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Water Aid 2016
The audio-visual advert was created by Atomic London in…
Water Aid 2016
The audio-visual advert was created by Atomic London in 2016 and shows audiences how Zambian student Claudia and her community benefit their donations which bring them clean water.
Representation
Ethnicity
Paul Gilroy would argue that charity adverts represent black African people through a colonialist view, as vulnerable, needy, or tragic people who need a 'white saviour' to help them by donating money
The Water Aid advert challenges colonialist ideas, representing black African people positively as empoweredMedia Language
- close up shots of Claudia throughout have her dominate the frame and represented as powerful
- clothing of girls in community is brightly coloured with a bold and warm colour palate
- smiling facial expressions shows the are united
This challenges Gilroy's theory that colonialist attitudes still affect attitudes and representations in the media in the post-colonial era.
Gerbner would argue that the repetition of 'tear-jerking' charity advertisements has cultivated the idea that black African people are vulnerable, needy, or tragic; however audiences have become desensitised to this over time so WaterAid decided to represent them differently
The Water Aid supports colonialist ideas, setting up a binary opposition between Africa and the UK, and representing black African people as 'other'Media Language
- opening shot is a medium shot of a radio with diegetic sound of a news report with a British accent which then focuses on a rainy windy- symbolic codes of Britain (accent and bad weather)
- sound bridge changes scene to dry African setting with warm colour palate
- the group is not given nationalities or identities but rather are just seen as 'other' since they are black and in a hot country and in poverty
A binary opposition is set up of UK vs Africa; this supports Gilroy's post-colonialist theory the media still sets up racial hierarchies and binary oppositions based on notions of otherness
Issue - poverty
The idea that water not only saves lives but brings communities closer together
- loosely framed shots of Claudia with her walking off centre of the frame and lyrics 'don't leave me here, all alone...'
Claudia is represented as vulnerable on her own
- compared to group shots with other girls doing domestic chores together
- ambient background chatter of group and choral voices joining in connotes unitedness and community
- 'help others like Claudia' - suggests they are all similar/community
This meaning is anchored with the message at the end
Radio forecast at the start says 'heavy showers expected' - shows the UK has access to water easily, however African countries do not have this same privilege
- binary opposition between wet vs dry and UK vs Africa makes audience feel like they should not take advantage of their privilege and should donate to Water Aid as a form of compensation
Stuart Hall would argue that the representation of Africa as a dry, harsh, and isolated place created a 'shared conceptual roadmap' which helps to audience to identify the place as Africa straight away
Gender
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However, bell hooks would argue that women are represented in this way because they are female and because they are African
- Women perform domestic chores (stereotypical)- linked to African gender stereotypes based on biological differences
Women as strong and important in the community
- girls are seen performing physically demanding domestic tasks - collecting water for village
- camera tracks Claudia throughout the advert - she is important
- confident facial expression and body language
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Target audience
Disposable income (MC)
British audience
Comfortable with technology (marketed through social media)
intertextual reference to 90s some (30-40 year olds)
Socially aware 'reformer' audience