Counterintuitive Spring 2023

There’s No Excuse|Domestic Violence Prevention|Ad Council

0:00

Two photographs are displayed upright, each in separate frames. They appear to be displayed inside, most likely in a house, since there is no evidence of sunlight and a soft glare is obscuring the picture on the right, presumably cast by a lamp. The picture on the left shows a young Caucasian boy smiling, dressed in fashionable black and white clothing. He appears to be between three and four years old. It looks as if this is a professionally done portrait, one that parents typically have taken of their children at various stages of life. The picture on the right shows a young boy in a yellow shirt, which appears to be some kind of sports jersey. This may be a portrait of the boy taken as part of a picture for a team. The face of the boy is obscured in this photo by the light source, so it is unclear if the two photos are of the same person.

0:03

The camera pans to the left, revealing two more pictures. The pictures shown so far seem to be on display atop a table, side by side and all facing the same direction. The picture of the young boy in the black and white outfit is still visible in this shot, all the way to the right of the screen. In the middle, there is a photo of a Caucasian couple on their wedding day. The groom is dressed in a tuxedo, and the bride has on a wedding gown with a veil flipped back. The couple is interlocking outstretched hands, seemingly mid-dance. There is a partially cut-off photo at the bottom left of the screen of a smiling little boy with brown hair. This is most likely the same boy in the other two pictures, and the couple may be his parents. So far, it seems we have been shown a picture display of a family of three.

0:05

The camera once again pans to the left. It is now revealed that the setting is definitely indoors, as a white and black staircase is shown. The wooden, finely crafted balusters accompanied with what looks like carefully color coordinated paint (the end of each step is black, while the surrounding wood is all white) makes it apparent that this is a pretty nice house, possibly in a suburban or upper-class neighborhood. The couple in the previously shown photo are probably the owners of this house, since homeowners typically display wedding-day photos. The boy and the parents all seem to reside in this house. This new frame also reveals the first sign of an actual person: a shadowy silhouette has fallen on the white side of the staircase. However, the shadow is unclear. Making out if it is a man or woman is near impossible. Several of the steps seem to be cut out of the shot, and four are shown. The shadow’s height reaches the top of the second step shown, and one can assume that there are more steps not shown in the frame. Since this shadow is a good number of steps tall, it probably is not the silhouette of the child. It most likely is one of the parents, which would explain the shadow’s non-childlike height. From prior viewing experiences of horror movies and other forms of entertainment that utilize shadows, I surmise that this shadowy presence is meant to allude to something sinister, as if something is happening in the dark of night that shouldn’t be.

0:07

The shadow is still visible against the white staircase, although the camera has now started to pan up along the path of the stairs. We can now only see the head of the shadow. The upstairs of the house has entered our vantage point, and it appears to be dark. In fact, there seems to be only one room with light on in the house: the room that the person casting the shadow is in. We can see forward into the downstairs hall, and that appears dark as well. Something is obscured by the balusters of the staircase. Light from the downstairs room is partially revealing what looks to be a person sitting on the steps. They appear to be wearing white and yellow clothing. As a child, I would sit on the steps at night on occasion and eavesdrop on my parents, who were below. Could this figure be the child from the photographs, eavesdropping on the two parents shown in the wedding picture? There is no way that the person who is on the steps is casting the shadow upon the staircase, since the way that the shadow is angled means that it must be coming from in front of the staircase, not from above.

0:10

The camera pans up and over the balusters and railing of the staircase to reveal a young boy sitting at the top of the steps. He is looking between the balusters, presumably at whoever is below in the lit room. He is wearing white pajamas and holding a yellow toy truck in his hands. These confirm that he is quite young, probably about the same age as the young boy in the photos. They are likely the same person. Since we only know that three characters exist so far in this video- the boy and his parents- we can surmise that the silhouette below is one of his parents. Additionally, he does not appear to be frightened, adding to the assumption that he knows the person below. The vantage point he is in, hidden in the dark by the staircase, is one of a silent observer. He may be watching something that he should not be seeing.

0:12

The camera angle suddenly switches to behind the boy. We see him from the back, his head turned to the left, still viewing whatever he was in the previous frame. Is this camera change supposed to suggest that someone is behind him? Are we seeing the boy through the eyes of one of his parents? The head of the shadow is visible again, now to the right of the boy on the wall. They have probably moved away from the staircase, since now the shadow can be seen on the wall past the stairs. The little boy is leaning back against the step behind him. This makes it seem like he has been sitting there watching for quite some time, and now has to rest his back.

0:14

The camera switches back to in front of the boy. We see him from below, as if we are sitting beneath him and looking up. His head is angled down, still viewing the scene below. His white pajamas are shown to have little hockey players on them. His white, innocent attire contrasts starkly to the surrounding darkness and air of voyeurism. This clothing also suggests that the boy may have gotten out of bed late at night to see what was going on downstairs. His expression is neutral, suggesting that whatever is going on below is nothing out of the ordinary for the boy. Half of his face is cast in shadows, adding to the hidden, spying moment the boy is experiencing.

0:15

At first, the boy is looking at something to his right. Then, his eyes quickly shift to the left. Was he looking at one person, then shifted his gaze to another?

