• I used the ad ‘Drunk Driving Prevention- Skeletons’. This ad had portrayed 4 young people, two males and two females, getting ready to leave the bar for the night.
• It shows them all around the car and some getting into the car in the beginning. The blonde talks to the boy with the glasses outside the car. She seems distraught, probably about getting into the car. The boy with the glasses seems to laugh off whatever she is saying and kisses her and nudges her to continue to get into the car.
• The other boy approaches the car somewhat stumbling and also holding a beer in his hand, one that he probably did not even get to finish yet.
• He gets into the car and hands the girl in the front seat his open beer, while she continues to hold her own.
• The boy with the glasses in the backseat also has an open beer in his hand.
• This is interesting because not only is he getting into his car while clearly under the influence of alcohol, he is allowing open containers to be in his moving vehicle.
• The only one without a beer is the blonde girl in the backseat.
• The boy in the backseat says something to the driver, placing his hand on his shoulder. The driver answers him and somewhat shrugs off whatever was said to him. The boy with the glasses seems satisfied with his response and kicks back and puts his arm around the blonde.
• The driver had clearly been drinking, as had the others in the car as well. They all got in the car with him and they allowed him to drive while under the influence.
• It is easy to blame the driver because they got behind the wheel and knew they were drinking, but everyone knows your thought process gets impaired when drinking alcohol.
• If you let your friend drive drunk, it is easy to feel like you are to blame because you never should have let them drive in the first place.
• Situations are always different, but if you know a friend had been drinking a lot throughout the night and you can see that their driving skills are going to be impaired, there is no reason you should allow them to willingly get behind the will for any reason, especially if you are a passenger in the car.
• They all got in the car and not one of them put their seat belts on.
• The end shows the driver putting the key into the ignition and struggling a little to get it in there, the second he gets it in and turns the key, its a flash and all the people in the car turn to skeletons.
• This portrays a strong message that the second you get into the car drunk or with a drunk driver, you are as good as dead.
• We learn that even if people same hesitant, as the blonde did about getting into the car, that it is easy to be pressured to do something you know is not right or could be dangerous. We also learn that no matter what, even if the driver convinces you they are okay to drive, there is no reason to let a friend drive drunk like that. It is never a good idea to get into the car with someone who is so intoxicated they can’t even find where to put the key in the ignition. Like I said, when you willingly get into the car with a drunk driver, even if you are drunk yourself, you are as good as dead; and that is what the skeletons are trying to represent at the end when the people are replaced by skeletons as the driver starts the car.

“Women’s Heart Disease”

Women’s Heart Disease

The message of this short video delivers has an amazing impact on many.  We see a woman of color standing before a clothesline from the ceiling, in an old-fashioned kitchen suggesting a time women had unequal rights to men and were inferior. The clothes hanging up from the ceiling portrays her role as the typical housewife who tidies up the house and keeps it in good shape; her hair is pinned up in the back and her dress drapes down to the floor representing the colonial times, which forced women how to present themselves. In just a few seconds, we are reminded how the typical household looked in America before women had equal rights.  While the woman stays home and cleans, the man is off at work to pay the mortgage.

Delving into the next scene, the woman is elevated through the ceiling from a textile room, raising her to a completely different area where she is mounted behind a podium.  She is rising above the old-fashioned reputation and the lifestyle of how women were portrayed.  In the room, the video shows a crowd of women of different races empowering one another, showing that no matter what kind of woman they are, they all have something in common. No matter their race, religion, or ethnicity, they are strong and independent women who cannot be oppressed and neglected of their freedom and rights.  The several “WOMEN UNITED” posters hanging around the tightly compacted room show independence from society’s standpoints. Now, wearing a bandana in her free hair, along with a pair of pants and hoop earrings show a standpoint of a change in our society.

