Moving Image- thesilentbutdeadlycineman

Deciphering What Happens in Get The Cure

0:01-0:05- The ad seems to be shot in the style of the Cops TV show (handheld camera operated by a cameraman following people in their usual activities). The ad opens up with the audience in the back seat of a car. The interior of the car has little light, which is mainly coming from streetlamps and the camera. The car itself is rolling slowly through a deserted city alleyway during some part of the night. The camera/audience is sitting in the middle seat of the back row. The only other person visible on the screen is an average-looking, somewhat overweight white man in a lab coat sitting in the front passenger seat of the car. He is looking back at us while motioning his hands to the view of the front window, probably talking to the audience about the neighborhood.

0:06-0:09- All of a sudden a man dressed in a pink Hershey Kiss-shaped costume runs in front of the headlights a few feet from where the car is. He briefly stops in shock in the middle of the run, like a deer in caught in the headlights of a truck, before continuing to run across the alley. The driver, seen only by his hands and white lab coat, quickly stops the car. Both the man in the passengers’ seat and the driver jump out of the car. At the same time, the camera man jerks to the right, showing him opening the door and running out to follow the action.

0:10-0:15- The shaky camera (due to the cameraman trying to keep up) shows the two men in the lab coats run furiously in the dim light after the man in the funny pink suit, similar to cops trying to catch a man attempting to evade arrest. Eventually, the two men are able to capture the costumed person as he is trying to climb up a wired fence. They pull him off and tackle him on top of a pile of garbage bags and cardboard boxes.

0:16-0: 23- As the cameraman in walking backwards, the audience watches as the two men drag the costumed man by the arms back to the car. The audience can now see that the man looks like a stereotypical nerd with a slightly chubby face and thick glasses. He is in a giant pink spandex onesie that looks like a cross between a chubby Teletubbie and the aforementioned Hershey Kiss. The costumed vigilante, as he is being dragged back to the car is yelling around, and unsuccessfully trying to escape (In a manner that makes him look like he is a drunk person trying to walk straight).

0:24-0:26- The ad then switches to a white information screen with red words that read, “colon cancer. get the test. get the polyp. get the cure.” Below the words on each bottom corner of the screen, it is shown that the ad is produced by Ad Council, and sponsored by The American Cancer Society (with both accompanied by their respective logos). Finally in the bottom middle of the screen, read words can be seen reading,  “1-800-ACS-2345 or cancer.org”.

0:27-0:28- The ad quickly jumps back to the main action, where the costumed man (probably representing the colon), shouting out to the camera, is seen being pushed into the backseat of the car by the two men in lab coats  (who can be deduced to represent the doctors) with great effort.

0:29-0:31- Finally, the ad returns to the information screen in order to reiterate the point, before fading to black.

Get The Cure | Colon Cancer Prevention | Ad Council

2 thoughts on “Moving Image- thesilentbutdeadlycineman”

  1. Could I have feedback, please on this so that I can have a basis for what to include in my rewrite?
    Thanks

    Feedback provided.
    —DSH

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  2. 0:01-0:05- The ad seems to be shot in the style of the Cops TV show The only other person visible on the screen is an average-looking, somewhat overweight white man in a lab coat sitting in the front passenger seat of the car.

    Since it’s your job to intersperse your analysis of the visuals throughout your report, what do you make of being taken on a “back seat documentary” ride in, not a cop car, as you suggest, but perhaps an ambulance or EMT vehicle with a couple of health professionals? Lab coats? Stethescopes around their necks?

    0:06-0:09- All of a sudden a man dressed in a pink Hershey Kiss-shaped costume runs in front of the headlights a few feet from where the car is. He briefly stops in shock in the middle of the run, like a deer in caught in the headlights of a truck, before continuing to run across the alley. The driver, seen only by his hands and white lab coat, quickly stops the car. Both the man in the passengers’ seat and the driver jump out of the car. At the same time, the camera man jerks to the right, showing him opening the door and running out to follow the action.

    Is “he” in fact running before the headlights? Or does he react to the presence of the car, or being discovered, to hurry down the alley? Not to be too ridiculous about it, but how do you know the driver stops the car? You can’t see the brake pedal. Does he change gears? Any explanation why a Hershey’s kiss should be red, or run from lab technicians?

    0:10-0:15- The shaky camera (due to the cameraman trying to keep up) shows the two men in the lab coats run furiously in the dim light after the man in the funny pink suit, similar to cops trying to catch a man attempting to evade arrest. Eventually, the two men are able to capture the costumed person as he is trying to climb up a wired fence. They pull him off and tackle him on top of a pile of garbage bags and cardboard boxes.

    Is there any indication that the man Kiss would be a threat to the men or to anyone? Does he appear to be clever, physically intimidating, athletic? Is there any significance to the techs tracking this intruder through a tight dark space and extracting it from a dead end? That may not seem significant now, but does it become so?

    0:16-0: 23- As the cameraman is walking backwards, the audience watches as the two men drag the costumed man by the arms back toward the car. The audience can now see that the man looks like a stereotypical nerd with a slightly chubby face and thick glasses. He is in a giant pink spandex onesie that looks like a cross between a chubby Teletubbie and the aforementioned Hershey Kiss. The costumed vigilante, as he is being dragged back to the car is yelling around, and unsuccessfully trying to escape (In a manner that makes him look like he is a drunk person trying to walk straight).

    You’ve called him a vigilante, presumably because he’s costumed and not at a Halloween party. But vigilantes take the law into their own hands and attempt to restore justice to an unjust world. Is that how this guy strikes you?

    0:24-0:26- The ad then switches to a white information screen with red words that read, “colon cancer. get the test. get the polyp. get the cure.” Below the words on each bottom corner of the screen, it is shown that the ad is produced by Ad Council, and sponsored by The American Cancer Society (with both accompanied by their respective logos). Finally in the bottom middle of the screen, read words can be seen reading, “1-800-ACS-2345 or cancer.org”.

    Clearly you’ve received some new information. Use this space to analyze backwards onto the scene. How does the text and the sponsorship information help you correctly interpret what you’ve been watching?

    0:27-0:28- The ad quickly jumps back to the main action, where the costumed man (probably representing the colon), shouting out to the camera, is seen being pushed into the backseat of the car by the two men in lab coats (who can be deduced to represent the doctors) with great effort.

    I’m going to suggest that the man does not represent the colon. The ALLEY would represent the colon. The man is a polyp, considered a precursor of cancer, always removed when they’re discovered in the colon during a colonoscopy.

    0:29-0:31- Finally, the ad returns to the information screen in order to reiterate the point, before fading to black.

    Nice work so far. Needs Analysis as noted.
    Grade: P

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