0:16

He frowns and looks away from what he was watching to his lap, possibly at the toy truck sitting there. He appears to not like whatever it is he saw, or maybe the people below stopped doing whatever it was that was interesting the boy and he has had enough viewing.

0:19

A loud noise has likely occurred, as the boy jumps with fright, shoots his eyes back to where he had been looking for the majority of the video, and a look of fright crosses his face.

0:21

The boy’s eyes shift back and forth from left to right, as if he is looking at two different people. He scrunches his face in obvious disapproval of whatever it is that he is seeing.

0:24

The screen fades to black. White words appear against the black background: “Children have to sit by and watch. What’s your excuse?” It now becomes apparent that this is an ad against domestic abuse, and the negative impact it has on families, especially children.

0:27

The words “There’s no excuse for domestic violence” appear on the screen. A phone number, 1-800-End Abuse, is below.

The video has utilized the viewpoint of a child to make its message clear. Viewing the video with audio, I fully understood what was happening. A husband was abusing his wife, and their child was secretly viewing this, displaying signs of discomfort and unease. Analyzing this video through visuals alone, it was difficult to decipher what was going on for the majority of the video. I knew that there was a family of three living in a house, and that the child was probably viewing one of his parents secretly. However, I only saw one shadow for the entirety of the video. I could only tell that the boy was seeing two people by looking closely at his eyes and the directions in which they looked. The anti-abuse message of the video would be visually clearer if the creators had displayed the shadowy figure of the man raising a hand to hit the silhouette of his wife. Although this video does work quite well with the audio, it was a bit unclear and hard to figure out what the message was through visuals alone. I was not really sure what they were going for until the words appeared on screen at the video’s conclusion.

0:01- A young Caucasian man dressed handsomely. It seems to be night time out, but late is it. He is walking through a city with a bar sign in the background. He must of came from the bar, it can be assumed that he is intoxicated.

0:02-0:03- The scene has now changed to a rooftop for a car parking lot. There is only one car in the parking lot. The man seems to be walking towards it, so it is probably his car. There is also no else on the rooftop but his car so it must be a late night. He is also stumbling, so this confirms that he is intoxicated.

0:04- The scene now shows a close up of the person’s face, so we knows what he looks like. He indeed in fact is a young male probably in his early to mid 20’s. He seems to be looking at something too as he sees to be tilting his head to his right. Someone could possibly be talking to him.

0:05- The scene now has changed back to the rooftop. Everything seems to be same except for the fact that there is another person on the rooftop. This is the person that the young man was probably looking at in the previous sequence.

0:06-0:07- The person now that the guy was looking appears to be a cop in uniform. The cop appears to be saying something to young man. The police also has a set of keys within his hand. Since there is only one car on the roof, it probably is the keys to the car on the roof. Since he is a cop, its probably not his car. It must be the man’s car. The cop is holding his keys because he is intoxicated. The cop would probably arrest him for driving intoxicated.

0:08-0:10- Another person has appeared on the roof . He seems to be wearing a suit and tie. He is also holding out his hand getting ready to catch. This could be the keys that cop had earlier. He could be a lawyer or a car issuance agent. He is also talking to the young man, probably to explain the consequences of driving drunk.

0:11-0:14- The scene goes back to the roof except now there is a another person on the roof. So now there is a total of four people on the roof. There is also now a tow-truck on the rooftop in the parking lot. The fourth person on the roof appears to be wearing a tow-truck uniform. The tow truck in the background is most likely his. He also appears to be holding the keys that that both the cop and man in suit had before. The tow truck driving is probably explaining that the young man’s car will get towed if drives drunk.

0:15-0:16- There is now a woman in a suit on the roof. She has appeared to have caught the keys that the other people have had. The young man appears to have following the movement of his keys while the other people were throwing them to each other. The woman is speaking the young man probably explaining to the man on he has to pay to get his car back from being towed.

0:17-0:19- There is now another man on the roof. He is also wearing a suit and has a brief case. He is holding his hand out receiving keys, so the woman before must have thrown the keys to him. The man in the suit is an African-American male that looks to be in his late thirty’s to early forty’s. He is also talking; probably explaining to the young man on how he has to fight a case in court and that he’ll have to pay a fine in court. So this is the lawyer in the situation and not the first guy in the suit.

0:20-0:23- The shot goes back to the roof as everyone who was previously shown is now on the roof circling around the young man. The young man know has the keys in his hands after it was tossed around a few times with between the other people that were previously shown. This visual image shows a process of what happens if the man gets caught drunk driving. First he will get arrested by the cop, then he would have to call his car insurance agent to make sure is provided. Next his car will get towed and he could possibly lose his license. After that, We will notified of all the laws he as broken and finally he will have to go to court to try to defend or justify his actions.

0:24-0:26- All the people that were previously on the roof before have now disappeared except for the young man that we was in middle of the circle. It is possible that these people weren’t real and were imaginary. The young man still has the keys in his hand. – The young man is now turning around in circles. He is probably wondering where the all of the people went. They were all probably in his imagination or consensus to explain the whole process he has to go through if he gets caught for drunk driving.

