Analysing A Television Advert

Dirt Devil

 This advert, produced by hoover company Dirt Devil, shows the scene of a house that would be associated with the horror genre; a woman is heard screaming and when she appears on screen she is being dragged around on the ceiling. About three quarters into the advertisement, the camera moves up into the above room to show a woman using the companies hoover thus being the cause to the woman looking possessed. This advertisement is in the style of a parody, horror and humour. The target audience for this advertisement is adults as they would be the ones purchasing a hoover; children would not be the target audience for this as they may get scared.

The pace of the advert is slow at the beginning to create tension, along with the horror music, and leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen. An establishment shot is used at the beginning to show a house portraying that of a haunted mansion. The characters are slowly stepping around the house, as the slow camera movement reflects this action. As silence falls upon the house, suddenly the woman is seen on the ceiling and the music picks back up and the pace of the editing increases; this reflects the movement of the woman being thrown around. The house is dimly lit to add tension and more of a horror feel to the advert, as the unknown lurks in the dark and the audience's minds are wondering what will be hiding; this is then suddenly contrasted with the brightly lit room above with the old lady hoovering to a happy song. 

The only time the brand name appears is at the end of the advertisement, which leaves the audience with this name in mind. The slogan appears, ''you know when it's the devil'', just before the brand name and this links to the theme of the advertisement; the slogan also has the word 'devil' in it which is one of the two words in the brand name, which will again leave the brand name in mind. Even after 'Dirt Devil' appears, a little bit of footage is still yet to be seen which keeps the audience watching till the very end. This is a good last part to have as it leaves the viewers on a funny note instead of leaving them with the image of a woman being possessed. 

The camera follows the characters around the house mainly using a medium shot until they go upstairs when it changes to a high angle, showing that they are vulnerable. A close up is used on the door handle as the door is about to open creating tension as the audience cannot see everything around. A POV shot is used as the priest is walking into the room slowly, which shows the audience what he is seeing. Then, as he looks up at the woman on the ceiling, numerous camera angles are used to portray the pace of the event being fast. A special effect is used to make it look like the woman is being possessed and moved around the ceiling. This looks very realistic and looks plausible.