Given that it is mid-semester break and we don’t have class today (and I do not have to do anything), I spent the morning as it should be.
Lying in bed and watching crap on YouTube.
At some point, this video popped up in my suggestions, and I think the main reason I clicked on it was because it was focused on Australian and New Zealand ads, and more often than not, you don’t see those on YouTube (unless you’re searching for them). I was also hoping to see ones that were familiar from childhood (there are a few I remember quite vividly… especially the WorkSafe bakery one, where the woman gets her hand chopped off. I do seem to remember it being a lot more violent, though).
Though I disagree with the ratings in this video, and am slightly offended by the AIDS ad, I somehow ended up spending the whole hour watching this video. Some of the ads were more effective than others, and I definitely think there’s techniques that are applicable to a wider range of film making.
A lot of the ads used child characters, which is to build favour with the audience. Kids cannot be held responsible for being in a car accident. And the majority of people driving (given you must be eighteen to get your licence) are either close to having kids, have already had children, have family with kids or have kids of their own. So using these child characters is a quick way to build favour with the audience and make them pay attention – they do not want this to happen to their own children and will want to prevent it happening to others.
An ad that does this – but also uses other techniques 
to make it more effective – is ‘Mistakes’. One car is speeding, and the other tries to turn in front of it despite not having time. But instead of the cars impacting, time freezes. This plays with the tension – the audience was expecting a crash, but instead, they got complete and eerie silence.
The two drivers then get out of their cars, and, rather than yelling at each other, though, they plead with each other. It makes you feel sorry for them.
Both realise that they cannot prevent the crash, and make their way back to their own vehicles, belting up and allowing time to resume.
It leaves you with a melancholy feeling – it has allowed you to see the emotion 
on the character’s faces when they realised that they cannot do anything, and that both of them will die, and so will the boy.
Having that realization that something bad cannot be prevented is really effective. It fills you with dread and makes you feel hopeless, along with the characters. It does need to take place within a narrative – and something like freezing time doesn’t always fit into a narrative – but it is still an effective way to quickly make someone’s stomach drop, and to get them feeling as though they are in that character’s shoes.
Another ad that used children quite effectively was ‘Man in a Hurry’, which followed a mother racing her kids to school – and speeding down a road. You kind of know something bad is going to happen – she is being very reckless – but you don’t really expect the end result.
A child running in front of her car, being hit.
You also actually see the kid roll under the car, which is pretty frightening.
It’s set on a really normal suburban road, which makes it relatable to (most) of the audience. It’s also such a common situation – taking kids to school – and a lot of people have had experience with that or something similar in their lives (and for the younger drivers, when they were being taken to school). The normalcy allows the audience to slip themselves into the characters shoes, and think about what it would be like if they were in the same accident.
By the same token (though it doesn’t use kids) is “Bush Telegraph”. 
This one is at a normal Aussie barbecue, and was effective because it built a relationship with the characters before anyone dies. The remaining characters finding out through the phone call fills you with dread, because they’re totally powerless. They’re smart to have the wife offer beer afterwards, because it reiterates that the alcohol is the thing that was dangerous. It isn’t as gripping, though, but sets up a normal situation.
Another ad that fills you with dread is the first ad in the video.
At the start, you might think that it’s an ad for a ‘Sun Racer’, with bright and over-saturated kids having fun and playing on their bikes, a catchy jingle underlying it. But it quickly escalates into an ad for wipe off ten.
(Also notice how the saturation goes down once the kid is hit – before it’s vibrant yellows, and then it dips out to subdued blue/greys).
This change in direction makes it so shocking because people might be thinking that they’re going to get their kid this toy, and then bam, the kid is dead. It plays with the audience’s perception, which makes it memorable.
The jingle is also extremely catchy and 
the words of the song (‘Riding fast and free’) parody those of the events happening – as the kid is run over.
Another one that used really clever dialogue was ‘Only a Little Bit’, it has no need to take time to establish characters, using the phrase ‘only a little bit’ in contexts that it shouldn’t be… followed by ‘only a little bit over’. 
It works in changing the connotation people have with being ‘a little bit over’ and makes them realise that it is not okay and is dangerous.
‘No Accident’ also does this. It starts with a girl riding her bike and the voice over stating that the ad wouldn’t contain an accident… even if you’re paying attention, you might just think that there is going to be a narrow miss, followed by the driver learning a lesson. 
But he plows right into her. The ad then goes on to explain that it wasn’t an accident, because that car was speeding.
Which would act as a reality check for a lot of drivers.
A bunch of other ads just use really strong imagery, and required no need for a narrative…
This one with the dead mate staring at him… and later collapsing against him is sickening, his eyes staring forwards. The driver is still trying to joke around, but it falls on deaf ears.
The car in the air used scientific facts in collaboration with strong imagery… the cars being so far above everyone’s heads – and so isolated (as well as the chilling colour slate) instills fear, even in the non-acrophobic audience), and the final image of the car plummeting from ten stories is also quite horrifying… though it may loose some of the intended message, as the audience might forget what speeds the ad was talking about.
Finally, this creepy New Zealand ad was very effective. It is layered by creepy circus music, and consists of drivers pulling up to a t-intersection, and the ones who take a risk, get the wheel spun. Then, the outcome is determined by the result – because if you take a risk, you’re taking a chance, and it’s a matter of time if something bad results from it.