0:27-0:30- The screen now appears black with the words “busted”, “broke” and “Buzzed driving is drunk driving” on it written in white letters, with cop lights in the background. We can conclude that this ad is campaign against drunk driving. This tells that person’s life could be ruined if they got caught for drunk driving. The screen goes completely black. This sets a serious tone on the ad. The company who made this ad probably wanted to get their point across.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS1dsaQek7l 

Here is the video

0:01 There is a man doing push-ups on a floor. You notice he is wearing a plain white tee and the walls and floor look very plain. The room looks mostly dark except for a tad of sunlight showing on the floor in the background, most likely from a window. There is a leg to either a bed or table in the background. The room has an empty feeling to it already, possibly suggesting he is alone.

0:02-0:04 The man is now sitting up on the floor leaning against the wall. He’s throwing playing cards into an old coffee can. He is looking obviously bored and attempting to pass the time. The room and himself are still looking very plain. Although now the light seems to be shining on him as a spotlight and the rest of the room is dark. We have yet to see any type of furniture or anything else in the room. So far the room could be a prison cell for all we know. Is he being imprisoned in an empty room for a reason?

0:05-0:07 The man is now holding two pictures. He looks saddened while looking at the pictures. The pictures are of an attractive women and a nice looking car. He seems to be missing the items in the photos. We have noticed the man may be imprisoned, in this frame you notice a striped blue rug on the floor. He may be imprisoned in this room, although a nice rug wouldn’t be found in a jail cell. What room is this man being kept in?

0:07-0:11 The man continues to take part in boring activities, likely making attempts to pass the time. He plays the harmonica and is stacking matches. He is also shown crossing off the days of a calendar, confirming that he has been there for a while. He hits his head on the calendar in frustration. The camera is zoomed so you still cannot make out any furniture and are unable to tell what kind of room he is in.

0:12-0:16 The man is now throwing a ball against the wall, continuing to pass time. The camera zooms out a little bit and you can see that he is leaning on what looks like to be a bed. You can now see the window that was creating the light earlier in the video. It looks like a normal window that can be opened. If he were to be in prison there would most likely be bars on the window. He pauses and looks at an upward angle towards what could be the door. Maybe someone standing in the doorway got his attention. Is he finally going to get out of the room?

0:17-0:25 The person at his door was an older women, who seemed to be yelling at him. She was holding a laundry basket. He replies as if he was rolling his eyes. The camera finally zooms out so you are able to see the full room. It looks to be a little kids room, which is weird because the man is grown. Maybe the lady was his mother, which would make sense why she would be yelling at him. But why is his mother mad and is she forcing him to stay?

0:26-0:30 A graphic pops up saying “Buzzed, Busted, Broke” making you realized that the man must be a busted drunk driver. Now he is living in his old room with his parents and without his girlfriend and car. Conveying a strong message to never drink and drive.

0:o1 – 0:03

At the first second of the video, there’s a table with framed pictures. The first picture seen is a little boy. The boy is wearing a black and white shirt, while he’s smiling. The size of the boy is rather small, so his age may be 3 or 4 years old. At 0:03 there’s another framed picture. This time a couple, a man in a tux and a woman in a wedding dress. The picture shows the couple smiling with hands linked together, which means it may be from their wedding day. From the color of the picture being black and white, their wedding could’ve been in the late 80’s. With both photos of the young boy and newlywed couple being next to each other, it may explain they’re a family and the boy is their son.

0:04 – 0:07

The camera then moves left to a new view of white stairs. The stairs indcates the family lives in a townhouse or a single-family house. On the white stairs, theres a large shadow showing from a different room in the house. The shadow may be the father, its unclear who it can be.

0:08 – 0:11

The camera continues moving left, past the stairs. The new view shows a young boy sitting on the stairs. The boy looks the same as the boy that was first shown in the picture in the beginning, which indicates he is their son. The boy is holding a yellow truck, possibly his favorite toy. While he is holding the truck, his eyes are looking to his left through the railing of the stairs. The look of the boy’s face seems concerned. He could be watching the room were the shadow on the stairs came from earlier.

0:12 – 0:15

The camera changes again, but now it’s a view behind the boy on the stairs. The boy is still looking to his left. In front of the boy is a shadow of the railings from the stairs and a dark figure moving. The shadowed figure seem to be the same figure in the earlier clips. The figure may indicate its one of the boy’s parents. At 0:14 the camera angle changes to a front view of the boys face. The boy’s facial expressions seem frightened or concerned from what he’s looking at. Whatever the boy is watching, its making him feel uncomfortable and unhappy.

0:16 – 0:23

The camera is at the same front view of the boy’s face. At 0:16 the boy looks down, away from whatever he was looking at. He may be looking at his toy to distract himself to watch what’s going on in the other room, which clearly explains the boy doesn’t like what he sees. At 0:19 the boy frighteningly jumps up and looks back towards the left side, evidently through the railings to the other room. A loud sound may have been the reason why the boy frighteningly jumped. At 0:20 – 0:22 the boys’s eyes move back and forth, left to right. The boy may be watching two different people. It could be the boy’s parents. His face scrunches as he looks, which show the boy is scared watching.

