What Makes ?in The Nick Of Time? Such A Successful Advertisement For Audi Essay, Research Paper

IntroductionAdvertising is: Any

paid form of non-personal presentation and production of ideas, goods or

services by an identified sponsor. At first the advert, ?In The Nick Of Time?

did not seem effective. But after analysing the advertisement, it seems an

effective advert. At first the plot may confuse some of the audience, but the

plot is eventually revealed at the end, when it all becomes clear. The advert

uses some very effective details, that may not be obvious to the audience to

begin with, but after viewing the advertisement several times, the finer

details are appreciated. The advert is 30 seconds long, and was made on the 18th

of October 1989, and was done so by Audi. LanguageLanguage

is a wide area in media, it doesn?t just cover the obvious speaking it also

covers text, lyrics, lighting, focus, and camera angles. I will try to describe

how these techniques are used in Audi?s ?In the nick time?.At the start the

audience are given a shot through a window of a house. We get a view from

outside the house, looking into the house?s kitchen. The phone rings, and a man

answers the telephone, after what seems a very short conversation that we

cannot hear, he puts the phone down. The man goes to get his jacket, and then

gets his son who is 6 years old. The father runs carrying his son, down a set

of stairs, which leads outside to the father?s car, which is an Audi 90 Quatro.

Outside it is early evening, the car drives out of the house past a row of

trees. They drive through the German countryside; we then get a close up of the

child doing his shoes up, in the back of the car. We get some close ups of the

car from all viewpoints, like from the inside, and from the underneath of the

car. The car then enters a German city, they drive past a fun fair and we get a

close up on a parcel and the reflection on the car window of the parcel, the

Childs face is also visible in the window. The car then goes under a bridge,

(it is now raining) where there is a man standing with a hat, and a long length

coat, and we get a large shadow underneath the bridge from the lights of the

car. The car then turns around the corner, and pulls up at a large building,

the father gets out of the car, and begins to run up the stairs, he then turns

around sees his son, he gets the child and carries him up the stairs. The

father runs down a corridor still carrying his child. The corridor is tiled on

the floor, and you get the point of view of the father and the child, you can

see two swinging doors ahead of them. The father slides through the doors, and

there is a close up of a newborn baby crying. Then some text comes up saying

vorsprung durch technic then more text comes up with the Audi logo, and below that

it says Call: 0800 800 800 for an information pack.These language

effects are used for a particular reason. The phone is an old phone, so you

think it is reliable like the car. The image of the child doing his shoes up

shows that the car is spacious. A German countryside, is used because Germany

is known for good cars, like BMW, and is involved in producing the Rolls Royce.

The rain shows that the car can hold the road in dangerous conditions like in

rain. The child seems happy in the car, so this suggests that the is a family

car, and a car of the future There is some

speech; the speech is ?life is full of decisions. Some of the head, some of the

heart. Take your next car. Will it have a catalytic converter that removes 95% of toxic pollutants? Will it be clean, yet

lose nothing in performance? Will it have this at no extra cost? In short will

it be one of the new generation of Audis? Vorsprung durch technic. As your head

and heart would say.? The background music gives an eerie and central European

feel to the advert, and is a good choice of music because I think it is

building up to some thing new, or good like the baby, or maybe the introduction

of the car. The voice over for the speech is done by a women in an clear

English accent, I think this shows that the car can be appealing to women and

men, as the man is represented in visual during the advert. The voice is also a

good voice because we see a new born baby, but no mother, so this could round

off the fact that the car has its advantages for all the family. RepresentationIn the Audi advert

?In The Nick Of Time? the main visible characters are a father, his son, and a

baby, of which sex we are not shown or told. There is also middle to old age

man under the bridge, but he doesn?t play a key role to the normal viewer, but

does have a key part to encourage potential buyers. There is also a voice over

that is not shown, in a visible form but is important. The father is in his

late 20?s to early 30?s, and looks like an average person, but is an actor. He

does not make any noise during the advert, but I think he does speak whilst on

the phone at the very beginning, but cannot be heard. The father is dressed in

formal, but slightly casual clothes, and does come across as well mannered. He

seems a very loving father; an example of this is when he carries his child up

the stairs into the hospital, this makes the father look very caring. The

father is forgetful at one point, when he gets to the hospital, he leaves his

child in the car. I think Audi may put across the wrong message here; it may

look like that the owner gets so involved with the car that he forgets his

child. I have ruled this out, because I think he was in a hurry to see his new

child. We do make some assumptions about the father. We do not actually know as

the audience whether he is the father or not. He could be looking after the

child, for the mother and father who are in hospital, waiting for their new

child. This could explain why we do not see the mother at all, because we may not

see the father.The

child is a young child, around six years old, and is a very warming child that

always seems to be happy, with a small smile always visible to the viewer. The

child is a good ploy by Audi, to make the viewer like the advert, and the viewer

will remember the face of the child, and the car advertised. The child plays a

key part in the advert; the child demonstrates the facilities of the car. E.g.

the child does up his shoelaces in the back of the car, showing that the car is

spacious, and steady enough to easily do up your shoes. He also shows that the

car is child friendly, because he seems happy and comfortable in the back of

the car.InstitutionsI

think this advert would be good for cinema, because it would advertise itself

well in an audience of a parental guidance, or an 18 or over film would be

good, because then it would guarantee an audience of adults, that would be old

enough, and in the position to buy the Audi 90 Quatro. I don?t think that an

advertising board would be effective for this advert, unless it was recognized

by the audience, and not mistaken for another advert, or worst of all an other

car.Audience The

slot I would allocate for this advert, would be around 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm,

because between 6 and 7 there is news and business, and academic people would

be interested to see the business news, and they would have more money, and

nicer cars, so that?s a good time to advertise the Audi advert. After 7 pm is

prime time television, so this would mean that more people watching television,

so a larger adult audience. I think this advert really only appeals to people

in the position to buy a new Audi 90 Quatro. So the audience is mainly business

type adults. There is one technique used very well. The part of the advert,

where there is a man under a bridge, with a large shadow, and the man is

wearing a top hat. That shot is very similar to the part of the 1940?s film,

The Third Man. The Third Man is considered as one of the best film ever. This

flatters some of the audience, by making them feel intelligent. In university,

they often watch a lot of films; there is sometimes film clubs. People who go

to university are intelligent, the people who go to these film clubs, may have

seen the film The Third Man. This makes the viewers who can remember the shot

from the Audi advert to The Third Man film; this makes them feel clever, clever

enough to own an Audi.