Charity Advertisment 8

Ryan's battle - shelter

Ideology
The mother and the little boy are hiding from the people who are going to evict them from their home. They are aware that it is going to happen soon and they cant face it. Every time someone knocks at the door they hide behind the wall indicating that they are afraid.
The message is that taking someones home off of them makes them fearful, it destroys memories because all they have ever known is being taken away from them.
Another message is that poverty stricken people are helpless and have no power to make everything go back to the way it was before they landed themselves in debts and worries.

Characters/Visual Style
The little boy plays with his action figures to block out the rest of the world. He appears to be clueless as to what is about to happen suggesting that he is only young and naive. The mother almost makes it into a game because when the man knocks at the door her son has his hands locked together to symbolise a gun, he is pretending to be his action man. The realisation sets in when the van comes to collect their belongings and they end up living in a run down room with only a mattress on the floor.
There are two main settings, the first one being the mother and the sons' home and the second one being the temporary home. There is a huge difference between these two settings because their home appears once to be a happy place, the new home is dark and gloomy.
The close up shot intertwines with the voice over at the end because the boy is shown lying in bed when it says 'this christmas 75,000 children like Ryan will want one thing more than anything else - a place they call home' he looks sad and covers his face with his quilt suggesting that he wants to hide from it all.

Lines of Appeal
Small enigma codes have been used because this ad encourages us to question things like:What will happen to them? Will they be safe? Where will they go? and so on.
It also reaches our need to love and belong because we see the mother and the son have a strong relationship no matter what is happening. We see them in family context therefore some audience members -especially mothers will want for bond like the one shown.

What works
It is effective because christmas is a special time for families and this family face their toughest problems. This will make the audience want to help because no one should spend christmas with nothing.