Water Aid Charity Advert Analysis

Claudia sings Sunshine on a Rainy Day Water Aid (2016)

Codes and conventions:

• Following Roland Barthes' theory of codes, we see a referencial code in the form of the British radio presenter, it immediately helps the audience to locate and understand where the scene is taking place, this is also paired up with that of rain, something that people in the UK are stereotypically (and often truly) annoyed by and it's presence. - This makes it more impactful and thought provoking to the viewer when they see the barren location that is devoid of rainfall immediately afterwards, subverting the annoyance.
• Applying Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory of Structuralism, we can see the advertisement using this to their advantage in numerous ways, it is day where Claudia's village is not night time, thus it is hot and not cold, arid and not lushious, etc.

Camera work: 

• The character of Claudia is framed centre of the screen for a majority of the shots, asserting her as the main subject of the advertisement.
• Near the climax of the video there are many close-up shots of children surrounded by water and upon their happy faces, this is simply effective before viewers are generally quite empathetic to children because they themselves in target audience being 25-30s have been children and more than likely have their own/ are expecting. 

Editing: 

• The video is created with continuity editing in mind for the most part aside from the very first scene, following the narrative through the perspective of a little girl named Claudia as she makes her way down a dirt road into what we presume is the place she lives, we see all of the hard work/ ongoings in the village and how water aids them. 

• The pacing follows around a 4 second maximum per clip while the character walks into the village, but by the time she reaches the water and all the activities in the village this grows to about 1-2 second per clips, perhaps done to show how water makes their days go by quicker to the audience in a visual way.

Sound:

• To begin, during the brief first scene within a British household we hear the diegetic sounds of the radio playing as well as the sound effect of heavy rainfall, this of course juxtaposes the immediate cut in sound to the next scene, which is simply the dialogue of a young girl humming (Claudia), and the ambient sounds of bugs and heat- At first this others this characterization of someone in this situation the viewer as it is a seemingly diametrically opposed lifestyle simply through the sound, yet soon after Claudia begins singing 'Sunshine on a Rainy Day' by Zoë, a song which had hit the top 100 charts of the UK back in 1990 and had even held the number one spot in Zimbabwe the following year; this of course subverts the 'othering' aspect as it is a common ground that both places have shared and provides the viewer with some relatability to somewhere they otherwise simply wouldn't have found, it diverges from the dominant ideology many may have that they have nothing in common with their African counterparts.

• The song of the advert was more than likely chosen to tap into the nostalgia of the target audience being those in their late 20's - Early 30's, thus why the specific song was decided upon over any other.

Mise-en-scene:

• The colour within the first scene is plentifully bright and shows off the idealised British household, its the form of colour grading we'd often see in a regular advertisement in the UK designed to sell you a lifestyle before a smash cut to the another location, the colour extremely desaturated, giving it a colder feel in comparison to the prior scene. It in itself juxtaposes the nature of a hot environment which holds the expectation of being warm and perhaps oversaturated if anything, though as Claudia walks, the colour seemingly begins to grow the closer she gets to the water. - It accentuates that water brings life to a place.
• The lighting is bright throughout the advertisement and helps to emphasise the dryness and the heat of the sunlight at the location, due to the viewer's own experiences with such it applies a negative association with the extreme temperature.
• The costume design of Claudia works so well due to her pink shirt, pink is of course a symbolic code as to affection, caring, and having a gentle heart; It makes the viewer consider that if a girl in a considerably dire experience can persevere and continue to hold these qualities in her life (that is inarguably harder than the masses viewing the advertisement), why can't we as the viewer give back in such a way? Why can't we also show a bit of affection by donating to this cause?

Mode of address:

• The mode of address used when text eventually comes to the screen is somewhat informal, the lexis used is of a simplistic vocabulary and isn't even punctuated fully but is certainly to the point and helps the brand of Water Aid to perhaps come off more down to earth and such.
• Interestingly, the advertisement only requests a one-off of 3 pounds from the viewer watching it;  Albeit suggestively this could make less money for the organisation in the longer-term, I think that perhaps it could in fact get a higher delivery of funds due to donators seeing it as less of a big deal or a monthly investment. (I.E. "I don't want to pay for this /every/ month when it costs half my Netflix subscription-- but.. It is only once, might as well...")