Evaluation 3

Evaluation Part Three

Having now completed my three adverts I believe that they are ultimately quite successful in portraying the message I wish to put across. Eventually I reduced the size of the film and added it on ‘Facebook’ and ‘YouTube’ for people to comment on. I was then able to receive feedback and gain an insight as to how effective an audience believed my work to be.
Advert one was the least popular as it was found to be uninventive compared to the other two. Although quite effective in portraying the required message. The audience recognized that one of the characters not see as well without his glasses, which was an action that we was of ultimate importance to this advert, as the catch phrase at the end gave it meaning.
The shot of the knife however was often considered to be too long and therefore wasted time to get to the point. Overall though the narration was considered to be extremely luring and the catch phrase made clear at end why the men were looking for evidence. A major downfall to this ad however was that audience could tell that the lighting is different at different points of the advert making it a little less effective than it could have been.
Advert 2 was liked for its imaginative narrative. Having had so many familiar destinations in the background, the audience were particularly entertained by this advert. Again, the basic concept was considered to be rounded off well with the message at the end.
Media students were the only ones that generally recognized the good use of green screen. However they did point out a downfall: that in some of the shots you could still see a green outline around the actors, instantly making it apparent that I had used SFX for this advert, making it less professional.
In regards to the three of them as a whole people recognized the fact they were all particularly different to one another in the narration and style. However, they generally approved of the voice over as it "rounded it up nicely" and the logo was identified as the main connection between the three adverts. Most also approved of the different catch phrases for each ad and that all three made a clear connection between the character's actions to the company; 'Looking Glass Opticians' In particular though, the use of imagination in the making of all the adverts was the greatest complement.
Considering the codes and conventions of an opticians advert I kept to using the normal mid shots and close ups as do the pace of the adverts also follow the conventions. Limited diegetic sounds are also used throughout my adverts which is a subverted convention in the fact that professional opticians adverts ambient sounds are often more prominent than music. I have also subverted the conventions in terms of how I tell a story within my advert.
When comparing my adverts to similar media texts I would suggest that my editing in particular could still be improved on, as professional advertisements obviously only cut to a different shot when needed. I one the other hand made a fault in making a shot that should have been one on it's own into two separate ones, clearly being unprofessional. I would consider the voice over for each of my adverts to be near the professional standard however, having each message clear and precise in all of them like all voiceovers in ‘Specsavers’ adverts for instance “get two for one at ‘Specsavers’”.
I do believe my adverts have been produced to a high standard, having used a professional program for the application of a green screen in my second advert. I was therefore able to incorporate some clever effects to make it more appealing to viewers. However the amount of decisions that were changed prolonged the time that it took to create the adverts, therefore if I did have to make the adverts again I could use my new found skill with Final Cut express and not have so much restrictions as to what my adverts can consist of.
The trio of Looking Glass Opticians adverts follow some of the codes and conventions of an advert. The first being that all of them have catch phrases to have audience recognision. The third advert consists of ‘an element of surprise’ which is again a clear convention of an advert. On the other hand, by subverting particular advert conventions we were able to provide the audience with mini film like adverts that are all ultimately still effective. Advert 3 in particular is based on a children's amusement book, but was successful because it received audience recognision.
Having looked over my advertisements in a speculative manner I would suggest that I would make each of them connect with each other far more if they had to be created again. I would use Final Cut Express to my advantage and have all three adverts have evidence of the use of professional technology and therefore link together better together. I am however pleased with the particular way in which we connected each advert to 'Looking Glass Opticians'.
The time of day that I would have to show my adverts would be when in the day time for the consumption of audience that are often at home. As well as in the evening when popular soap operas such as 'Eastenders' or 'Coronation Street' are on as adults with the knowledge that vision is important will be watching television at this time. In terms of who I would suggest would direct and produce my adverts I would have Director Mike Bigelow to direct advert 3 who created the amusing over 60’s advert, Director Luke Scott for advert 1 so the needed atmosphere can be created. I would use Cris Mudge to direct my green screen advert having directed what seemed to be a man on top of a gondola cable.

