Production Radio Ad
4th feb 2010
Today we planned to not only finish all editing but to begin to record the radio advert, especially as we have only a short while before the deadline is upon us. Elliott carried on with Bisous as he now had the picture of the perfume bottle from Christina, he experimented with super imposing it and making a caption screen for the perfume, he attempted many ways of doing it with Amber and I advising him on colour etc. We finally settled on a pink caption screen with the bottle in the centre but when we put it with the footage it was awful, Elliot. t then continued to try different effects, as to which i am unsure if he has found one yet.
Also today we booked equipment with Brendon to record the radio advert, he said he would set up a room for us which we could use after lunch. After lunch myself, Elliott and Amber (christina wasn’t present today) made our way over to the media diploma area with the modified script from Amber so that we could practice and record the advert. First of all we used Elliott as we felt he had a good radio presenter voice, I then had a go and then we did it simultaneously as we felt this would give it a more fun and group feel. After doing this we felt we should make a jingle up to give it a more authentic feel to the advert so we did this we also included Christina’s name in it, despite her not being there.
I feel our recording went well and we had a lot of fun doing it, once we returned to the mac rooms Elliott and Amber uploaded the footage and began to work on it.
<images of recording>
today we started the day by continuing to edit the last bits of the adverts, then we collected some equipment to record the radio advert, brendon set up a room for us where we could record, the equipement we used was a boom mic and camera. Christina wasnt present today but we took account for in the recording. To record we took it in turns to stand infront of the boom mic and speak using a radio presenter voice in many different ways until we got the best voice we even recorded a jingle to make it sound more authentic.
Pre-Production of Radio Ad & Web-Pop
21st January 2010
Today Christina and I began the preproduction for the radio ad and web pop up, Elliott and Amber were not present in our lesson; Elliott had an exam and Amber was ill, so Christina and I decided to draft up the work for them so that they could edit and apply their research to it. First of all we started with the radio advert, Amber had already told us that she wanted to create an advert that featured a competition in conjunction with the perfume launch, so with this in mind we came up with a draft script:
noise of the city- horns/ hustle bustle
voice and music simultaneously:
would you like to win a weekend stay in London for you and one of your friends, with £1000 spending money?
Well you can, with Lost and Found the new fragrances by Patteli, all you need to do is answer this question: ‘Which famous London monument has just celebrated its tenth birthday?
a. The London Eye
b. Big Ben
c. Canary Wharf (repeat answers)
If you think you know the answer call this number 0208 554 877, thats 0208 554 877, calls will be charged at standard network rate, calls from mobiles vary, please ask bill payers permission before calling,standard terms and conditions apply
For more information visit our website www.cakeradio.com all entrances must be made by midnight 17th march 2010. Godd Luck!
To create the script we researched by using these websites:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2002075_write-radio-ad.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2182432_write-successful-radio-ad.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2125778_do-radio-ad.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2125778_do-radio-ad.html
These websites showed us that we needed to not only entince our audience but to entertain them, we needed a question to invite our audience in, a slightly deep but warm tone to the voice, yet it needs to be friendly. The information should be short and factual at rapid fire.
We then planned different aspects of the advert:
Audience:
- perfume buyers
- Females (due to the prize)
- Couples
Perfume:
- Male/Female
- Mid-range perfume- £30
- 21-25 years old
Length:
- 15 secs
- 30 secs
- 60 secs
Radio Audience
- Unisex
- Herts/Essex area
- Time 8-10am and 5-7pm, this is as our audience will be travelling to or from work at this time
- 21-25 years
Continuity from adverts:
- mentioning of the perfume
- Same location
- Music- hometown glory, hustle bustle of London
Will show these findings to Amber next lesson and get her approval and allow her to make changes as she wishes, then we can formally write the script and potentially record it and then pass it on to Elliott to edit it.
The script will state the client and time its going to be aired at the top, then the page will be split into two, on the left hand side the source will be written whereas on the right the dialogue of noise will be written.
After the completion of this we started on the web pop up, by listing specific features we need:
Where the pop up will be seen:
- General advertising space
- Social networking
Noise/Music features:
- Perfume spritz noise (if poss)
Purpose:
- Free sample
- Win!
Who/What?
- Lauren hair flick
- Ben by the tree
We also discussed what the advert would look like, we decided to have the name of the perfume at the top of the frame with the actor in a medium close up shot (taken from the advert) with a hyperlinked ‘free sample’ button and a picture of the bottle at the bottom of the screen. We will then pass this onto Elliott so that he can use this in the way he has decided.
