[0:01-0:04]
Scene – Red background with red blood cells, white ovals, and blue Y-shaped things in it, and a blackboard with green lines on it, woman in blue wearing a headset and baseball cap, talking and turning her head, blue shoulders on either side of her.
Analysis – The background implies that this scene is taking place inside a body, the woman appears to be in charge of a meeting, her attire is that of a coach. All of this together so far gives the impression that they are a team of athletes preparing for practice or a game inside a body.
[0:05-0:06]
Scene – Pale blue lockers in background, red background to the right of the lockers, nervous guy in blue outfit that has a gold badge on the front saying antibodies, to the right of him a person in a blue jacket with the same badge on its sleeve
Analysis – The lockers imply that is the changing area and that the team is called the ANTIBODIES. All of this together still gives the impression that they are a team of athletes preparing for practice or a game inside a body.
[0:07]
Scene – Red background with red blood cells, white ovals, and blue Y-shaped things in it, and more of the blackboard with different colored lines on it is showing, two people in it a woman who is closer to the camera and a man further back to the left. The positioning of everything suggests that people in it are to the right of the woman in blue wearing a headset and baseball cap.
Analysis – The positioning of everything in this is making me reconsider if my first impression of what is going is wrong because it is clear now none of the people in the ad so far are actually looking at the blackboard where the plays would be located. This might be a work meeting at the start of the workday instead.
[0:08]
Scene – Goes back to the woman wearing a headset and baseball cap talking at a different angle that shows part of the face of the person to the left of her and less of the blackboard to the right.
Analysis – This scene does not appear to visually add anything important to the ad.
[0:09-0:11]
Scene – Zooms out from a yellow band aid to show the whole person, his surroundings, and a caption with his name, Anthony at an angle. Anthony is wearing a button-down t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and is reading a book, beside him on the bench he is relaxing on is a green bottle and a white pair of headsets, on the ground in front of the bench rests his backpack. His surroundings are a bunch of benches along a path, shrubby and a fence behind the benches and people on the benches away from him.
Analysis – Outside the possibility that Anthony’s body is where the meeting is taking place, this does not really match up with what has been seen so far. However, based on Anthoy’s location, I don’t think the meeting is a work meeting at the start of the workday because it appears to be the middle of the day. Also, Anthony appears to be in good health.
[0:12-0:15]
Scene – Same area as in previous scene, except it is showing the front view and is focused in on the bench Anthony is on and has a circle to the right of him showing various people. The first person is the woman wearing a headset and baseball cap as she is talking then switches to the nervous guy who is taking a deep breath in, then shows a guy who is excited, but Anthony is not reacting to any of them. Also, the camera is slowly zooming in on Anthony.
Analysis – I think the point of this scene is to reinforce the connection between the meeting and Anthony. Also, I think based on how the people being shown in the circle are acting, the meeting is coming to an end, and they are going to get started on whatever they are doing. Based on evidence from the previous scenes coupled with the facial expressions that the people in the circle, I feel confident in my impression that the meeting appears to be of a team of athletes, rather than a work meeting.
[0:16]
Scene – Same area as in previous scene slowly zooming in on Anthony, except it switches to having the circle with a different person at the meeting looking at something not visible and the circle expanding until it covers the whole screen. At this point it is clear they are looking at one of the lockers located near the meeting and is going to open it.
Analysis – This implies that the meeting is now over and they going to get ready for what is going to happen in the body next.
[0:17-0:19]
Scene – The people are putting on gear, a yellow helmet that says FLU SHOT on the front and a yellow piece of foam that has a hole for the head and is V-shaped on both sides and also says FLU SHOT on the front.
Analysis – The appearance of a different name on the equipment they are putting on raises the question of what the team is supposed to be called because the ANTIBODIES badge is more colorful and more in line with what a team logo usually like but is entirely covered up by the vest like piece of foam.
[0:20]
Scene – Goes to the woman wearing a headset and baseball cap as she is talking, there are two people fully geared up on either of her at the edges of the view, but the one on the right gets cut off as the camera moves slightly towards the woman wearing a headset and baseball cap.
Analysis – The scene gives the impression that the woman is giving a last-minute pep talk to her team.
[0:21-0:30]
Scene – Members of the team in their full gear are shown celebrating with the words “DEFEND AGAINST THE FLU GEAR UP WITH A FLU SHOT” superimposed over them in bold white letters.
Analysis – The impression that this scene gives is that getting the flu vaccine is equivalent to winning on game day.
