CODAL ANALYSIS

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Narrative Code• Many narratives, according to Todorov’s

narrative theory have five stages. He states that most story’s or plot lines follow the

same pattern/path.

• 1. This part will begin positively where everything is and everyone is content.

• 2. This part will feature a problem or some thing will disrupt the previous happiness.

• 3. This part of the plot is when everyone realises the problem and chaos is created.

• 4. In this segment, the characters attempt to repair the damage and restore the

problem.

• 5. This is the final part of the plot where the problem is resolved and normality can

resume again.

M&S Narrative Code• There is a set equilibrium all throughout the M&S Easter chocolate advert, therefore this one hasn’t

fully conformed to Todorov’s narrative theory. Many beautiful close up shots of chocolate treats have been filmed and conveyed in an artistic style which keeps a positive theme consistent throughout the commercial. However, there is a slight story being visually told from the start to the finish. The advert begins with shots of all the chocolate ingredients and utensils used to bake e.g. a whisk. Then there are shots of Easter eggs being painted with a variety of colours. The next few shots are more artistic

close ups of the toppings that could go on top of the chocolate Easter eggs.An establishing

shot of five Easter eggs is then filmed as they all spin on the spot, and

then the overall advert concludes

with shots of chocolate cakes and chocolate

eggs/bunnies. So there are

particular visual stages conveying

a step by step story in this

advert even if there isn’t a

narrator.

Lurpak Narrative Code• Todorov’s narrative theory isn’t fully

evident in the Lurpak advert, however stage 3, 4 and 5 are quite apparent

throughout this commercial. As there is a man featured in this advert it allows for more narrative to be illustrated as this actor can lead the story with the food,

rather than have just food lead the story like the M&S advert. He eyes up in his

fridge that he has nothing interesting to eat, except for a spaghetti bolognaise microwave meal for one. There is an

extreme close up shot of his eye judging this packaging, clearly unimpressed of what he could have for dinner tonight.

This leads to him deciding to make something from scratch instead, which is where the Lurpak comes in – the product being advertised. Artistic shots of food

are shot; filming the process from start to finish of an omelette. The man then sits

down proudly with his dinner in an establishing shot of his kitchen, whilst a

separate photograph of the Lurpak butter enlarges in the center of the frame with the slogan “good food deserves Lurpak”.

Fage Narrative Code• Like the Lurpak advert, this Fage Total Greek Yoghurt advert conforms to

stage 3, 4 and 5 of Todorov’s theory; where the narrator leads the story with the visual shots of grapefruit. A close up of this fruit is shot whilst

the narrator asks “Why the sour face grapefruit?” as if it is a living being. Then a more extreme close up of the fruits contents is paired with the narrator stating “your zestyness is easy to love”. The disruption has evidently been recognised here and then improved by having the fruit cooked and paired with the Fage greek yoghurt; as though this product can bring life to a usual sour fruit. The advert is filled with successful

photographic shots which could stand alone as images, not just footage. So the audience are able to visually see the disruption be overcome

through attractive pictures filled with fresh colours to match the fresh taste of the fruit and the yoghurt.

Todorov’s Narrative Theory

• In my food filled advert, I won’t be following the Narrative Theory of Todorov’s because all of the shots will include creative shots of food falling, exploding, splashing, being cut and poured etc. I want to look at many items of Summer food for example, ice creams, candy floss, lolly

pops, berries, candy (hundreds and thousands, nerds) – maybe some savory food too in order to balance it. At the end of this advert, I may take inspiration from the innocent juice advert

and have poles come in at the end with card attached to them stating how much fruit is in the juice; but for mine I would have written on the card a date that the food range is coming into the store perhaps. The majority of close ups in this advert will feature attractive looking food, which means that the tone of the advert will remain at a consistent happy level, without any hiccups and interference. Therefore, all I’d be featuring in this advert is stage 1 of Todorov’s

theory – keeping a set equilibrium.