Evaluation Part Two

Evaluation Part Two

Advert One

Having chosen to base each advert around one specific film genre, they still go alongside the post-modern theory that style is over substance. It is the substance at the end of each of them that puts the message across but it is the style of each of them which attracts people to watch the complete advert. The target audience are in need of glasses and vision, and they can be of any age, gender, race e.c.t.

The first advert is set in an office; a suspects office. For audience recognition that it is our advert, the narrative is almost story like. It begins with an establishing shot of the office. The music playing in the background is used to create audience ambiguity. The men are then introduced coming into the office with a mid shot and both begin to look for evidence. The mise- en- scene for this advert is particularly effective having both of the characters in suits it signifies to the audience that they are dealing with an important matter. The use of the plastic bags for the evidence gives a realistic approach to the mystery genre and keeps audience intrigued about what they may find. Props are also used throughout the advert as evidence to also make the audience question the most important thing that they are ‘looking’ for.

The editing is slow throughout the advert to engage the audience slowly and further their questioning. 

Lighting used in the advert is ambient creating a naturalistic atmosphere and engaging the audience further.  

A range of mid shots and close ups are used to gain audience recognision that the men are both wearing glasses whilst looking for evidence. A distinct signifier to show that glasses are needed is through the use of a blurred vision of the passport before the character puts his glasses back on, suggesting he cannot do his job without them.

As the characters are both 'looking' for evidence until the closing, it links properly with the voice over at the end as it suggests that the main ideology is that, there is no need to investigate or to appear professional when 'Looking Glass Opticians' has what you need.

Meaning has been created in this advert through the use of music to help the audience engage effectively whilst keeping them in suspense. In this way the advert would keep their attention until they have seen it all, and to potentially find out what the characters are actually looking for.

Advert Two

The advert begins with a mid shot of a girl frantically looking for something. Fast pace music is played to emphasize the characters urgency. 

Another way in which the feeling of urgency is created is with the use of editing, becoming faster as the advert progresses.  

The application of a green screen is used to present to the audience the extent the couple travel to find one another, when effectively all they needed to do was stay in their own county to find one another.

The voice over emphasizes this point and gives the implication that you neither have to look that far to "find what your looking for". All the shots are mid or close ups to accentuate the importance of the character’s glasses. 

The music in this advert is particularly fast paced to highlight the momentum of the characters and to again keep the audience engaged. Being a non-diegetic soundtrack though, it ultimately subverts the conventional 'presentational' form, as the advert does not have a direct mode of communication at any time.

Meaning has been created in this advert with the character's frantic expressions, which do not disappear until they find each other. Therefore with this use of mise- en- scene the audience can relate to the actors disposition and be relieved for them once they have found each other. The ideology of this advert would suggest that the audience will also experience such relief and happiness once they have bought a needed pair of glasses at 'Looking Glass Opticians' as the actors have done.

Advert Three

At the beginning of this advert there is an establishing shot of a kitchen and a voice over is used to narrate the beginning of a short story. Mocking music is played in the background to add comedy and to keep the audience engaged. Whilst the story is being narrated, the characters act accordingly. Unlike advert two, conventions are followed as there is a mode of communication although it is not direct to the audience. The ideology in this advert is that, person will stop themselves from looking stupid if they buy glasses from our brand.

The facial expression of "Mr Twit" at the closing of this advert is the peek of the comedy and therefore an action for others to avoid; as stated by the voice over.

The fact that we used a glass eye prop is the object which adds comedy for the audience however, it could be seen as being too different from the other adverts,

It is the use of narration that creates meaning in this particular advert as audience will stay amused whilst being told a story. Therefore with the continuous voice over not stopping until the closing, audience will stay engaged throughout.

The voice over in each advert show consistency, by beginning with a negative and each time ended with "Find what you’re looking for...." Another similarity that each of them share is that they always end with the company logo, giving the option for further audience recognition. Although, one negative aspect in particular is that the adverts are all considerably different from each other but the general message of all of them could be considered clear.

