VISUAL RHETORIC
Ad Council of Rochester “Excuses” Spot
(with Scott Kilbury of News10NBC)
0.00-0.02:
In this scene, at first a blank screen appears. And as the screen fades away, a women about the age of 35 appears who is looking in the mirror with a disturbed and rather worried expression. She is holding an earring in her hand and wearing the other one in her right ears. Then she looks upwards to see herself, and then takes a deep breath. And then releases her breath as a sign of concern as she looks straight into her own eyes. Also she is holding her earrings a bit more tightly in her both hands. As if something is terrifying her.
0.03:
And now she is having a little bit of weird smile on her face. As if she is thinking about something deeply. And then nods her hear in a manner of saying “no.” it looks like something is bothering her or something might have happened with her family or socially. Or she nods in a manner of thinking something weird or negative.
0.04:
Then there appears a small girl sitting in the other room. She looks like the daughter of the women and appears to be at the age of 16-18 years old. She seems like writing or drawing something. The room appears to be a typical ‘girl room’ as it is having everything in the shades of purple. And she seems like fond with painting and art because of art stuff and painting wallpaper.
0.05-0.07:
She is drawing something with lots of concentration. She appears to be a concentrated person and studious person. And she is dedicated to her work. Suddenly she stopped drawing and looks upwards at the camera. She keeps on staring at the camera as if, her eyes were saying millions of words silently. And then the women appears again still staring herself in the mirror thinking deeply.
0.08-0.10-
She again takes a deep breath. And then releases it. It looks like something might have happened in past or recently with her. And also we can reconnect that due to that the mother might be concerned. And the girl appears again who looks like she resumed her work i.e., drawing. But she seems upset now while drawing. As if she is drawing something that has happened with her and it hurts from inside her. Due to which there are lines of tension on her forehead.
0.11-0.13:
And now her eyes are wet and seems like she is gonna cry any moment. And looks scared of some horrible old memory within her. Then an inverted drawing appears on the screen. Where she has drawn a picture of a girl and that girl is having a ‘cross sign’ on her lips. It depicts as if the girl is being made silent about not to say anything, about what had have happened with her in past or recently. According to me it is regarding molestation or sexual abuse or even rape.
0.14-0.18:
and now finally the women speaks. She has her eyes fixed in the mirror and is still looking at the mirror as if she is conveying a message to every reader or viewer of the video. She is also hurt deeply and seems disturbed as her daughter is. She is likely to be narrating her daughters story that has happened recently or in past. Because as she tells the scene changes and the daughter appears again and now looks on her left side, where the camera is. Her eyes are seeking for help or concern about the past events that has occurred with her. She continues to speak. And has tears in her eyes and is scared to tell everyone.
0.19:
screen goes blank. And a pause appears. Which again means that the director wants to convey the message slowly so that it touches the viewer’s hearts.
0.20:
then a question appears, “suspect child sexual abuse?” and therefore we come to know that this is an ad about ‘child sexual abuse’ and also the awareness about the child sexual abuse. And the girl and her mother were conveying the same message to their viewers about child sexual abuse.
0.21-0.24:
and now a confidential helpline number appears below with a website also of “bebraveforkids.org.” even a subtext also appears, which says “find out what-if anything-needs to be done” means you can seek help regarding child sexual abuse on the give helpline number and website provided. By this the director wants to send help or provide all the necessary help to the victims of child abuse. Or the future victims.
0.25-0.30:
then a person in his house appears on the screen with his wife talking on the phone at a distance in the background in the kitchen. The person’s name is ‘Scott Kilbury’ who works in news 10 NBC. He is also agreeing with the same thing and explains or brings awareness among people. Because we can see that the sub-banner with website and helpline number flashing. And he looks confident in what he is speaking by the way of his facial expression and also the eye-contact with the camera. The screen gets blank. And the video gets over.
Counterintuitive 
Baahubali, I’m going to respond to this post without watching the video. I’ll be asking questions about your Visual analysis and your Rhetoric analysis, since this is a Visual Rhetoric essay. For the Visual, you need to help me “see” what’s on screen without watching the video myself. Put me in the scene and help me visualize everything. For the Rhetoric, you need to describe WHY the director made the choices she made (just as you would analyze a written essay by telling me WHAT THE AUTHOR WANTED ME TO BELIEVE.
0.00-0.02:
VISUAL: How we know she’s looking in a mirror? Do we see her face looking our direction and GUESS that we’re looking at her mirror image? Or do we see her from behind FACING her mirror image? Are we in a bathroom? A hallway? Are we looking into a rearview mirror? Are we in a hotel room? How is she dressed? In a towel, getting ready to dress for work? Has she applied makeup? Did she just get out of a pool?
RHETORIC: Does the scene indicate that she has plenty of time? Is she delaying some action? Is she in a hurry? You say she has one earring in, one out. Is she putting them on or taking them off? That sigh and that look of concern: are they about some present danger? Something she regrets? Something she is afraid to face? Something she knows she has to do?
0.03:
VISUAL: Have we moved? Are we behind her? Was there a cut, or is this still the same shot? Is she still holding that second earring? Has the camera moved in closer or pulled away? Did the focus change?
RHETORIC: That weird smile could mean she’s dismissing somebody else’s idea, couldn’t it? Is she alone? Is her smile a reaction to something she has heard? A “NOD” is an up-and-down movement of the head usually signifying YES not NO. Do you mean she “shakes her head,” which indicates side-to-side, which means NO, which could indicate something bothering her.
0.04:
Then there appears a small girl sitting in the other room. She looks like the daughter of the women and appears to be at the age of 16-18 years old. She seems like writing or drawing something. The room appears to be a typical ‘girl room’ as it is having everything in the shades of purple. And she seems like fond with painting and art because of art stuff and painting wallpaper.
VISUAL: What does “the other room” mean? Another location within the same room as the woman? Or is it a room we’ve already seen? If not, you should call it “ANOTHER” room instead of THE other room. (And you didn’t say she was in a room in the first place.) The girl looks like the daughter IN WHAT WAY? Is the girl alone in the room? Is she seated at an easel painting, or in a chair drawing in a pad on a tabletop with pencils or a charcoal bits? Or lying on her bed on her back casually doodling in a spiral notebook she is holding over her head? Do you see the problem, Baahbali? We don’t know what we’re looking at!
RHETORIC: Depending on how you answer the Visual questions above, we’ll be able to start processing the information we get from the visuals. And you can describe for us your impression of the REASON the director presented us with VERY SPECIFIC IMAGES that cannot be taken for granted. They were selected FOR A REASON.
I’ll let you imagine similar questions for the rest of your timed entries.
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