• In the second advert that I am creating, which has a lot more narrative, will be when I can include Todorov’s theory. The reason I am making this advert filled with narrative is because I want to have a variety of advert types advertising the same thing in some way. I will have an actor baking a certain food, perhaps a cheesecake, and cupcakes with a birds-eye view on the dessert. Something will go wrong when baking the cake, and the actor will eventually realise

this by a close up zooming into the ingredients list perhaps. The actor will correct their mistake with the baking and start fresh, this time baking an exceptional tasty and beautiful looking

dessert – advertising a certain product having enough to bake a second cake, or a certain brand conveying how a little goes a long way. I could also suggest in this advert how anything to do with Summer creates a positive outcome as this is a happy time of the year. I will follow all of

Todorov’s theory in this advert as it’s more of a narrative piece.

M&S Technical Code • There is actually an absence of camera movement

throughout all of the M&S Easter “Adventures in Chocolate” advert. It is all done through consistent close up shots of tasty foods moving around in the frame on their own, giving themselves a life of their own e.g. the exploding white chocolate buttons, the breaking chocolate, the moving paint brushes and

falling pistachios etc. Everything in the frame does the work for the advert, allowing the camera to remain still

throughout whilst still keeping the audiences attention.Furthermore, this advert also uses fast paced

editing throughout; another aspect that distracts the audience form the lack of camera movement. By

having this fast paced editing it allows for a variety of ingredients and food products to be advertised to the audience in a short space of 30 seconds. In the 30 seconds, 31 different ‘things’ were shown in the clip, evidently conveying one product per second.

Lurpak Technical CodeTechnical code in the Lurpak advert is apparent all throughout, except there are some certain stand out moments that occur throughout the prepping and cooking process of the omelette. To the left, point of view shots were used a lot. There was a shot of the camera looking up at the man from the bowl holding the egg, then the camera went down on the bowl as if it was looking at the bowl from the eggs point of view. Then a close up of it’s shell breaking against the bowl was shot, immediately switched to a studio shot of an egg exploding. It was then almost like there was a camera underneath the fork beating the egg mixture, going round and round, quickly switching to a more peaceful shot of the man mixing the ingredients after all of that craziness.

To the left is another example of point of view shots and fast paced editing used together to illustrate an omellete being flipped and cooked. There’s an establishing shot where the man is about to flip the omelette, quickly followed by a close up of the omelette almost falling against the camera, but just about missing to add that 3D and “woah” effect for the audience.

More point of view shots have been used in this sequence of the advert

to the right which adds extra creativity and conveys an almost

step-by-step process of how to cook the omelette; very simple, however very artistic. The camera looks down

on the mixture being poured from the bowl, and then switches to a

close up of the pan with the end of the ingredients waterfall splashing in

front of the camera, soon greeted then by a birds eye view of the

omelette cooking in the pan (time lapse)

Fage Technical Code• The technical code in the Fage advert is the least

creative of them all. It’s a simple 20 second advert, similar to M&S by consisting of mainly

close ups; allowing the subject in the frame to do all of the work. There are a few zooms involved,

and a couple of vague panning shots, and continuity has been successful in the advert, but

there wasn’t many stand out technical effects/edits that made the advert unique in

comparison to the M&S and Lurpak commercials.

• One thing that caught my attention was the establishing shot of cinnamon being powdered

onto the yoghurt, on top of the grapefruit, followed by a point of view shot of the cinnamon

falling down on top of the yoghurt through a birds eye view. I enjoy being able to watch

something from a few different angles because it keeps you interested as a viewer.

Technical Code • Technical code is an important aspect of my advert because it is vital that I use fast

paced editing in order to avoid boring my audience; a food advert needs to keep them entertained and intrigued to result in them wanting to buy the products

displayed.

• I want my advert to have a slight fast paced effect to it, however not so fast that it means the audience are unable to view the products being advertised. On YouTube, you are able to rewind the advert if you want to view something again, however on the TV you will only be able to watch it once when it’s aired. If my advert is too fast paced, the viewer will be so overwhelmed by everything that they saw that it could

risk them not being intrigued to buy the products straight away from a store, instead they may wait until they see it again – but by that point they could forget

they even saw it.

• Both of my adverts will have a few illustrations at the end of the clip or perhaps mid-way, because of reasons that I spoke about in my secondary research for my target

audience.