Overall it was made sure that there was good usage of props in the first advert to establish the mystery genre that was chosen. With the use of fast paced music and character expressions a sense of urgency was created to accentuate the romance at the end. And with an effective use of narration in the third it provided comedy and wit for audience amusement. With all these attributes in each, audience's attention is attracted and the required message was put across.

Evaluation Part One

Evaluation 

Part One

After choosing to go into advertising I began to research advertising (See post "Researching Adverts" 13th July 2008) Having scanned through John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing', 'Advertising' by Frank Jefkins and 'Creative Advertising' by Mario Pricken I was able to distinguish the codes and conventions of an advert (See post Tuesday 30 September 2008) from this i learnt a number of ways in which an advert can target it's audience in different ways (Also see post 13th July 2008) I did find though that different types of advertisements had particular conventions of their own therefore I had to specify my search further once I had decided on a product. 

I then began brainstorming my ideas. It wasn't until I decided to advertise an opticians and came up with the brand name and a logo for "Looking Glass Opticians" (See post 5th October 2008) that advertising ideas were realized. I was then that I needed to begin finding out the conventions for an opticians advertisement. (October 8th 2008) I originally chose to go with the basic conventions of having CU's and mid shots as well as having a male and female to ad romance to my adverts. I did not keep to mainly having diegetic sounds however having chosen to revolve one of my adverts round a story book. 

I had to research my target audience (See Post 15th October 2008) Finding out that I had such a wide target audience I was not limited in what messages or ideologies I had to put across. However, through this I learned that it would be grown adults that would pay the most attention to my adverts.

Having started off on my own, it was my responsibility and my role to originally come up with an idea, research and make story boards, e.c.t. Once my partner joined my group we then shared the roles and responsibilities. Having bought the mac I was generally doing most of the editing, as my partner was sometimes unavailable and not particularly confident when using the mac anyway. When filming however we generally worked together and ideas were always seconded by each other. It was also my role to find actors, props and settings and to have the right equipment at the right time, them being; camera, tripod, green screen, batteries e.c.t.

I further researched audiences relationship with advertisements as well as the ways in which I could advertise my product.(see post Sunday, 13th July 2008)

I then analyzed similar company’s advertisements and the way they advertised their products- (see post "changed idea" 8th October 2008) I then decided to connect my three adverts by having two characters in each who are both "looking" for something. 

To make the adverts original I revolved the three of them individually around a particular genre. I therefore had to research into the particular genres I wished to use. Originally deciding to use comedy, romance and mystery (post same as before) I aimed to specifically have one male and one female in each advert to again show consistency. It was then my responsibility to begin story boarding my ideas. ( see post), although they did eventually change over time mainly because of issues with the settings or lighting.particularly with the romance and mystery adverts. Changes ultimately needed to be made however; it was not guaranteed that new actors would be available. Consequently, I had to use two males in advert 1. (see post 18th February Filmed Ad 1)

Since partnering up with Erica (see post 28th January 2009) many changes have been made and the final outcome was quite different to what we had in mind form the beginning although, the advertising of opticians always stayed the same.

Another aspect that I needed to work on was to be more organized with the actors that I used. To ensure they can film with me when it is best for both actors and directors. From this I learnt that from being more organised I could potentially have more time to film by having equipment ready before I even began filming. This is also what influenced me to change decisions in the past because I had not thought about availability of actors, props and settings properly so it therefore encouraged me to be more realistic. 

A further problem that was eventually dealt with, was that there was no way I could edit what I had filmed with Erica outside of school (see post 8th March 2009) which prevented us from progressing in any way. After purchasing a mac however we advanced steadily.

Having made so many mistakes with lighting (see post 24th February 2009) , I have learnt that I need to asses the best time to film in the settings I choose by going there at different times of the day with the camera and reviewing when the best source of light for the affect I want in each advert. To check this I would put each test of light on to my mac.

ad 3 complete

ad 2 complete

Ad 1 complete

 

Linking each ad by changing the voice over

After going into school yesterday and virtually completing all the adverts it was decided that because each of the adverts were quite different we needed to link them with the voice over at the end. The Twits advert almost had to begin with a negative to enable the audience to understand the concept of two "twits" needing glasses. The voice over founded eventually said "Don't be a Twit; know what to expect at Looking Glass Opticians".

