BRUT Pre Production Paperwork

Location Release

Production Schedule

Risk Assessment Form

Shot List

Analysis of a TV Ad

Editing quiz questions

      What do the numbers 16:9 refer to?

   These numbers refer to the aspect ratio of the width and height of pixels. Here the 16 is the width and the 9 is the height. 

      What is the frame size of a 1080p video file?

The frame size of 1080p (height) is 1920p which is the width

       If you have a video file which is 720:50p what is the frame rate and what does the p stand for? 

The frame rate is 50fps and P = progressive

What is the difference between p and i?

      P = Progressive, this uses all the pixels in the frame which uses more memory but gives you the best quality.

 I = Interlaced, this only uses half the pixels in the frame, only using pixels it thinks it needs.  

What frame rate is real film shot at?

13.976 fps

 What might be the advantage of shooting at a higher frame rate?

Can shoot in slow motion and looks smoother with less blur.

 What defines a lossy file?

   High compressed file which removes information which it thinks isn't necessary to download. This makes the file size small, using less memory on your computer.

Name three file types commonly used in video editing.

    .MOV .WAV .MP4

 What is the difference between a video file type and a codec?

      Codec means Coding/decoding. The file type is like a container for the codec chooses what goes inside by compressing it and then decompressing so the file can be read. 

    What is bitrate?

   Bitrate is the number of bits per second which a video or music downloads from the source to your computer. It is the amount of data in a file, higher bitrate the more information reproduced meaning higher quality. So lowering the bitrate means it will take in less information and you less memory. 

Advertising Production Diary

16/12/13 - 20/12/13: This week we completed all the pre-production paperwork. These were the prop list, location recce, location release, script and storyboard. Unfortunately on this week it was just me and James completing the pre-production paperwork because Jack was very ill. During location scouting me and James looked around college and took pictures our chosen location to shoot in. However we changed place during production because we found a location which looked much better than the previous one for shooting.

After the Christmas holidays we returned to college and went straight into filming, knowing what we had to do because of the pre-production paperwork we completed before the holiday. On the first day of shooting we managed to shoot every single shot on the storyboard, outdoors and indoors.

                                                     Preparing Material for Editing

We logged into "Media C" then inserted the SD card into the MAC and opened it to find the file we are working on.

I then looked for my footage which should labelled "PRIVATE" 

When I found the folder I right clicked it and clicked "Copy PRIVATE" so I can paste it to "MacHD\Users\mediac\movies" So I could start editing my footage.

After navigating to the "movies" folder I right clicked in the folder and clicked the "Paste Item" option.

After putting the footage into a new folder I renamed it by double clicking the folder text. I renamed it so I can easily find it and import to Premier Pro.

In Premier Pro I opened "Project Settings" and made sure my clips were compatible for the program.

    After importing all the footage into Premier Pro and getting all the sounds and graphics needed for my video, i      rearranged them all into separate folders so they are would be easy and quick to find.

 

  After arranging the folders and putting the files into the correct folders I'm now ready to edit my footage

Advertisement Evaluation

TV advertisement evaluation

The Brief

The task given was to re-brand/re-market a product. The product we chose to re-brand was Brut which is an aftershave and deodorant for men. In our group we looked at the products we researched and done a presentation on and finally together decided on Brut being the best option because we had a few ideas on what we can do for Brut and seemed like a good product to re-brand to a new target audience. The current target audience for Brut is older men, so we decided as a group to try and appeal this product to teenage males. We chose teenage males because we thought it would be interesting and exciting to film an advert to appeal to a younger audience and how we would go about doing this when the main target audience is older men. 

The finished product and feedback

We collected feedback from our chosen target audience on the finished advert by using questionnaires on http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/ and uploading them on-line to sites such as Facebook/Twitter because these social networking sites are a great way to get feedback and even more so for our advert because of our target audience is teenage males and these sites are popular to teenagers. However getting feedback from people on the internet can be unreliable as you're not sure entirely sure who is answering your survey and if they're answering honestly but nevertheless you've got to go with it and just work with what feedback you collected. We also gathered feedback from our classmates which helped because they could give great and informative feedback as they also created an advert for a new target audience.

I think our Brut advert managed to get the main message across to our target audience that the advert was aimed at male teenagers as 100% of people which answered my survey said they think the advert is aimed at teenage males. This tells me our advert was successful in re-branding this product to a new demographic and had many aspects which tell the viewers it's aimed at teenage males. I think the advert had an appropriate impact on the audience that Brut isn't just for older men but also for teenagers by making it look fun as my feedback tells me they really enjoyed it, "It was all pretty good." and liked the different activities in the advert, "I liked the cool backwards Frisbee throw at the end".

