Evaluation

 Evaluation

My brief was to produce an advertisement, up to 2 minutes long, about a piece of furniture, which a pupil within our school had made for their Technology A-Level.

Did you achieve what you set out to do?

I believe that as a team, we did achieve what we set out to do and followed the brief’s guidelines to the best of our ability. Personally I feel that myself and Becky both put a huge amount of work into completing this unit and we are very pleased with the outcome.

Did you plan all aspects of your video/production thoroughly enough?

When me and my team member began to plan the production, we both agreed that the planning must be very detailed so that we can follow it and understand it easily further towards the production stages. First of all we started off with the initial ideas for an advertisement for ‘Cloud 90’ which were both similar, so we decided to take parts from both ideas to create the final idea. This was a positive idea as it allowed us to settle on an idea to help us move forward within the unit.

Then it went onto the target market and the audience section which asked us to identify the target market which the advert will be aimed towards. This helped us as it will allow us to plan the content of the advertisement and making sure that the way the advert is filmed, will appeal to the target audience we decided on.

Overall, I believe that we planned all aspects of the video with a positive attitude and detailed planning.

How well did you manage your time? How could you improve your time management?

When completing tasks within the unit, in my opinion we did not manage our time as well as we could have. This is because at some points, one task may take us a few days when it should only take a day maximum. However, there were some very good tasks within the unit which myself and my colleague both completed quickly, efficiently and to the best of out ability.

We could have improved our time management by completing an un-official diary which covered Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production separately to the whole project production diary which I completed & by also keeping track of time by stating how long we had spent on each task, slowly adding up to a target which we could have set towards the beginning of the unit as a lenient deadline.

How successful were you at meeting deadlines? What sorts of problems prevented you from meeting deadlines? What could you do differently next time to meet deadlines more effectively?

Together as a team we were reasonably good at keeping to set deadlines for work within the unit; however individually, our work was not completed to deadlines as efficiently as we originally hoped. When working individually, I often did not meet the deadlines for any of the work, however the work I completed was of a high standard which compensated for the lateness. There were not many problems which prevented me and my colleague from completing work for the deadlines, but there were problems such as the availability of workstations and filming equipment. On the other hand, this allowed us to spend more time discussing certain parts of the unit which may need improving or amending. Other problems also affected the completion date such as absence. This affected us a few times because if one of us was missing, then it would mean the individual on their own would find it difficult to make decisions without their teammates inputs and opinions. However, this allowed the individual to get on with the work that only required the efforts of one person.

If we were to rework the unit, we would make sure that both of us had scheduled diaries and strict times to make sure that each piece of work will be completed within the work deadline. This would mean we will keep on top of the work, making sure every bit of time we have over can go towards other units or other pieces of work which needed amending.

Did you work well within your team or were their problems?

As a team, myself and Becky both worked extremely well together. We worked efficiently and helped each other throughout the whole of the Unit. There were no problems which affected the work between us apart from the absence situation. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Becky as we are both productive workers and we work well as a team.

Who did what within the team? Did you swap jobs and have a go at everything? How did you record/account/evaluate different parts of a task/product being created by different individuals within the group.

As there was only two of us within the team, myself and Becky decided that we would work together on all of the tasks within the unit. This way the tasks would get both of our full attention and have both of our inputs. This method enabled us to complete work to a higher quality than if we were doing it individually, however it didn't allow us to complete the work as efficient as we hoped. With both our inputs, we did not complete the work as quickly as we could have. We recorded work individually however worked together; all of the work on the blog had been done individually and each task was accounted by both of us on our own.

How well organized was your planning and preparation? Explain in detail referring back to your writing, development and pre-production.

As a group, our planning and preparation was good. We kept records and diaries of all of our tasks individually and as a group. When developing the idea for the advert, we drew story boards and filmed initial ideas which we then compared between our other ideas. Using these ideas, we then evaluated them which gave us the chance to use good bits from each idea, to make our final advert idea. Our organization in this part of the unit was very organized and efficient. The rest of the pre-production was well organized as a group, however on my own, my organizational skills were not as good as the group work.

I could improve my organizational skills by being more accurate when recording tasks and completed pieces of work. This way I will know what I have left to do in each unit, making my work more efficient.

How well organized were your filming and editing? Explain in detail referring back to your writing, development and pre-production.

