Analysis of the John Lewis

Christmas Advert 2015

John Lewis has been making
remarkable Christmas adverts for the past few years. They have
dominated other companies in the festive season with their creative
and memorable adverts. The advert cost a huge 7 million pounds!
Created by Adam&Eve DDB. John Lewis have been leaking little
teasers, this is great as it shows other companies that they own
Christmas adverts.
The advert is about a little girl called Lily and an old man who lives on
the moon. The little girl has a hobby with telescopes and one day
discovers a man living on the moon, this is where we start to
understand the message of the advert. Although the advert did spark
up some controversy about an old man staring into a little girls
window. The advert was made to raise awareness for Age UK with the
slogan Show someone theyre loved this Christmas.
The production team use a range of camera angles and shots to give
the audience a good idea of what is going in around the characters.
The main shot types that are used are long shots and medium shots so
we get an understanding of what sort of environment theyre in. For
example, the old man on the moon and the little girl in her house on
earth. There are many binary opposites in this advert, these being the
old and young, a man and little girl, lonely and not lonely, being on
earth and being on the moon and also a dull quiet place and a bright
cheerful place. A 17-year-old Norwegian girl called Aurora Aknes sings
the non-diegetic sound being played in the background. The choice of
musician used has been very cleverly done, this is because they dont
want the audience to be distracted by a well-known singer and it could
also make the advert a little tacky. The visual codes of the little girl in
her environment really tell the audience that its Christmas time, with
the bright lights and colourful, yet fashionable clothing which is yet
again advertising their brand. Whereas the old mans visual codes are
dull colours such as grey and white, this shows that he is lonely and
isolated. This also shows the binary opposites between the two
different lives of the old man and the little girl.
The first shot in the John Lewis advert is an extreme close up of the
little girl looking into the distance. A close up has been used so we can
focus only her and how she may be feeling, is she feeling sad? Bored?
The soft effect that has been used shows the innocence of the young
girl.

The next shot moves on very quickly

from the previous, this is so we can
understand what exactly she is doing.
Her brother wont give her any attention
allowing herself to get bored and a little
lonely. This shot is a long shot to show
what type of environment she is in, for
example she is in a family home. The
warm lighting is used to portray thats
its a normal, happy household. A visual
code that has been used in this shot is the brother playing on his
phone or game device, this tells us that he isnt listening to his sister
and is engaged in what he is doing. The binary opposite in this shot is
between the sister and brother, the brother is unsociable and the little
girl wants to play with him and have fun.

The next main scene is of the little girl

looking through her telescope where she
zooms in the moon, the next shot if of
her looking around the telescope and at
the moon, this is a useful shot because
the audience can understand the interest
the girl has in the moon. The visual
codes are shown on the girls face, her
mouth being open shows the interest she has. We can also see that the
young girl is pretty which will engage the audience even more as she is
cute.
This is the shot where the little girl discovers a man living on the moon,
this screams anti-realist as it is impossible for someone to live on the
moon. The shot is used to show this is a high angle allowing the
audience to see the moons ground and the little mans house. This is
also a visual code because he is the only person living there, this
portrays that he is lonely and extremely isolated from humanity.

The next heart aching shot is of

the man looking directing at the
camera, this is a high angle shot
to make it look as if we are
looking down at him and he is all
there on his own. This has a
great effect because it enhances
the fact he is isolated and lonely.
The girl behind the telescope
thinks he is looking at her but
really he is looking out into space
at earth wishing he was there.
The visual codes once again
stand out due to the dull colours portraying how he feels and shows
the difference between the earth and the moon. The old mans facial
expression shows he is sad by the bags under his eyes and we can see
from just looking at his eyes.

This shot is of the little girl on her

scooter going down the hill very
fast to go see the man by looking
through her telescope, this has
been made into a slow motion
shot because it increases the
drama of her wanting to get
home quickly. It also enhances
the fact she is a child and we get
to see the visual codes. For
example, her school uniform
shows she is coming home from school, she is wearing a lot of
protective clothing showing she is a child and children can be clumsy.
The production team has used natural lighting to give a sense of
realism and it also shows the binary opposites between the moon and
the earths lighting.