By having this voice over as a negative the catchy "Find what your looking for at Looking Glass opticians" had to be scrapped. For the green screen ad (ad 3) the preferred phrase was "No need to look all over the world, find what your looking for at Looking Glass Opticians" The Mystery ad (ad 1) voice over was far harder to come up with but eventually this was decided; "No need to investigate; find what your looking for at Looking Glass Opticians" Therefore all the adverts connect as they have a similar voice over at the finish.

 

Improving the logo

I decided to add a little more professionalism into the design of the logo as it looked amateur. I attempted to blur out the writing which was not inside of the looking glass by adding the "edge blur" effect, adjusted the colour slightly so it wasn't so bright with the "Antique" effect. I used"boost colour" to give the blue more depth and finally used "vignette" to take in the edges of the picture.

The new creative ad

Having worked out how to use green screen my filming and editing quality has improved greatly and my teacher and I figured that the running advert did not reach the same standard and was is too similar to the new ad. I have decided that I will use an extract of the filming i did to get myself into university, as it was considered to be my best piece of work I have ever done; before the green screen of course. 

It basically started off as a filmed version of of Raul Dhal's 'The Twits' whereby Mrs Twit plays a tick on her husband by 'popping' her glass eye into Mr Twit's mug of beer. Obviously the connection to the  opticians is the glass eye but I still require a connective pun..

Here is the evidence of my story board that I had made ...I do appologize for them being the wrong way around , I do not have a working photo copier. So i took a picture of it with my laptop\s camera

ad 3 green screen

Having had to buy my own mac from the lack of avalability. I have progressed in skill and officency when editing film. Buying final cut express software didn't only take a great lump sum out of my savings it has made me more confident in what techniques I use for my adverts.

I was able to conquer green screen and effectively adding artistry to my recent advert:

    

It consists of a couple "looking" for each other all over the world, eventually finding one another in the heart of London

I'm obviously yet to ad a logo and the voice over to finish it off.

Ability for new ideas to arise....

Now having the 'Final Cut Express' program I would like to learn how to use green screen for one of my adverts. Obviously the two characters I choose will again be 'looking' for something so I figured if they look for each other; similarly to the running ad. I then could effectively have them searching 'all over the world' for one another. Then i would be able to insert well known destinations in the background, such as the leaning tower of pisa, Big Ben e.c.t.

 

Ad 1 and a new mac

Having not learnt by my mistakes up until now I haven't captured the best footage. Now that I have my own mac though, I have been able to take it with me when filming. Being able to do this I had no issues with lighting whatsoever other than when the light outside began to darken over time. Ultimately I am currently editing ad 1 at it is going rather well.

Another advantage when having my own mac is that I have no restrictions as to when exactly I can edit my footage and have more time to learn about the software that I have specifically bought.

During the process of  filming I discovered a way of blurring the camera focus to portray the fact that the characters cannot see without their glasses. This effect was rather successful.

Another lesson I did learn that I followed through was that I would film the whole advert in one shot so i didn't have to spend so much time re-adjusting the tripod to finish of a shot I could have done earlier.  

Further textual analysis

Title of Ad; Levis 501- A Midsummer Night's Dream

Company: Levi

Product: Jeans

Textual analysis

- Advert acted out as a modern version of a shakespearian play revolving around the genes the protagonist is wearing and how confident he can be whilst he is wearing them.

-Beginning with a longshot to establish the setting, stage like curtain are drawn and white text is shown enabling the audience to disguingish the reason for such narration.

- The content of the narration is used to compliment the jeans "So is mine eye enthrallèd to thy shape". suggesting the female interest also admires his Levis

- A low angle shot of the protaonist's solioqy brings further attention to the jeans as does the close up of the man slightly pulling them at the beginning of the advert. 

