suddenly the
emotion shifts to excitement and confidence which we are happy about because
the ad already has us routing for the kid’s happiness and success- which only
comes about by driving the Audi. The pacing of the video is very fast with a
lot happening all around especially in the background as the story line reaches
its climax- at the prom itself. It is overwhelming, but it
highlights the true speed of the car, even if that isn’t quite obvious at first
glace. It also brings individual meaning because, to the dad, it is his personal
car and probably very valuable to him but we don’t know much about his
character besides that he knows that this car is fun. To the boy, it is an
amazingly awesome looking sports car and he is instantly excited to drive it
because, for him, this means a raise in status on the high school
popularity/cool scale.
5 Persuasive
Techniques:
1. Plain Folks: As I mentioned, this technique applies because
most everyone can relate to the prom and the huge to-do that it is for a high
schooler.
2. Strength: As soon as the boy gets into the car, his attitude and
demeanor changes, creating a completely different and very bold character who
is tough and willing to try anything.
3. Beautiful People: The boy gets to
kiss the beautiful prom queen because he drove this car, making her equally beautiful
boyfriend very angry.
4. Humor: When the little girl chimes in after her mother
says “People go to the prom alone all the time nowadays” with “No they don’t!” - mean, but funny.
5.
Hyperbole: At the very end, the first text that we see is just the word “Bravery”-
kind of like "Red Bull gives you wings".
SEPRITE Themes:
Despite the older man
being the actual owner of the Audi (which, in turn, helps to round out the
targeted consumers) this commercial is mostly geared towards younger
specifically men, in terms of social structures. This is because it creates the
ideal character/characteristics that young men want to be/ have- looking good, high confidence,
gets the girl and goes fast in a car. What could be better? Besides the couple
of girls who yell out the window of their car, there is not too much for racial
diversity, and doesn’t encompass a lot of its audience in this way. As with a lot
of what the Republic of Drivers discussed, there is a large message of the
individual ideology at play here. The message is literally screaming do your
own thing, go against authority and be a free, new man when you drive this car.
It is really driving the point of individual ownership (and it being “life
changing”) home here. The environment that we see goes from home, to road, to
party, to road again- the main focus, I would say, being the road. This is
purposeful because it is not to be forgotten that this is a car ad, and not
just the success story of a young man whose night turned out much better than
expected. It is interesting, though, that the exterior of the car is rarely
shown- the road more so- and the only really impressive shot of the car is when
it is turned on in complete darkness and we get a glimpse of just its
headlights.
Commercial Project #1 Kobe & A Peanut
Thesis:
The driver of a Smart Car experiences enhanced mobility, allowing exclusive access to places from which larger vehicles are restricted.
Triune Brain:
Immediately we are exposed to music; an upbeat, lyrical song engages the limbic brain and causes the listener to associate the commercial with positive thoughts. This commercial also engages the reptilian brain, as we sympathize with Kobe and his young Asian friend as they attempt to take FLIGHT from this elephant, who is in fact chasing them in an attempt to EAT the little boy. Finally, the neocortex is briefly engaged as text flashes across the screen at the end of the commercial, delivering the Smart Car tag line and the message “<<Big, in the city.”.
Shifts/Trends:
Obviously, this advertisement is an example of an epistemological shift, representing the change from word to image. This advertisement was composed of primarily images, rather than text. It is also important to consider the aesthetic shift associated with this video, as we are able to view it on our smart phones, our laptops, and in class, on a projector. The multi-platform technology allows us to view this video on these different devices for added convenience. Finally, this video could be construed as representing a technological shift, (from analog to digital) as we viewed the video on YouTube, and can find it, copy it, and re-watch it on our personal computers at our own leisure.
5 “Facts”:
-The Smart Car is extremely maneuverable, with an excellent turning radius
-If you drive a Smart Car, you will be a member of an elevated group of open-minded
people.
-The Smart Car has an on-board navigation system
-The Smart Car has a low clearance, allowing access to tight places
-The Smart Car has a stylish exterior and interior
-The Smart Car is strong enough to have an elephant stand on top of it...
3 Principles:
-Reality Construction/Trade-offs: We see the Smart Car performing in a closed movie set, where there are no other vehicles and the normal means of getting around is a golf cart. We are not being told how the car performs in "real" situations on the road, or provided with safety features.
-Emotional Transfer: Upbeat music and cute kids in a fun, exotic atmosphere leave the viewer feeling like the Smart Car is a responsible and exciting choice for a vehicle
-Pacing: The Smart Car flies through the video, leaving us constantly trying to keep up, mentally. There are multiple different movie sets, and lots to look at in each of the complex scenes.
5 Persuasive Techniques:
-Group Dynamics: The actors in the commercial have a sense of camaraderie immediately, despite the fact that they had just met. It erases any idea of solidarity.
-Warm Fuzzies: The kids dressed in costume, the elephant, as well as the cute music all invoke the ‘Awww’ emotion in the viewer.
-Testimonial: Kobe Bryant drives a Smart Car, why don’t you?
-Card Stacking: We only witness the Smart Car in action on a closed movie set. It does not give any safety features, or provide any information about how the car would perform on a highway, or in another setting.
-Humor: The commercial attempts to appeal to our sense of humor, as Kobe chauffeurs a small boy dressed in a giant peanut costume away from a hungry elephant.
SEPRITE Themes:
-The theme of cars as a facilitator of adventure. We as consumers are constantly bombarded by the ideas that cars will bring us someplace wonderful, that we’ve never been before. This commercial is no exception, as Kobe Bryant drives through "space" and "ancient Rome", while seeing monsters, angels, and all sorts of characters along the way.
-The commercial appeals to all members of our social structure. Young people find humor in the elephant and relate to the age of one of the main characters. Women are appealed to through the use of children, and other cute techniques, like highlighting the warm fuzzies. And to appeal to the men, they added a world famous basketball star (who a lot of ladies like too).
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