For our advert we thought about how we wanted the advert to look and what we wanted in it to try and appeal to a teenage audience and grab viewers attention to actually watch the advert. 

For the main protagonist we used a young male teenager because our target audience is male teenagers the audience will instantly know who the audience we're trying to appeal to is. The use of using a teenager as the main character will help other teenagers relate and desire the product more because they want to be like the protagonist in the advert.

For props we of course used Brut aftershave because that is the product we're advertising, we also used a football, Frisbee and skateboard which are all sporty objects because we needed them to create our montage of "teenage" activities. The use of these props and activities help sell Brut because it gives the message that if you were Brut, you will feel good about yourself and get out there and do something exciting.

For cinematography we used extreme close ups of the Brut product so viewers can clearly see what the name "Brut" and that it is the main product in focus because it takes up the entire shot. We also used POV shots from the protagonists point of view putting the Brut onto his hands. This puts the viewers in the protagonists perspective persuading them to buy the product. The close ups were success in grabbing viewers attention because people said "The cool close up of the bottle" and another "The extreme close up camera shots" grabbed their attention the most. For the skateboard scene we used canted angles and panning following the skateboard. The camera movements helps make the advert look appealing and exciting to a teenage audience, grabbing their attention.

For the sound we used an upbeat soundtrack throughout the entire advert which will create excitement and works well if the fast paced shots of the montage of activates. The results from my survey tells me that the soundtrack used was successful in the advert because one of the questions was "What part of the advert attracted your attention?" Some people said "The music starting up" and "The background music". At the end of the advert we used a "banging" sound effect of the logo appearing with a voice over saying the slogan "Get Fresh, Get Active, Get Brut". This helps grab the viewers attention with the voice over and sound effect to show the importance of Brut. The feedback I got tells me the ending worked well because they said their favourite part was "The display of the slogan at the end"The part with the frisbee and the "Get fresh, Get Active, Get Brut."and "The phrase at the end". However the ending did get some mixed views because for one of the questions in my survey was "What improvements would you make?" and feedback was "Get a better voice over presenter" and "A more enthusiastic voice actor to read the slogan out".

For the editing we used short cuts throughout the montage to keep it fast paced which works well with the fast upbeat soundtrack and makes the advert look more exciting for a teenage audience. We thought the cuts had to be short for a teenage audience so the advert wouldn't be too long and they would stay focused and watch the advert. We also used a fade transition when the protagonist was opening the Brut bottle and tipping some onto his hands. The fade helped speed up the process of him putting on the Brut  by cutting bits of it out and adding a fade to make it look smooth and professional. We done this to make it less long winded of him applying it and less boring for the viewers.

I think our finished advert effectively did sell the product to our specified target audience through storyline/narrative (Teenage males) because most of the feedback we got was positive about it. Most seemed to really enjoy it and appeal to the audience successfully. However saying this some feedback I got from people would have preferred more exciting/different activities "Perhaps make the activities a bit more extreme" and "More action with better scenes when aftershave has been applied". This tells me that for some teenage viewers find the activities used were too "normal" and not that exciting. Others said they would show the Brut aftershave attract females "Maybe include how it magically makes girls fall in love with you" and "Use aftershave brand more to its purpose such as attracting females". This is something I agree would help make the advert more appealing to teenage males because it's what teenage males want to do, attract females. However we wanted to change the idea of it attracting females to more feeling good and confident if you wear Brut."

 The advert got back very positive feedback however 53.33% of people said they would actually buy the product Brut. This tells me the persuasion techniques in our advert could have been better to try and sell the product to the specified target audience. Going back to what people said about showing the aftershave attracting females, I believe showing this would appeal to teenage males more and increasing the percentage of teenage males wanting to buy Brut. I do think the adverts narrative did work well in persuading the viewers to buy the product because all the different "teenage" activities and upbeat music help give the message that if you wear Brut you will feel good and confident making the viewers desire the product.

The message we were trying to tell teenager males is that Brut isn't just for older men but also for teenagers by making the advert appeal to the specified audience.We done this buy using a younger male actors to appeal to teenage males and identify them. This was successful because 100% viewers who answered my survey knew exactly who the advert was targeted at. We also used a montage of different sports to make the advert look cool and appealing to a male audience  My feedback shows this worked because people said their favorite part which attracted their attention the most was the sports, "I liked the cool backwards Frisbee throw", and "The bit when he threw the Frisbee".