28th January 2010
Amber was back in lesson today so Christina and I showed Amber the script we came up with, she mostly approved however noticed that we didn’t include an age that the applicant and further to this she wanted to go back to her research in order to see if we have followed the conventions correctly.
http://ambermediaharlow.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/radio-advert-construction/
Post-Production- Adverts
3rd December
In this lesson we decided to edit Lost/Found, however I felt as producer it would be a good idea to leave the editor to do his job and if my opinion was needed I was nearby to be asked. I also ensured that all preproduction for Bisous was complete to do this I listed the specific features and potential problems that could occur and then came up with a solution for them (see previous post), I also bought the perfume bottle for Bisous during our lunch break. Amber and Christina aided Elliott with the editing process by carefully selecting the good footage from the not so good and then using the story board they created the advert.
During this process they came across some problems such as the shot being too wide, so they had to crop it, also at points the footage goes fuzzy so they had to adjust the timeline. We had agreed to use as little transitions as possible which they followed by only using a couple of dissolves as this shows time lapse and helps the story to flow.
10th December
Elliott and I had had the chance to add a bit more to the footage during our Tuesday lesson whilst the rest of the class had a mock exam, in that lesson Elliott rearranged some of the footage and changed the lenght of some of the shots, whilst I experimented with the sound using the website supplied by Christina, I felt that maybe revelry by Kings of Leon would go or Breakeven by The Script but with the footage these seemed to depressing or just didnt go, so instead we went back to our original idea of Hometown Glory by Adele. In our Thursday lesson we took a copy of the backing track from YouTube and converted it to an MP3 so that we could use it, we carefully listened (as a group) to the song to depict the more intense parts so that we could change the starting point of the song to go with the events in our advert.
We continued to edit, during this we found two pieces of footage which we loved but were unsure on how we could use them as we knew they really added to the advert, we attempted to put them at the end but it didnt flow right, but we couldn’t find anywhere else to put them. Fortunatley Elliott had the idea to create a form of montage using these clips and overlaying over our actors walking towards each other on the bridge, this added with some transitions created a really professional perfume advert feel, even one of our peers commented, ‘I could picture this on TV’ which was a good indication that all our research had paid off and we are on our way to producing good quality work!! 
Here are some pictures of the editing process:
In this lesson we also required the perfume bottles so that we could put them on the advert, to do this Elliott and Amber went out and bought the bottles from £ land, then Elliott stuck his labels on there. Christina, being in charge of all photography then asked me how I wanted her to take the picture, I suggested a digital camera or the SLR that many of our peers have, however the only available one was taken for the next hour and we needed the pictures now, therefore I asked our friend James Clothier if we could use his camera and he offered to take the pictures for us, Christina, Elliott and Amber made a mini studio for him in another room, where they taped white sheets of paper to the wall and floor, then told James how to take the picture. After this Elliott edited the images and put them into our advert .
<perfume bottle images>
After half term Elliott completed the first advert, we have since published this to Facebook so that our peers can see it and review it, despite the flaws we noticed ourselves, generally the feedback has been positive, one friend of mine commented on how it followed the conventions of the genre and he could imagine seeing it on the TV but on the other hand we did reieve some criticism such as how it was hard to work out what it was about in the beginning and that maybe we could have included more footage of our female advert. We are yet to publish the advert to Youtube as Elliott wishes to see what he can do with it in After Effects, more information about the editing is on Elliott’s blog, such as the techniques and descisions he took in the creation of the advert.
However, in review, i feel despite the flaws in the footage (wonky cam and lighting) this advert is good, it would hold so much more potential if we had had the platform to connect the camera to the tripod, but this has not happened, we could at a later date revisit the location and re-film some shots, however this could interfere with the continuity of the piece, especially in relation to the weather conditions as on the day the weather changed from sunny with clouds to rain and a rainbow, therefore it would be very difficult to re-create the rainbow scene. I’m very happy with the music we used as it gives the right atmosphere and the black and white gives an air of sophistication to the footage .
14th January 2010
On this date we began to import and edit the footage recorded by Christina and I for our second advert ‘Bisous’, Amber Christina and I imported the footage and made a skeleton advert for Elliott (as he was ill, but came to lesson in the afternoon), to do this selected the clips we felt were appropriate for the advert, then Elliot could choose to use or discard this and change the clips length etc, after this I began the Pre-production for the radio ad and web pop up, preferably i would have rathered of started this as soon as Elliott began editing but there were conflicting views within the group.
