Lexis/Semantics
In this advertisement narrative for YouTube, the primary audience is those who visit the Eurostar's YouTube channel and are considering using the Eurostar to visit Paris. The purpose of the video is to persuade and advertise, using a conversational, familiar tone to raise ideas of creating stories. The mode of the advertisement is a scripted, multi-modal video with images to enhance its persuasive message.
The key representation of Paris in the video is that it is a desirable place to go, showing that Paris has numerous opportunities and unlimited options. The advertisement also subtly incorporates romance, complementing the subject matter as Paris is regarded as the city of love.
Grammar
The repeated use of second person personal pronouns engages the viewer, positioning the audience as male. This creates a sense of personal connection and engagement with the content, making the viewer feel as if they are part of the story and luring them into making the desire to visit Paris a reality. The immersive effects of the video easily intrigue a young audience, who are the most likely to be viewing adverts like this as they desire to travel to extravagant tourist locations.
The short, simple declarative utterances and the repetition of subjunctive mood and modal auxiliary verbs, such as "maybe," create a sense of ambiguity or uncertainty. This builds suspense and curiosity, drawing the viewer in and encouraging them to continue watching to find a definitive answer.
Discourse/Phonology/Graphology
The ambiguity in the narrative leaves room for curiosity, as humans naturally have a wondrous instinct. The romanticized aspects of Paris shown in the short visual narrative leave the viewer wanting to experience it themselves. However, as the audience is wide, it is likely that many viewers will be unable to do any of the actions mentioned, especially if one lacks high production values.
Many words in the video are stressed, indicated by being in bold, putting emphasis on them. This visually shows tension for the excitement and mystery of the possibilities that can occur and sexual tension, which can happen with the possibility of falling in love in Paris.
Pragmatics
The use of spatial deixis, such as "here" and "there," creates a sense of location and place, helping to ground the narrative in a specific context. This spatial reference point helps to orient the viewer within the narrative, making the storytelling engaging and immersive.
The advertisement encourages viewers to yearn for love and implies that they can find it through a trip to Paris via the Eurostar. However, some people may not be interested in the romantic aspects, and as this narrative showcases a lot of romantic elements, the idea of Paris may not be appealing to them. It also tends to imply the notion of 'finding' love instead of strengthening love, suggesting that single people would find the romantic aspects of Paris more enticing than couples.
