Critical Reflection Questions: Mr. Split Bananas Commercial

 



 

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?

As I was more familiar with the action genre, I decided to use that as the base of my commercial. A hero vs. villain plot and fighting sequence were among the many conventions of the action genre I used in this commercial. The commercial started off with an immediate conflict that the protagonist, Mr. Split, would later come to resolve. The protagonist and villain have a fight scene where the villain is seen being defeated but eventually delivers one significant blow that demonstrates an equal power between the two. The hero eventually overpowers the villain with one final blow, as most protagonist in the action genre tend to do.  The audios included were fighting sounds (punching and kicking), grunting, and intense music.


2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Throughout my commercial I did not directly engage the audience, but factors of my commercial do target multiple audiences. I used the Plain Folks Propaganda in the beginning and end of the commercial to familiarize the audience with a component of the commercial. I used myself in common clothing to represent Plain Folks Propaganda. Another filming technique I used was the Hitchcock Technique: Information to create suspense. While a character in the commercial was unaware of the presence of another character, the audience was fully informed. This project was meant to be a commercial advertisement and therefore would be displayed on television, in between a variety of TV shows on various networks. Since this commercial was an advertisement for bananas, I would most likely expect it to be on a food network channel.


3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

I decided to primarily use the action genre as a basis for the commercial and while editing was a big part to meeting the elements of the genre, filming and the story plot played a huge role. When developing the plot, I researched and learned about propaganda and ways to target different audiences, and I incorporated my newfound knowledge into my commercial. I was able to successfully target my intended audience which was younger children. I used various conventions in order to produce a commercial that would successfully market bananas and grab the attention of audiences. I learned a lot about advertising, persuasion, and effective ways to target audiences, which is not only pivotal to commercial marketing but to multiple forms of media, including TV shows that can attract viewers with popular actors and an interesting plot.

 

4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

I used multiple pieces of technology including but not limited to editing software, an LED light, and a digital camera. To shoot anything, I first needed to have my shooting device and for that I used my Canon Power Shot ELPH 180 Digital Camera.  The entirety of the commercial was shot through the camera and uploaded to my HP laptop through the memory card. I used the Microsoft Video Editor to edit the video. I mainly used the trim, speed, and audio adding functions from the editing software. The trim function cut down extra footage and bloopers that were recorded, while the speed function made the commercial appear more fast paced. The speed of the commercial was meant to play a part in attracting viewers to the bananas but also to squeeze the commercial into a miniscule 30 seconds. To add the audio, I first downloaded different audios through a YouTube converter, after copying the link of the video I wanted off YouTube. Surprisingly, I did not use my phone at all throughout the making of this commercial. For lighting I used a 10-inch LED Ring Light. The light had three different versions of light that set individual moods and I used all three. The 3D effects I used, offered by the Microsoft editing software, provided a more unnatural, heroic effect to the protagonist of the commercial, as way to exaggerate the beneficial qualities of the brand of bananas I was advertising.

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