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Robert Scholes on Video Text's - Comparison

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According to Robert Scholes, author of On Reading a Video Text, commercials aired on television hold a dynamic power over human beings on a subconscious level. He believes that through the use of specific tools, commercials can hold the minds of an audience captive, and can control their abilities to think rationally. Visual fascination, one of the tools Scholes believes captures the minds of viewers, can take a simple video, and through the use of editing and special effects, turn it into a powerful scene which one simply cannot take his or her eyes from. Narrativity is yet another way Scholes feels commercials can take control of the thoughts of a person sitting in front of the television. Through the use of specific words, sounds, …show more content…

Cultural reinforcement, the main tool involved in captivating an audience with a video text, is what Scholes believes to be the largest factor included in this Budweiser commercial. Without the cultural background of living where we do, comprehending the plot pummeled upon us in this commercial would be impossible. Without knowledge of baseball and its rules, we wouldn't know that the umpire had made a close, yet correct call, we wouldn't know that a screaming old white man running out onto the field was commonplace; we wouldn't even know why the man who swung the stick at the ball was running towards a white bag on the edge of a dirt path lined by grass. All commercials rely on some amount of previous knowledge, this commercial is no different. Late in the commercial in question, while the manager is toasting the umpire, and the Budweiser music is playing in the background, the viewer realizes subconsciously that the umpire has "made it," that he will live happily ever after, however untrue this may be. Our culture has influenced us so much that we almost require happy endings, within a 28 second commercial we can see the entire life of a black man unfold before our eyes, and by the time the commercial is over, we know he will have a happy life. The commercial doesn't actually sell beer, it simply sells the

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