• The font featured in my advert won’t be fancy or swirly, instead bold and eye-catching. My food advert isn’t aimed at a specific gender, so girly feminine writing

isn’t necessary like it would be in a perfume or fashion commercial.

M&S Enigma Code

• Enigma code is apparent in the Easter M&S advert because of the absence of information. The commercial consists of the visual food, however no information on prices or when the range is released. It says “Exclusive Easter Collection”, but no dates. Perhaps M&S were relying on the word

“exclusive” to appeal to their audience as this would inform them of the fact everything that was shown is only in store for a limited amount of time.

• Mystery is also displayed through this company by having there products out of their packaging. The audience would be unaware of the sizes of the

Easter eggs for example, are they big eggs? Small eggs? This could only be answered if they were to visit the store. The enigma code was therefore a

successful element, because this means that the audience may feel so intrigued by the appearance of their Easter range, that they would just have

to visit the store and find out the rest that they’d like to know.

Lurpak and Fage Enigma Code

• In the Lurpak and Fage adverts there isn’t much enigma code going on, except for the lack of price

information. The Lurpak commercial is simply advertising a butter brand whilst the Fage

commercial is advertising a yoghurt brand. Both of them have attractive photography involved, with no words on the screen, except for the finishing slogan.

For butter and yoghurt it isn’t necessary for their price to be advertised because it’s not going to be

any more than £2, so the price isn’t vital in the commercial. However, for the mystery element, the prices of the products are the only absent piece of

information.

Enigma Code• After looking at the enigma code featured in these three adverts, I have come to the conclusion that it isn’t that much of a relevant feature to put into an advert based on food. As a viewer, I would rather know the prices of some things that

are being advertised, and I find it annoying when I am interested in something but have no idea of any prices. For

this reason, I will be including a few prices in my advert along with a possible narrator at the end, however this isn’t

certain yet.

• Also, I’d find it difficult to include enigma code thoroughly in a food advert, because it isn’t overly narrative based like a film trailer or music video would be. An advert is created in order to advertise and sell something to the audience, not leave them doubting the product as a result of unanswered

questions.

M&S Visual Code

• The visual codes in the M&S adverts are always conveying sequences of food prep through close up shots, so that there is no

wasted space in the frame of the commercial, instead tasty looking food filling the screen. It being so close and large in the frame could be because the intention of the producers was to

have the products stand out to the audience and make a statement, visually.

• Through this technique, there is more chance for the products of the advert to be sold to the consumer as they would see such a

variety of treats and dishes that at least one ‘must have’ appealed to them.

• Another visual code of this advert is the black background and bright lighting. The black background adds to the sophisticated

effect of the commercial whilst the bright lighting illuminates the appearance of M&S’s products.

Lurpak Visual CodeThe visual code at the beginning of the Lurpak

commercial is very dark and dramatic. This is the first thing that the audience are introduced too, so

by having this mysterious and shadow filled footage of the insides of a fridge filmed will

perhaps lead to the audience assuming that the advert is most certainly dramatic.

Elements of the advert are filmed with the actor cooking himself an omelette. This footage is interrupted at times with many close ups of the ingredients he is using and the things he is doing. The props he uses are all other food products such as eggs, cheese and salt. So not only is Lurpak butter being advertised, but also other dairy products that can be grouped with the butter to cook up a dish better than a spaghetti bolognaise chuck in the oven.

The overall appearance of the advert isn’t silky, gentle and feminine. It is quick, rough and quite masculine with the male

actor – which suits the feel of the commercial as it is advertising Lurpak. This butter is rock hard when it comes out from the fridge and is proper butter instead of “utterly butterly” or “clover”. It is butter that has the ability to create something filling enough for a starving male – therefore the manly appearance is suitable to the

products ability.

Fage Visual CodeFage also created an advert on their yoghurt being paired

with beetroot, similar to the grapefruit one, except this time with a different fruit.

The visual codes in this commercial are most certainly the use of colours. The plum tones all contrast effectively with the background and fellow colour components in the frame e.g. white. Plum and white paired together

appear as fresh colours, which has the connotation of the yoghurt’s flavour; fresh. The advert begins with the images to the left, which consist of autumnal colours;

brown, green and orange. This would also correspond with the adverts release date

being September as this is the season that Autumn begins.