Production- Two Adverts
26th November- Lost/Found
This was our first of two filming dates, we decided to start with Lost/Found on this date as it’s nearing Christmas and London will be getting busier. To begin the day Amber and I went to collect the battery and tripod we had borrowed from Andreas, he also checked my camera to see the make and whether it was appropriate for our filming (whether we could connect it to the tripod etc). We then awaited Christina and left to meet Elliott and Lauren at the bus stop.
There was a small delay waiting for Elliott but this was due to a lack of communication/misunderstanding- we knew Elliott was in the town and assumed he’d meet us at the bus station. We then got the train to Westminster where we met Ben at 1pm, the crew had something to eat whilst waiting for Lauren to get into her costume and then we began to film.
We went to our first location which was the entrance to the train station, we chose a fairly quiete and small one, assuming that not many people would be using it, therefore we wouldn’t have to stop and then start filming repeatedly. This is where problems started to occur, Amber began to set up her equipment and then realised that Andreas hadnt given us the platform to connect the camera to the tripod, an air of dissapointment was cast across the group, we now knew we wouldnt achieve our full potential for this advert and after all our planning and effort to get this shoot organised we could hardly go back home, so we decided everything would be shot on steadicam, much to our dissapointment, but we had to make the best of the situation we were in. We then experienced problems with the natural sunlight in shot causing a glare to go across the screen, although from reviewing the footage it appears that Amber has worked around this and also the glare may not look as bad when we edit it into black and white.
For each shot it was my job to brief the actors how we wanted them to behave, direct the cast and crew to our next location, I also told Amber what was happening in each shot and she decided the best camera angle to film it from- for some a tripod would have been very useful! Elliott couldn’t preform his assigned job as we didn’t require sound for this, however he assisted Amber and worked with her, Christina positioned the actors and told them their cues. Throughout filming we all shared our opinions on how it should have been filmed and how to capture specific landmarks in shot, so overall although we all stuck to our roles we crossed over to ensure that we all produced a good piece of work we were proud of, we all also took a role in caring for our actors this involve getting them tea and lending them extra clothing whilst walking from location to location.
In reflection of the day I feel we eventually got the right actors who will give our advert the right atmosphere, we also got some good shots despite the lack of tripod and I also feel we all stuck to our roles which improved the overall efficienty of our filming.
5th December- Bisous
Today we intended to film our second advert, unfortunately Elliott couldn’t get the time off work- it being so close to christmas and Amber had been taken ill and could no longer participate on this day. Taking this into account Christina and I decided we should carry on with the filming as I had all the story boards, we had our actors and both know how to use all the equipment, Elliott is required more for the editing side of the film and sound which we didn’t require and Amber had done all the pre-production for it with me so we knew exactly how she intended it to go.
With this in mind Christina and I took on roles within the production, she was in charge of taking care and preparing our actors and the scenery, whilst I was in charge of setting up the equipment and filming the advert with the advice of Christina. Overall this worked well, however we did encounter a few problems with the size of the room restricting how much movement we had for shots, but we managed to work with it and obey the 180 degree rule, also the lack of lighting proved an issue for some of the shots we needed by the window the camera was drawn to the sunlight, thus making the room dark and our actress barely visible; however this issue is hard to work with as there isn’t really the facilities to take lights of the premisis and we certainly don’t have the strenght to carry them round for our production. Other than that this advert seems to be yet another success, but it is the editing that will really make sure it fulfills it’s full potential.
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)
Fantastic Mr Fox is a stop motion animated released in cinemas in october 2009, it stars George Clooney as the voice of Mr Fox and Meryl Streep as his partner. The director of this film was Wes Anderson, he was involved at many of the stages within the production by taking part in producing, directing and screen writing for it.
The companies that produced this film were Indian Paintbrush which is owned by Wes Anderson and Regency Enterprises; internationally the film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and in the Netherlands it was distributed by Warner Brothers and Odeon. The advantages of using these companies include that they both have sub sectors that deal with other media types such as; 20th century television or AOL time Warner, these factors have aided with the vertical and horizontal synergy of the film.
The special effects of this film were done by Lip sync post and stranger and many other companies were used for specific needs within the production such as; Production Copier Company who supplied the equipment to use and ABKCO Music Records who made the sound track.
Below is a diagram of how these companies have contributed towards the synergy:
Horizontal and Vertical Synergy
Although these companies have the ability to use the internet to distribute the film, I have noticed that most of the advertising has been done through visual and audio adverts, there is also a website which has been created for the film which is interactive and allows the audience to find out more about the cast, film, download and play games related to the film.
