How Different Criteria Affects Public Service Announcements
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How Different Criteria Affects Public Service Announcements
Dillen Render
Humanities and Social Sciences Dept.: Grand Canyon University
ENG-105: English Composition 1
November 5, 2023
Professor Eric Luthi
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How Different Criteria Affects Public Service Announcements
The PSA, “Empty Seat” by
Dan Gvozden was created to bring awareness towards the
growing rate of teen suicide in there community. In the film, different criterions were used to
keep its audience engaged and intrigued. Criterions like music, a message, and the setting, can all
impact an overall PSA in either a positive or negative way. When making a PSA, it’s important to
note that one unpleasant criterion can affect the rest of the PSA. Specifics for criterions will
always change depending on the film, so knowing the intended audience is always advised.
Music
Music is very impactful in PSA’s, as it helps engage the audience, attracts different
emotions, and even helps the audience remember the message. Particularly in school PSA’s,
music helps connect to students striving to share a message or address a problem. Peralta (2023)
believes the following:
“Scientists have shown that to process music in our minds, we use the same parts of our
brain as we use for memory and emotion. That’s why simply hearing a specific song or
note can make you feel a certain way.”
In other words, the author is indicating that in order for a PSA to be successful or memorable,
music has to be presented. By attaching music with a public service announcement, it ensures
that the audience is more prone to connecting with the PSA and remembering the message being
presented. Peralta states, “Another study shows that music in film is associated with long-term
memory encoding” (Peralta, 2023). In other words, when music is employed to propel the action
in a film, it can help viewers remember the story longer.
In the PSA “Empty Seat”, the music being played was suspenseful but effortless. A piano
was the only instrument being played but changed tempo’s about every other scene. During the
cheerful and exciting moments, the tempo was fast paced. On the other hand, during sad times
like the funeral and birthday celebration, the piano play suddenly stopped. For this PSA in
particular, the music did affect the overall quality. The changing in tempos helped the audience
perceive the different emotions the creator was trying to establish. Throughout the PSA, the
music play assisted in feeling the atmosphere of the scenes.
Setting
The location of a PSA is crucial, especially if the creator wants the audience to feel some
type of relation with their piece of information. In school PSA’s, most settings take place where
the majority of students would be like classrooms, gyms, and play areas; therefore, students feel
a connection with the message. Russell with RaffertyWeiss Media states, “
People are more
inclined to care about a cause and act if they see how it personally affects them or their
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community” (Russell, 2023). Giving an audience an exact setting, helps them not only act on a
problem, but it also rapidly tells them the situation or mood of the message being shared. The
Education of Moving Images believes that, “
It can help the audience to understand the actions
and emotional lives of the characters in the story” (MIE, n.d). Presenting the viewers with a
relatable location for every scene, directly gives the audience a relationship with the PSA.
In this PSA, the different locations changed quite frequently, giving the audience a new
perspective every so often. Most settings took place at a high school, to give viewers a feeling of
what it’s like to be in school. Different scenes ranged from gyms, classrooms, football fields, and
even cafeterias. Some locations even indicated specific events. The cemetery indicated that the
main character died, which resulted in everyone coming and noticing him once he was already
diseased. Additionally in the majority of the film, most scenes had a missing person, designated
to show people’s conscience of the main character’s presence once he was gone. The different
scenarios did indeed assist in demonstrating what are the consequences of not acting on the signs
of suicide.
Message
An overall message is powerful as it can help the creator of the PSA, communicate to
their target audience. In school PSA’s, an overall message is intended to spread awareness about
a certain issue or problem. According to (SendPulse, 2023):
“
Its goal is to convince people to perform a certain action, such as registering,
purchasing something, or making a reservation.”
This quote demonstrates how efficient a PSA can be, if a strong message goes along with it.
However, creating a precise and straight forward message is recommended. Gunelius,
CEO of
KeySplash Creative Inc (2017) emphasizes that:
“
Research has found that people have an
attention span of just eight seconds
, so you
don't have much time to get your message across to your audience. It's even worse for younger
audiences
.”
Pertaining to school PSA’s, taking note of this quote is important, knowing that the majority of
your intended audience will be students in school. While the overall message of a PSA can
benefit the effectiveness exceptionally, it can also destroy the entire announcement if it is not
clear, precise, and engaging.
The overall message in the PSA, “Empty Seat” was informative but prolonged. Although
the message was encouraging and motivating, it was revealed towards the end of the video. A
unclear and lengthy message is proven to disengage its audience, which this PSA clearly did. For
example the beginning starts off extremely slow, with little to no movement matched with no
speaking or words explaining what’s occurring. At the end once the message was revealed, it was
descriptive and provided useful information. It not only supplied it’s audience with useful
information on the consequences of someone committing suicide, it also gave ways to prevent it.
One PSA that was relatively the same as the previous announcement is “
Signs' Suicide
Prevention.” Although this PSA’s message was slightly different, they both shared some
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similarities like music play, call to action, and locations. Both films were recorded at a
highschool, to give the viewer a closer perspective. Additionally, both videos began with no
speaking and solely played a piano. However as this PSA progressed, additional instruments
were added to create a song. This may benefit this PSA, as it is proven that adding music to a
PSA/commercial increases the chances of its audience remembering the message trying to be
shared
(Peralta, 2023).
Ultimately, both PSA’s shared some detailed information to give its
audience a clear and precise message.
Conclusion
Criterias to evaluate PSA’s are used to analyze different films and there are many others
to choose from. The criteria, music, message, and setting were selected because when trying to
grasp an audience, these are most important. When creating a PSA, it is advised to know your
audience; therefore, your criteria is consistent and connected. Lastly, keeping the audience
engaged should be the first priority. Adding elements like humor or fear can help because it’s
different and keeps viewers interested. Ultimately, there are plenty more criteria that’s primary
goal is to share a message and keep viewers as engaged as possible.
References
5
Peralta, L. (2023, September 25).
The relationship between music and advertising
. Save The
Music Foundation.
https://www.savethemusic.org/blog/research/the-relationship-between-music-
and-advertising/
Russell, J. (2023, June 20).
4 PSA examples: Why public service announcements do & don’t
work
. RaffertyWeiss Media.
https://raffertyweiss.com/why-psas-work-and-why-they-dont/
Home
. SendPulse. (2023, March 21).
https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/advertising-
message#:~:text=An%20advertising%20message%20is%20an,something%2C%20or
%20making%20a%20reservation.
Gunelius, S. (2017, August 21).
5 ways words can destroy your marketing messages (and how
to fix them)
. Entrepreneur.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/5-ways-words-
can-destroy-your-marketing-messages-and-how/298766
Setting
. Setting | Moving Image Education. (n.d.).
https://movingimageeducation.org/analyse-
film/3cs-3ss/setting#:~:text=Settings%20can%20quickly%20establish%20a,main%20setting
%20and%20minor%20settings.
https://youtu.be/OT8lw1Rl-WM?si=U8Va4ARcQvulbMrS
https://youtu.be/IAJjkyfkR64?si=B7xH0orxPS81YgfM