I feel our advert is fit for purpose and does look professional and could been shown on television as it complies with the advertising regulations. looking at the BCAP code we made sure our advert didn't have anything which could harm or offense viewers.





I think our final advert matches closely to our original intentions however we did change one of the activities on the storyboard from three teenagers walking down the street, having a laugh and a good time to the three teenagers playing Frisbee. We changed this because watching the footage back the walking down the street shot seemed really boring and dull.  My results show the change to the Frisbee was a great change because many people said their favorite part was the Frisbee, "The part with the Frisbee" and "When he threw the Frisbee".We also changed our location during film, when location scouting in the pre-production stage we found a toilet which looked okay for filming as a bathroom, however during the day of shooting we found a better looking area to shoot and changed location.

I am extremely satisfied with our final advert. During filming and the post production stage we kept changing many things in our advert differently and at the end it all paid off because I think it looks much better than I originally thought it would, thanks to our group sharing ideas on what we could improve on. However if I was one thing I would change differently in our advert it would have to change the location we shot in. I think the advert would have looked much better and realistic if we shot in a house bathroom. I am 100% happy with how our advert turned out in the end though, better than expected. My involvement in this product was all round, everyone in our group done a bit of everything such as directing, camerawork, editing and acting where needed. We all worked well together as a group and were each hard working to create a great TV advert.

Editing Techniques

Editing techniques

What is film editing?

Editing is the creative part you do in the post production stage of film-making. Editing is how visual and audio is combined. A film editor would work with the raw footage and select the shots he wants to combine together into a sequence to create a motion picture. The use of editing helps viewers not get confused and helps present the narrative for the audience and give meaning through edits. 

The term film editing is from the traditional process of working with film but now it increasingly involves the use of digital technology. When using the traditional process of film, film makers would use something called a film splicer. A splicer is a device which is used to physically join together lengths of photographic film. There is quite a few different types of film splicers such as a cement splicer, tape splicer, ultrasonic splicer and thermal paper splicers.

Continuity

Continuity editing is a system used to help the audience to understand the narrative without getting confused and help make each shot look smooth. This allows us to follow the action in a film without becoming aware of the constructed editing.

The continuity system consists of: Establishing Shot, Match on action, 180 Degree Rule, Shot-Reverse-Shot and Motivated editing (Eye-line match).

Establishing Shot - At 0:03 there is an establishing shot. An establishing shot helps tell the viewers the location where they are now with the characters. It shows us where everything is in the location so viewers won't get confused where the characters are. In this extract an establishing shot is used to show the viewers they have moved to a new location (The Arena). The establishing shot with panning is used to show the entire arena and helps and helps show the vast size of the arena.

180 Degree Rule - At 2:55 there is the use of a 180 degree rule. A 180 Degree Rule is when the camera stays on one side on a 180 Degree axis. This is used so the viewers don't get confused when watching the film, when shooting you will have to think about which side you want the camera to be when recording and then stay on that side. Until something changes or if there is a reason for you to switch sides. For example if you're filming two people on one side and then suddenly change to the other it will look like the characters on screen have switched places which may confuse your audience. In this extract the 180 Degree rule is used when Maximus and Commodus are fist fighting. This is used so the audience don't get confused in the action.

Shot-reverse-shot - At 5:45 there is a shot-reverse-shot. A shot reverse shot is where one character is shown looking at another character and usually having a conversation with them. Then the camera would cut to the other character looking back at the first character. The shot reverse shot helps show the audience characters having a conversation. Since the characters are facing opposite directions when the camera cuts to them, we assume they are looking at each other. In this extract a shot-reverse-shot is used when Lucilla is talking to Maximus on his dying breath. This is used to show the emotion on each of the characters faces and helps the audience connect to the scene.

Match on Action - Gladiator uses many Match on actions in this extract for example 1:38, 2:05, 2:58 are all Match on actions. A match on action is when an action begins in one shot and cuts to another shot finishing the action shown in the first shot. Match on action is used to make the action more exciting by using more than one shot. The action carries through creating a "visual bridge"which draws the viewers attention from slight cutting or continuity errors.

