January assessment: learner response

January assessment: learner response

LR:

29 = C

WWW:

• Good to see use of theory and focus on the question

EBI:

• Too repetitive...  you need a wide variety of points for each question
• Audience appeal/pleasure is a weakness to revise

LR:

• See blog

The film can be said to appeal to such a wide audience as there's the use of both adults and child actors within it. With the film presenting a close-knit (nuclear) family, both kids and adults are shown, one of the things it can actually create with its viewers is a sense of personal identity, as is one of the four gratifications in Blumer and Katz' Uses and Gratifications. This is due to the fact that with there being a child for example, other children watching the advert will be able to gain a sense of relatability more with that child actor and subsequently the production overall, making them feel that the idea of road safety applies to them as much as it does with adults. With this portrayal of different age groups, the film can be said to appeal to quite a wide audience.

Another way the film appeals to such a wide audience is with the brevity it has. Being just under a minute and a half, the film follows a narrative pattern quite familiar to the masses in the form of Todorov's equilibrium in which it begins with a peaceful 'drive' (equilibrium), not wearing a seatbelt leads to a crash (disequilibrium) and the mother and daughter forming a seatbelt to help save the father from the crash, embracing one another after (new equilibrium). This narrative, coupled with the relatively short length of the film positions it perfectly to be put on things like social networks where the message of the film can be spread effectively.   

One more way the film appeals to a wide audience is through its implementation of traditional family values. With it depicting what could be referred to as a typical family, again something the majority of people would be able to relate to, values such as everybody being responsible for one another can definitely be received from the short film. This is likely to have been derived from the 'Happy families' line of appeal from Gillian Dyer in which the producers of the film such as Neil Hopkins realised that drawing upon a value like this could make viewers feel more responsible and apart of the push towards more road safety by ensuring seatbelts were worn at all times.