Rain For Good

Main Character:

- Although at the beginning of the advert, she doesn't seem as happy as she's singing alone, gradually throughout the video- her voice becomes louder, and she has a happier expression as more people from her village join in with her singing 

- at the start of the video, Claudia's voice is quite soft and quiet- indicating that there is a small amount of hope, but as the video goes on- more people join her, their voices all joining together to become one sound of hope- for the rain to come for clean water (convoying that hope pushes through despair)

Representation of the UK:

 

In the advert, the UK is shown in the beginning stereotypically as the opening of the advert shows a radio playing a recording of a weatherman talking about the heavy showers, while the rain drowns out any background noise around the radio, linking back to the well-known stereotype that the UK usually rains and has a gloomy atmosphere. This is shown through different uses of lighting and sound to create the stereotype itself, both factors contributing largely to the 'sombre' mood. Along with this, in the beginning- the scene represents how British people are used to the weather being quite cold and bitter, hence why they want to shun away from it and stay inside- creating a clear contrast from the later scenes in the advert where it shows women from Africa singing about how they want rain enforcing the stereotype that Africa rarely gets rain and is a hot & dry continent. This would make Africa the UK's prominent binary opposite as the UK is represented as gloomy, cold and bitter whereas Africa is represented as a continent with a hot climate which craves for rain. 

Representation of Africa:

- Africa is stereotypically shown as being a dry and hot country- showing through the weather presented in the video and Claudia singing for rain 

- Sympathy shown from the audience for the people of Africa

- based on rural Africa which conveys the stereotypes that Africa is 'poor' and 'dependent on charities for help'

Lighting:

- The warm lighting in the video exaggerates how Hot Africa is 

- The lighting gradually becomes lighter and much brighter compared to the beginning of the video 

- at the beginning, the lighting is dark and blue- creating a cold and dreary atmosphere contrasting from the atmosphere that's around Claudia as she is introduced in the video 

Sounds:

- The sound of the heavy rain in the beginning slowly fades as it gets taken over by the warm sound of crickets (and Claudia's soft voice) indicating that it rarely rains in Africa compared to the UK

 -Middle-class audience can immediately be familiarised with the song that Claudia is singing- so there can be a connection built.

Representation of young women:

- The main focus in the video is the women in the village all collectively doing the manual labour, going against the popular age-old stereotype that men are the ones that do manual labour and women are the ones that doing the cooking and cleaning. suggests that women in Africa don't live an easy life compared to the women watching the advert- creating a sense of sympathy.

Camera:

-  there's a clear close up of the main character as soon as she's introduced, her expression, calm and thoughtful until she joins the other women in her villager to sing as they collect water- her expression much happier and hopeful.

-  the main focus of the advert is water as it starts with the concept of water being shown through rain and ends with after being collected by the women in Claudia's village- shown as quite precious and valuable towards the end compared to the beginning as light shines through it (a clear contrast to the gloomy mood that follows water in the beginning)

Traditional Conventions:

-  one key fact to note is that there are 650 million people who still don't have access to clean drinking water, a strong contrast from the hopeful atmosphere that is created in the advert while the women are singing as they collect water.

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How is the UK represented in the advert? 

In the advert, the UK is shown in the beginning stereotypically as the opening of the advert shows a radio playing a recording of a weatherman talking about the heavy showers, while the rain drowns out any background noise around the radio, linking back to the well-known stereotype that the UK usually rains and has a gloomy atmosphere. This is shown through different uses of lighting and sound to create the stereotype itself, both factors contributing largely to the 'sombre' mood. Along with this, in the beginning- the scene represents how British people are used to the weather being quite cold and bitter, hence why they want to shun away from it and stay inside- creating a clear contrast from the later scenes in the advert where it shows women from Africa singing about how they want rain enforcing the stereotype that Africa rarely gets rain and is a hot & dry continent. This would make Africa the UK's prominent binary opposite as the UK is represented as gloomy, cold and bitter whereas Africa is represented as a continent with a hot climate which craves for rain. 

Who is the target audience? How can you tell?

The target audience for this advert would preferably be adults or people who're employed because the advert specifically requests for viewers who are watching to donate money for the people of Africa to receive clean drinking water. Hence, why this advert is targeted towards an older audience because those of a younger audience are less likely to be employed or have a bank account compared to adults.

How is the landscape of Africa represented in the advert?

Unlike how Britain is shown stereotypically,  the landscape of Africa is shown to be quite deserted as there are only trees and deserted lands shown, with Fiona's village being the only one in sight, whereas compared to Britain, there are many cities in the country with a considerably dense population- meaning more buildings, supermarkets, houses etc.. this creates a clear contrast between the landscape of Africa and Britain because both stereotypes of the continent and country differ from one another due to how it's represented in the media (the train for good advert posing as an example) 

as well as this, the lighting and the costume in the scenes where Africa is presented- suggests to the audience that the landscape is of hot climate because bright light is used to create the effect as well as Fiona's dress, indicating that the demand for eater in Africa is high due to the hot climate affecting the water sources in Africa. 

How are the people in Africa represented in the advert? Focus on the main character as well as
 other people you see

the people in Africa in the video are represented as ones who adore the sense of community within their village despite the conditions that they live in, a big example being Fiona as in the beginning she is in introduced to be a shy girl singing for the rain quietly, wishing for water- but as soon as she is joined by others in her village, the sense of community uplifts her as the lighting changes and the sound becomes louder, suggesting that she is happy to be there and that she and her people will overcome the hardships they face as long as they work together as a community and are there for one another. as well as this, they are seen to be quite confident in the rain to come- with the projection of their voices representing their confidence as they sing- creating a joyful atmosphere contrasting from their living conditions and the comparison to other adverts that make people in Africa seem gloomy and helpless, showing the audinece the true community within africa despite the problems that they live with- they end up pulling through, but need extra help from viewers to continue living happily.