Eye-line Match - In my extract there is a eye-line match at 4:06 - 4:11. An eye-line match is when a character is looking off screen and the audience are wanting to view what the character is looking at on screen. The camera would then cut to thing the character is looking at. This is used to show what the character is looking at by not confusing the audience. If the character looks off screen and the camera cuts to an object the audience would instantly assume it's what the character is looking at. In my extract this is used many times from a spectator reaction watching the fight between Maximus and Commodus and then cutting to the them two fighting.

Identification of characters

Screen time - Screen time is how often we see characters on the screen. The main character in a film will have the most screen time. For example we would expect to see the protagonist on the screen for longer than any other character in the film. In my extract Gladiator this is the case, we see the protagonist, Maximus have the most screen time out of any other character. This is closely followed my the antagonist, Commodus.

            Protagonist                                                                                          Antagonist 

Point of view shots - In this extract there is a point of view shot used at 5:28 and 8:19, there is also many other POV shots used throughout this extract.  A Point of view shot is a shot looking from the characters perspective, this helps draws the audience into the scene by putting us into the characters shoes as if the audience are there as the character. A point of view shot is used when Maximus is dying and sees his wife and son in the field in the afterlife. This POV shot is used from Maximus's perspective looking at his family, this helps create emotion by putting the audience in Maximus's view as he finally sees his family again.

Reaction shot - In this extract there are lots of reaction shots used, a few examples of reaction shots in this extract are at 00:21, 1:08, 2:08 and 4:04. A reaction shot is a camera shot of a character's response to an event or statement made by another. A reaction shot is used when Maximus slashes Commodus arm and then the camera changes to the reaction of the crowd cheering. This tells the audience the crowd are rooting for Maximus to win the fight.










Close Ups - In this extract there is many close ups used, a few examples are used at 0:43, 0:45, 0:48 2:16, 2:22, 2,20 to 2:58(During the knife struggle between the two characters and Commodus death), etc. A close up is when the camera gets close to an object or person like just their face shown in the shot to see their facial expression clearly. Lots of facial close ups are used when Maximus and Commodus are fist fighting and struggling for the knife. close ups of the two characters fighting are used here to show their emotion, exhausted and struggling facial expression.

Jump Cuts - In this extract there wasn't a jump cut used. A jump cut is when two shots which are the same are slightly taken from a different camera position. This edit gives the effect of jumping forward in time, it makes the audience feel like they've moved ahead of time. Many jump cuts are used in the film Snatch, in the opening title sequence the characters are taking off their disguise and the camera position slightly changes causing the scene to go slightly ahead of time of them getting changed so the scene isn't too long and boring of them getting changed, it helps make the scene more interesting.

Montage - In my chosen extract a montage is not used. A montage is when a series of shots are edited together into a sequence. A montage is used to give the effect of the passing of time and the development of something. For example in Rocky 1 a montage is used when Rocky is training and shows a variety of different shots of Rocky exercising/training which are edited together to show his development and him getting better and better over a short period on screen but really its a lot longer in the film.

Cutting to Soundtrack - In my chosen extract cutting to soundtrack isn't used. Cutting to Soundtrack is when the pace of the cuts edited together compliments the soundtrack in the film depending how fast it is. For example a fast, upbeat soundtrack would have fast paced cuts and a slow while a sad soundtrack will have slow cuts and longer takes. 

Cutaways - A cutaway is when a continuously filmed action is interrupted by a different shot of something else in the same location, (if the shot is in a different location/scene it is called a cutaway scene.) It is then usually followed by a cutback of the first shot. It is used to help the editor assemble a longer sequence.

Editing Rhythm - Editing rhythm is similar to cutting to soundtrack however the pace of the edited cuts compliment the action in the film. For example a fight scene will have fast paced cuts, aggressive feel to the edit making the action on screen more exciting. While a sad scene of a character dying will have slow, steady and longer takes capturing every emotion and action making it sad and difficult to watch with the long takes.

Parallel Editing/Cross Cutting - My extract doesn't use cross cutting but it is used in Inception where the camera will cut to the characters are in the dream world and then cut back to the real world of them in a car chase happening at the same time. Here the shot consistently cuts back and fourth the two scenes. Crosscutting is when two actions are happening at the same time in different locations and the camera will keep cutting from one action to the other action.







Providing and Withholding Information - Withholding Information is when the audience know more information than the characters in the film or the audience are in the dark and trying to find out information for example a who did it murder film, the audience want to know/find out with the characters who is the killer, this keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. Providing Information is when the audience know information the characters don't  for example the audience know who the killer is who is in the same room as another character it will create more tension in the scene.

Rebranding a Unilever Product