Moving Image-Collegekid9

0:00 – Ad starts with a shot of the lower half of a man on a rocking horse in the park on a sunny day.

That’s a reasonable description, CollegeKid, but not an analysis. How do we react to such an image? It’s a big jarring at first since the horsies are almost exclusively ridden by children, are in fact difficult for adults to mount. Do we register anything? Confusion? Disbelief? Curiosity? Do we think the rider might be unhinged? Bored beyond belief?

The only unacceptable answer is that we register nothing at all—that we simply withhold judgment until more evidence helps us correctly judge the situation. We do not. We jump to conclusions and later alter them if necessary.

0:00-0:04 – The camera moves up to show the man bouncing and rocking back and fourth with a huge smile on his face. The man, who appears to be of hispanic decent, is wearing a navy blue sweat jacket, a grey t-shirt, kaki shorts, white socks, and black sneakers.

Well, yes, but in addition, he changes his motion from an innocent back-and-forth rocking to a slightly demented humping-the-horse motion that, depending on who he’s smiling at, could mean a couple of things. 

What are we to make of that smile? Is he simply enjoying himself, or getting someone’s attention? Does the smile say “Look at me!” or “Come join me” or “Aren’t we having fun”?

What do the clothes suggest? Is he well-off? Working today and on his lunch break? Enjoying the park on a day off? Is the patch on his sleeve significant? Where’s the park? Inner-city? Suburbs?

0:04-0:05 – The camera moves to a white woman who is sitting on the park bench with a baby stroller. She looks at him and smirks but then diverts her attention back to the stroller.

She does indeed. Why? Tell us about her. Does she know him? Does his childish horse-humping amuse her? She doesn’t merely “divert her attention” to the stroller, does she? She pulls it closer in a protective gesture. Is the strange man threatening?

0:05-0:08 – A white man, in a green jacket, makes a weird face and presses it against the glass while looking to the right. When it hits 0:08 seconds, the man removes his face from the glass and has a blank expression.

What glass? Is there glass in the playground, or is this a new scene? What is the significance of his “looking to the right?” Can we tell what or who he’s looking at? He fixes his gaze first on something below and to his left. Then presses his nose against the glass (through which he can be seen, presumably, standing as he is at the service window of a hot dog counter). Then checks to see what reaction he’s getting from someone. Then wipes his expression. It’s a game, right, in which he pretends he hasn’t done anything gross like wipe his nostrils on the window?

What can we conclude from his age, size, clothing, grooming? Is it too early to notice a pattern in just two examples? Middle-aged men in casual clothes in the middle of the day acting foolishly?

A figure passes behind him during his act, indicating (like the female observer in the park) that he’s acting out in public knowing he can be observed by adults.

0:08-0:10 – An African American man looks up and the white man with a puzzled face as if wonder what just occurred. (HUH?)

Where is that AA man? On the other side of the glass? Has he seen the goofy face pressed against the glass? His gaze is at first fixed lower (at a cash register or computer?). Then he looks up. Is he making eye contact with the face-presser? In two seconds, how many shades of curiosity, suspicion, disfavor does he register? He blinks. Does that suggest disbelief? A shaking off of the first image and a chance to look at it again?

What do you make of the odd coincidence that all three men so far have sported facial hair?

0:10-0:12 – Camera is angled upwards where you see the tops of the trees and the sky. An African American man, in a white short sleeved button-down, tan trousers, and a blue with whit polka-dotted tie, is bouncing up and down while smiling and waving to something/someone.

You have yet to conclude that three men now are behaving childishly. If you’re trying to be matter-of-fact and strictly objective for some reason, CollegeKid, you should stop that. We judge at all times when watching little movies like these 30-second spots. Your job is to analyze how you’re being manipulated to draw conclusions from what you’re being shown. If you don’t share your impressions, you’re not analyzing, merely reporting.

0:12-0:15 – The shot shows the back of a neighbors head as they are looking over the fence at the man. He continues to jump in circles while smiling and then he does a ballet spin with his hands above his head.

Once again, the waving indicates that the man knows he’s being observed (so the other cast members are not accidental.) The woman in the park, man behind the glass, and neighbor are all essential to make the men’s actions Public Acts.

0:15-0:21 – The camera goes to a little white girl, wearing a pink jacket and glasses, laughing at the man making faces pressed up to the glass. The white man then sticks his tongue out, puts his hands up to his head (as if making moose antlers), and wiggles side to side. The little girl (assumably his daughter) then proceeded to put her thumb up to her nose and wiggle her fingers at him. The African American man then looks at them both and smiles at them. The white man sales back at him and then continues to make another weird face at the little girl.

From which we conclude what? That his intended audience was the girl, but that he was willing to appear idiotic in front of another adult for the sake of amusing her?

0:21-0:24- The camera shows the African American man jumping on a trampoline with his son. The little boy is wearing a brown, white, and green stripped short sleeved shirt with jeans. The pair are both smiling and jumping over one another.

From which we conclude what? That his actions were intended to amuse the boy, but that he was willing to appear idiotic by striking ballerina poses in mid-air in front of his neighbors for the sake of amusing the child?

0:24-0:27- The shot shows a little Hispanic boy smiling and bouncing on a rocking horse. The camera then pans over to the father doing the exact same thing int the rocking horse in front of him.

From which we conclude what? That we were wrong to assume in the first take that the Hispanic man was trying to get the attention of the woman with the stroller? His attention was always focused on the boy in front of him, and his glee was joy shared with a child, most likely his child?

0:27-0:31- The camera shows the neighbor looking over the fence at the African American man bouncing on the trampoline.

From which we conclude what?

Spend a short paragraph after the time-stamped material to draw any overall conclusions you can after considering the impact of the entire 30-second spot. You may discuss its particular effectiveness or its shortcomings as visual argument.

You may also (following your visual analysis) report on any dialog or soundtrack elements that influence your reactions to the argument when you combine the audio with the video.

Thank you for permitting me to invade your space this way for the sake of all.

—DSH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3BG0-APlhQ