As the commercial is advertising yoghurt, it is important for the advert to appear fresh

and vibrant in comparison to the rustic visual appearance of the Lurpak ad, as a lighter

and more healthy item of food is being sold to the audience.

Visual Code• It is the visual codes of my adverts that are going to be the main focus of production. The

reason for this is because the purpose of my advert is to tempt the audience into buying the food and drinks that I’m advertising – or to at least encourage them to visit the store that they’re being released in. The aesthetics of these adverts is therefore the most important elements, as what I’m advertising needs to be presented in the most attractive and mouth

watering way possible.

• The formal element colour is the main visual code that I will be including in my commercial, because the M&S one is bursting with colour, along with the Fage adverts. Colour is a feature used to draw someone into to viewing a companies product. Vibrant colours stand out and are

the most appealing when it comes to presenting food and drink items, especially Summer ones - which is my theme for one of the adverts I’m creating.

• Furthermore, the types of food and drink that I aim to advertise is also very important because it needs to look attractive. I can’t just film a bowl of messy sausages and mash spinning

around in the frame, as that wouldn’t be appealing. Instead, I could film a close up of someone’s fork pulling at the top of a mash mountain, cut to pictures of a sausage being

sliced (created through moving image) and then have the finishing dish, looking dainty and tasty, spin on the spot. This is a lot more attractive and delicate to film than an average plate of food. Therefore, the items of food I choose to film is the most important decision based on

the visual code of my adverts.

M&S Audio Code• In all of the M&S adverts, the same

soundtrack is used and the same part of that soundtrack is also used. The song that is featured in these commercials is Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne - Rather Be with no words, just the tune. This pop

song was pretty current when it was used as the music for the M&S adverts, which was a clever decision by the producers

because it meant that most people would know the song, and then in future would

hear it again and perhaps think of the M&S advert instead of just listening to

“another pop song”. It’s a clever way to keep your products remembered; by using a popular pop song and have it

represent your products every time your audience hear it. Audio code is an

extremely important feature when it comes to adverts because the soundtrack

has to make sense with the products being advertised, and the tune of Rather Be is an upbeat song that most certainly

symbolises the upbeat positive effect M&S food will have on their consumer.

The soundtrack has a “ba ba ba ba ba ba boom ba ba ba ba ba ba boom” tune,

which fits in with the speckles of cucumbers and pieces of salmon all dotting on top of each other until the

frame is filled. They dot on each other in time with the “ba ba’s” and then the

result of these fillings is captured to the right which fits in as the “boom”. By having food being placed down, spun

around and added on top of each other through the technique moving image conveys that the advert has been well

thought out and appears complete without any hiccups; just what an audience would enjoy watching.

Lurpak Audio Code• The audio used in this Lurpak advert

begins with an extremely dramatic tune to fit the visual code – which is dark and mysterious. It enables the

audience to be prepared for a, perhaps, overly dramatic advert, which this one most certainly is.

The soundtrack could be described as a slow paced hum of music that you would most likely hear when watching two different warriors clashing together. They stride up to each other, all in slow motion to create emphasis, and then clash in the middle, swords out, fighting

each other until the ‘villain’ is destroyed. This is the type of approach that this advert takes on, as the placing down of the ingredients is the representation of the slow paced stride

towards each other, and then the cracking of the egg is the representation of the sound of swords slicing their blades together, starting battle. This approach is extremely effective

because it makes the process of cooking an omelette appear to be a lot more difficult than it actually is, advertising Lurpak as the ultimate saviour for the dish. Drums beat up as the chunk of butter falls slowly into the pan below, adding more exaggeration to an already

powerful commercial. The whole advert takes on this approach which I think was an interesting and clever way to advertise an ingredient that has the power to take on anything.

Fage Audio Code• The music featured in the Fage adverts is a gentle melody

that is consistent throughout the whole commercial. In their honey advert, this audio code compliments the

visual footage of the product that’s being advertised. The slow paced positive jingle flows and corresponds with the

drizzling honey enveloping in piles during each shot. Having the music track match the footage is a creative combination because it makes the advert appear and

sound a lot more complete than if the track was to have no resemblance or relation to the food item at all.

