Client Feedback

 

 

 

 

Client Comments:

"Expanding on Question 5, the only reason I would not be likely to hire you for another promotional video is because of the lack of more effective communication. I would than have been able to give more effective feedback as to the changes I would have liked. As well as this there should be more footage of a variety of students. However the editing of the final piece and the footage used is excellent. Some shot types, camera and lighting techniques are lower in quality than others, however the message of how productive and fun the trip was comes across and this was the main aim. The footage used from the flamenco show, interviews with students and footage from the galleries are great examples of this. The editing and pace of the video shows the relaxed and creative vibe enjoyed in Madrid. Overall I am very satisfied with your final production, well done."

Evaluation

For the promotional video unit, I decided to make a video for the Creative Arts department of my college. As I was already going on the departments student trip to Madrid, I had the fortunate opportunity to shoot footage while there for the promotion of the departments future trips abroad. I was set with the task of creating a video that would primarily highlight how productive and fun the trip was for the students in regards to educational and personal experiences. Prior to creating my own promotional video, I studied videos of this kind, looking at their different forms and conventions. Upon producing a promotional video for my client, I faced a variety of potential problems such as those to our health and safety and having to stick to a college mandated daily schedule and curfew.

While shooting in Madrid, I kept my shot list on me to remind myself what shots I had explicitly desired and discussed with my client. You may notice however that some shots are noted as "sequences" as due to not having the opportunity to location scout in Madrid beforehand, I would likely take many unexpected shots of the city while on the trip that I could incorporate into montages of some sort. The trip itself took place over the course of three days which meant that I had a brief window of opportunity to capture all of my footage. While filming the flamenco show, I had a limited perspective upon which I could record the show. Unfortunately I was unable to take the college's zoom lens with me on the trip as it was currently being used by another student in preparation for their exam. In order to capture close up footage of the show, as seen in my final video, I asked to borrow a fellow students personal zoom lens to which they kindly allowed.

When it came to choosing royalty free music to play in the background of my video, I decided upon a guitar cover of Grimes' "Oblivion" by Montreal artist Matt LeGroulx. Making sure the music I decided upon was royalty free was essential to my client as there was no budget for music licensing for use in the video. Editing to this music was particularly challenging due to its slow paced and relaxed nature. While doing so, I quickly realised that the video was going to be primarily video footage instead of stills as the stills seemed to be too jarring with the pace of the music and the spacing between the synth notes was too long to hold on one still frame. Two weeks after returning from the trip, I presented my client with the first draft of my video. After watching the video through a couple of times with my client I had received multiple comments. The first comment mentioned was that the interview with Amber and Louise needed to feature sooner along in the video. I agreed with my client on this matter and hence later made an adjustment so that it would appear within the first minute or so of footage. I felt that having the interview feature sooner in the video would better establish a student perspective of the trip that would affect how the audience viewed the remainder of the video. Trying to establish this student perspective was imperative to my client as they believed the endorsement of such would better sell the trip. I believe that the interview combined with their engagement with the activities conveys an authentic positive and beneficial experience. 

More student engagement with the activities on the trip was also another comment made by client. While reviewing my footage I had also realised that I had perhaps not shot enough footage of students engaging with activities such as taking photographs or discussing some of the artwork with one another. Fortunately however, I was able to use some personal footage shot by Louise (of whom also featured in my interview) which included shots of her and other students engaging in different activities. In order to appeal to the parents/guardians of students that would most likely want to see the educational benefits of the trip, I made sure the interview included the students talking about how the trip has helped their studies. This was one aspect of the interview of which my client was particularly pleased with. Nonetheless, if I were to add an addition to my final video it would have been some footage of their post-trip work to prove their claims of how the trip influenced their work and thus improved upon it. I did not include the footage in the end as I had ran out of time to further edit it into my video and I do believe this may affect the perceived authenticity of their claims. Overall I consider my organisation skills to be the key cause of my problems experienced while creating the video. Despite this, I agree with my client that my video is effective and useful as it meets the primary brief of 'highlighting the creative arts faculty and the student engagement in the trip'.

