Narrative in advertising: blog task

1) How does the advert use narrative? Apply at least three narrative theories to the text, making specific reference to specific shots or key scenes in the advert.

The advert uses Barthes theory of action codes such as when the girl is being recorded, resulting in more people seeing her play which leads to the next narrative arc of the boy playing hockey. Propp's character theory is also presented as we see a number of hero roles, which would be the people playing the sports, as well as villains which would be things such as the girls family that she has to fight. There also a range of obstacles throughout the video that the sports players must overcome. Lastly we see Todorov's theory of equilibrium, such as the boy who plays hockey, as the equilibrium would be going about his day to day life, followed by the disequilibrium of having no team to play with or against, finishing with the new equilibrium of him playing as every role himself and leading to the next story.

2) Read this BBC feature on some of the people in the advert. How does the advert use celebrities and less well-known people to create stories in the advert?

The advert uses celebrities alongside less well-known people in order to convey the message that 'ordinary' people can become just like people that they might look up to when they buy Nike products. They also use celebrities so that there are familiar faces to attract consumers to the advert, as well as using less well known people so that the audience can relate to them. The advert intertwines some of these figures to show the similarities between them regardless of whether they are famous or not and highlight things that they share a common interest with.

3) Read this AdWeek feature and interview on the Nike London advert. How did the advert use technical codes (camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing etc.) to help create narratives that could connect with the audience?

'For the basketball scene, we used a 360° camera that allowed us to reframe the way we wanted in post and create some interesting distortions. It was convenient to represent how crowded is the place where he plays. For the dunk, we used three cameras to create a stereoscopic move. It was convenient to convey the feeling of hardship with all those balls around.' This shows how they used different angles and shots in order to capture the ambience of the setting and represent it on camera in a way that felt realistic.

4) What representation of London does the advert offer?

The advert provides an accurate, realistic representation of London as it shows different elements of life in London and each part of the advert is thought through carefully to make the scenes link to eachother while maintaining their relevance to how London is in real life. London is also represented as a diverse city as a number of people from different backgrounds are shown and includes people of different ages.

5) Why might this advert appeal to an audience?

This advert appeals to audiences because it is realistic, therefore making it relatable to a variety of different people who may be able to identity with one or more actor. Audiences may also like the fact that it is a true representation of London and represents them in a positive light.