MESSAGES AND PERSUASION IN VERBAL AND VISUAL SIGNS OF

WORLD VISION’S ZAMBIA PROJECT CAMPAIGN VIDEO

By

Made Yuana Arya Putry

English Department, Faculty of Letters and Culture

Udayana University

Abstract

Penelitian ini berjudul "Messages and Persuasion in Verbal and Visual Signs of World Vision’s Zambia Project Campaign Video". Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis pesan dan mode persuasi yang tekandung dalam tanda verbal dan tanda visual. Data yang dipergunakan untuk penelitian ini diambil dari sebuah video kampanye yang berjudul: "World Vision Water - Meet Violet and the Other Children of the Zambia Project - World Vision". Analisis dalam penelitian ini menggunakan teori tentang tanda oleh Saussure, teori tentang elemen-elemen komunikasi visual oleh Dyer, serta teori tentang gaya persuasi oleh Aristoteles. Dalam penelitian ini ditemukan pesan dalam tanda lisan dan tanda visual bahwa pembuat video mengajak masyarakat untuk turut serta membantu mengatasi krisis air bersih yang melanda masyarakat Zambia. Selain itu, ketiga gaya persuasi yang dirumuskan oleh Aristoteles (etos, patos, logos) juga ditemukan tercermin dalam tanda lisan dan tanda visual.

Kata kunci: tanda lisan, tanda visual, persuasi, pesan, video kampanye.

  • 1.    Background

There is some kind of intention or desirable effect which is intended to be fulfilled in every usage of signs. Related to the fact, relaying a persuasion is one of the most common intentions in application of sign. However, the persuasion which messages contain are intended to be relayed toward the audience. In this case, the signs reflect these both aspects (persuasion and its messages). In general, the verbal and visual signs can collaborate and support each other in relaying meaning. This collaboration can be found in various things such as in

comic books, magazines, newspapers, televisions, videos, etc. Among them, video is able to provide both verbal and visual signs at the same time. Based on these facts, this study is analyzing the messages and the modes of persuasion reflected by verbal and visual signs using a social campaign video entitled "World Vision Water - Meet Violet and the Other Children of the Zambia Project - World Vision" as data source.

  • 2.    Problems of the Study

Based on the background above, problems of this study are limited to:

  • 1.    What messages are conveyed by verbal and visual signs reflected in World Vision's Zambia Project video?

  • 2.    What kinds of modes of persuasion are found in verbal and visual signs reflected by World Vision's Zambia Project video?

  • 3.    Aims of the Study

The goals of this study are related to the formulated problems above. Therefore, aims of this study can be seen as follows:

  • 1.    To find out the messages of verbal visual signs reflected in the World Vision's Zambia Project video.

  • 2.    To identify the modes of persuasion in verbal and visual signs reflected by the World Vision's Zambia Project video.

  • 4.    Research Method

Research method of this study was divided into three: data source, method and technique of collecting data and also method and technique of analyzing data.

  • 4.1.    Data source

The primary data source for this study was taken from a campaign video of World Vision's water project in Zambia. The video of the project, which was called 'Zambia Project', is entitled: “World Vision Water - Meet Violet and the Other Children of the Zambia Project”. This video was chosen as the data source because it provided verbal and visual signs as well as persuasion which were

needed by this study. Meanwhile, the secondary data source of this study was the official internet page of the organization which was available at: www.worldvision.org.

  • 4.2.    Method and technique of collecting data

The data for this study were collected using the documentary method. The data were collected using documentation method. Further, it was also supported by several techniques: watching, note taking, listing and shorting. In detail, the steps taken for this study were; firstly the World Vision's Zambia Project video was watched repeatedly. After that, note taking was conducted of the text of the video. Next, the texts found were sorted according to the speaker of the utterance. Meanwhile, concerning to the verbal sign, the scenes of the World Vision's Zambia Project video were captured. Then, the visual elements of the scenes were identified. Furthermore, the note taking was then conducted toward the elements of the visual aspects before sorting it according to the theory by Dyer. Continually, the video was watched once again to identify the modes of persuasion used. After that, the note of the verbal and visual signs were checked to find the elements which reflecting modes of persuasion of the video.