Audio Code• In all three of these adverts, the only evident thing is a soundtrack and a

narrator. There aren’t any other characters featured in the commercial in order to carry out dialogue so there are minimal audio codes, however they aren’t as relevant as they would be in a music video as this is all about the

music, whereas an advert is, most of the time, all about the visual and technical codes.

• My food adverts will all definitely have a music track involved with them, because after collecting the results from my questionnaire, it seemed that my target audience would much rather prefer music instead of a narrator.

• Sound effects are also a vital part when it comes to my advert because I want the processes of cooking/eating something to be exaggerated e.g. the crunch of an ice cream cone, the build up of a glass of juice and the sizzle of

kebabs etc.

• Most of my sound effects will be non-diegetic where I record them on a microphone and slot them into my edit to be in sync with the footage; this

will allow them to perhaps be of better quality – I will experiment.

M&S Action Code• Action codes featured in the M&S advert are actually consistent even though they include food alone with no actors or actresses. The purpose of

the advert was to create something that made the food from the M&S’s range look as though it has an imagination of its own, therefore able to include a lot of action. There are shots of burgers being flipped, bread

crumbs exploding, ketchup being squeezed, burger buns falling, strawberries ‘running’ to the other side of the frame, meringue’s crumbling,

and splatting, cranberries falling etc. The list is endless for the amount of action that takes place in these ads. Because of the ongoing action that

takes place in these short commercials, it keeps the audience entertained and intrigued to continue watching. Something is always happening and there is never a dull moment which is why I find the M&S ads extremely inspiring. Allowing there to be a lack of human interaction in the advert

means that all of the focus is frequently stuck on the food and drink.

Lurpak Action CodeThis advert is absolutely filled with action. As mentioned in the audio

code slide, the soundtrack is extremely dramatic in order to

correspond with the footage. All of the actions that the man carries out are over exaggerated. Even turning

the cooker on is powerful in this commercial. The action code allows for the audience to follow a step by

step process of how to cook an omelette, with the addition of Lurpak

making this average tasting dish work wonderfully – as it matches the “good food deserves Lurpak” slogan

at the end. The action is over exaggerated, even though the mans facial expression is relaxed, which is quite humorous because this could convey the fact that food on its own

holds all of the power despite the person using it to cook .

Fage Action CodeThe action in the Fage adverts is lacking,

more so than the other two adverts. There is often a glimpse of human

interaction featured in the commercials, however it is rare and it doesn’t stand

out any more so than when the fruits are on their own. There is someone putting

down a crate of grapefruits and sprinkling cinnamon on top of one, and

in another advert there is someone washing beetroot and then holding one whilst they slice it. These adverts allow

the audience to see what flavour yoghurt that Fage do, along with

conveying how they could possibly add more fruit to dessert.

In my opinion, the lack of action code coming from people isn’t as successful as the lack of action code from people in the M&S commercials. In the M&S ones,

the food creates all of the action for itself, whereas in the Fage ads, there is hardly much action coming from anywhere. The shots are simple and the food

products are basic, so action code is pretty non existent in these adverts as visual code is much more strong – therefore this might have been the producers intention for the ad – to have this be the main focus; the beautiful appearance of

the fruit.

Action Code• As a result of looking at action code in these three adverts, it is clear that it

can be vital for some adverts but not so important for the other. Fage may have lacked in any action codes, however the visuals of it is just about

enough to make somebody want to buy the product because of its tasty appearance. M&S has both of these aspects, which makes it an overall

stronger commercial.

• In my adverts, I will be having a lot of the food create the action for itself like it does in the M&S ads. My reasons for this are that I don’t find it extremely relevant to include an actor/actress into a commercial about food. My target audience agreed with this as more people found it irrelevant than those who

found it relevant.

• I will have ice cream cones spinning on their own and hundreds and thousands sprinkling into a pot or on top of a cake and have buttered icing

being enveloped by a fork during a close up shot and have glasses of orange juice spinning on the spot aswell etc. All of the action will mainly be within the food, despite the odd hand cutting something or licking icing off off of

their finger for example.