0:24 – 0:27

The screen then fades black into white letter words, “Children have to sit and watch. What’s your excuse?” The words explain to viewers, that children have to sit and can only watch, nothing else. The, “Whats your excuse?” is to other viewers, who only watch and take no action.

0:28 – 0:30

The screen fades once again, into other words, “There’s NO excuse for domestic violence. 1-800-End Abuse” The word no, being capitalized in the sentence, clearly expresses domestic violence shouldn’t happen. The hotline number wants the viewers to know there’s someone you can call, if seen. This Ad creates awareness to those, who witness or are in a domestic violence relationship.

$10,000 That You Don’t Have | Buzzed Driving | Ad Council

0:00 We begin with a completely black screen, except for the Ad Council logo at the bottom right hand corner. This is likely being done for dramatic effect and to create a feeling of suspension. Sure enough the scene pops into view right before we reach the 1 second mark.

0:01 The scene opens with a man (or it may be more accurate to say boy) walking away from what appears to be the entrance to an underground bar. He is white with short red hair and is probably in his early 20s. He is dressed up in tight clothing and a nice black jacket. He was likely celebrating some event, on a date, or simply partying. Other than him, there are no other people in the frame. Its probably very late, maybe 3 am. He appears to be searching his pockets for something. He is looking around, squinting, perhaps looking for other people. In the background behind the bar’s entrance, are trees and buildings that are blurred. In fact everything looks blurry including the bar sign which simply has BAR written on it vertically. Everything except for the boy is blurry. This is likely implying that the man’s vision is what is blurred and not the scene itself. Given all this information we can surmise that the boy is likely intoxicated on some level.

0:02 The boy moves his hands toward his jacket. Perhaps to adjust it but more likely to check them for whatever it is he has lost. The camera changes positions to behind the boy at a few yards distance. He is walking toward a lonely car. There is nothing else around accept for a street lamp with two heads that is to the right of the car. The boy was likely searching for his keys to the car. It is unclear as to where exactly he is. It appears that he’s either on top of a building or maybe the top floor of a parking garage because we can see the tops of buildings beyond the edge of the platform he is on. Perhaps the BAR wasn’t underground then but was actually on ground level, while the parking is elevated. Perhaps this decision was made to make the scene appear distant from the rest of the world. After all, in the first shot, the sign for the bar and the stair were far away from the man and blurred out of focus. This is all to help us focus on the scene that is occurring.

0:03 The boy suddenly stumbles as he makes his way toward the car, giving us further indication of his drunkenness.

0:04 The camera has changed positions again to show the boy searching his jacket now for whatever he has lost. The boy suddenly looks up, surprised. His eyes are glazed over and slightly blood shot, he also looks very tired with bags surrounding his eyes. Has he heard a noise? Or has someone call his name? Who could it be? We just saw that there was no one around. He’s probably imagining things or maybe even hallucinating. Maybe he sees something, or he thinks he sees something, in the light of the street lamp that was established in the previous shot.

0:05 The camera returns to its position of a few yards distance and it is revealed to us that there is a person standing to the right of the drunken boy under the street lamp. The person appears to be a police officer by the hat he/she is wearing and the baton sticking out behind him/her. The officer is holding up his or her hand in a fist. He or she is probably holding something. Perhaps a flashlight. But there is no light emanating from the object he or she is holding.

0:06 We are given a closer look at the officer to see that the officer is male. He only holds up the object in his hand for a split second and then lowers it below the frame so it is still not entirely clear what the object is. As he does this he speaks for about 2 seconds.

0:08 The officer tosses the object he is holding toward the boy. But then the camera changes reference again and reveals an older man in a brown shirt and tie on the boy’s left. He is a chubby man and has scruff on his face so he likely hasn’t shaved in a couple of days. He seems like he would work at an office job.  As the object goes flying through the air, a glint of silver catches the eye and it becomes clear that the object is the key to the car that the drunken boy has been looking for. The boy follows the key as it goes flying, barely making an effort to catch it. It’s like a game of monkey in the middle. Given that these two people are likely hallucinations and given this is a public service announcement (the Ad Council logo) we can say that these two individuals are likely people that the boy would have to deal with if he got caught drunk driving or got into an accident. The officer is obviously and officer and would deal with the boy’s arrest. The man in the brown shirt could be a few things. He could be the boy’s father, who he would disappoint or lose the faith of. The man could also be the boy’s boss. Or the man could work for the insurance company that the boy would have to contend with in the event of an accident. It is probably the latter since it is unlikely that we would go from a police officer (who represents a state institution) to a close relative or an individual the boy is familiar with so quickly. The father and boss would likely appear later in this apparent sequence, if at all.

0:09 Now the man in the brown shirt is talking to the boy while holding the key up in his right fist.

0:10 We are now looking at the boy’s face. He still has a rather vacant expression but appears to be listening to what the man in the brown shirt is saying. He then moves his head to the right and moves his eyes to indicate that the key has been thrown again.

0:11 The camera returns again the view a few yards away facing  the back of the boy. The circle around him now has a third member who catches the key as it is thrown by the brown shirted man. There is also a pickup truck in the background now.

