Looking Back at my Growth: The Gatorade Commercial

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues? 

The commercial that was made by my group and I was made in effort to promote

Gatorade. The typical Gatorade commercial revolves around sports and athletics. The

setting, as a convention for sports commercials, would usually contain a sports event,

focus on an athlete, and/or a sporting narrative. For my commercial, the setting took

place on a football field and a track and field. There were also three separate athletes

and three different Gatorade products. Our commercial did not only comply with the

usual Gatorade commercial, but extended the range of athletes and products used

which challenged the typical conventions. Each athlete was performing a different

workout to better demonstrate how Gatorade impacts different people and different

activities. In the background of the commercial, there was a voiceover serving as a

narrative for the entirety of the commercial. The voiceover included segments of

each athlete speaking as they were being shown to emphasize a more personal

connection to the audience. Additionally, sport commercials normally portray a

dramatic and powerful mood to accentuate the effectiveness of what is being

advertised. In my commercial, this mood is demonstrated by the difference between

the first half and the second half of the commercial. During the first half, the athletes

are warming up and preparing to begin the workout. However, in the second half, the

athletes are actually exercising to their best ability after consuming either a Gatorade

drink, chewable, or energy bar. This contrast demonstrates the Gatorade is the fuel

behind each athlete’s performance and the reason for their success during each

workout. 

The Gatorade commercial made by my group reflects on a variety of social groups

and issues in the status quo. Throughout the commercial, we wanted to be able to

represent a wide range of people in order to show Gatorade’s capabilities. In the

script used for the commercial’s voiceover, the first sentence immediately defines

the idea that everybody can be included in the following message. Written are

words that permit people from different backgrounds, ages, races, and religions

to share interest in Gatorade. The purpose of these words is to limit any

discrimination or injustice to any person. Furthermore, the commercial consists

of three different athletes who are shown doing three different sports. This

highlights the diversity in the commercial by demonstrating that one does not

need to partake in the popular and well-known sports, such as basketball and

football, yet can find interest in their preferred sport. There were also two

women incorporated in the commercial, removing any mention of sexism and

inequality in regards to gender.

2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text? 

The commercial made by my group is highly engaged with any audience. As

previously described in the prior question, this commercial can be applied to

whichever audience. This is evident to any viewer in the first few seconds of the

commercial, serving as an attention grabber. Moreover, the commercial

incorporates a variety of elements that my group integrated to keep the audience’s

attention. For one, with the inclusion of three different sports, there was a greater

possibility to interest multiple people compared to only having one sport where

the audience may not relate to the content or find it appealing. Also, diversity is

a concept that attracts many people because that means that the commercial can

be applied to wider range of people. The same idea goes with the products used in the

commercial. By using three completely separate Gatorade products, we are ensuring

that even if one is not interested in a specific type, they may find interest in the other

two, which according to the commercial, hold the same effect and will lead to

success in whatever sport devotion is putting into. We wanted to add a dramatizing

effect in the commercial. At the beginning of the commercial, all of the athletes were

shown at the start of their workout and/or stretching. This would make more of the

audience to watch the entirety of the commercial in order to see how Gatorade would

impact each athlete and their performance, which would be seen at the very end of

the commercial once all athletes have consumed their different Gatorade products.

In other words, the audience would identify foreshadowing at the beginning of the

commercial through the observance of the start of each workout and be excited to

see the effect of Gatorade on each person. This means that the audience would be

aware that at one point of the commercial, the athletes would be performing to the

best of their abilities and that is what most people are interested in watching. 

The commercial was produced through the use of Pinnacle Studios in order to edit

the takes and create one smooth video. In order to obtain the largest crowd that would

be interested in actually purchasing Gatorade products, the commercial would have

to be distributed to specific audiences. For instance, it would be more convenient to

show this commercial on a sports channel rather than a cooking channel. This is

because people who happen to be more involved in athletics tend to watch sport

shows. A couple of examples as to where this Gatorade commercial would have great

success are as a part of the commercials for ESPN Events, Fox Sports, and Olympic

channels. These channels would be preferred as they show sports that correlate with

our Gatorade commercial, being running, circuits, and gymnastics. Other channels

that may only focus on separate sports such as NFL channel or NHL channel may

not be as interested as the former channels listed. 