The two tasks went well, but I feel they could have gone better. The filming went as planned apart from the problem with the material, video camera and tripod. The filming process was very fluid and we worked well as a team, achieving efficient and qualitative work. The editing process went better than we had hoped. Due to my great interest in the art of editing, I found it very easy with the help of Becky who did the sound and the text editing. The editing software was very easy to use which helped the process with a fluid motion.

As an individual, I think that to improve this task, I needed to become better at recording each part which was completed. But also I could have done a better job when filming the advert, giving it a better quality and more professional approach to advertising.

What problems did you have during the making of this film/item and how did you overcome them?

During the making of the film, we had a few complications; however the problems were not majorly effective to the efficiency of the production. The problems consisted of technological problems and material problems which set back part of the production very slightly. One of  these problems were that the camera, which we booked, had run out of battery before we could use it. This was not a problem as we had a backup camera which we also booked, that we could use as a contingency plan if things went wrong. This was a good idea to have as it gave us the chance to continue filming as usual, but just with a different camera, which was not a problem.

The material problem was very simple to overcome, we could not find any sugar paper, so we just used the blackness of the wall within the drama studio which we used as our studio. This was beneficial as it was very simple to film and allowed us to edit the blackness within the editing software.

To avoid these problems again, I believe that we should have gathered the materials before we began filming so it would not spoil the flow of production.

Did you find the “editing” process easy or difficult?

Due to my interest in the editing of film and sound, I found the editing process very easy. With the help of my partner, we used the iMovie editing package, which allows us to edit film clips and overlay music and sound effects on top of the film. This enabled us to create a quality advert for our Unit. When editing, we used headphones which allowed us to hear the sound more precisely, we could then edit the transitions more effectively.

To have made the editing that bit easier, me and Becky could have used a boom pole to record actual rain, instead of using a sound effect which was on the editing software. This would have given us a better quality sound and an easier editing experience.

What new skills did you learn during this unit/project/objective?

During the Unit, I developed individual skills which will help me to complete other units with greater confidence over the course. Skills which I believe were improved were my ability to record my work well so I can see what I need to do to complete certain objectives. During the unit, I was also introduced to risk assessing and recces. These have helped me gain new skills in researching different aspects of the pre-production section of making a product. This has improved my capabilities as a student and will benefit me in future projects.

How long is your finished production in seconds?

 48 Seconds

What is effective about your finished product? What are its weaknesses and what would you do to try and improve it?

The finished product is very minimalist. This means that the advert is very simple, however is effective in the way it portrays the table. The advert shows the table to be ‘heavenly’, with the table being the centre point of attention. The advert attracts people’s attention and gets them wondering what the advert is about. With the pieces of white wood which appear to form a shape, this keeps the audience guessing and intrigued. However, the text, sound effects and quality of visual effects did let the video down slightly. The text does not really suit the style of advert; however it does give more explanation linking to the end statement. The sound effects were off of the editing software on the MAC we used, they were not what we were looking for, however they did the job we required them to do and it turned out well. The visual effects were slightly blurry, which decreased the professionalism of the advert slightly, however the blurriness linked to the name of the table ‘Cloud 90’.

To improve the video, I believe that the editing should be looked at and improved to increase the quality of the product, this can be done by spending more time on the editing and not rushing the process which is what we have done before. What also can be improved is the quality of the film. Due to the angle we wanted to film from, the tripod did not allow us to film in that position, so we had to improvise and use a different form of support to allow us to film in the position we required. This can be improved by having a better plan when filming to make sure we know what we are doing all of the time.

What do others think of your finished product?

When speaking to fellow class members, they thought that the advert was very upper class standard and very posh. This is the look which we wanted as this is the market which the table had been originally aimed at. A few of them commented on the quality of the advert; some said that the quality was of a good standard, it kept your attention. However others thought it was a bit boring and lack of colour and intimacy. The feedback we received has made me realize that we should have spent more time on the pre-production and making of the advert as our rushed work shows up in the advert. All in all, we believe that it was a successful project.

If you were to make your product again what would you do differently?

