Unit 30 - Advertisement Production For Television
By Kirsty Richardson
At the beginning of this project, we got
given a brief explaining who Mind were and what we were doing. We had to have a
meeting with the client to see what they wanted, research the client and the
subject matter, think and develop possible ideas, pitch our idea, complete pre-production,
shoot the advert and edit it. Throughout the project, I have been keeping a log
of what I did each lesson with Richard and some of Nik's lesson (theory side of
Advertisements).
Research
The first step was to research individually.
Our first task on 6th November 2013 was to complete a hand-out outlining the
different types of research called 'Nature & Purposes of research'. I
learnt a lot from this task, as I had already learnt about Primary and
Secondary research at school, but forgot what they meant, so it was like a
reminder of what they were. I learnt that different types of research were
important to developing ideas. I did this sheet in a lot of detail, but I think
I should've actually picked a good 4 or 5 types of research (e.g. to use the
internet, get interviews, get people to fill out questionnaires etc.) to do
myself. I did 2/3 types of Primary/Secondary research, but I think if I picked
more, overall, I would've had a more solid understanding of the subject. I
wrote in the sheet about how good and useful the types of research were but
didn't actually carry it out myself.
The next day we then researched in a group
and I worked with Jasper. We researched a lot and put a lot of information in
the presentation, but I feel that we could've worked more as a team and helped
each other out more as I felt it was more one sided. One person was doing all
the work and speaking and the other doing nothing. I think in the future I
would try to not be so controlling and give other people in my team a chance to
find information and speak in the presentation, but we were limited on time and
I wanted this piece of work completed so we could move on.
If I was to do something like this again,
I would do a lot more individual research. I completed the crib sheet and the
presentation that everyone had to do, and I also spoke to a couple of people
that have experienced mental health illnesses, but I feel that I could've done
more. I think next time I would create a questionnaire and give it out to a lot
of different people so I would get a wide range of people’s views. I think if I
did more individual research my advert would've turned out better than it did.
I would make sure this would not happen again by not messing around in some
lessons so I could do more work to help me develop my ideas a lot better.
Ideas development
For the Idea Generation part of the
project, I thought of three possible ideas and created a synopsis for each one.
I found it really really hard thinking of three completely different ideas so
that it why some of them are quite similar. It took me a good week to think of
at least 2 ideas and I was still unsure on my 3rd one. I really lacked
inspiration and drive to think of a creative well thought out idea and it was quite
frustrating. I managed to think of three ideas and got my peers to give me
feedback on which they think I should go with. The feedback was the most
important and critical thing for me out of this whole process as I found it
really really useful that I got constructive criticism from people who knew
what they were talking about (as they were doing the same project). To improve
my ideas next time, I would ask a lot of different people not just my peers. If
I am working for a client that is part of a franchise, I think I would ask them
what they thought of my ideas and get in contact so that I had some
professional advice. I think that by doing this would help me develop ideas so
much better and help them become much more original. I was upset as I was listening
to other people's amazing ideas and that probably didn't help me come up with
original ideas both as I was listening to what other people were doing and that
was making me worry even more that my ideas were not good enough. In the end I
didn't give up, came up with three ideas and told them to my peers. They all
picked the one that I liked the most which is good. At least knowing other
people liked the idea that I liked out of the three the most helped too.
In the future to improve, I would get a range
of people’s opinions and type them up so I would be able to look back at what
people said whenever I wanted. The next project I will make sure I do this so
it would help make my idea stronger.
After getting feedback from peers, we
confirmed which idea we were going to pitch and wrote a scene by scene
breakdown explaining what would happen in the advert. I found this quite
difficult. Even though we were already used to writing a scene by scene (music
video), the music video was longer and easier to breakdown. I found a scene by
scene breakdown for something that was 30 seconds a bit annoying at first, as I
didn't know what to write. At that point, I did something that I learnt from
doing the music video scene by scene that helped me. I made a mind map and
wrote every idea that I had for the plot from my head onto paper and then
pieced it all together and made the scene by scene. This helped me so much as I
had different ideas whizzing around in my head, so doing mini drafts in a non-formal
way on a mind map made it a lot easier for me. I think I definitely will
be doing this for every project, or any time I need to get things out, mind
maps are a good way.
Client Pitch
Pitching to the client was probably the
hardest thing for me to do. I don't like presenting anyway, but pitching an
idea that I wasn't 100% happy with was even worse. It didn't go as bad as
expected to be fair, the music video pitch was a lot worse, but I was still
nervous and the panel could probably tell too. I wish that I wouldn't get so
worried and nervous about pitches, but I do and I feel that I didn't do as
badly in this pitch as I did in the music video pitch. I was well prepared for
this pitch and rehearsed it over and over again, so when I did do my pitch, I
could actually get my idea across a lot better than previously. I think that in
the future I just need to make sure that I have a solid idea, be prepared and
have practised a lot and be organised, which I usually am or try my best to
anyway.
