Promotional Video

Promotional video analysis:

Shelter - 

This promotional video is about spreading awareness and taking action for affordable rent. The video is mainly targeted for parents and adults that are paying rent. The style of the video is animated with very easy visuals to follow and to watch. The style doesn't distract the viewer from the main message as the style shouldn't be the main reason for the video. It definitely helps on portraying the message across to the viewer as it simplifies what can be a very stressful and complicated process. 

The video begins with statistics on renting in the UK and makes it clear that 1 in 5 families are renting. In the video they don't force any opinions onto the viewer, they keep it neutral and just show the facts. This is what this video does well, letting the viewer decide for themselves. Already the video will be relatable to a percentage of the viewers as 1 in 5 families are renting. 

Although this is an animation there is still some good use of camera shots to show the differences between the families. They are clearly represented and it is easy to follow. Another technique that they are using is that they are using the colours of their logo, integrating brand recognition into the video just by using the same colour scheme and font. This gives a subconscious link between the video and the company that the viewer may not even realise. The narrator is Anne Mac who is apart of the BBC and brings alot of star appeal to the video as people are going to listen to a celebrity more than a regular narrator.  

Later on in the video, the video we are shown this part. "who really deserve better" The narrator is talking about how we all deserve better which may not be the case but to viewers who are watching this and who are in the same position may agree and think they do. The video is forcing this message upon viewers and making them want to change when maybe in some circumstances they may not need a change. On the flip side of the argument, there are people who are living under very strict housing rules and have to pay ridiculous amounts of rent to stay where they live and this would be the main target audience for this video. 

While they are promoting their business idea through this video they are listing things that everyone wants and needs to keep a sustainable house running. This makes the viewer want these things that they are listing to them and makes them more enticed to carry on watching the video. Along with keeping a very similar layout/font/colour scheme as their logo. Like I mentioned earlier this is subconsciously making the viewer retain this information and linking it with this advert. The video is very positive and keeps the statistics very easy to understand. They make out the video to sound like it's the only way of living and to stand up against the high prices and bad landlords. The ideology of having an affordable house and being able to sustain their house is the main message of the video and is portrayed in an easy, understandable and simple way.   

BLACK. - 

  
For this advert, it is about a clothing line and their new designs of T-shirts and sweaters. They were an up and coming clothing line that is based in the UK. The promotional video is full of mid shots of the two models next to each other wearing the clothing. 

It begins off with this time-lapse of the camera moving through the crowd of people in London which sets off a good tone for the video as they set off the tone showing that it's mainly about the people and more importantly the location is key. The effect of the people being blurry is a good use of low shutter speed, this would have been done on-site and thought about before shooting. The time laps are about 2 seconds long and the title fades out in about 1 second. If I were to of shot this I would have made the time-lapse longer and kept the title up longer, but this still is good and keeps the viewer engaged as a time-lapse is very cool to watch. Just after this, we get some more establishing shots of the area that they are in. It is a suburban city vibe and this reflects the style of clothing and the audience they are aiming for. Mainly teenagers and young men and women.  

Once all of the establishing shots have finished we transition into these two models wearing the item of clothes that they are promoting. The transition was a wipe using a lamppost masking the wipe. The models that they have used looks like their target audience as they look to be around their 20's. The composition of the shot with the graffiti behind them also reinforces the target audience and matches the style and fashion of the streets. 

At this point in the video there is a song playing that is slowly getting more instance, the crescendo makes the viewer more engaged as their interest in what happens next to get more intense. The editing of the video is very quick and there are lots of match cuts to different locations around the London area. There are also some glitch effects used for transitions, it definitely matches the tone of the video to have ambitious and interesting transitions like that. There is heavy use of slow-motion used and it is used well as there are constant speed duration jumps, it makes the video more engaging and fun to watch. 

There are lots of location changes which makes the video have more variety and keeps it engaging. The use of lines in this shot is very clever as the street like up to the middle of the shot where both of them are standing. The buildings around them and the straight street making them even more central makes the product stand out more. 

Once we get to the peak of the song they both wear the same shirt with another different style of scenery while still keeping that urban feel to the video. The background isn't as messy and busy so the main focus can now be on the clothing. The clear sky and the minimal colour make the models stand out. The camera angle and the positioning of the models are very important as they are both centre frame looking down the lens. They finish off the video with their logo again which makes the viewer be reminded of what's brand they have just seen. The length of the video is the perfect length as it shouldn't be too long because they only have one design t-shirt. If they had more products the video should have been longer with maybe more models and locations.




The Brief:

My client from Ashlawn Sixth form has asked me to complete a virtual tour around a few rooms of the sixth form block. The client wants the video to be around 10 minutes long with a couple of words from some of the teachers in the sixth form. The video needs to be informative and easy to follow showing you a simple tour of the block. The video will need to have the name of the teachers and what area of the sixth form they work in. The video will be played to the potential new students of the sixth form, the video is a substitute for a real tour of the school due to the current state of COVID-19.  

