Advert - Evolve

1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

In my group I have Mollie, James, Luke and Ryan. On day one of playing we discussed out strengths and weaknesses in order to give each member of the group something that they could be involved in and do that would benefit the group as well as ensure a good quality production. Luke came up with a concept that gave the group an opportunity to bounce ideas of one another as well as give a say in how they thought the advert should go which resulted to the final product.   

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?

We sat down as a group and talked through ideas of what our product should look like in order to hit our target audience. We then talked about what 12/13-year-old boys like are interested in so we could reach as many people in that demographic as much as possible. Once we had formed a list we then talked about a range of different scene options and how we wanted them to transition from one another. We then decided which scenes we wanted as well as the order we wanted them to be in. We wrote down a timeline for both the video and when we would film each scene. From that we then had our filming schedule sorted, this allowed the group to know where to be, at what time with the correct outfits/props.

3) What theorists do you think you could apply to your task?

You could George Gerbner's Cultivation theory as we had the product in several scenes which could be related to Gerbner's idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world around them. Stuart Hall's Reception Theory could also be applied as there could be different audience views from this advert. For example, the preferred reading would be that by using this product will mean you will be popular and successful in everything you do. The opposition reading would be that this spray won't make you more successful as it’s just a spray and the negotiated reading would be that the spray can make you more confident but it’s you who makes yourself successful.

4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

One of the factors that we had to take into consideration when planning was who we wanted/ needed the product to appeal to (in this case pre-teen boys). This was a crucial part of the planning as if we didn't make it appeal to pre-teen boys then we wouldn't have hit our target audience or stuck to the task brief. We also need to consider when planning if we needed any extras as this meant asking people from the younger years to help out in their space time - which we ended up needing to do.

5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well and with hindsight what would you improve/do differently?

Our sequence went very well. We kept on track, filmed everything in time giving us 2 days to edit and we even got to make a longer and shorter edits. Each scene played out how we have planned and wanted with hardly no problems. We got the advert within the time restriction which that we were always able to meet all of our brief. In hindsight, there were only 2 problems we faced as a group which we overcame but we could have done better. One of these problems was finding extras. We lucky found some people from the younger years to help out but as our target audience was younger than our ages we had to rely on other people. Thankfully, we were able to fill all the roles and worked round it but it was a stressful process that we had to arrange a couple of hours before hand. The second problem we had happened during editing. We faced problems when it came to transitioning from the younger boy to the older boy. We hadn't lined the two characters up exactly and we had to use practice footage as the final footage as we didn't have a front shot to transition into the older boy. Again, we got way with this but it could have worked better or worse case scenario not been able to have a transition. 

6) What did others say about your production?

Other people like our ideas and concept. They commented on the story line of the boy feeling older after using the product. People commented on the song as well how the advert came together in regards to editing and transitions.

7) What have you learnt from completing this task?

From this task I have learnt how important planning is in order to be on scheduled and get everything done on time. In addition to this, during this task I learnt how to create an advert and how important it is to have the decided story conveyed to the audience. This task has taught me how to sell a product through camera angles and product placement in a scene. I have also learnt how to work to a deadline as well as editing to a required time limit.

8) Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your future productions?

This will help future productions as I now know how to plan effectively and keep on scheduled. I also know how to put a piece of recording with music. During this project I also learnt the importance of product placement which will help with future productions as I will be able to place the product in the more effective place.