Release Forms

The students and faculty of my college, King Edward VI College, of whom a few feature in my promotional video, have all signed releases at enrolment that will allow the college to use their images for promotional purposes such as this. Hence there was no need to require additional release forms.

Promotional Video

Client Liaison

Client liaison

Initial Client Questionnaire
To better understand the needs of my client and create a suitable promotional video, I gave her a promotional video questionnaire of which resulted in the following information:

Contact details:

Client Name: Jaskirt Boora
Job Title: Teacher of Film, Media and Photography
Email: jaskirt.boora@kecnuneaton.ac.uk
Contact Number: +442476328231
Company Name: King Edward VI College

Purpose:
A promotional video that should highlight the creative arts faculty and the student engagement in the trip. Should also show students endorsing the trip.

Target audience:
Potentially interested and currently eligible students (16-19yrs)
Future students.
Parents/guardians of both.

Pre-production:
The clients' needs prior to the production:

• Desired shot list showing a variety of shots to convey the message.

Production process:
The following areas of production were essential content requirements of the client:

• Student interviews about the trip (at least 2 interviews) with good quality sound showing there unique experiences on the trip.
• Film visits to the galleries.
• Film other activities the students participate in during the trip.
• An honest portrayal of the trip abroad from a student perspective.
• Students happy and smiling.
• Students filming, taking photographs or drawing in Madrid, to demonstrate them working on location and the impact of the trip to their work.
• Some stock footage of Madrid street scenes and landscapes. Creative shots of the main locations visited in Madrid.

Style:
Relaxed, fun, interesting, educational and informative.

Budget:
Expenses of trip such as travel and accommodation pre-paid for by myself.

Post-production (editing):
The following is required by the client for the project:

• Editing
• Royalty Free Music (Preferably one that best suits the desired style and uniqueness of the experience)
• Titles (interviewed students' names and the activities of the trip e.g Museum name etc.).

Delivery:
Web File Format (preferably .avi) to be given to the marketing team.

Deadline:
First edit to be completed and viewed for Wednesday 24th February 2016.

Video duration:
The video should be between 90seconds and 3minutes long.

Audience needs:
It should demonstrate how enriching and rewarding trips abroad are for students and the multiple activities that take place.
Details about upcoming trips.

After making an initial draft video I discussed it with my client and received the following comments:

• Interviews needs to come along sooner in the video.
• Flamenco sequence should be shorter and less abrupt.
• College logo and font should be incorporated throughout.
• Some shots are of lower quality than others and should be replaced where possible.
• More activities of the trip should be included.
• More variety of students portrayed engaging in activities.
• Some shots need to be shortened in length.
• The music should be quieter during the student interviews and perhaps should be included during the flamenco show sequence.

 

Health & Safety

Health & Safety:

Prior to shooting in Madrid I had to ensure that I had considered all of the potential risks to my own and others health & safety during production. When it came to shooting in privately owned places such as the museums or flamenco show, I had to ask if I had the permission to record on their premises and to use my footage of their staff for promotional purposes. The following risks to our health & safety were considered:

1. Equipment: When setting up our interview with Amber and Louise, we ensured that the wires to our camera and microphone equipment were positioned out of anyone's way as to not cause a trip hazard and damage to the equipment.
2. Weather: Fortunately the weather caused no damage to our equipment while filming. However, we had to stop filming a couple of times due to rain. In retrospect it would have been a good idea to perhaps invest in some waterproof protection for our equipment as this did take away some of our time. The weather while recording our interview was unexpectedly delightful and even helped improve its value.
3. Location aspects: The streets of Madrid were of a maze-like layout and it can be easy to loose your bearings when unfamiliar to the place. To combat this potential nightmare I carried a map of Madrid with pinpointed positions of our hotel. We were also given the work phone numbers of our teachers on the trip if we ever needed their assistance. The iconic cobbled streets of Madrid posed a trip hazard while filming so it was essential for us to keep our equipment zipped up in our travel bags to prevent damage.
4. Members of the public: My fellow HNC students and I were carrying around very expensive equipment for the majority of the trip, this posed an obvious potential theft risk that could've even resulted in possible physical altercations. We were reminded of pickpockets as we landed and thus took precaution. While we were not using the equipment such as a camera for example, we would keep it closed away in our bags and have them strapped over our chest for added security. I also tried to avoid filming any members of the public in particular without their explicit consent to do so.