Planning: 

While planning for this I wanted there to be some music playing while there are sweeping shots of the sixth form so that the video flows and doesn't feel awkward when watching. Originally I wanted to use some royalty-free music when thinking about it but I have come up with the idea that I could use the original music from the sixth forms band 'Anomaly'. I am friends with the people from the band it was very easy to contact them and ask them for permission for their music to be used as advertising. They agreed on me being able to use their music along as I credit them at the end. This would make the video 10x better as the royalty-free music wasn't at good. Another great thing about using their music in the background it gives the band exposure to potential new students of the sixth form.

Communication:

There has been constant back and forth between my mum and then my mum to the client about the logo they want and the font they want too. 




Also, communication between me and the band has been important too because they needed to make sure the end of the video had their legal copyright reservation 

I decided to choose a song called 'I Won't Wait' by 'Anomaly'. I asked the band to send me the instrumental version because I don't want the lyrics to distract from the people trying to listen to the tour. This is what I put at the end with an official message from the band to promote them to the viewers. 







The Assistant Priceable wanted to mainly direct where to go and what rooms to go in as she knows what parts of the block to show the pupils and what parts arent as necessary. For COVID-19 related reasons I was not allowed to film the tour but instead, my mum (who works for the sixth form) had to instead. This prevented me to go and film the shots I wanted and with the equipment that I would have used. The main focus for me was to make sure the editing was good enough to make it look presentable and official. 

For the editing, I don't want many over the top transitions and keep it very minimal so that it is very easy to follow and the viewer doesn't get distracted from the main focus of the video.

As you can see from the final timeline of the edit it is very minimal with not a lot of effects, as I said before I want the video to be simple and keep the same themes of a tour with the main focus being on what is being spoken about from the voice over. The audience for this video is mainly for parents and their children that could potentially be going to attend the school. This is why I have chosen a song like 'I Won't Wait' to be played when there is no dialogue, the song is very upbeat and original. Giving the band recognition and mentioning in the video that the band is from ashlawn will further inspire the future students to attend as the talent is showcased not just from the visuals in the halls of the sixth form but the audio as well. 

Health and safety:

The health and safety of this particular video are going to be very important. Due to the current pandemic from COVID - 19 I cannot film. This is something that is out of my control but a very important responsibility. I couldn't film on-site at the school as I wouldn't feel safe being in an environment that I don't know, this could cause problems for both myself and the people around me. 



Staying away from the shooting location was a decision that I had to make. Getting my mum to film for me was the only choice I had if I were to complete the video on time for its release. If we had more time to film and plan then we could have waited for the pandemic to end and film as normal. This would have been an ideal situation but I had to improvise, this made me more cautious when it came to the health and safety for myself as I was offered to go out and film but declined even if we social distanced because I don't want to take any chances with the health of mine and the people around me.  

If the circumstances were different and I didn't have to worry about COVID - 19 then I would have taken these productions:

• Checking the shooting environment and making sure that it is safe to film in 
• Making everyone aware that there is filming happening before we shoot 
• Keeping the shooting location clear of any tripping hazards 
• Eliminating any potential hazards before shooting (not during)
• Double-checking all equipment is ready for use and secure 
• If there are any shots that need a risk assessment to be doing them

The final Video: 

Conclusion:

The final video came out as expected and served its purpose, they have now put the video on their website and all the future students have watched it. I hope that it has made the sixth form look as good as they were expecting as this would have been the first time that they would have seen the sixth form. I'm glad the way that the footage that wasn't in my control came out as good as it did. The editing was the main focus for me as I couldn't do much else due to COVID-19. 

Some positives for the video are they it's a perfect length personally as the amount of the block you see it enough and the ending is nice with the individual messages that each of the teachers has to say. Although the limitations of COVID-19 definitely held me back from making the video better than it could have been, with what I had to work with definitely worked. 


Things that I would have done differently if there weren't many restrictions would have been:

• Me filming on site instead of my mum 

This would have improved the angles of the shots and the use of lighting which would have made the video more clear and added a level of professionalism to the video that it doesn't have now

• Instead of having the teachers do their monologue at home having them come into the sixth form and using ann interview environment so that it is more professional  

This relates back to my other point as if the interviews would have been set up there would have been another level of professionalism to the video. 

This is the type of lighting I would use in an ideal scenario. 

• I would use microphones attached to the speakers clothing so that I can get the best audio possible for the interview
• I would have scripted the parts where the tour is happening as the dialogue could have been more precise and interesting
• Get more footage to use for potential voice-over from the Assistant Vice-principal 
• Variations of shots (close-ups and extreme close-ups) 
• Use different lenses so you can see a variation of depth 

• They could have sent me a more high res picture of the logo and their own text or at least the font they used for the text of the logo so I can mimic the style for the text instead of using one that looks similar