Assignment 3, Task 4: Self-Evaluation worksheet

The Brief: 

You have been commissioned by the marketing agency ‘Don’t Panic’ to create a 30 second Viral Video Advert that creates Buzz for the ‘Random Acts of Kindness 2016’ campaign targeting 16-25 College Students and University Students. Your Viral Ad should follow the ASA regulations, be aware of copyright and trademark issues, and have a clear ‘positive’ narrative and message: to ‘Pass it On’ and encourage the audience to take part during campaign, and share the Ad with their networks to make it viral.

Summarise your feedback.

Client:

When my client was watching my viral advert. In general he was happy, i was also told that they  I successfully met the criteria of the brief. In terms of the narrative, the way in which i presented the actors made the message clear that the purpose was to 'pass it on'. The music which was used in advert appealed to it's target audience as it was not necessarily appealing to just one demographic of people, i tried my absolute best to find some sort of middle ground. The camerawork in the advert worked well and also looked good, as the video flowed and there was enough variety of shots. One point of correction and area in which would need to improve on was that the client was not sure whether the advert would necessarily go viral and would make the audience want to share.

Target Audience:

The music in which i used appealed to my target audience very well because it was not too busy but at the same time very centralised and not too biased.

Peers:

In terms of the elements of buzz it would be a secret one as the audience is not yet aware of what the first character is about to do for his random act of kindness.

How successful was your advert in fulfilling the brief according to their feedback?:

They said that i did fulfil the brief overall and one of the main things in which was clear in the brief that had to be shown was that we had to make the 'pass it on' message clear and that is something that i made sure during the filming process that was executed properly. As a result of doing this, the client also made a comment as to how he was pleased with how clear that was made.

   Self-evaluation

What are 3 Technical strengths of your advert & why?

1. Narrative. The narrative of this advert was very clear to the audience in terms of what we wanted them to do, because we made sure that they knew that they had to pass it on, they also knew when the Random Acts of Kindness week was as well, so that they would be able to get involved. The narrative also made the story very clear because if the story line was not clear then the audience would spend a majority of their time trying to understand what was going on.

2. The camera work was one of my technical strengths as the shooting process was very straight forward, everyone knew what they were doing, as a result of storyboarding prior to the day of the shoot everyone just got to it and even in the end product the camera quality was very good, everything was in focus, there were enough takes done in which enabled us to edit efficiently.

3. The soundtrack that was used in the background worked very well as well because we were able to find a neutral ground which made the background not too biased to one particular demographic of people, making it sound very much like an advert should.

What was strong/needs improving and why?

•      Use of camera shots and framing, did you shoot enough footage to create interest?

My use of different camera angles and framing was a very strong aspect in the whole production of the advert. Some of the shots in which were used were very creative and this was done on purpose  as the quicker the shots, more of beat editing used keeps the interest of the audience.

One thing which was picked up on for me to pick up on was my attention to detail when writing "Random Acts Of Kindness" i  did not spell it properly, so i needed to have double checked it before putting it out on youtube.

   Use of editing techniques – does the narrative makes sense? Is there a clear Beginning, Middle, End? Is it Creative (nonlinear, alternative editing like montage or jump cuts?) Is it fast enough for the audience to be interested?

In this advert, my narrative was very clear and made a lot of sense, the start middle and end was very clear. In order for me to have achieved top level marks, i had to make my editing very creative such as beat editing which , using fades such as cross dissolves, jump cuts which is all alternative editing.

 How professional does it look technically – steady camera, framing, tight-editing, use of sound with images, use of props and costume and location?

The camera is very steady in the advert. All the shots are static and there was no movement which was executed properly with the use of a tripod as there were no shots done without the camera being on the tripod.The 180 degree rule was used so that it would flow. The framing looked professional and there was tight editing in certain angles. The use of props were very effective such as a box, pencil case etc.

Does the costume, location and props make this convincing and do they create meaning – characters, help to tell the story?

This advert was set in a library where students go to study which means the contents of the story line worked very well with the location of the advert. The costumes were varied and almost every actor represented the target audience ranged from 16-25 year old's which means some of them would either be enduring or finishing university.

 Does it meet the demands of the brief and client - does it get the message across?

I think that all elements of the brief were covered and we ticked a majority of all the boxes, one point of criticism though was that there should be an element in regards to the advert which would have made it go viral and acquire a large amount of views.

Did/Would this go Viral – did it create enough Buzz?

Although the message was clear and it met the criteria of the brief in it's purpose there wasn't an element of buzz that would make it stand out and engage the audience even more.

•      Does it meet the full range of the audience?

YYes i think that this advert meets the full range of the audience as what was portrayed to the audience in the advert could happen to anyone within the age range of our target audience

Merit level answers

What would you differently next time and what impact would it have had on your work?

Looked more carefully at examples of Viral ads?

I would look more carefully at examples of viral ads in order to ensure that met advert not only meets the criteria of the brief and that the message is clear but that it shares an element of buzz to go viral and hold the audiences interest.

More creative with the idea – alternative editing techniques (Montage, Beat Editing, Jump Cuts for Special Effects), creating Buzz?

Been more creative with the Idea in that it has an edge and stands out making the audience remember it and making it interactive also so that the audience can get involved too.

Thought about the purpose and planned the idea more carefully?

The idea that was thought and went ahead with goes very well to the purpose. I think if not anything else it was a success in that aspect 

Looking more appropriately for locations in that it's done in a public library so there is more of a variety of strangers to perform the act on so the audience would be able to look at it from different dimensions 

Filmed more shots and variety of angles?

I feel as if the angles that were shot had enough variation in order for it to look distinguished.

Looked for more appropriate locations and actors than shooting on college?

Looking more appropriately for locations in that it's done in a public library so there is more of a variety of strangers to perform the act on so the audience would be able to look at it from different dimensions 

Filmed more shots and variety of angles?

I feel as if the angles that were shot had enough variation in order for it to look distinguished.