Shooting Plan

Potential Shooting Locations:
On the trip we are currently scheduled to visit the following potential shooting locations:

• Centro Centro
• The Beuen Retiro Park
• Casa Patas (Flamenco show)
• Mercado de San Miguel
• Museo Reina Sofía - Camera access is restricted to only certain areas of this museum, none-the-less I should be able to capture some useful footage of its stunning architecture.
• Cibeles Palace (Madrid City Hall)

Equipment
I have decided to take the following equipment with me to shoot in Madrid:

• Canon 650D
• Camera battery charger
• Zoom lens
• Shotgun microphone
• SanDisk card and backup
• Tripod

'Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial' Analysis

The Apple Super Bowl commercial for the introduction of the Macintosh computer is widely regarded as one of the most effective and iconic commercials of all time. In this post I will be analysing the videos components in order to ascertain as to why exactly the commercial has been so successful.

First of all we must consider the apparent higher than usual production value of the advert. In 2005 writer Ted Friedman said the commercial had a then-"unheard-of production budget of $900,000." The commercial was also directed by now legendary film director Ridley Scott. Scott's involvement in the production is evident in the commercials cinematic quality that made it unique at the time.

The anti-establishment and big brother society message of the commercial significantly helps to engage the audiences attention. Its the classic narrative of the underdog rising up to fight the power. Apple here is portraying itself as the underdog to the then computer giant IBM. The commercial also has a mysteries quality to it by never actually showcasing the product it is advertising but instead implying how it will change the game. By building up this narrative of taking on the perceived evil superpower of IBM and playing on the audiences fear of loss of competition to the computer market, Apple successfully made itself the computer company to root for. All of this is summarised in the iconic and rememberable closing narration of "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 wont be like "1984"". The "1984" here is in reference to George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. 

The commercial is relatively short in length and does not feature much information on the product besides the fact that it will be some sort of 'revolutionary' from Apple Computer. While the personal computer was not necessarily an original idea, Apple has certainly made the most impact to  I believe these decisions were made as to not bore its audience with too much information and to keep an element of curiosity in the audience. The video and company embraces the ideology of "less is more".

The commercial has a surreal quality to it due to the combination of storytelling techniques that helps to liberate the audiences imagination of the possibility of rising up against 'Big Brother'.

Shot List

Promotional Video Planning: Gantt Chart

Wolf Of Wall Street Trailer Analysis

Promotional Videos - Analysis of Codes and Conventions from Lalita Ajit on Vimeo.
Codes and Conventions of The Wolf Of Wall Street trailer

Purpose of the video
Promotional Video; Trailer.

The purpose of this video is to entice the audience into going to watch the movie at a cinema.

Target audience of the video
General public - adults 18 - 49, consumers of cinema.
Fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese and other involved stars etc.
People into excess.

Graphics
Titles included:

• Yellow and Black colour scheme: evocative of the iconic taxi cabs of New York City - this gives a sense of a setting. Black is associated with power, formality, elegance, evil, mystery and death. - All of these are common themes throughout the film. The dingy yellow used is rather repellent and caution, sickness, and jealousy.  It suggests a certain distastefulness and is reflective of the main characters attitude towards his circumstances: joyous, 
• Very bold colours and capital lettering - fits the bold choice of accompanying music.
• Stars names are listed in large font to attract fans of such. - Academy award nominations mentioned - suggest merit of their performances in the film - quality assured, value for money.
• "More, more, more, is never enough" tagline - excess implied; a plot involving the fulfilment of "the Lack" (in Laconian terms).

