After doing research on the 2012 elections, I would like to do my project on Mitt Romney's campaign through the use of television ads.
The videos I would like to look at are:
Believe In Our Future
Strong Leadership
Stand Up to China
The Romney Plan
Failing American Workers
After looking at the first two pro Mitt Romney video, I noticed that they only talked about him and did not bash Obama. I think it is important to look at the comments on this video and see what people are saying; look for particular comments that are being repeated or debated against.
ReplyDeleteIn the Stand Up to China video, it was against Obama. They showed him in dark colors, and when the words "China," "no," "2 million jobs," "4 more years" appeared on the screen, they made that in red. Also, the slide about China appeared in red and yellow. Those were the only colors shown. As far as the framing went in this particular video, it was dark around the edges. I think it would be interesting to see how pro Obama, Mitt Romney bashing, videos looked like and if they did similar framing.
I couldn't find "The Romney Plan Failing American Workers," but between the other three videos, what I noticed most about them being simliar is how they show Romney with people and him talking and interacting with them, and when they show Obama, he is alone.
With the focus of your project being on the Romney side of the presidential campaign, I suggest paying attention to the audience and purpose of the texts you selected, the audience being the specific group of voters the ad targets.
ReplyDeleteJudging from your chosen topic, I would suggest staying focused on the audience and purpose of the ads, with the audience being the specific niche of voters that the particular ad is trying to appeal to somehow.
In the "Stand Up to China" ad, color was used as the main strategy, with the flag of China being one of the only two thing in the video to appear in full color compared to black and and white, as if trying to say China is the reason for Americas current situation.
In the "Believe in Our Future" ad, sequence appears to be the main strategy next to color, with shots of Romney at events or meetings in full color, and the ad switches between short clips of him driving his car and talking to the camera about his qualifications, while the talked of events appear on screen in the form of video clips.
In "Strong Leadership," color and sequence are again the main stars. The video was played in full color for it's majority, and as the ad pointed out successes in Romneys past, clips of related info appear onscreen to try and strengthen the point.
In "Failing American Workers," color is the main method used. The stacks at the beginning of the video are quickly colored to represent the American and Chinese flags, followed by a full color clip of Romney, and a dulled image of Obama.
In "The Romney Plan," emphasis and organization are the main methods of appeal. When Romney talks and a video clip starts to play, large white words appear on the screen and grab attention, and is organized in that when Romney brings up a specific issue or area, a small clip relating to it, such as somebody doing their job in a medical office, flashes onscreen.
Definitely a solid plan for the project!
ReplyDelete(1)Since you are looking into advertisements for the presidential election, I feel that the audience is going to be one of your main focuses here, as the audience is what drives the ads to use the information that they do. The context in the videos will also be an important factor, especially with certain issues or points they will make.
(2)"Believe in Our Future" has a heavy emphasis on sequence, flowing through different sequences of footage with one purpose, and the organization of the video is another key point.
"Strong Leadership" has a similarly heavy emphasis on the sequence and organization of the images, with a much faster pace to it that kind of changes the feel.
"Stand Up To China" has a very heavy focus on contrast, with a lot of black and white imagery when associated with Obama, contrasted with a more color-based look when the Romney logo pops into view.
As stated before, I wasn't able to find "Failing American Workers."
(3)As you move into the next step of the project, you might consider looking at the heavy use of contrast in the "Stand Up To China" video as opposed to the more scene-by-scene sequence-centric approach used in the other videos. I feel that this approach was likely used because the ad, rather than the more sequence-based and more upbeat ads describing Romney, is focused on Obama, and the heavy contrast is used to show Obama as bad, because that's what the campaign is all about; casting Obama in a bad light and Romney in a good one.