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

Throughout this project, my production skills have definitely gotten better. At one

point during the editing phase, I asked my teacher to assist me in making a split

screen, as this was not taught to the class. I had to add two additional AV tracks to

hold the three different scenes. I also selected Open Effects Editor to fix each clip’s

position, size, and rotation to make sure that each third of the screen would be able

to be seen as even and balanced videos. The horizontal changes were in need of being

adjusted into the correct setting for both the position and size. For position, each

number for the scenes would be a larger number than that of the previous scene and

for size, each number should have been relatively the same. I also learned that when

scenes are cut too close to the beginning or end of it, a small sliver of a scene may

be left behind. These slivers can interrupt the rest of the video and can alter the

finished product. To delete these, I had to select a specific setting where a new

segment would appear on the screen showing each scene and every second that

corresponded with the scenes. By displaying each scene like this, it was less difficult

to identify the slivers and delete them.

I also learned the importance of takes during filming for the content in the

commercial. I had originally believed that it would be quite simple to capture the

perfect scene that had been envisioned, but after actually attempting to film, I

realized why it would be difficult to do well on the first try. One reason was for

the placement of prompts and how they were positioned so that the audience

understood their purpose. Another reason was misunderstandings within the

group as to how the scene was going to be executed. Timing was another issue

that we were concerned would be off, either being too slow or too fast in

correlation with the rest of the commercial’s factors, such as the music or thirty

second time limit.

I believe that every day into the commercial, I became more familiar with the

objectives that I was trying to achieve. In other words, at the start of the project, I

felt overwhelmed with the large quantity of work that needed to be done but at the

end of the project, I felt more satisfied with what I had done, knowing that I had tried

my best and put forward all of my listening skills to fully understand each task. I

liked that each day I learned something new that I can apply in the future for

upcoming videos and projects similar to this one.

Even though I know it was necessary for time management skills, I would have

preferred to receive more time to edit the Gatorade Commercial. I feel that if more

time was granted, our ideas would be better represented in our commercial and it

would have been finished as a finer product. I know that time wouldn't have

allowed me to suddenly grasp certain concepts but it may have allowed me to relax

and have more patience with myself and my group members, which could have led

to a better experience.

4. How did you integrate technologies -software, hardware and online- in this project?

Throughout this commercial, my group and I used a variety of different

technologies in order to create a seamless commercial. On the very first day that my

group began to film, we had to get a camera and a tripod from the storage room of

our class. Someone in our group already had an available SD card that we could

use to put into the camera so we were not required to obtain one form the class

supply. Previous to this day, we were taught on how to use the camera and how to

insert the SD card into the camera. We had learned the simple ways to handle the

camera and what to be done to acheive what we wanted. We had approximately

an hour to film our takes for the Gatorade commercial and within this hour to film,

we successfully had acquired a wide range of clips. In order to import our clips into

the computer, our group had to obtain an SD card reader from the storage room. We

inserted the SD card into the reader and made a file into the computer labeled

Commercial where we would place the takes without getting mixed up with other

files. Every clip in this file would later be imported into Pinnacle Studios.

Throughout the entire process of filming the commercial and editing the clips

necessary, we had to write updates of our progress on this app. Blogger will be

used to assess our work and to monitor how we have improved across the entire

year. In order to access Blogger, I had to log onto the computer and sign in

onto my Gmail account. Then, I would select the tools available on Google and

click Blogger, which took me to another tab. In this tab, I had to first select the

type of style that my blog would appear as, the preferred type being simple as it

would be easier to comprehend. After my blogs had their appropriate titles, I

would begin writing three paragraphs on my advancements from that day.

Throughout the entire project, phones were used for various reasons. On certain

days, I would not have access to computers to work on Blogger because other

students would be using them. In these instances, I would have to use my phone

in order to write the blogs necessary for the class. The main reason for the use of

phones however, was for communication. Each person in my group has each

other's phone numbers and we would text each other to ensure that everyone was

reminded of the tasks that they had to accomplish. Moreover, we used this form

of communication to share and express our ideas and classwork, including a

picture of our storyboard at the very beginning of the project.

To edit the commercial, everyone had to use an app installed into the laptops

called Pinnacle Studios. Originally, this app was to be used on the computers

available in the classroom. However, their software was outdated and the

server would not allow for Pinnacle Studios to work properly. This app is used

to incorporate a variety of effects and transitions into a video. With Pinnacle

Studios, we were able to edit all of the necessary takes into one video. For

approximately half of our work, we had to really play around with all of the

functions available to us. I was familiar with the different AV tracks and their

purposes as well as how to cut videos using the razorblade option.