This is an advertisement for Mercedes Benz which I feel clearly plays with the rivalries between Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso and British driver, Lewis Hamilton. It which shows the competitiveness between drivers in Formula One (F1).
In the first three seconds of the advertisement, it shows two F1 cars racing neck and neck until the finish with viewers not knowing which driver winning till the scene in which the cars return to the pit garage. From Hamilton’s body language, better known as kinesics, we know that he won as he waved to Alonso with an air of smugness. After which, the director uses oculesics for the portrayal of Alonso’s emotions with Alonso rolling his eyes upon seeing Hamilton’s wave. I feel that this was a very good way of portraying Alonso’s emotions as the driver was wearing a helmet and the director uses the only feature which can be seen, the eyes.
Further on in the advertisement, the director continually uses both kinesics and oculesics to portray the drivers’ emotions in the various scenes. From the scene which Hamilton was captivated by the woman walking down the street and cannot take his eyes off her, to the one where Alonso was tapping his hotel card on his hand and repeatedly pressing the lift to get away from Hamilton quickly are some of the non-verbal tools used.
Indeed, this is a light hearted advertisement which is not marred by the various scandals that have hurt the image of the sport. From the “spygate” to the “liegate” and recently, the “crashgate” saga, F1 has become more of a circus rather than a sport. Therefore, this advertisement shows that competition between teams and drivers in F1 should be healthy and teams should not resort to unethical ways to score their win.
Also, the advertisement gives as an idea of the amount of dedication and discipline each driver has from the vigorous training in the advertisement. And even though the advertisement was a rather fun one to watch, we must not fail to recognize that F1 remains a very dangerous sport and the drivers are always risking their lives at every race.
Last but not least,
I HOPE THAT THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX THIS WEEKEND WILL BE A SUCCESS!
I do agree that sportsmanship is important especially in F1, which is an international sport. All sportsmen should compete on equal footing as this will allow each competition to be based on one's true talent and not based on other factors which allows one to win due to an unfair advantage. For example, McLaren were found guilty of obtaining confidential technical information from the Ferrari team. All these kind of incidents had tarnished the prestige of the sport. Hopefully the singapore race this year has make the F1 sport "clean" again.
ReplyDeleteNice video you have got here!
ReplyDeleteyup the director did make use of many non-verbal cues to communicate verbal messages to the audience. Oculesics and kinesics are the most common tactics i would say, a director used for their productions,in this case it's an advertisement.
I agree that F1 now seemed more like a event rather than a sport. I thought it was a good thing as it attracts more viewers who are not necessarily fans to know more about F1. Don't you agree? =)
After the truth of last year's crash got blown over, I am glad that F1 fanatics have not given up their passion for F1. It is evident that the director make use of various techniques to convey his message across.
ReplyDeleteOh, thumbs up for the F1 racers who risk their lifes! We know it's a really tough job to do. =D
Hello,
ReplyDeleteFinally found ur blog. :)
The advertisment is soo cute! I can see in the clip that the director uses a lot of non verbal communication between Hamilton and Alonso to show they are competitive and they didn't give up in competing until the very end. (Something which I feel it's a bit childish, but guys are like that...)
Anyway, I don't really get the idea of how Mercedes Benz got to do with all this. Perharps I'm not a big fan to F1 or cars in general. Care to enlighten me? LOL
Pls comment on my blog too! P.S Im Nicole's Com grpmate, if u cant rmb me. :P
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Nice advertisement!
ReplyDeleteEven though i personally do not watch F1, this video shows that competition between competitors should always be fun. And not just solely on winning.
In view of the doping cases and the swimmming suit issue in sports, i feel that sports has lost some of the tradtional objective which is that competition should be based on one's own ability and not on external factors.
Therefore, i feel that sports should try to go back to its usual roots so that everyone can enjoy a fair game which is good for both competitors and spectators.
Hellooo!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, interestign post!
I think the producer used a great deal of non verbal cues to portray such messgaes across to the masses and it is amazing how we can easily interpret them with how background of communications. It is amusing to watch videos with no verbal com because it allows one to put our non verbal com to the test! Sounds as though i have nothign to do everyday, just sitting around watching muted videos.
Hii
ReplyDeleteI thought the video was interesting and quite captivating also.
Without much effort, one can tell what emotion the drivers were showing on their faces. Non verbal comm does help in showing one's emotions without ecplicitly expressing oneself.
Personally, I do watch F1 sometimes even though i may not like it.
ReplyDeleteI feel that all the saga revolving in the F1 circle has created a sense of deception within this circle as teams can no longer trust other teams, nor can the track officials trust the statements of the drivers.
It seems that the essence of F1 as a prestigious sport has lost some of its glow after the various incident.
I personally hope that under the reign of newly-elected FIA president, Jean Todt, F1 can return to the yesteryears when it was a much celebrated sport.
Being one who play sports as well, I feel that sportmanship is something which is really important. If one were to win based on unethical ways such as bribing or doping, I feel that it kills the morale which sports is supposed to bring.
ReplyDeleteHopefully those involved in the different scandals will learn from their experience and not make the same mistake again. To add on, I hope that in all the soccer games which I play, never will I have to face an opponent who resort to unethical ways.
Indeed, I commend the efforts which sports people put in in order to be at the top of their game. The sacrifices that they make is a justification of the huge paychecks that they get.
ReplyDeletetherefore, CHEERS TO ALL SPORTSMEN AND SPORTSWOMEN!!