Week 8 - Deconstruction of an Alcohol Advertisement

I decided to deconstruct an Alcohol Advertisement for two reasons one I enjoy the product that I focused on and two I simply love they're branding style.I decided to deconstruct the Woodford brand,  in particular Woodford Reserve Bourbon: The Good Stuff, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51tG-HHTWo8. I have been drinking Woodford for some time now and find it to be a great bourbon for me personally in addition I have really become drawn to their style of branding. The varied shots and the lack of or minimal voiceover; imagery rules the sell. The bourbon itself is contained in a sleek wide-bodied bottle; it looks different and slightly modern. Throughout the ad clips of individuals holding glasses with the deep honey colored liquid are shown along with individuals carrying the bottle while walking. It is prominent without requiring words to be noticed, it’s in every shot yet does not require a bottle or a label to be recognized. The ad is warm, it feels communal, yet it seems to be geared toward those who enjoy the finer things, those who do not wait or save the best; they simply just enjoy it in the here and now.
I did find a correlation while deconstructing the clip and the reading, initially I was drawn to the use of the imagery, the varied shots, textures, natural lighting, the pull of focus and DOF. I loved how they "sold" the products story without a voiceover, it felt very photojournalistic and borderline documentary.  This made me instantly think about the definition of "Real" described by Kress and Leeuwin as, "it represents more specific information (e.g. details), more 'down-to-earth' information (e.g. photographs as documentary evidence, or maps or charts), or more practical information" (Kress/Leeuwen, p. 187). The style of Woodfords branding is very 'down to earth" it feels simple and almost practical yet fun, carefree, light and in some ways cozy but it also feels clean, rich and mature all of which could be appealing to both sexes. Additionally I found a connection in terms of rhythm, and the way that the clips are framed and timed out by the beat. Segmented yet a perfect fit, according to Kress and Leeuwen,"The third key element in composition is framing. In temporally integrated texts framing is again, brought about by rhythm. From time to time the ongoing equal-timed cycles of rhythm are momentarily interrupted by a pause, a rallentando, a change of gait, and these junctures mark off distinct units, disconnect stretches of speech or music or movement from each other to a greater or lesser degree" ((Kress/Leeuwen, p. 203). I believe they nailed they nailed this key element of composition, the imagery literally beats with the rhythm. 

Kress, Gunther & van Leeuwen, Theo (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge.