wateraid initial analysis

The establishing shot of the advertisement uses mise-en-scene of a radio, something so unconventional it puzzles the audience and, as a result, acts as a hermeneutic code as the audience would question a British setting. The white on the window sill and the prominent silver of the radio prop, alongside the initial focus being on technology using a shallow depth of field, positions the audience as middle-class, the radio acting as a symbolic code for technological advancements and wealth. The diegetic sound of a British accent on the radio connotes that this is Britain. The water dribbling down the window and the monotonous voice coming through the radio creates a dreary atmosphere, the rain being a pathetic fallacy for the mood that the audience is supposed to feel. However, this water is rather unconventional as the audience would not be expecting to see any water in an advert presenting the lack of water in a certain place- this is another hermeneutic code. The camera then pans to the left to reveal a potted plant. The handheld camera movements help make the scene more vivid to make the audience feel involved and a part of the ad, this is reinforced by the ambient lighting. This shot acts as an equilibrium.

The advert then cuts to a shot of bare straw fields with a warmer colour palette. This is the first binary opposition and creates a sense of othering. The bare straw contrasts with the blooming purple flowers of the last shot (purple connotes wealth whilst the straw feels sparse connoting malnourishment). The soundbridge changes the scene to feel much drier.

Next, there's a tracking shot of Claudia walking. She's wearing shoes coloured pink. This denotation connotes love and suggests she is a loving warm person, making the audience sympathise with her. However, the shoes appear to be pristine, suggesting that she can afford to have shoes cleaned and doesn't have to work particularly hard- this is the first impression we get of the character. which subverts conventions, this theme of Zambians having certain positives in their lives is continued throughout the ad and overall this has the cumulative effect of making the British audience who have donated feel good about themselves. The mise-en-scene of a bucket is a proairetic code, it tells the audience that she's doing as Africans stereotypically do and going to get water. This is an example of the post-colonialism representation, it portrays Gilroy's theory very closely. 

Due to the binary opposition, a separation has been established between the Black Zambians and the white Brits. The Zambians are grouped together as they are given no explicit identities and represented as people who need white people's help to have any privileges such as food and water. The lack of explicit identity also rids them of their Zambian identity, they are represented as just black people struggling, their only sources of happiness are given to them by white people donating, this is shown as she is singing (something that connotes happiness) whilst fetching what white people have given her- water. The dreary atmosphere in the British setting connotes that they find little joy in technology and their privileges any more and in contrast, the happiness presented in Zambia by the warm colour palette, diegetic sounds of singing and children's laughter suggests Africans are joyous to be given a small portion of this privilege. Overall this generalises a vast race and represents them as below white people and poor, however, it makes the demographic of white people feel powerful if they donate money. This is the dominant response, as described by Hall's reception theory. The negative representations embedded within the ad is the oppositional.