0:12 The third man catches the key. He is clearly a mechanic. This is indicated not only by the newly arrived pickup truck that is in the frame behind him but also by his appearance. He is a large man with a beard and long hair and he is wearing a Dickies styled uniform.  We can also infer this because it fits into our established formula of people this boy will have to contend with if he gets in an accident. The mechanic says something to the boy while holding up the key.

0:13 The mechanic continues talking. And then the frame shoots back to the boy, watching the mechanic talk with his mouth gaping open. He then turns his head around 180 degrees to indicate that the key has been tossed again.

0:14-0:16 A woman in business attire reaches her hand up and catches the key. Now it is her turn to speak. She seems to do so much more sternly and with more disappointment than the previous three. Perhaps now we are meeting one of the boy’s close relatives. However, she is not dressed like the archetypal mother. It is more likely that she is his professor (if he is a college student). And even more likely that she is someone in higher authority telling him he is no longer allowed to participate in a sports team or is even expelled from the college. She might also be his lawyer, giving him legal advice. But given her stern expression she does not seem to be on his side and looks like she is scolding him for misbehaving.

0:17- 0:20 The woman throws the key and the scene shifts to a new position in the circle to the right of the car where we see a black man in a suit and tie carrying a brief case in his right hand, catch the key in his left hand. As his arm lowers upon catching the key, it can be seen that the man is wearing a nice watch.  Zoomed in on the man in the suit. He is much more likely to be the boy’s lawyer. He has a friendly, much warmer expression on his face as he talks as if he were giving him advice rather than scolding him. But he looks a little too smiley to simply be giving advice. He may be telling the boy of the legal fees that he will need to pay.

Also, from when the camera changes to the lawyer onward, behind the lawyer we can see a lower level of this platform that these characters are on, and there are a couple cars parked there. This further convinces us that this place is a parking garage of sorts. But because the cars are on a lower level and are only in focus for the second that the lawyer is catching the keys, they do not take away from the deserted atmosphere and are unlikely to be noticed by most viewers.

0:20-0:21 The camera returns to its default position to reveal the boy surrounded by all five adults. The lawyer tosses the key to the boy as if to say “give it a try.”

0:22-0:23 The boy catches the key and gulps looks down at it. He appears to be thinking hard, weighing the costs and benefits of driving home in his condition.

0:24-0:26 The camera goes back to its default position that pans the lot. Everyone has disappeared, except for the boy. We are back at where we started, only this time the boy has the key in his hand. He begins to walk around himself looking at the places in the circle where the adults had previously been standing and jiggling the key around in his right hand. It’s clear that he is not sure of what to do but that he is now feeling more trepidation than he did before his hallucinations appeared.

0:28-0:30 The ad ends with a message that zooms across the screen as if it were on a spinning globe. The word “BUZZED” surrounded in the blinking blue light of a police car spins on from the left side of the screen. It pauses to allow the word to settle in with the audience then spins off. Immediately the word “BUSTED” surrounded in red light spins on, pauses, then spins off. And again in blue light the word “BROKE” spins on, pauses, and spins off. Even though the ad did not seem to focus solely on the being arrested aspect of drunk driving,the blue and red lighting is used to establish authority and induce fear by association with drunk driving. The first word, “buzzed,” seems to indicate that the boy in the ad was only lightly intoxicated. However, one does not get this impression upon first viewing since the boy is obviously hallucinating. The second word, “busted,” refers to those adults in the video who’s jobs are to inflict punishment; e.g. the police officer, the stern woman. The word “broke” references those in the video who will make a profit off of the boy’s misfortune; e.g. the mechanic, the happy lawyer. At the bottom left hand side of the screen is the logo for the Ad Council. On the bottom right hand side is a logo reading NHTSA. Underneath the NHTSA logo is a website.

0:31 The screen goes black, bringing the video full circle.

