Holiday Work

Debenhams Christmas Advert 2012

Questions:

1. How is the girl in the advert represented and the people involved?

The girl in this advert plays the main role and the advert represents her journey from what we presume is where she works to home. The advert starts with her leaving the busy city and looking through shop windows where the Debenhams range of clothing is shown and continuing on towards the train where she sees a group of young women wearing party dresses on a night out and then a young girl dancing in front of a band on the train platform. Once she is onto the train she is near a young man wrapping a clutch bag for someone and then the scene goes outside to passing houses where young children are and a woman in lingerie are, heading into the countryside. These different people involved mean people of varying ages and backgrounds, telling the audience that Debenhams can cater for this whether they're young or old and whatever occasion they need clothing for. The girl involved just helps us travel through different places so that we can see the scenes and also the different locations from city to country represents different backgrounds and still that Debenhams offers for both of these places.

2. In what ways does the advert engage the audience?

The advert engages the audience from the start with the city scene and the Christmas lights also the use of non-diegetic sound is not a typical Christmas song however it has a similar feel due to the piano notes and almost gives it a 'magical' feel. Also the girl is running at the start which immediately tells us she's looking for something or trying to get to something. The journey that is shown in the advert helps keep the audience interested because each scene is different also there are many ages of people shown in this advert from different backgrounds which will appeal to a wide audience of varying demographic groups.

3. What are the brand values communicated in this advert?

The brand values that are communicated in this advert are that Debenhams can appeal and offer items for everyone, any age or background. Also family values are shown in the advert with the young children in the house at Christmas and at the end where the child is waiting outside of a house appears to be waiting for the woman and puts the lights on for her as she arrives. Throughout the advert we are not told who it's advertising for however it shows the main designers of Debenhams in the shops altering their clothing lines, so the audience are expected to recognise them and possibly have an idea before the end who the advert is for, therefore we assume Debenhams are well established enough that people can recognise them from little hints and the style in which their advert is portrayed.

4. What filming techniques are used in this clip?

The advert uses lot's of panning to set location and show off the environment that they are in and this keeps attention especially because of the Christmas time. There are a lot of mid shots that are behind the main woman so she is slightly out of focus and the scene in front of her is in focus so that we can see what she is seeing, adding to the idea of it being her journey.