Save the Children- Most Shocking Second A Day Analysis

General Convetions

• Campaign’s name is “Save Syria’s Children. The video is called “Most Shocking Second a Day Video”, which shows how a young girl’s life gets turned upside- down in this tragic second a day video. In the description box below the video it says “This is what war does to children” plus a link where audience can find out more about this campaign. 
• The advert’s narrative shows a girl in her everyday life atmosphere- her birthday, school, what she is eating, her playing instruments, laughing and smiling, all these happy moments and then little by little the advert’s atmosphere starts to get darker, news about bomb attacks, people running, hiding and eating rotten food, at the end of the video is shown how the girl is ‘celebrating’ her birthday in a hospital bed only with her mother. This whole narrative creates a feeling of guilt and empathy even more when they find out that this ad is for children who have been going through the same sad story. 
• The main purpose on this campaign is to raise money and bring awareness for children in Syria who are affected directly from the war there. The narrative story shows exactly how for a second a child’s life can change because of the war. 
• The target audience in this advert is working and middle-class people, parents and older people. Using a child as a main figure in this advert creates in viewers a feel of empathy. Especially for people who have children, seeing a child crying and hurt makes them more vulnerable because they link this to their own children. 
• In this advert the mode of address is direct, the whole video is focused on the little girl, she is not making an eye contact until the very end when her mother asks her to wish something and she looks directly to the camera with teary eyes. This last shot would make audience feel guilty as the girl’s wish is the viewers to donate money and help prevent this scenario happen with other children during a war. 

Use of camera and editing

• Throughout this avert video the only type of shot that it has been used is close-up. The camera follows the girl’s life with an attached camera, which allows the audience to see her face and set at the same time. This type of shot is a key element in the advert, during the video viewers can see the child’s facial expression, how it changes together with the setting. This makes people who are watching this video to feel more connected and emotional to the little girl. 

• The advert uses many fast, short cuts which creates more dynamic pace and expresses the campaign’s meaning, how quickly your life can be changed. Only the beginning and the end are longer, which allows viewers to follow the narrative. In the first shot is the little girl, celebrating her birthday together with her family and friends, towards the end only she and her mother are left in a hospital as a background. This creates empathy in audience, as they see how this child’s life is ruined.

Props, costume and mise-en-scene  

-One of the key objects in this advert is the birthday cake, it shows the difference between the girl’s life before and after the war. At the beginning the birthday cake is big, colourful, filled with many candles, which suggests how bright is the atmosphere. At the end, exactly one year later, again on the girl’s birthday there is not a cake, it is replaced with porridge with only one candle, it connotes how the catastrophic event changed the girl’s life style. It creates a darker atmosphere and shows the audience how the war can affect the child’s and their families life. 

 

• There many different backgrounds in this advert, which shows how the life before and after the war is completely opposites. At the beginning, the advert includes happy for the girl places, her house, school together with her family and friends, enjoying different normal life activities.

•  After this shot where on the tv start to show news for bomb attacks and upcoming war conflict, the settings start to change little by little. There are more scenes filmed outside, suggesting that the child and her family don’t have home, as well the scenes in the car shows how they are trying to escape. 

Lighting and colour 

    -   In this advert both warm and cold lighting had been used. For example in this scene with the birthday cake candles, suggests happiness and joy as they illuminate the girl’s face and shows her smile, as well the colour yellow is often linked with brightness. There are many scenes where the cold lighting is used to express the fair and panic in this video, for example in this scene where the girl is in the hospital, the lighting is greyish blue which makes her face sickly pale and makes the atmosphere uncomfortable and unsafe. 

Sound 

• Usually in adverts and campaign videos is included music or voice over which makes viewers to understand what the video is about, here the only sounds we can hear are from the cast’s actions- eating, playing instruments, talking. This allows the audience to feel more connected to the advert as they can empathise with it. As well the absence of any music creates a bigger focus on the narrative’s changes, from the girl’s ordinary life to the war’s effects. The spoken word creates a bigger impact on the audience as they can hear the parents’ panic voices and the girl’s screams.

Language 

    -    At the end of this advert, the tagline that its shown explains the campaigns idea and message to the audience- “Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening”. This suggests how in many parts of the world children are being affected directly because of the wars, this short advert allows viewers to see and imagine if something like this happens in their country.