Pre-Production- Two Adverts
In order to complete the production of our TV adverts we have to combine all our prior research we have found and formulate the story boards, script, narrative/script, find actors and locations and fill in the appropriate sheets.
We all took on our own roles within the preproduction these can be found on my previous post http://kimriw.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/research-perfume-analysis/ and the work carried out by each team member can be found on their blogs:
Christina:christina1200.wordpress.com
Amber: Ambermediaharlow.wordpress.com
Elliott: Elliottbasselliottbasselliottbass.wordpress.com
Before beginning my role of creating the storyboards I made a miniature mind map for each advert involving the type of location we wanted, the actors, costumes, props, and narrative, I did this so that I knew everything was in one place so that I can reference back to it throughout the preproduction and production.
Bisous
Lost and Found
To create the story boards I need to work with Amber to find out which camera angles she felt she would like to use for each shot, I also needed the help of Christina as she created the narrative/script, after combining the two and creating the story boards pasted below I filled in a camera shot list. Although these have been completed it is likely on the day we will experiment with the angles and find that some shots don’t work the way they have been drawn.
Bisous page 1
Bisous page2
Lost and Found
Lost and found p2
Lost and Found 3
Next we needed our actors, as a group we decided that we would use Samantha Swingle, Lauren Owers and Mat Steer, we didn’t hold auditions as we felt it would be easier to ask the people we know and can rely on, also we felt they were the type of people we needed for our adverts. For locations Amber researched into different areas of London we could use, such as Big Ben, a tube station, a park, a fountain and steps by Buckingham Palace, to further this research herself and Elliott intend to visit and take photos in the half term. Following this I filled in the needed forms to go ahead with shooting, these included, talent release, location release, location scouting, camera shot list and risk assessment forms and once combining all this research and planning I can inform the appropriate person to acquire permission to film in London and once we return from half term we can organise our equipment and actors and begin.
Bisous
BisousLost and Found
Whilst doing this Elliott has been working on the brand design and the labels for the perfume, this can be found on his blog <http://elliottbasselliottbasselliottbass.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/creating-the-brand-image/>.
5th November
On this day we all took a trip to London so that we could location scout, we already had a rough idea of where we were looking due to Amber’s prior research so we only had to take a few pictures and discuss how we could use each area to its full potential. From this trip we decided to use the exterior of Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Park, below are some pictures we took, in total Christina took about 29 and the pictures will vary on each blog but these are the ones which show the places we are going to use to film in.
Location Scouting
St James's Park and
Buckingham Palace
St James's Park
Big Ben
In the following lesson Amber emailed the royal park police a copy of this email can be found on her blog <http://ambermediaharlow.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/permission-to-film/> this aspect of pre-production is also be mentioned in my research into technicalities post. With the location chosen and story boards drawn we now need our actors so to do this we are going hold auditions , previously we decided we weren’t going to but we need one or two males to act in our adverts so the easiest way to find them is to audition for them, Elliott was in charge of creating the posters and we all gave our opinion on how attractive the poster was and whether he had worded it right so we would find the ‘right’ people for our advert, the finished product can be found on his blog <http://elliottbasselliottbasselliottbass.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/10-november-2009/> we then placed them around the college where people would see them so that hopefully we will have some potential actors audition on thursday 12th November.
12th November 2009
In this lesson we spent our times updating our blogs and preparing for the auditions we were holding at lunch time, to do this Elliott printed off arrow posters and more audition posters, Christina began to look into the costumes we could use for the production (http://christina1200.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/auditions-121109/) whilst Amber updated her blog with the story boards and shot lists we worked on together and I filled in the risk assessment form for both adverts. <risk assesment>
When we got to lunchtime we waited for people to arrive, however not many people did so we took the initiative for Hayley Dutton and I to go into the canteen and approach groups of people during their lunch break, this approach sort of worked, many people asked us how much they’d get paid and what the advert was about some even asked if they’d be on TV. In total we managed to get 8 auditionees and some friends who offered to help if we didn’t find anyone. After reviewing the pictures we chose to use Samantha Swingle and Paul Zuna for Bisous which we intend to film on saturday 5th December and Lewis Coventry and Clare Holland for Lost and Found however if Lewis is unavailable Ben Slater will take on the role instead, we intend to film this on Wednesday 25th November.
