KTA 2 LO1: The purposes, approaches and constraint between difference audio-visual promos

 Purposes of audio-visual promos:

• PROMOTE/MARKET - music videos + film trailers + game adverts (persuasive adverts)  ex. League of Legends
• INFORM - college + university promos + public information (NHS) ex. Leeds Uni
• ENTERTAIN - music videos + film trailers + a short advert for a TV show ex. Big Game Spot - Marvel
• EDUCATE - tutorial services + public information ex. Government coronavirus

LO1 Report : The purposes, approaches and contrasts between different audio-visual promos

 

What is League of Legends? Told by Nevercake

My first promo I have chosen is for a video game called League of Legends, which is produced by the company called Riot Games. The purpose of this promo is to promote and market League of Legends towards its audience of adult male gamers, who prefer the genre MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) strategy games more than in comparison to a fast-paced shooting game. This promo is distributed across the Internet and can be shown to viewers through multiple social media outlets, such as before a Youtube video or on another website. The advert begins with the animated man immediately addressing the audience and then introducing them to the game League of Legends. He goes on to say reasons why you should join and play and then into what the game actually is itself and what you do inside the game. In the middle, it explains how the game work in which the player chooses a champion and can level them up through skills or buy better equipment at the shop. At the end of the advert, he reminds the audience of the advert ending soon and that they should go download and play League of Legends immediately. It is featured and told by Nevercake who is a Youtube animator and has over 400K subscribers. It mostly features a plain stick man drawing which is the audience and then himself who advertises the game in a black and orange suit and hat. He appeals to his target audience through the use of his sarcasm and quick, witty one-liners. He questions why you would want skills which are useful when growing into adulthood, being a career and life skills when your priorities should be playing League of Legends and making new, online friends. He says "Remember caring? I haven't felt an emotion in years" clearly advertising under the stereotype of teenage boys not caring about things and being attracted to throwing away their life's responsibilities. By mentioning how battle-oriented the game is and how realistically the main objective of the game is to level up your champion in order to best and kill other players appeal to their natural competitive natures and fits in place with society's perception of violent video games. The game League of Legends does fit in with Steve Neale's genre theory of repetition and difference, the repetition being the aim of the game is to kill other opponents while keeping your own health up and the difference being the champions and weapons themselves within the game. 

Student life at Leeds: Campus Life

My second promo I have chosen is for a university in England called University of Leeds, which was produced by the university itself. The purpose of this promo is to inform the target audience of potential students and parents of how University of Leeds performs academically and why they should apply to their university. This video is uploaded to Youtube where anyone with an Internet connection can watch. This can also be distributed as a short film however for easier time on the viewers it is cut up into short few minute clips on Youtube and advertises on their website and social Medias. The promo begins with the actual campus of the University of Leeds showing camera shots of the university from the ground and from above, inside and out. We constantly hear the opinions and experiences from previous or current students from the University of Leeds which gives the audience a more believable source of opinion as they attend there themselves. In the middle, we then go on to learn about the university's offering facilities outside of the classroom, such as their library, swimming pool or gym. This would appeal to students who love being independent and going places outside of their education to look after their wellbeing. The promo ends with how people graduate the university and some students giving their voice on the overall full experience and how it’s changed them as people while earning their degree. The video itself is quite modern with the style of editing and background music which would appeal to the student’s age and the fact that despite hearing all these different opinions the video doesn't change pace or slow down and it just keeps flowing, maintaining a steady guide of the university. It appeals to people with any interests as it mentions different societies within the university which would make any student feel welcome and ready to socialise and develop. 

“Big Game” Spot – Marvel Studios – Disney+

My third promo I have chosen is for the new tv series being run on Disney + which are being produced by Marvel Studios. The purpose of this promo is to entertain the mainstream audience and to tease the upcoming release of some of these new shows. This was distributed nationally across Youtube and further trailers are released during the Superbowl breaks in America on live TV making it a huge audience and masses of people knowing about it. It begins with a close up of the Captain America shield stuck into the side of a tree before someone comes and takes it out before re-throwing it. We then see the Marvel Studio's logo changing from red to blue signifying how the TV shows on Disney+, which logo's background is blue, is different from the movies which are under a red logo. In the middle of the promo, we switch to see another TV show in a black and white setting with a couple in their home. We then see multiple versions of Wanda and Vision in different outfits but still in their home. Then we see a line reading "The Universe is expanding" which refers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how movie screen characters are getting their own TV shows. This would appeal to the members of the audience who are die-hard fans of these particular characters being Sam, Bucky, Wanda, Vision and Loki. Noticeably, these characters are never main characters but are still very popular nevertheless which suggests why the company produced more content of them. This relates to Jason Mittell's genre theory of how audiences are exploited by media producers using certain types of representations and content so that products are financially successful which is proven here as the marvel franchise is mainly in the action, narrative genre which has been very successful in recent years. The promo ends by showing the titles and logos for these new tv shows and then the only few seconds of Loki footage before saying exclusively on Disney+.     