Overview:
A team of athletes are having a meeting to prepare for their game. The ad briefly shows a person relaxing outside with a circle to the right of him that shows different members of the team briefly showing one before switching to a different one. The meeting then ends, and the players put on their gear for the game. The ad ends with the athletes celebrating their victory with words superimposed over them implying that their victory is equivalent to getting a flu shot. Also, the ad implies that the people in it are the antibodies in the body, the game is the body fighting off the flu, the gear they put on represents the aid the flu shot gives antibodies in fighting the flu, and the stadium where the game is being held is the human body.
Analysis of effectiveness of visuals after watching the video with sound:
The visuals are relatively effective by themselves at getting the overall idea of the ad of getting the flu vaccine across by the end of it. However, with sound they get more effectively and quicker then without it. Also, it clarifies why they are showing the person when they do. Another thing that the sound adds is details that were not obvious from visuals alone like the people being a security team which makes more sense than an athletic team like I thought they were.
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
It’s rare that a 4-second scene can be described in so few words, RoboFrog. I’ll read and react to your description first, then look at the video afterwards to see how my predictions compare to the reality of the video.
—Presumably, the very first thing we see is a biological scene such as we might see under a microscope. We are looking at a close magnification of blood and can identify the dimpled dumpling shapes of red blood cells, white ovals which we will assume to be “white blood cells” or leukocytes, and perhaps some invading viral cells. In other words, we’re getting a view of the bloodstream in the act of fighting off a virus.
—Unless you tell me otherwise, I will assume it’s a sober and scientific view.
—I won’t know from looking at it whether I’ve tuned in to a medical drama or a reality show about the pandemic, but I probably won’t expect anything else.
—How the blackboard with green lines figures in I can’t imagine. And I get no sense of how I could be watching both a blackboard and the view from inside a blood vessel at the same time.
—I’m even more confused about how I could be seeing a blackboard, a woman in a headset, and the view from inside a blood vessel all at the same time. What does the scene actually look like?
—Totally mystified. I have no idea what you’re saying.
—Are WE inside the bloodstream, surrounded by red blood cells and a viral invasion?
—Is this a serious (or perhaps a wacky) science fiction drama (or parody) of humans shrunk to the size of molecules to battle an invading virus?
—How do we sense a meeting if there is only one character on screen (the woman in the baseball cap)?
—And, by the way, does the cap represent a baseball team, or is it just a baseball “style” cap, with or without a logo signifying she belongs to some team or other?
—What is “coach attire”?
—In four seconds, are we led to believe that we’re looking at something serious, or something quite fanciful?
—What’s the TONE of the video?
—Do we get any sense of whether it exists to tell a story, make a joke, sell a product?
What I see in the first seconds:
A young woman of indeterminate race is acting out a scene of apparent seriousness but in a broadly comic acting style meant to indicate that she knows her performance will not be taken seriously. Her style is comedic. Her opening facial expression is nicely tuned to be read as “this is supposed to look fierce and determined, but we all know this is just a goof.”
She’s not sweating, which might indicate actual tension; her makeup is intact; hair not frazzled. Her “costume” is gray on gray on gray without obvious insignia, so we can’t tell if she’s supposed to represent a military officer, a postal service supervisor, or the coach of a ladies’ wrestling team, but her headset makes it clear she’s taking orders from superiors or a control room somewhere. She’s also scanning a group of others, also in gray, whose arms and shoulders we can see at the edges of the frame to indicate she’s delivering a message to them. The overall impression is that she’s doing a briefing or a pre-game pep talk, but about what we can’t begin to guess.
The background of the “room” we’re in is a deep glowing red, perhaps a projection on the walls of something organic. Shapes made of brighter reds and pale blues make their way across the background over one of her shoulders. Over the other, we see what could be a computer display divided into vertical sections, like the overhead view of a football field with yardage markers, but instead of players on the field, mysterious green lines like linked staples are clustered on the “field.”
Judging from the video alone, we are not meant to know what’s going on, but the woman is speaking at length, delivering her motivational message to her team, or sharing new information. Presumably, the content of the video is being delivered by the audio track. Muted, we’re just guessing. Toward the end of the third second, the young woman shakes her head rapidly to indicate something unexpected has occurred or is about to happen.
Throughout the whole setup, the tone is still goofy, the set is cheesy, and the costuming is amateurish. This is not a serious drama.
Does that help you understand your responsibility to analyze the Rhetoric of the video, RoboFrog? Messages can be delivered in many styles (just as arguments can be delivered seriously or humorously, academically or colloquially). The point of this assignment is to let us know HOW we know WHAT we know about HOW the creators of the video are delivering their message to us.
Don’t wait for more Feedback to revise your entire post. Use what I’ve shared here to make any revisions you think are helpful. Put the post into Regrade Please or back into Feedback Please, or both, following any significant improvements.