Continuing to the last few seconds of the clip shows yet another depiction of women empowerment. The woman is elevated to a higher level in the social status and the business world. Standing in a high-class office while wearing a suit, much like a mans suit, showing the woman having power, status, and importance as if it were a job meant for a male. Her hair is loosely curled with nothing holding it back, not hair tie, no pin up, or a bandana. The hair represents accomplishment and strength. Towards the end of the scene, she says, “Today women can do anything men can do.  And there’s one thing we’re even better at.”  America has changed the way they see in women and how they are treated.  Women strive for equal rights in our history and have become quite successful.  When she is lying on the floor it is because of heart disease and how women are “better at” getting heart attacks due to the disease.  This illness does not just occur in men, but in women as well, showing that everyone is human no matter what gender.  Anyone can strive for the same opportunities, the same goals, and unfortunately catch the worst diseases.

Youth Reckless Driving

The scene opens up with a shot of a red sedan looking head on through the windshield.  A young gentleman is getting into the car with three others already inside.  He’s wearing a red sports jersey underneath his large blue jacket with white trim and a large yellow football stitched into the right side.  Clearly he is interested in sports or his school teams.

Upon entering the vehicle he greets the passenger in the back first, closes the door as the car pulls away from the curb, he puts on his seat belt and greets the other passengers in the car with slightly less enthusiasm.  Maybe he doesn’t know the gentlemen in the front as well as the one in the back.

The newcomer talks to the driver for a few seconds, and the camera angle changes to the face of the driver where he looks indifferent to what he said.  Switching to the newcomer’s face he seems surprised and then amused at the driver’s response.  In the background you can see a stop sign go by on the left side of the car, however the car never stops or even appears to slow down.

Seemingly in response to the driver’s response, the newcomer pulls out a camcorder and points it at the driver, seemingly from nowhere.  The driver immediately gets uncomfortable and says something to the newcomer and his look changes to one of annoyance.  The passenger in the back does not share the drivers feelings of annoyance when the camcorder is pointed at him.  He looks excited and even holds up a peace sign to the camcorder.  The camera angle then zooms in on that passengers face where his expression changes from happiness and excitement, to sadness and he looks down.  The only person that was talking was the newcomer so he must have said something that was upsetting or something that made him ashamed.

The camera angle changes one last time to a fixed shot from the rear of the car as it drives away.  The car is in the middle of the road driving in what seems like a development from the trees and houses on either side of the small road.  Words appear in the top left of the screen saying: “If your friend is driving recklessly, Say Something.”

Now that the position of the video is clear, the newcomer’s position in the video becomes clearer.  He is an older person who was indicating that the driver was driving recklessly and judging by his surprised expression from the drivers response, the driver didn’t care.  When he pulled the camera and began filming the other rear passenger, the passenger eventually got a sad and almost embarrassed look on his face.  The newcomer brought up the reckless driving done by the driver and showed that the passenger in the back didn’t do anything, didn’t have the guts or courage to address the danger that the driver was putting them in.

Keeping Kids In School PSA

MUTE PLAY THROUGH

The video’s first five seconds bring us to a classroom, where the teacher is standing infront of the class with a clip board, most likely taking attendance before class starts. The classroom is decorated for fall, with brown and yellow leaf garland draped over the whiteboard.  She appears to be calling a students name, then glances up at the class with a blank expression, kind of like she is waiting for a response from the child who’s name she just called. The child is probably not in class, and doing something else.  The video then chances scenes to a bedroom, where a child is sleeping in bed. The room is well lit, and sunlight is coming through the windows. This means it is daytime, and while the kid should be in school learning, he is laying in bed. The child says something I cannot recognize, then continues laying motionless in his bed. It seems as though it is not a weekend because of the prior scene of the children in class. This child appears to be skipping class, either his mother didn’t wake him up, or his parents don’t care about his attendance to school.

The videos next five seconds bring us back to the classroom scene,this time  the classroom is decorated for the Holidays, with white garland and snowflakes hanging up above the white board. The teacher is sitting on her desk in the front of the room with her clip board, and calls a name again. Most likely calling the same child’s name. Looking up at the class for a response, but still not getting one. The video again changes scenes back to the same child in the bed from the first scene. This time he appears to be at home, or at a family members house holding a baby. In the background is an adult woman, perhaps his mother, leaving the house as the child is left home with the child. Maybe his mother couldn’t find a babysitter for the infant child and figured it’d be easier and cheaper to leave the kid home with her son. But her son, however, is missing out on early education that is crucial for success.