‘Hands. Face. Space.’ Watch the Government’s new coronavirus campaign video

My fourth promo I have chosen is for the government guidelines and advice for how to deal with the coronavirus produced by the UK Government and the NHS. The purpose of this promo is to educate their audience of the general public on how to manage within the global pandemic. This was uploaded to Youtube by The Telegraph but has been distributed all over on the TV, on the radio, on every social media app and website as it is such an important reminder for everyone to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It begins with saying what the video is going to explain how their precautions help stop the spread of the coronavirus with scientific facts. Washing hands often for 20 seconds or using hand sanitisers throughout the day, wearing a face mask to cover and stop the spread of the virus through the droplets coming in and out of your mouth and nose and finally staying two meters apart. At the end of the video, it briefly summarises their points with the government's slogan for the campaign being "Hands. Face. Space.". Also reminds the audience of the symptoms and the importance of getting tested immediately if you begin to show any of the symptoms. It appeals to the audience as it is a small, easy way to remember how to stay safe and it will always stay in their heads. It features three small symbols throughout to symbolise each step of their precautions, a pair of hands with soap, a face mask and the two gender signs away from each other with an arrow in between to show the space keeping them apart. The whole promo is with white and blue which signifies the link with the NHS as it is their logo's colours which is nationally well-known.

My first promo is suitable for its purpose of promoting and marketing because it comes across as very persuasive and a fun game to play with your friends which would get a lot of people to download League of Legends. The animator fully explains how to play the game and what you can do in the game in a short and brief time limit which makes it successful for a marketing tool. Within the messages of boys not taking life too seriously, it may give an opposite message and trigger some of the audience to think more about being outside their stereotype.

My second promo is suitable for its purpose of informing people because it gives multiple people’s opinion of the University of Leeds. It is suitable for the target audience as student ages will be on Youtube and they will have easy access to the video if they choose to. By showing the audience the different facilities and around campus and the different societies it successfully informs the audience about the university. The content of the video is a good way of informing people as if they hear the same basic message over and over again they will be more likely to remember it. In comparison to the games advert this style of video is better to inform as it is longer which gives the audience more time to become invested and learn information from the video. The games advert is short and snappy as it relays key, basic information to persuade people to go and download the game whereas the university promo is longer as it relays the most important and unique points about the university to teach people about it and hopefully get them interested enough to want to learn more. 

My third promo is suitable for its purpose of entertainment because it comes across as very action-packed and very quick series of clips from the future TV series. It is suitable for the target audience as they get to see their favourite characters in action and what they have been up to since they were last seen on the big screen. The bright colours, the unexpected and unpredictable nature of the clips made the promo a success in entertaining. The structure of the video made it clear to the audience which clips teased which TV show with their shows logo and title coming up beforehand or after hand. In comparison to the university promo this style of video is very good and better to entertain the viewers because of how action-packed it is. The university promo is one long continuous clip about one thing which is better to inform the audience whereas the series trailer is more of a group of short clips about multiple storylines to intrigue and entertain the people into wanting to watch more on Disney+.

My fourth promo is suitable for its purpose to educate because it comes across as serious and important to the audience. It is suitable for the target audience as they learn the government’s guidelines for the coronavirus and it is outputted in a simple and easy way to remember. It is successful in its education as it not only teaches the facts but also gives the reasons for doing so with visual representation. The order of the precautions were repeated and made it memorable and therefore easier to remember it after the advert went away. In comparison to the series trailer, this style of video is better to educate because of how repetitive the information in the video is and how it is laid out with enough space between it to not get boring. The series trailer is constantly moving between scenes and cuts to entertain the people but might miss some little details whereas the educational clip is constantly focused on the one subject and getting it across to the viewers so they will learn and never forget it and hopefully share on to other people.