0:01-0:03
The camera pans across an end table inside a house. On it, there are several framed pictures. The smallest three frames hold pictures of a very young boy, about 5 or 6. The first looks like a school picture as the little boy is wearing a comfortable t-shirt. The second is formal, the little boy smiling big with a white turtleneck and black jacket. The last, a bit more difficult to see because it is the smallest of the bunch, also looks casual, perhaps another school picture. All we see is a green collar and yellow shirt, no other striking detail. The largest frame holds a picture of a newly married couple at their wedding, posing as they dance. This picture in particular looks older, and paired with the pictures of the young boy I assume is their son, these two have been married for quite a few years now. We assume this is a household with a mother, father, and son. The entire room is rather dark.
0:04
The end of the pan shows a white staircase. There is a light coming from an adjacent room we cannot see that shines on the side of the staircase. The rest of the room is black, leading me to believe that a light would be need because it is late at night. There is a shadow of a person cast on the side of the staircase. As it moves, we see the shadow is very tall and wide. There is no visible sign of this person, but from the size of the shadow, I assume this person is the father/husband.
0:10
The young boy seen in the pictures is now seen in the flesh, sitting on the stairs. He is dressed in pajamas and holding a toy truck in his hand. He is not downstairs with his father, and he seems to be higher up on the staircase, in the dark. From this, it is confirmed to be late at night, and past this boy’s bedtime. Perhaps he can’t sleep, otherwise something has drawn him out of his room, but has not intrigued him enough to move downstairs. He may be afraid to go downstairs because it is late at night and he should be asleep, which would explain why he is so high up on the staircase, he may not want to be seen or else he would get in trouble. If he can’t sleep, why wouldn’t he seek comfort from his father? He fumbles with the toy in his hand, but his gaze is directed down towards the room with the light, where I imagine his father stands. There is one light that illuminates the boy making him the focus of this spot.
0:12
The shot shifts and I now see the back of the boy. From this angle it is confirmed he sits at the very top of the staircase, he hasn’t moved. At this spot, he may be hidden from his father, but can still see whatever he is doing. A different shadow appears on the wall next to the boy, cast from the same lit room downstairs. Very slender and small, I assume this shadow is of the mother/wife, joining the father in the only lit room. While watching this spot, I got a feeling that the boy has done this many times before, passively watching his parents, and comes from an innocent place. Perhaps he feels safe hidden by the balusters where he can’t be seen.
0:16
The camera transitions back to a forward facing shot of the boy, but is zoomed in to only show the boy’s upper torso and part of his face. From this angle, we can see the boy’s white pajamas are covered with pictures of hockey players. His attention is now fixed the toy he brought with him, though he looks a little upset. Perhaps he knew he’d be sitting there a while, and brought a friend in the form of a toy truck. The toy metaphorically protects him. His toy distracts him, momentarily bringing him relief. His expression slowly gets a little happier. The lighting has changed and the boy’s face is now slightly obscured by the dark.
0:18
A loud noise startles the boy and his eyes snap back to the room his father and mother are in. He is scared now, and looks as though he is about to cry. He is now alert, on edge, and certainly uncomfortable. From the sudden change in posture and expression from the boy, there is a lot of tension in this shot.
0:21
The boy, now wide-eyed, is breathing heavily. His mouth is open and he seems to have forgotten about his toy. The light coming from the only lit room is blocked by the balusters, leaving a dark line down the boy’s face as he looks through to the room his parents are in, creating a very dramatic image. Something awful, potentially violent has happened.
0:23
The boy looks down at his toy, different from before. He is visibly uncomfortable and upset, yet hasn’t moved from the stairs. He has not removed himself from the situation, and may be too scared to do so. He is silent, most likely out of fear of being seen. His heavy breathing has slowed down, though still looks shaky. Due to his age, one would assume he would yell out and cry, but he does no such thing, staying frozen on the stairs, careful not to make a sound. He has been in this situation before, or at least something very similar. A typical child of his age would probably be crying right now, be found out, and put back to bed, but due to the tension in this and the earlier shot, this child may be facing higher stakes than a firm talking to, causing him to fight the urge to cry out, opting for silence instead.
0:24
The screen goes black and a message in all whit is displayed in all capital letters: “Children have to sit by and watch. What’s your excuse?”. This is a powerful statement, while certainly accusing. The audience is assumed to have an excuse to not take action in this situation. Children are exempt from this accusation and are free to have an excuse, in this case that they “have to sit by and watch,“. Are they required to sit back and watch? Do they really have no other option? Whatever the situation, children have no say, only older people do. A bit excluding, isn’t it?
0:27
Information for a domestic abuse hotline is displayed on the screen in place of the statement. The logo for this hotline is a centered half black half blue box with the phrase “There’s no excuse” in all capital letters, “no” being the largest and most prominent, marking it as the key word of this phrase.
Watching the ad once again with sound had a few differences in tone. It started out innocently enough, the husband asking where dinner was, and the wife responding that she thought he would have been home earlier, and put everything away. This conversation turned violent very quickly when the husband begins yelling. His wife plead for him to calm down and to speak quietly, I assume for their child’s sake, but this only enrages him further. There is no shot of the fight, instead we only see the reactions of the child, who has become our sole informant on the situation. He is upset, but too young to truly realize the gravity of this problem. After a loud slap is heard, the boy is visibly stressed, so he knows something is wrong, but cannot do anything to help. He stays hidden on the top of the stairs. By the wife’s pleading, I assume this is not the first time this has taken place, and probably not the first time their son has been in earshot.
This ad for domestic abuse prevention is meant to combat the “bystander affect” in which those surrounding the situation shift responsibility away from themselves under the notion that someone else will help or it isn’t any of their business. By using a child as the focus and informant, the audience feels a sense of responsibility. There is a maternal reaction to these kinds of spots that has the message hit a lot harder than it would should the boy have been older, or not there at all. Even with this information, domestic violence is a difficult situation to prevent. Many involved in these types of relationships are either manipulated into thinking that it isn’t the case, or are too afraid to leave or tell anyone, with possible threats to his or her life should there be a chance to speak out. Within the context of this ad, where the fight happens indoors, at night, with just the child around as witness, who could possibly be there to help other than a neighbor, who would have needed to overhear this situation from outside this couple’s house and call the hotline provided? While not a far-fetched idea, it requires a specific set of actions to take place for help to be received. The best case scenario would be for the child to call to help his mother, but the ad tells us that children can only sit by and watch, they have no other option. A more likely situation to receive help would be if the significant tother being harmed found the courage to speak out, or if someone noticed changes in this person’s behavior and questions him or her about it. It is much more likely that help would be found that way as opposed to while the act is taking place behind closed doors. Perhaps these ads should start to focus on enlightening its’s audience about signs of domestic abuse and how to prevent it instead of pressuring people to take on the almost impossible task of stopping the act in the moment.