The extreme high angle/ long shot

immediately tells the audience
that he is alone and it is very
boring, this is shown from the
plain path the old man is walking
on. This particular shot is slightly
in slow motion to show that he is
in space where there is less
gravity. The red roof is a visual
code because it is the only bright
colour in this shot.

This is an extreme long shot and

also wide shot as we can see the
environment around him as well
as space, and then most
importantly the earth. Here we
can understand that the old man
is very far away from earth and
is all on his own. The old man
would be feeling sad and alone
wishing he was there. The binary
opposites in this shot is the
moon and the earth, this is because the earth is full of people and life
whereas the moon is lonely and empty. The bench is a visual code
because it is positioned to look at the earth, this also suggests that the
man wants to be there and shows his desire, emphasizing his
loneliness.

The next shot is an extreme

close up of the old man looking
into the distance at the earth.
His eyes suggest that he is very
sad because there is no life in
them, it also suggests that he is
thinking about being there but
cant. The old man has bags
under his eyes which indicates
he is tired of living on the moon and maybe now a miserable old man
because of his loneliness, this is also shown from his watery eyes.

As we are approaching
the main part of the
advert the little girl is
trying to send a
message to the older
man. This portrays the
fact she is young and
has no idea how far
away he actually is
from her. This shot is very sweet
because its showing the girl is
young and is extremely caring
making it a realistic advert but
obviously its not as a man cant live on
the moon. The moon acts as lighting in this shot which also shows how
large the moon is and that there is only 1 person living on it. The little
girl tries to do this 2 more times and fails. They show this with a wide
shot to show how far away the moon is.

In this shot, the body language of the old man shows that he is fed up.
His eyes suggest that he is disappointed, as the advert is a linear

narrative it looks as if the man is

disappointed no one can get to him
and looks sad as the girl cant get in
touch with him. This makes the
advert quite emotional and
encourages the audience to show
someone theyre loved this
Christmas. The visual codes are the
same throughout the advert as the
man can not go anywhere and the
dull colours are emphasizing on who
and how he is.

This shot if the start of Christmas

where the little girls family puts a
Christmas tree in front of the
telescope, this shows that the man
is being forgotten about and also
makes the family look careless but
they actually dont know he is up
there. With the use of mise en scene
you can see the visial codes with
this shot, this shot looks dull
but the tree acts as a bright
and happy time that abouts to
occur.

This shot shows how happy

the little girl is that she has
received a telescope for
Christmas. This tells the
audience that the girl is very
caring because she wants to
communicate with the old man. The
wide shot allows the audience to see
what the environment is in. They have
used warm lighting to show its a happy
day and everyone is loved. The only
binary opposites shown in this scene is
the mother and daughter.

The main and most memorable

scene of the advert is the 2 shots
of the old man and little girl
looking at each other through their
telescopes. The first shot shows a
long shot of the old man looking
through his telescope, they have
used a wide shot to show the
length of the telescope as well as
showing that he is standing up,
this shows happiness and triumph.
The little girl has used balloons to
send the telescope and these act
as a visual code because they
stand out against the dull and boring
moon and represent life and hope.
Increasing the Christmas spirit.

This shot is an extreme close and also

and point of view shot. This allows the
audience to see what the little girl is
seeing. The lift in the mans upper cheek suggests that he is
overwhelmed, this is also seen in his eyes as they are watering, but not
because he is sad but he is happy. Because the shot is rounded it
forces the audience to focus on just his eye and we really get an
understanding of how he may be feeling, as well as making the
audience feel the same. Only the corner of his face is lit up due to the
closeness of the camera and the light could represent the earth and
happiness that is right in front of him.
The final shot displays their slogan show someone theyre loved this
Christmas. The production team have chosen to use a long shot to
show the balloons which show that someone has communicated with
him, the old man waving at earth shows happiness and that he isnt
alone and as well as the binary oppsites of the moon and earths
surface.