- The logo at the finished is possitioned in the centre of the screen on a high angle long shot big enough to distiguish but small enough to still see the characters in the shot.

Being a narration the editing flows and is not too fast.

Key Concepts 

- The advert is targeted at fashinable men aged 18 and up- The protagonist having had a love interest as well as enemies 

- The representation of the couple at the end implies if a man wears Levi Jeans he will recieve jealousy from others however he will also gain a love interest.

- The ideology of this advert is that if a man wears the right Jeans he will not be "affraid" any longer and therefore be confident infront of others and have women confessing their love for him.

Progress

Since the beginning of my course I have gained the knowledge of the utter importance of lighting. And it is now going to be one of my main concerns when filming.

My basic planning has been improved a little although I still need to be far more organized so in that respect I have only progressed moderately. I still need to remember every time I film to have props i need ready, avalible actors, appropriate lighting, the story board the camera and the tripod.

I have also learnt that I need to explain to my actors more thoroughly what I would like them to do, rather than expect them to know exactly what my partner and I am thinking. I have been quite successful in keeping to what I have learned. For example one girl we were filming with had absolutely no idea what Erica and I wanted from her so I decided to show her by getting her to step behind the camera and watch me do the actions I needed her to do. In this way she was able to distinguish how much she should move in one shot and the type of reaction we required her to have.

I have been having a lot of trouble recently having to keep asking for a macbook to take out when they are never there. I have figured that if I have a mac with me when filming I can figure out whether the lighting is adequate or not. So my progress is to take up my uncles offer in buying me a mac and finally being able to get some serious work done.

Problem again with Ad 1

After putting our filming onto the mac Erica and I were disappointed to find that the filming we did for Ad1 is far too dark and the camera is constantly trying to re-focus. We have learned that we will need a different sources of lighting to make this particular advert look more professional and also to never depend on sunlight and blinds allown.

Ad 2

I believe that the filming we did for ad 2 was quite successful as the light wasn't too bright, although it still could have been darker. The light seemed to disapear incredibly quickly once the sun began to set with the trees in the woods not exactly helping.
My brother had to be in this advert too, to his dismay. And although unprofessional I was the other actor: After asking a great number of people to film they all seemed to be too busy so me being infront of the camera was unfortunatly the result of this.

I figured there were some shots I could potentially film to make it more proffesienal such as an over the shoulder shot and a point of view shot. More importantly though I would like to include a CU of both my brother and I together meeting one another to finish the advert properly as well as the finishing touches with the voice over and the logo  

Filmed Ad 1

Erica and I have finally been able to do some filming today although we had to make a few changes From the original idea:
Firstly through lack of actors over the half term Erica and I had to comprimise. Instead of having the continuity of a male and a female part in every advert I had to use my Father and Brother who were the only people avalible and prepared to film with us.
We also had to change the setting as last time we filmed in an actresses house so we filmed in an office where my Father works.
The ending also had to be changed as two males gazing into each others eyes is not exactly stereotypical to any advert we therefore got both of them to throw away all 'evidence' they had found and made sure we included a number of different angle shots of both the actors with their glasses on.
As my brother looks a little young I attempted to cover his blemishes with make up, but he wasn't having none of it. So we gave him the glasses that looked more sophisticated and didn't make him look like he was 7 years old. We had to put up with his laughter for a time so that took more time.

I would suggest our filming went well as, although we had to ajust the lighting quite regularly we tried to keep it consistent.

New Storyboard Ad 3

Editing and comments

Taking into consideration the advert I was looking at (21st Jan) Erica and I figured there were a great many close ups that we hadn't recognized being so prominent before. In effect, advertisers clearly have the intention of showing the glasses often and ensuring they are as noticeable as possible.
We have both therefore learnt that to illustrate clearly what we are advertising; we must use more close ups of the product.
Another point that has been made by my teacher, is that there are far too many long shots for the filming we have done for it to be a fast paced advert. Although, Erica did notice the fact that the shots in the advert (21st Jan) are never one full length; part each shot had been cut out to enhance the urgency and pace of the actors. As a result I attempted to do this with the footage we recently filmed. It turned out to be quite effective in fact.

