Textual Analysis and description of The Guardian's inspirational Advert featuring Colin Kaepernick

The link to the video:https://youtu.be/-grjIUWKoBA

Description:

The video starts with a circle transition into a close up on a mans face, after which we straight cut into a medium and than a wide shot of the same man trying and failing to ride the railing of a stairway using his skateboard (multiple times). All the while we hear a sort of melancholic music accompanied by Colin Kaepernick's narration in which he states that “If people say your dreams are crazy...”. Here there is a straight cut and we transition into a medium shot of a child with amputated legs performing push ups at a competition, than another straight cut after which we see two teenagers looking at footage of someone surfing on a makeshift screen put together using metal crates. The straight cuts follow with multiple different people facing some kind of challenge being shown (A medium shots of a muslim woman boxer training, an amputee female basketball player, and a young african boy running, than a wide-shot of an older black man winning a race) during all of this the narration continues with “if they laugh at what you think you can do...good, because calling a dream crazy is not an insult. Its a compliment, don't try to be the fastest in your school! Be the fastest ever.” we transition into a medium shot of a young skateboarder after which we see a wide-shot of a video projected on a screen with the same skateboarder on it. The narration continues with “Don't believe that you need to be like anybody...to be a somebody!” and the skateboarder looking at the camera. Than we once again straight cut to a shot of a school gym with there being a video of a young basketball player being projected on the bench which transitions into presumably the same basketball player scoring a point in a professional game years later, than him speaking at a political gathering. Kaepernick stating “Don't become the best basketball player on the planet, become bigger than basketball!”

We see a man with an Afro hair cut (eventually revealed to be Kaepernick himself) turning to face the camera, with the narration stating “Believe in something even if it costs you everything”. This is followed by more clips of famous athletes who have faced challenges in their careers (mostly medium and wide shots however there is a close up on Serena Williams's face). “If you have one hand don't just watch football play it! And if you're a girl from compton become the greatest athlete ever! Yeah, thats more like it.” playing alongside a now inspirational and triumphant music, with the lighting of the clips having transitioned from a night or dusk setting to daylight.

We cut to Kaepernick walking on a street and looking at the camera. This time not narrating but directly saying “So don't ask if you're dreams are crazy...ask if they're crazy enough!” After which we see a nighttime wide, high angle shot of the whole city, with the buildings having projections of challenged athletes on them. The circle transition is reversed with the circle ending up at the top of the I in The Guardian logo.

Meaning and Message:

The message and philosophy behind the advert is pretty blunt and to the point which isn't to its detriment as it is meant to reach a wider demographer and so it would actually be counter productive to need a high level of practice in philosophy or existential intelligence in order to understand it. With the message being about following ones dreams and reaching ones fullest potential, not letting the obstacles in ones path detour them from their ultimate goal. In a way it is a much more simplified version of Friedrich Nietzsche ideal of “the overhuman/superman”. The advert is helped along in its message by the addition of (and focusing on) real life examples of people who have faced and prevailed over the obstacles in the path of their career advancement and reaching their dreams/maximum potential. The music also helps to inspire the viewer with at first starting off with a somber, almost melodramatic melody which eventually transitions (together with the lighting) into a bright and motivational tune which serves to subliminally place the viewer into the same mindset. As the advert is produced by The Guardian and its posted on its youtube channel covering sports other than football (which requires you to go to a separate channel) it primarily focuses on the hurdles that a person with a disability might face in competitive sports. This is a good thing as this is the subject they primarily specialize in and tackling the difficulties in the path of someone who seeks greatness in a less physical career would require more context and nuance than a 1 minute 2 second video advert is capable of delivering.