Narrative

Excess implied; a plot involving the fulfilment of "the Lack" (in Laconian terms).

'Little Brother'

Little Brother from Chris Bradley on Vimeo.

The creation of the sets and characters.

As part of our coursework, fellow HNC Creative Media Production students and I were given the opportunity to animate, write and star in our own short clay animation as part of an outreach project produced by Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery. The film was commissioned as the centre piece of a new exhibition at the gallery based upon the theme of 'protest'. In order for it to be appropriate viewing for any visitor, limitations to what we could create were set. These included this theme of protest, a universal
subject matter and the exclusion of any age-restricting qualities. Over the course of eight three-hour sessions, we created a 5 minute short film regarding our modern surveillance society with the help of filmmaker Chris Bradley of Willowmann Productions.

The development of the narrative.

In our first couple of sessions we had to come up with a story that related to our theme. Later on it quickly became evident that a lot of this time would have been better spent on the production of the sets and filming. As per our shared viewpoint, the film quite clearly expresses an underlying message of anti-govenment mass surveillance. We chose this theme as not only did we feel it was historically relevant to the importance of protest, but that in recent years it has become also very contemporary due to the recent revelations of the bulk collection and surveillance capabilities of GCHQ and National Surveillance Agency of the US. However, upon reviewing the film, I noticed that there was an irony to it being funded by a council branch of the government itself. This became apparent towards the ending of the film, during the end-credit roll in which the museum added the line line 'The views expressed in this film are those of the students and not necessarily those of Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council'. Some of my contributions to the film included; the making of the park scenery, the formation of the tallest antagonist in this scene, creative advise for the story, coming up with lighting setups and animating the dog and duck models.

Prior to working on this project, none of the students had any experience in the production of clay animation. This proposed many challenges. Most significantly, and unsurprisingly, it turned out that the modelling of great-looking clay characters required a particularly high level of attention to detail alongside an understanding of the extraordinary craft involved in clay animation. In order to meet our tight deadline, instead of initially assigning specific filmmaking roles, we all had to take part in the production of the sets and characters. Despite having this limited time-frame which ultimately restricted our potential outcome, I nevertheless enjoyed the process and believe that overall, the film turned out to be much better than anticipated thanks to the combination of all of our aspects of filmmaking coming together in unity via the expert editing of Chris Bradley.

Health & Safety

During the shooting of our example video clips for lighting, shutter speed, aperture etc, numerous steps were taken in advance so that our Health & Safety was ensured.

Before starting a shoot, the location must be checked for potential risks and hazards to the Health and Safety of our film crew/talents. This is important as an injury to these people in a real-world filming scenario can result in a film going over-budget, behind schedule and in rare cases, such as a fatal incident to a director or talent, can result in them to be scrapped entirely. When a potential risk/hazard is identified, they must be evaluated and measures should be set in place to control them.

Potential risks to consider:

• Equipment
• Wheather
• Location aspects
• Crew/talents
• Members of the public

When trying to avoid incidents of injury or damage to our equipment it is important to ensure that all of the filming equipment (e.g: tripod, light fixtures, wires, props, sets, scenary etc) are made aware to the cast, crew and the public prior to shooting. This can be succesfully achieved via the following methods:

• Health and Safety notices should be posted around the shoot.
• A prepared safety plan given to all personal. This will cover all of the risks, how to avoid them and what to do if they nonetheless take place.
• Wires tucked away (taped down) so that they're no-longer trip hazards.
• Light fixtures in the studio/workspace should be switched off via the mains whilst not in use to avoid over-heating. They should be left to cool before use again.
• A clean and tidy workspace.
• Camera operator spotter.
• No food and beverages (or anything that may cause damage) near the equipment.
• Crew/talents are trained to use and handle the equipment safely before doing so.
• Equipment must be safely stored when not in use.