Analysis of the SyriAid Advert 2015

The video starts off with the little girl blowing out
her candles on her birthday surrounded by her
family and friends. This marks the beginning of
the war that is about to occur.
The production team stick with using a close up
shot of only the girl throughout the whole advert.
This is so that the audience can understand how
the girl would be feeling throughout this conflict
as well as what is going on around her that is very
important for example, when the little girls dad is
arguing with a neighbour about what is going on. There is no diegetic
sound involved in this advert; this is so we can focus on the environment.
The noises in the background have been increased, this is called nondiegetic sound, this is useful because it makes it more realistic as well as
emphasizing the problems that are going on around them, for example,
planes flying over her house and bombs going off.
There are a handful of binary opposites used in this advert to portray the
difference of the characters in the advert, the little girl represents the
innocence of the children in Syria and the bad soldiers act as the
destruction going on. There are also binary opposites in the first few
scenes, the parents and older generation and the little girl and her friends.
The first shot in the Syria aid advert is
the little girl being sung to by her
friends and family on her birthday.
They have used a close up for this
shot because we understand its her
birthday and that she is surrounded
by loved ones, which she soon wont
be. This links to the ending of the
advert when it is only her mother
singing happy birthday to her. The
binary opposites in this shot are the adults and children. The production
team would have used a reflector in order for the little girls face to be lit
up so boldly.
This shot further on in the advert is another close up of the girl eating
food she doesnt like. This is typical for a child to be fussy with their food
and the audience may think that nothing could go wrong because shes in
a normal environment with her dad cooking in the background; this is also
a binary opposite. The warm lighting used implies they are a normal
family with no problems, therefore we think nothing drastic could go
wrong.

This shot is a very important one;

this is because it is an Asian child
kissing the main little girl connoting
harmony between races. The visual
codes in this shot are the bright red
jumper/ cardigan, telling the
audience further that they are
young children. Another visual
code is the boy kissing the girl
showing the careless of children.
The nice weather in the
background makes people happy and it shows the difference between
conflicts and further on in the advert the skies become gloomy.

The next few shots in the little girl is playing with her rubiks cube while
her mum is sitting on a seat
watching the news. The visual code
in this shot is the TV screen and
the work DEAD, this shows the
beginning of the war and also tells
the audience that the little girl has
no idea, like the children in Syria
who are innocent like her. The body
position of the mum suggests she
is worried and scared for what is
about to happen. This also shows
the binary opposites between the
mother and daughter. The mother aware of
whats going on around her and the little
playing and isnt aware of anything. This is
also shown in the next shot where her father
is listening to the radio. The radio acts as a
visual code because it feels more important
when listening to a radio and radios are
much faster, by this I mean that as soon as an event is happening people
know straight away.

The girl starts to realise at this

point what is going wrong, this is
shown from her facial expression
as she looks upset from having to
listen to her dad argue with a
neighbour about what is going on.
The neighbour tells the dad to
leave the country but from the
visual codes of the neighbour it
suggests that he maybe doesnt know everything but is aggressive, this is
shown from him pointing in finger at the dad. The lighting is now a little
less bright because bad things are about to happen. The binary opposites
in this shot are the dad and his daughter because of the age difference
and innocence, and also the neighbour and the dad, this is because they
have different views.

In this scene the little girl can

see and hear planes flying over
her school that is a signal for
the beginning of the conflict.
The visual codes in this shot is
the girls eyes, this is because
they look worried and also quite
confused.

A lot is going on in the

background as we can see the
parents have a heated
discussion. The day says we are
going to stay but is this the
safest option? The foreground of
this shot shows that the girl is
probably colouring from the
facial expression she is pulling,
she still doesnt understand
what is going on. This shows the
binary opposites as the mum wants to leave but the dad wants to stay.
Another binary opposite is the little girl and her parents.

As the advert goes on the family are

starting to suffer and the little girl is
sad and scared, this is shown from
the visual codes as her facial
expression is behind shadows
looking glum. In the foreground of
this close up shot the mum is trying
to find some water as there is none
left in the bottle and their water has
been turned off or affected by the
bombs. This allows the audience to
think about what it must be like for families in Syria because to see our
country suffer really drills in that this is happening in other parts of the
world.
There are many visual codes in
this shot, these being the dirt on
her face, which suggests that
she is homeless, her hair is
messy which suggests that she
hasnt washed or brushed her
hair in a while as well as having
her ruck sack and teddy, these
could be the only items she
could take away with her. Her
facial expression shows she is
scared and worried and she is
fidgeting a lot suggesting she is nervous. The props that are used in this
particular shot is the small piece of food she is holding, as if she looks like
she is cherishing it because thats the only bit of food she has.

In this shot the background has a

lot going on, this is important
because the visual codes show
that London is falling apart as the
buildings are on fire and the air is
dull and misty. The binary
opposites in this shot is between
the parents and the daughter
because the daughter looks lonely
and scared because she is young
and vulnerable whereas the
parents kind of have it together. There is another binary opposite between
the mum and the dad as the mum is constantly crying and isnt handling
what is going on well whereas the dad is caring and being a typical man.
The effect used is a grey tone to show that the air is dirty and it is not a
happy time.

the advert is approaching to the

end, the girl is looking into the
camera to show the audience how
hurt she is and shows all the
suffering she has been through.
These are shown by the visual
codes of the tears streaming
down her face, the dirt on her
face and her messy hair. The light
in the background suggests that
everything is over but people are
left with nothing.

The last shot is very hard hitting this is

because it shows the binary opposites
between the mum who is trying to be
comforting and cheer her daughter up
but she is so miserable from all the
distruction that has gone on in the past
year, this has been emphasized
furthermore as the girl is looking
staright into the camera with no facial
expression. The visual codes on her face are her puffy eyes suggesting
she has been crying constantly. The 1 lit candle and the metal plate

suggests they have nothing left but the mother is trying her hardest to
move on. But the little girl will never because it was such a catastrophic
time.