Many say TV commercials have too much influence on our consuming behaviour and unconsciously affect our need. I guess that is an undeniable truth, but I see commercials as more than a message from corporations, their way of urging us to buy their product. For me, these are work of art, condensed into a minute with perfect combination of visual and sounds; often creating an universal atmosphere that every viewer can understand. It's full of inspirations and ideas, that are truly amazing. The followings are two recent automobile commercials that got my attention.
Chevrolet Equinox (2011)
I first saw this commercial on TV and had to find it online to watch it again. What I find fascinating about this ad is its cinematography. I really like the back and forth between slow sequence photos and fast-forwarded video, which makes the visual more dynamic (ex. Asian chef scene is the slow sequence photos and the couple mixing the salad is fast-forwarded video). Sunset time-lapse at 0:17 and street time-lapse at 0:29 are nice touch to make the commercial more active and full of colours. With the perfect song match (if anyone is wondering, it's called 'Animal' by 'Neon Tree'), the commercial shows great energy and liveness in general, to the audience.
Chrysler 200 (2011)
"Imported from Detroit." This commercial brings up an unique idea of making connection between the car and its city of origin. I believe no other automobile company (beside Porsche which is from Stuttgart) has emphasized a such connection, so I find the idea very fresh. Beside the idea, this commercial is more of a strong message from Chrysler that its coming back from the bankruptcy with a new identity. I like how the dark and gloomy atmosphere is shown at first, (Detroit has one of the highest crime rate in the states and fastest urban decay rate) but suddenly change with a punch scene at 0:31, with a line with sense of determination "It's the hottest fire that make the hardest steel". The background guitar chords from 'Lose yourself' by Eminem puts more tension into the commercial and does good work on creating a serious mood. The highlight of the whole commercial is probably the scene of Eminem (also raised in Detroit) pointing directly at the camera at 1:43. With the strong and aggressive nuance, Chrysler corporation states, with Eminem's voice, "This is the motor city, and this is what we do". Something I never expected from an automobile commercial, and yet gives so powerful and effective.
After several weeks of reading, researching, thinking, and writing, I finally handed in the English major term paper on Heart of Darkness; 2200 words that I surprisingly enjoyed much while writing it. I am in fact very proud of the effort and ideas that I put on this literary essay. Hopefully what I learned through this helps me during the university years. The following is the introductory paragraph that includes my unique thesis and brief directional statement:
Our experiences shape our view towards society and other human beings. Without any kind of new enlightenment, for example through learning or travelling, we are likely to be cloaked in an old paradigm and judge others based on stereotypes. However, if we are open to new experiences, we can see the reality behind the illusion. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, goes through a new experience; the journey along the Congo river in Africa which is the frontier of European colonialism. He changes his perception of the Europeans’ devotion to colonization of the continent of Africa. Conrad uses Marlow’s growing disillusionment with colonialism and its representative characters to illustrate the theme that encountering reality can change our perception. Marlow’s personal discovery of the inhumanity of the European colonists, unexpected civilization amongst the native Africans, and downfall of the colonial hope, represented by the idealistic figure, Kurtz, shows the contrast between the European view of colonialism in the 19th century and the actual reality in the colonial states of Africa.