Group working/Pre Production
I was surprised that my idea got picked,
as I thought other people's ideas were a lot stronger than mine and from what
people were saying, their pitch seemed to go a lot better than mine too. But I
was pleased and felt a lot happier that my idea couldn't have been that bad for
them to pick it. I was working with Kim which I was happy about as I know that
she works hard and would genuinely care about our work and the video as much as
I did.
The pre-production stage was a bit all
over the place, as we didn't find anyone to act in it until last minute and we
kept changing locations which made me feel uneasy because we were losing
control of it. The one big thing I have learned from this whole process is to
have a good 3 back up plans, as the first and second plans usually go wrong. In
the end, we got all of the pre-production done and were ready to shoot.
The hardest bit of the pre-production was
the script. From this process I have learnt that I will never ever try and come
up with a script for any of my videos as I now hate them with a passion and
I've learnt that I cannot write them to save my life. I will no doubt have to
write scripts in the future, but I think I will try and speak to someone that
is good at writing scripts and ask them to help me. I felt that Kim and I hated
the script from the beginning and didn't know where to start to make it less cringe
worthy. I felt that we focused on the script for far too long and it took over
a week just to get the script right. I think we should've spent more time
worrying what the visual side of the advert would be as it needed to be a lot
more effective than it actually turned out. I got far too worried and upset
over the script and it just proved that my idea was not a good one for someone
who hates writing scripts/isn't good at writing them. However, the rest of the pre-production
went well. I enjoyed taking the pictures for the visual storyboard during the
rehearsal the most as it looked really good in the end. The pictures I took
were meant to represent what the shot would look like but instead it just gave
a rough idea of what I wanted. It did help in the end because it showed people
what sort of look I wanted in my head.
Overall, I think that the idea intended to
be appropriate for the audience and the subject. The message of the video is
that it is ok to talk to someone about your problems and don't be afraid to say
what you're thinking and bottling up your problems. I think the video did come
across like that but probably not that clear, as I had to cut the script down
quite a lot for it not to be the length of a short feature film.
However I know that the subject is quite clear as I made sure in the script the problems were highlighted so the audience clearly knows what is wrong with the girl and how mind has helped her.
ProductionHowever I know that the subject is quite clear as I made sure in the script the problems were highlighted so the audience clearly knows what is wrong with the girl and how mind has helped her.
The filming of the advert was also challenging as we changed the location from the Common Room to the Olive Deli to outside all within 24 hours. Having to let everyone know the changes was difficult, relying on other people isn't my strong point as I really care for my work and want it to be right. Trying to organise when everyone was free and when everyone could film in which location was difficult as it was all last minute and no one could make a final decision. Actually shooting the advert didn't go that bad when I organised everyone, but I felt that I was doing other people's jobs for them. I didn't have a specific role I don't think. Originally I was meant to be Director, but on the day I ended being the Camera Operator, the production manager and director all at the same time. I organised equipment, locations, made sure everything was organised for everyone, controlled the camera so I knew that I was happy with the shots etc. I feel that if I had a third team member it would've been a lot easier and less stressful as I felt that sometimes Kim and I didn't really work as a team and I was the one left doing everything.
I thought that on the day the shoot went well, Emily and Katie (actors) knew their lines quite well and Adan who helped us with the sound said that it was good and the shots didn't look that bad. Only when I got into the edit suite did I realise that the sound didn't sound right at all . I was partly to blame as I should've checked out the location and used common sense knowing that you would get loud car noises in the centre of Manchester in a park. However, I didn't intend it to be outside, it wasn't my idea and I kept asking the sound man if the sound was clear and sharp and he said yes.
Overall it was my fault but it was because I was relying on other people and they let me down. In the end it managed to get fixed and just dub over the sound. I just felt that we all didn't really work as a team and that's why things went wrong. I would stop this from happening again in the future by checking the sound myself, and going to the location not just once but a few times to find any possible problems that might affect the filming or the quality of the advert.
Post Production
Editing the visuals didn't take long at all as I was organised and went off my shot list/visual storyboard and I knew exactly what I wanted. However, when I listened back to the original sound, you could here traffic really loud, the microphone wasn't pointed in the middle so you couldn't here one actress as well as the other and there were building works in the background so you could here crashing and banging from the workmen. I know that in the future I can't leave it 3 or 4 days before I check the sound and the shots, I need to check them straight away so that if there are problems I can make a decision on what to do, whether that be re shooting or dubbing over the voice etc.. In the end I dubbed over what the actors were saying by making them watch the footage and then repeat the line. It was hard to edit as I needed to slow down or speed up certain words they said, so it doesn't look as good as I intended, but still looks believable.
I think that if I could re do this project I would do a lot of things differently. I would most definitely not be creating a script and would try and think of an idea that had more of a story to it in a creative way. The advert isn't really how I imagined it would be as it is quite boring and doesn't really impress me personally if I was an audience. However, I am happy with the acting from Emily and Katie as I think it makes the video a lot more believable as they deliver the lines in a professional way.
In the future I would try to enjoy myself more as I have not enjoyed doing this advert as much as I thought I would. I really enjoy editing, especially if it is scripted editing, but because of all the sound issues I didn't enjoy it as much.
Overall, I have learnt a lot through this process and learnt some very valuable lessons from mistakes I won't be making again!