  • 4.3.    Method and technique of analyzing data

This study used descriptive qualitative method. The descriptive qualitative method was used by giving detailed explanation in words by taking qualitative research data which did not involve measurement or statistics. Related to the first problem of this study, the theory by Saussure about sign was used in the analysis of the verbal aspect (verbal sign). Meanwhile, the visual aspect of the video was explained using the theory of Dyer about the principle of non-verbal communication for advertisements featuring human subject and other the visual elements in advertisements. Further, the analysis of the persuasion of the video was conducted by using the theory of Aristotle about the modes of persuasion and the theory of persuasive language by Huggard, Keaney and Breuer to answer the second question of this study.

  • 5.    Result and Discussion

Data :

Character (Ethos)

Sign

Type of Sign

Children

Picture of children in the scenes

Visual Sign

Narrator

Spoken narration and its subtitle

Verbal Sign

World Vision

Logo of World Vision Organization

Visual Sign

Ethos as a mode of persuasion refers to using the character, personality of the individual to deliver persuasion. In the other words, thus, that are used as the appeal of the persuasion. Aristotle once gave example of the use of this technique by mentioning that people will believe that a good person e.g. has good personality traits, is well prepared, more than the others (Aristotle in Roberts, 2010).

Analysis:

In this case, there were a number of people who took turns to tell their story or narration. Herein, the character that appeared in the video could be divided into three; World Vision Organization, the narrator, and the children of Zambia. Even though the audiences tend to not realizing this fact, nevertheless, these characters became the appealing point of the video. World vision organization, in one side, is an organization which did not appeared as a real person. It was represented by the logo of the organization (visual sign) of the video. Nevertheless, as a social based organization, World Vision had launched various charity projects and events which attempted to help people, especially children, around the world. Hence, it could be regarded as trustworthy, dependable, and strong enough to conduct the charitable activity. Herein, the organization delivered the organization's idea in form of text which appeared at the beginning and ending of the video.

The children as ethos appeared as they told the story of Zambia water crisis from the point of view of the native people. It meant that what they were talking about was based on their experiences. Therefore, their speeches could be more trustable hence it could be more persuading for the audience. Besides, the fact that they were too young to do the hard work (fetching water) instead of receiving education was another persuading point of their character to gain people's interest to help them.

The narrator, on the other hand, was quite similar with the children of Zambia. It was because she narrated the video from the point of view of a native as she said in her narration as follows:

"Zambia is my home, and I know how deeply it is hurting. Everyday more than 1,600 children under the age of five die from diarrhea caused by unsafe drinking water. That’s more than aids and malaria combined."

Even though the narrator was only appeared in form of voice, however, her narration in which she said that Zambia was her home showed her identity as a Zambian. Concerned to this fact, her character could be said to have decent understanding toward the condition of Zambia as she watched it in her daily life. Hence, the character of the narrator could lure the audience to be persuaded.

  • 6.    Conclusion

In this chapter, the result of the analysis of messages and modes of persuasion of World Vision's Zambia Project Campaign video is served as follows.

Related to the analysis of messages, both verbal and visual signs of the video were found to be referring to the poor condition of the Zambian people, especially the children (young generation). Meanwhile, the visual aspects (visual signs) was found to be supporting the narration, speeches, or text (verbal signs) which appeared together with them. The message of the verbal and visual signs of the video in conclusion is that the Zambian people need help from people all over

the world to rescue them from the crisis of clean water access. The crisis is affecting their life in various aspects: from the health to other daily activities. Even worse, the young generation of Zambia was in danger of losing their opportunity to receive education because of the complications resulting from the crisis. Related to the fact, World Vision (the organization which launched the video) was inviting the audience to join them in the effort to providing clean water accesses for the Zambian people.

Meanwhile, in the discussion of persuasion found in the video, all three modes of persuasions were reflected by the verbal and visual signs. The ethos, firstly, was reflected by the narration which revealed the identity of the speaker and the logo of organization. Meanwhile, the pathos was showed by the narrations which contained by emotional appeal and the real condition of Zambian people that appeared in the video. However, logos was reflected by the self-proving in narration and the visual elements which evidently supporting the narration (as well as the speeches of the Zambian children).

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