PSA analysis
PAPER 3: ANALYZING AN AD OR PSA Rationale: Persuasion is not just about written work; it can take place using multimedia: video, photos, sound and text. Because of this, we are often persuaded of certain ideas without even realizing how we came to feel that way. Stopping to analyze how all these media work together to create a persuasive message can help us understand how persuasion is accomplished. CHOOSING AN AD OR PSA: Choose an ad or a Public Service Announcement you want to explore and analyze. Please don’t choose a “spoof” or “fake” ad—make sure the ad is really trying to sell a product or change our minds about something. It’s helpful to find an ad you can watch over and over, maybe on You Tube. You may also choose a series of ads for the same product, if you like. For example, the “Mayhem” spots for All State or the Geico ads would be a good example of a series of ads. We’ll talk about how to do this in the whole class discussion this week. TO BEGIN: These are the tasks you need to do in this paper. You don’t need to do them in order or one at a time, but you should be doing these things somewhere in your paper: Description: Assume your audience has never seen/read/heard this message. Describe it as fully as you can, using all sensory details which are relevant. In other words, include audio description if the message uses audio messages (narration, for example) or music or background noise. Include as much specific visual description as possible. Make your description vivid enough that your audience can picture this message in their minds. You may do this at the opening of your paper or blend it in throughout. Audience Analysis: Who is the message directed to? What can you assume about the message’s audience from the images, tone, message etc. contained within it? Be as specific as you can—think about the show the spot aired in, the kind of music it uses. What can you infer about the primary target audience for this spot? Analysis: Analysis means to take something apart and examine how it’s put together. For this assignment, that’s what you’ll do with your PSA or ad. So you need to look at: 2 The message that is being conveyed. What is the ad or PSA trying to persuade viewers to do, believe or think? If you choose an ad, go beyond just “buy this product.” Think about why the viewer is being asked to buy the product. How are they being persuaded it will change or benefit them? Images: what images does the spot use? How are those images composed in such a way as to be persuasive? Think about: use of color, the use of people or models, the angle from which the images are viewed, whether they’re color or black and white, what movement or motion is in the image. What emotions are being appealed to? Are viewers encouraged to relate to or identify with the people in the spot? Or to feel some emotion towards them? For example, a spot with a wide eyed child in it conveys a certain emotion. Music: How does the music or background sound assist in conveying a message or emotional appeal? Is the music upbeat and uplifting or sad and bluesy? Is there only silence and what does that convey? Are people talking? If so, how do they talk? Do they use slang, an accent, proper English? Are they yelling, whispering, arguing, being polite? Is there background noise? How do the sounds of the spot tie in and complement the images and the message? Text: is there text anywhere in the spot? What does it say? What is the look of the text? is it white on black? Red? Script or typewritten print? Think about both the look of the text and what message it conveys. How does the text complement the messages being sent by the audio and video in the spot? “Plot”: is there a story being told? If not, think about the sequencing and pacing of the spot. How do the shots change by fading, dissolving or by quick cuts? Is text interspersed with the images or is it all at the end? How does the spot open and close (Remember, beginnings and endings are the most powerful part of any spot) How does the pacing (slow, medium, fast) and other elements of the spot’s sequencing help convey the message? Persuasive techniques: We will talk about this in the weeks leading up to this draft— but which persuasive strategies is the ad using? Does it appeal to emotion? Logic? Ethics? Is that appeal effective? Why and how? Once you’ve finished making notes, write an essay in which you describe and analyze the spot. Your thesis will be, in essence, “Here’s what the spot is trying to say to this audience and here’s how it persuades you of this.” You should use examples from the spot to support what you’re saying, as well as data from your outside sources. You can also make a value judgment—is the spot effective in what it’s trying to do for its chosen audience? 3 Finished Length: 5-6 pp Sources: THREE outside sources in addition to the ad. These can be articles about analysis, persuasion or the power of images. They could also be articles written about the ad campaign. Use MLA Format and Include a Works Cited page