If I were to make my product again, I would start by re-designing the advert. This is due to the feedback I received from fellow students, as of this, I would make sure the advert was a bit more inviting and not as depressing as some people thought it was. This constructive criticism would enable me to become more motivated and more likely to record my work to make sure the advert was of a better quality and of efficient production. I would include more action In the remake of the advert, with actors within the advert, with comedy (or different genres) within the advert to make it memorable after people see it on YouTube or the television. This will enable the advert to also become a viral add, sent around the internet via Email and social media. Overall, I would start the whole project from scratch, but target a different audience and make it more appealing to all ages and genders.

Compare your product with a similar professional product. In what ways does it match up? Where does it fall below the quality of an equivalent professional product?

Comparing our product with a similar advert is difficult. This is because there have been no adverts which have gone down the idea which we came up with for our advert. On the TV, you often see adverts which show the furniture being used in family life and with a price tag attached to it. We did not want to go along these lines as we thought the table was of a too higher quality to make it look like any other piece of furniture you can see in a shop. As the table is very unique and a 1-of-a-kind product We wanted to give it a 1-of-a-kind advertising campaign. Although it did not come out like a real professional advert would, we gave it our best shot and it was not far off. The advert idea was a brilliant idea, however the way we filmed it was quite complicated and did not come out the way we had hoped. However, we are happy with the outcome.

How far does the product ratify the original proposal and satisfy your client’s needs?

After we completed the advert, it was shown to Steven McLean (The designer and maker of Cloud 90). From his reaction and feedback to the advert, he thought it was a well presented advert with great potential. We were very pleased with this reaction as we completed one of our objectives which was to make the advert to the designers standards. He gave us some feedback about the quality of editing which we didn’t take to heart, but we did take note of this for future reference when completing other film tasks in future units.

How original would you say your product is?

Our product is a modern piece of advertising. The idea we used had not been discovered by any other adverts which may have been used before, we did not get any inspiration from any other adverts, so the product is entirely mine and Becky’s idea. The advert is not original as it uses a different way of connecting to the target audience. Our advert connects with the audiences senses, stimulating their sight and their hearing. The sight of the table forming as a cloud creates a connection with the sound of rain and thunder which will be recognisable. The advert uses the visual properties of the table to create the overall theme of the advert, creating a very modern, stylish and effective advertisement.

How much use have you made use of appropriate production techniques?

The advert is purely sound and visual media, so the production techniques used were very simple and effective. We used a script to help with the order of shots within the advert; this allowed us to put every part of the advert in its correct order whilst proceeding with quality control checks throughout. Other production techniques were also used effectively such as the lighting. Lighting was very important in our filming as we needed to have the room as dark as possible, whilst still keeping the table lit up and as white as possible. However, this did not work out the way we wanted, when the table was lit up by a spotlight, the background of the black wall/floor began to shine due to the light. This affected the quality of the moving image. So to correct this, when we got to the editing stage of the advert, we altered the lighting on the footage to make the wall/floor darker but the white kept bright. This video effect created the effect of a moving cloud which is exactly what we wanted in the creation of this advertisement.

How far have you considered legal and ethical requirements?

As a group, we have not considered any of these requirements. This is because as our advert is directly focused on the table, there is no content within the advert which me and Becky would deem as offensive, obscene or unethical. The advert was created purely to advertise the table, not in any way to breach laws or be seen as unethical practice.

How would you evaluate the overall quality of the material produced?

The material produced, we think, is of a good standard. The whole pre-production went very well, we focused on trying to keep as well planned as possible which will lead to a quality product. The end product is of a good standard, however not exactly how I had hoped it would have come out like. The visual effects are slightly blurry, which does give the effect of a cloud; however I would have preferred the visuals to be much clearer. This is because if it was slightly clearer, the components of the table would be a lot more potent, allowing the viewer to see the whole of the table and the features which may persuade them to purchase the table if they see something they like. The sound layered over the top of the advert is just as we expected, it is perfectly timed with the advert and thunder strikes on a few of the transitions which acts as a sting, attracting attention to the advert and the product in hand. Overall, I believe that the end product is good, however if I was to create it again I would do it slightly better to create a more professional advert.

Are there any missing elements? How could you have avoided this? What would you do differently to insure this doesn't happen again?

Over the time of completing this unit, there have been a couple of missing elements. However these elements have gradually been solved and achieved in me and Becky’s best ability. We could have avoided this by making our production plan and diary easier to follow and understand. This will reinforce the insurance of making sure that the event of elements going missing in the future, allowing me and Becky to improve our pre-production skills for future units.