Homework - Greek yoghurt

Regional identity is identifying a person's identity which is rooted not only in the setting of the film but also in speech, costumes etc. and in the region they live in.

This advert is about a young boy that lets his cow out of the pen to then go and recue it to earn himself some yoghurt from his mum.

The regional identity is represented in this advert by many things, the first being sounds. Right from the very start of the advert there is a banjo playing a tune in the background. This immediately gives the effect of a foreign country to the viewers.

The second thing that helps portray the regional identity is the clothing, a boy is shown in the advert wearing a vest with a shirt over the top and shorts. The clothing didn't look like it was in the best condition and wasn't very clean either, this shows that he might not be in a family of very high class. As he runs through the village you see a priest wearing what looks like a robe and he is ringing a bell. The robe signifies that he is religious but plays no further part in the advert other than showing the audience that he may be In a religious village. All of the outfits worn by all of the villagers seen in the advert seem old fashioned as they are not bright and colourful like they are today, but instead dull and bland.

Going back to my previous point about the boy being in a lower class family, I think he may be indeed in a lower class family. I think this because when he runs through the village you see that people are wearing full outfits (like the cowboy on the horse) so it's not just a poor village, and he is still wearing what looks baggy clothes that are sweaty and dirty. The make up used helps add the dirty effect.

Most of the regional identity is shown by setting. From the very start you are shown an establishing shot of the region and you can see that they are on a farm in the country near some mountains which makes people think they can't be anywhere near a city or anything but instead near a village which is supported when he runs into the village to find his cow. There is also an establishing shot as the boy runs towards the house. It shows that it is quite far away from the cow pen but there was no risk of him being that far away from the house because everyone in the village is nice and no one would ever do anything bad to him. It also shows the mother in the house which adds the effect of it being in the past from her outfit, not being a sex object but instead just wearing normal clothes, and also because in the past the women had to stay indoors and do the cleaning and the man went out to work which is presumably why he is not in the advert.

Near the start of the advert the boy calls for his mother by shouting: "Mama!", this shows that they are not in an English speaking country as most people in countries that speak English say "mum" or "mother". The foreign country idea is backed up as the young boy has a tanned colour skin, this, combined with everything else makes me think they are probably in a country like Greece.

Through out the advert it leads the audience into thinking that it is set in the past, having a cow for milk instead of a milkman, people batting their clothes to get rid of dust, riding horses and having no sign of technology being shown. This is the case until right at the very end when the mother pulls her phone out which shows that it is the present time, but everything seems older as the yoghurts formula is unchanged since that time. This adds the effect that even though in this present day there is so much technology, you can still live the rural, simple Greek life by buying their yoghurt.

 

 

When the boy runs to find his cow, there was no worry him being a little boy in the village all on his own, it was made to make you feel as if he was safe. They man on the horse just pointed him towards the direction of his cow, there was no risk of him being a criminal or anything. As he runs through the town he was asking people where his cow went, and there was none of this "stranger danger" in the village, and even if he already knew them, it just adds the effect of the small village where everyone knows everyone and gets along. Finally, when he gets to his cow, there is a butcher waiting to kill it. The boy approaches and just leads it away and the butcher, although he looks disappointed, doesn't try to stop him, he just lets him take the cow and go on his way.

 

Almost all of the camera shots are establishing shots which really help to portray the regional identity in this advert. They are used to show the viewers where the boy is at all times, it usually does a medium shot of him running and then an establishing shot of the area where he is running. An example of this is when he is running down a lane it uses an establishing shot but then cuts to a medium shot when he glides his hand along the stone wall.

 

 







In conclusion, I think that having all these different elements brings a feeling of safety and simplicity to the viewers and shows them the rural lifestyle while advertising their product effectively.