Next, the video takes us to another classroom scene with the classroom decorated for spring this time, with sunshine and a butterfly on the white board. Words on the board read “Spring and Sprung”. The teacher again is taking attendance, and calls a students name, but again the student is not in class. The same child each time is not in class. This time the student is at an amusement park with his friend riding a roller coaster instead of being in class. Showing that his priorities lie in having a good time, not being successful in school.

The next and final scene of the video before the tagline comes up shows a scene of a highschool graduation. The man at the podium, I’m guessing from watching the prior scenes, is calling that same kids name, but again, he is not there. The man is most likely a principal, superintendent, or vice principal.  The camera moves to show all of the students with their graduation caps on, with one empty seat in the front row, probably belonging to the kid from all of the prior scenes. All of the students who are graduating are looking around, trying to figure out where that student is. He obviously isnt there because he either didn’t make the grades to graduate with his class, or his past habits stuck, and he thinks graduation is not a big accomplishment. The information screen comes up with a website, boostattendance.org.

PLAY THROUGH WITH SOUND

“Michael Adams?” the teacher says while taking attendance. Michael Adams is the child that is not in class each time. The next scene brings us to his bedroom where he is laying there silently before muttering the word “here”, obviously a message to us that he is in bed sleeping, while he should be in school learning. The next scene brings us to the classroom where the teacher calls his name again “Michael Adams?” Again Michael isn’t in class, he is at home rocking a baby in his arms as his mother leaves. He says “Here” again, this time he says it with a disappointed tone of voice. As in he’d rather be anywhere but the place he’s in right now. The next scene comes back to the classroom where the teacher is taking attendance again, “Michael Adams?” she says for a third time. Michael isn’t there again. This time Michael is with his friend at an amusement park riding a roller coaster. This time he says with excitement “HEEEEEEREEE!” as he raises his arms above his head on the coaster. The final scene brings us to graduation day, where the principal of the school calls Michael’s name, and looks at the group of students. Michael again isn’t here. One student in the front row looks over at his empty seat before the scene ends. The narrarator then says “Students who miss 18 days of school in any grade risk falling behind and not graduating. Absences add up, keep track at boostattendance.org” then the video ends.

What it takes to be a Father

The PSA I chose to respond to is Fatherhood Involvement — Kid Again.

Although a short clip, 31 seconds to be exact, it speaks plenty and is able to strongly push a message across. The exact message the clip gives, although clear, can’t be fully determined until the latter end of the video.

The video starts out with a middle-aged looking man enjoying himself on a spring-rider presumably at a park. It quickly cuts to a woman on the other side of the now-confirmed park who pulls her baby-carriage in closer, as if she is uneasy with the man’s actions. The next scene is a man who smears his face into the glass of a corner-store, repeatedly making ridiculous faces and looking downwards across the corner. Then we see another man who observes this and exchanges a puzzled and judgmental glance. Finally we see a third middle-aged looking man in a shirt, tie, and khakis bouncing on something which is cut-out of sight by a fence.

We’ll refer to these men as man one, man two, and man three respectively. After the third scene cuts, it changes to a familiar setting, but with a girl laughing while looking through a glass. It then switches cameras to show man two making faces at the girl to entertain her. Subsequently, it cuts to man three, now we see he is jumping on a trampoline with a little boy. Lastly, the scene returns to the first setting with another young boy also enjoying himself on a spring rider right across from man one.

At this point, the message may still be unclear to some. However, shortly after the suspense is quenched, the scenes are played more in sequence as text appears on the screen. Text that says “fatherhood.gov”, and “877-4DAD411”. From this we can now conclude that each of the men were the fathers of the children in their respective scenes. The message, now even more clear, is a message geared towards fathers. It shows fathers acting childish with their children. Perhaps the PSA’s message is for fathers to remember to be kids again to be fully involved with their children. This presumption can be proved by reverting to the beginning of the video with audio. Towards the middle of the clip a voice comes in and says: “Sometimes all it takes to be a dad, is remembering how to be a kid again. Take time to be a dad today”.