Filming

(We filmed this 27th Jan) Edited 28th and 29th

This is just a short clip of what we've done so far; after realizing that the lighting would have to be far more natural for this advert to work to the right standard. 

As talked about on (28th) We took into consideration that we could use long shots if we used jump cuts of the same shot, shortening them and effectively making the editing faster. 

After deciding on a different setting..

Erica and I were able to film to a good standard in this advert however having restricted time to do it in we did not get enough filming done and will potentially need to re- film completely when time is not restricted or have the same actors in the same place once more but without the time restrictions. 

New Partner! And a possible Setting of Ad 3

Another student in my class, Erica was having a little trouble with her course work. Feeling thoughtful, I weighed up whether it would be an advantage to me, as it was to her, to commence my coursework process with a partner. I figured that two minds are quite simply better than one, It will enable us to see things from another persons perspective, and if we get a good grade both of us would have effectively benifited from each other.

Once this decision was made I informed her of the product I was advertising and presented her with my story board, logo and new idea we both got to work instantly. We decided it would be wise to take some pictures of the setting of ad3 and here they are....

Apart from being quite lovely pictures I figured that this wood was a little too dence to be the right setting as we need a little more of an eerie setting as the light was also far too bright.

*Bing!* An idea!, Oh, and a story board

On asking the question to a friend where could a coulple be 'looking' for each other i answered nearly instantly myself; In the woods!
So I will hopefully have some actors ready for monday and will be filming in the woods near school, I'll go have a look if it is definately suitable tomorrow though as it would be a big problem if it isn't. So fingeres crossed!

Not so quick thinking batman!

So exams have finished for now it's back to the course work time missy!

As my optician's name is Looking Glass Opticians and I have it in my head that the voice over will say "Find what you're looking for at Looking Glass opticians" there is only really one advert of mine that fully portrays this message and that advert is ad 1; that I am still yet to do! I figured that the advert that I am going to have to story board again will be better off with characters that have glasses on but are looking for each other... Now to think of a setting......

Wondering where i got this new insperation and knowledge?
From a advert i've watched about 10 times before!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TF55tW1bTIw

Title of Ad: Specsavers Two for one

Company: Specsavers

Product: Glasses 

Textual Analysis

-Whole advert is fast paced 

- Many different distances of shot however CU/MID are most prominent  

-There a couple of jump shot transitions and the use of tracking movements of the male emphasize the pace of the advert.

-The lighting ambient to create an atmospheric setting.

-The two different perspectives of the characters signifies the number of glasses in the Specsavers offer.

-The different atmospheres connote the different designs Specsavers have to offer in their store.

-Sound track is fast paced with no lyrics again adding to the speed of the advert

Key Concepts

-The advert is targeted at adults, or rather partners that both possibly need glasses as the protagonists of the advert are a  relatively young couple. 

-Furthermore the advert is also targeted at partners regardless of what their age.

-The representation the happy couple of the end implies the people it is aimed at will also be happy once they have bought their glasses.

-The ideology of this advert is that partners should stick together whether they are in a crisis or buying spectacles 

Future plans

Find person to do voice over for each ad
Find music for each ad.

Film Ad one again, using HD camera (It'll be far better in high quality)
Film and edit the rest of ad 2 I also thought about using split screen http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=O3_JUGQ1Fjw

I think I may change story board for ad 3, also get new characters maybe base it on a different genre.

Reasons for last point; I'd like the actors to be more accessable, And the story i am trying to portay it quite hard any way.

Shooting schedual....

November 16th Ad 3 Filming
November 17th Ad 3 Editing
November 23rd Ad 1 Filming
November 24th Ad 1 Editing
December 1st Ad 3 Filming
December 2nd Ad 3 Editing
December 3rd Ad 3 Editing
December 7th Ad 2 Filming
December 8th Ad 2 Editing
December 9th Ad 2 Editing