0:00-0:02

A teenage boy hurries out of a house, probably his, and meets up with a man. The man is waiting outside the door, Proposing the question of why he isn’t coming in. Maybe a father? The boy seems happy and excited to be going where he is going. He is wearing a baseball tee and a hat, glove in his hand. The man is dressed similarly, but with different colors. They are not uniforms, more just “knock around” practice clothes. At 0:02 you can see him for a split second swinging a bat and he looks happy. Probably spending quality time with his father.

0:03-0:05

Now that we see the man’s face more, it is probably a father. They are both swinging bats now, as if the man is teaching, or helping the boy practice a better stance.

0:06-0:08

I think it is safe to say that the man is the boy’s father, because they are in a front yard spiraling a football and having a catch with it. They are outside again, meaning they’re still not inside a house. They seem happy again, father son bonding. The boy is spiraling to his father, indicating the father is trying to practice with his son for his son’s benefit. The house from what we see, looks nice. I am guessing they are a middle class family.

0:09-0:11

The boy throws the football to the man, and he catches it. For a split second at 0:11 you see the boy playing baseball. He looks way more concentrated so I’m guessing it’s a game, not just him practicing or messing around. He seems to maybe be chewing on something? He may be a pitcher.

0:12-0:14

It’s not a game, once the camera pans out. The man is now catching with catcher’s gear on, while the boy practices pitching. The boy doesn’t look so happy now. The dad seems like he is a lot more serious too. In the past scenes, you have seen the pair smiling and messing around. I don’t suspect tension exactly, maybe just the father telling his son to act like he’s pitching in a real game, to get emotional practice as well. I think this way because when I was younger and played sports and practiced with my father, we would have leisurely catches and tosses and talk, but sometimes when we practiced it would be more serious and game-like to really put myself i the position to give it my all.

0:15-0:17

The boy pitches the ball, and the an catches it. The father seems impressed because his serious face relaxes and he does some sort or approving “alright” face. I think the boy was seeking the approval because who doesn’t seek approval from their father regarding athletic abilities?

0:18-0:20

The two are now practicing hockey, the man in goal. The boy seems to slapshot the puck into the small driveway goal and the man once again seems impressed.

0:21-0:23

The boy backs up from making his shot and is grinning wide. He seems happy that he has his father’s approval. The smile he shows off seems almost joking. like if he were talking he would say “yeah, I’m the best” or something along the lines of joking around pretending to be cocky. The next clip we see someone kicking a soccer ball around, I’m guessing the boy again. From this, I am sensing the father and son have found a common ground of bonding over sports together. As I continue to watch, the boy seems to always be throwing, pitching, shooting, and hitting and his father defending him. This to me says the father and son bond over the father helping his son strengthen his athletic abilities because sports are a mutual hobby of the two.

0:24-0:26

The boy is playing soccer, wearing a long sleeved jersey. It’s night time. I think you can kind of tell someone is playing goalie, but it isn’t too clear. The boy kicks it in dramatically and you can see a little glimpse of someone in a yellow long sleeved jersey, most likely, the man.

0:27-0:30

It was the man in the yellow jersey. He is laughing, and joking around. If he was speaking, judging by his face, i think he’d say something like “aw man, i can’t believe you made that shot”. After that, the camera pans out and you see him playing baseball, and then football again. Almost like a smaller, more unspecific montage of the two of them playing sports together and bonding.

0:31-0:34

They are playing football, and the boy looks like he’s about to pass the man with the ball. The camera starts going slow motion, the two are smiling and laughing. Really capturing the moment of the two having that special time, and spending time together as though it is a moment to be cherished. In the last second, you see the boy playing basketball with another boy around his age perhaps.

0:35-0:40

It looks like the boy and the man are playing two on two with another boy and his father. You can tell because the other pair of players both have dark skin which is speculation that they’re father and son or at least related. Because why would you be playing basketball at night with a random man when you’re a boy? It looks like the african american father and son are on the same mission as the original pair, because the fathers are both taking the role of being defensive while playing with their sons. The original boy passes the ball to the original man, and the man shoots and makes the basket.

0:41-0:45

You can tell the original man and son had one the game with that shot, because they stop playing to exchange handshakes and smiles. The man who made the shot is pointing at someone that is not the boy, probably the other man they were playing against.

0:46-0:50

The man starts clapping after winning the game, and the screen goes black, dramatically. The dramatic black screen makes the light-easy to watch video with bonding and laughter take a very serious tone. It stays black and white words fade onto the screen that says “teach him early”.

