Out of Class Blog Assignment 2

Observations - Video 1

-audience is the general public.. literally anyone, no specific age/ethnicity/gender/etc.
-the tone is serious, but not exactly pressing.
-there's nothing you culturally need to understand about the video besides the fact that eggs, when heated, scramble.
-this video is effective, as it certainly gets it's point across
-the purpose of this video is easily seen and understood
-very straightforward in general

Observations - Video 2

-audience seems to lean towards young adults/teens.
-the tone goes from serious to rather critical and almost threatening.
-personally, I didn't even realize who the teen in the video was until rereading the instructions... therefore I don't believe using a celebrity really effects the viewing audience, as I don't think (or at least hope) everyone doesn't recognize her right off the bat.
-the video is immensely effective, maybe even too effective.. as it honestly surprised me with all the violence. If I was ever considering heroine, this would definitely push me to reconsidering.
-the purpose of this video seems inherently different from the previous in that it attempts to almost frighten the viewer from drugs through violence rather than simple facts of the outcome if they do indulge.
-it's not necessarily the most straightforward at first.. as it starts with something very simple, like the first video, and suddenly becomes increasingly loud, surprising, and violent almost instantly, barreling to the point.


Inference


The first video is almost ridiculously straightforward, starting off with the frying pan filled with hot grease, before an egg's dropped into the mix eventually scrambling. This is to represent your brain when you use drugs. It has a serious tone and is directed to the general public, but it's not necessarily broad enough to effectively address such a large crowd. It lacks the detail to truly grasp the viewers attention or establish any kind of ethos - anyone could make some claim about drugs hurting your brain while frying an egg. We can't even see the speaker, which to me lays too much shadow on the whole picture to really take it seriously. Now the second video really hits home. The teenage girl seems to be just like the rest of us, immediately establishing ethos and setting a serious tone by the sound of her voice and dull, gloomy appearance of the set. The actress also establishes a target audience for this video: teenagers, easily the most vulnerable to drug indulgence. Her sudden violence and reality instilled in her voice lays into the viewers emotions, making the second video much more effective overall than the first, despite the fact the both sell the same point. The purpose of both videos may be the same, but the second really makes it's purpose important, while the other really wouldn't divert my attention from the regularly scheduled programming it was interrupting.