0:51-1:00

the words slowly fade and more appear reading “violence against women is wrong” and in addition it shows a website saying “teachearly.org” Throughout the video, the father and son are constantly outside practicing sports. But not once do you see a mother figure, or the two inside a house. From this I gather that his parents might be divorced. Maybe due to domestic violence, which is what the point of this ad is. Comparing the sports training and domestic violence, both are physical, and both let out aggression. Statistically, fathers who hit their wives typically hit their children as well. Thought the video I didn’t see the son feeling intimidated or afraid of his father, he seemed very happy. so maybe the father decided to transport his aggression from his ex-spouse to sports. Something he can get his anger out doing, but also form a stable healthy relationship with his son. Even though his son and him are on good terms, the father is still never in a house. So I am guessing the boy’s mother and his father still are not civil, which isn’t uncommon if what i predicted is the case for that family.

This PSA is against domestic violence. The man was playing sports with his son, teaching him how to pitch, bat, punt, shoot, score. Boys look up to their fathers, and want to be as good as them. The ad is saying for father’s to set the right example for their sons, and to do it early. To teach them about sports, and cars, but also to teach them important life lessons like how to treat women with respect and that violence towards them is not to be tolerated. Boys learn from their fathers and need to know what and what not to to take their anger out on. For instance, sports, not women.

0:01 There are two cars on a road, one is stopped at a stop sign while another is approaching farther down the road. There is no stop sign for the car that is approaching however.

0:02 We see a man driving the car with a young boy in the backseat. It is fair to say that the man and boy are the father and his son.

0:03 The father looks to his left before making a turn at the intersection. The car in the distance is approaching at a fairly rapid pace.

0:04 Now we are looking from the car down the road’s perspective, with the stopped car ahead and to the left.

0:05 The man driving the approaching car appears to be a businessman of some sort, as per the shirt and tie that he is wearing in this shot. The man has a bewildered expression on his face as he drives down the road. We can assume that he is uncomfortable with the situation that is unfolding.

0:06 The businessman’s foot switches from the gas to the brake in this picture, implying that he is trying to stop the car suddenly, even though we know he does not have a stop sign ahead of him. Applying the brakes in this situation implies that he is going very fast or the driver in front of him is doing something he should not doing.

0:07 We have a shot of the side of the car as it is moving. It is clear to see that the car is moving with quite a lot of pace as it brushes up the leaves on the side of the road as it goes past.

0:08 Both cars are pictured, but the father who had the stop sign is making a left-hand turn with the businessman’s car approaching rapidly. The scene has been slowed down to a complete stop, identified by the bird being motionless.

0:09 The businessman now seems to be looking in front of him at something. Most likely the car ahead of him making the turn.

0:12 The father has his hands off the wheel, which means he no longer has control of the car or what will happen in the situation. His left hand is also covering the boy’s face, which could be the director’s way of shielding the boy from what is happening.

0:14 We see the businessman getting out of his car, confirming the thought that all motion had ceased besides the father and the businessman. The father’s car can be seen in front of the businessman’s car. Could the businessman be trying to talk with the father about what is happening to them?

0:19 The father gets out of his car as well and starts speaking to the businessman, whose silhouette we see on the left of the screen. The door of the father’s car is left open, maybe giving the boy a chance to get out before it is too late.

0:21 The businessman has his arms spread out in a questioning manner. He is responding to the father and apparently doesn’t agree with what he said.

0:24 The father looks to be pleading to the man, as if asking him for forgiveness for turning without waiting for the businessman to pass.

0:26 The businessman avoids eye contact with the father now. The businessman knows that he cannot do whatever the father is asking him to do.

0:31 Both men now look at the businessman’s car suddenly, as if it is starting to move on its own.

0:32 The camera zooms out to include both cars and both men seem to be looking around nervously. They both look like they want to stop what is about to happen from happening.

0:33 The father looks at the businessman and tries to plead to him again. We can see now what is unfolding before the men.

0:37 The businessman now looks over the father’s shoulder at his car, probably because the father said something about his son in the car.

0:38 The son is pictured sitting in the car staring off as if he has no idea what is happening.

0:40 The businessman returns his gaze to the father, with a very sorrowful look in his eyes.

0:42 The father has a look of sadness on his face because he realized that there was nothing that could be done.

0:44 The businessman looks away again from the father, seeming to back away as if to end the conversation.

0:46 The camera switches back to the father and we see him with his hands on his head with an extreme look of agony on his face.

0:48 Both men return back to their cars after their conversation ends.

0:49 The businessman enters his car and is looking down at something probably on the car’s dashboard.

0:51 The businessman was speeding down the road at about 110 km/h, which tells us that we was going way too fast in order to stop before hitting the father’s turning car.

0:52 The father looks behind himself in the car, most likely at his son, with a face full of despair and regret.

0:53 The boy looks up at his father without any emotion. It is clear to see the boy has no idea what is going on.

0:54 The camera zooms out a little and focuses on the father and we see the businessman’s car start to approach the driver’s side of the car.

0:55 The businessman’s car slams into the car holding the father and son at over 100 mph and we see the father’s body jerk as the glass shatters and the car starts to bend along the businessman’s hood.

0:57 The scene ends with a black screen and white letters the depict the message of the ad. Simply put, the whole situation could have been avoided if the businessman was going slow. Then he would have had enough time to see the father making a mistake by turning to early and he would have been able to stop.

This is the link to the video.