Following the auditions we felt it would be a good idea to join an online photo sharing website so that we didn’t have to post every picture to the blogs; just the most important ones, the albums can be found at this link
http://elliottbasselliottbasselliottbass.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/auditions/ (this is where the pictures of auditionees are)
http://s638.photobucket.com/albums/uu110/cakemedia/
We now needed to inform the actors when we would need them, to do this I text them all saying that they had got through and that we would need them on a specific day and whether they could make it or not, then we can make plans for their costume and props etc.
19th November 2009
Since our last lesson a few things hadn’t gone to plan and it began to feel like we wouldn’t be able to complete our task on time, due to cast members jobs, actors not replying/not being available and just trying to move forward with the whole project in general, due to this I took time to share these issues with our tutor- Andreas, he told us to create a list of problems and to then think of solutions, our first problem was dates of filming, I decided that maybe it’d be better if we changed actors so that we could film on a thursday in our media lesson, so to do this I text all our chosen auditionees (that hadn’t replied) to see if they were still interested, Clare replied that she couldn’t participate anymore, Paul didn’t reply and Lewis couldn’t get time off college that day. So instead of using people we didn’t know we turned to our back ups, which were people we knew we could rely on. These were Filiz Hassan and Ben Slater, who were both free on Thursdays so it’d be easy to film them, we then found out that Lewis was free on saturdays so we switched him to our Bisous advert with Samantha. Another problem was the weather, so for this I checked the weather and found out it should only be cloudy on the thursday we intend to film so it shouldn’t be too bad.
To summarise, we are now filming Lost/Found on 26th November using Filiz Hassan and Ben Slater and intend to film Bisous on 5th December using Lewis Coventry and Samantha Swingle. Follwing this I could fill in the Call sheets, so we can inform our actors how to get to our locations, fortunately Lewis can drive so all we need to do is give him the address and postcode, Sam knows where Christina lives so she will be able to get there, Ben lives near the central line, so we just need to arrange a meeting place, but we will be travelling with Filiz to London, however I will still fill in the forms with all our cast in mind.
Whilst I did this, Christina looked into costume and Elliott made a budget, however there will be further dicussion on the budget as it is rather a lot of money to be spending for just a piece of coursework. This information can be found
http://elliottbasselliottbasselliottbass.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/19-november-2009/
http://christina1200.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/auditions-121109/
I also decided seeing as we were nearing the date of filming and still hadn’t heard back from the email she sent to the royal park police, I chose to send another email, this time to the email I found and posted in a previous posting about filming in London, I informed the appropriate person about the size of crew, dates and times and our purpose and now await an email back, I also printed a copy of the email to take with us when we film just incase someone asks us about us filming.
During the week leading up to filming we came across some problems, Filiz could no longer be our actress, she had to revise for an exam instead, so whilst going into melt down we set about finding another actress. I asked my friend Grace, Elliott asked friends in his AS classes and Christina asked her two friends, we saw a glimour of hope when Christina’s friend Katie said she would do it, however soon after she declined due to other commitments, we then returned back to Lauren Owers whom we had originally chosen but she had informed us she was only free on Mondays and Tuesday however with some negotiation she accepted and was our actress. Christina then continued on to tell her what we wanted her to wear and how to do her hair and make up, whilst I ensured Ben knew where to meet us and at what time. Instead of using a college camera we decided to use my own one as it would be easier for the group as we would be able to use it at anytime we want whereas with the college cameras you have to book them out. We booked a tripod from Andreas and a battery.
Pre-production following Lost/Found:
Bisous:
Having completed the filming of Lost/Found, Elliott began to edit footage with the help of Amber and Christina whilst I continued to complete all pre-production by making a list of all the potential problems that could arise during the filming.
Costume: Ensuring our actors have the appropriate attire, hair and make up was the duty of Christina, after consulting her she assured me that our actors knew exactly what they were going to wear, therefore this was no longer a problem.
Perfume Bottle: After much discussion we have decided on a bottle, it costs £3 in New Look which we will stick the label onto for use in the production
Location: We intended to use Christina’s home but since then we have occurred some problems with her sister not being to sure on whether she wants us to use the house, however until confirmation we cannot find another location
Props: Our props include net curtains, tissue paper, a hand held fan, lights and a dressing table. Hopefully at home I have a couple of hand held fan at home which we can use if not, if we look in ASDA or £ land it is likely that we will find one, a net curtain can also be found in ASDA as can the tissue paper. However we are encountering more problems with the dressing table, firstly Christina doesn’t own one, getting one to her home would have financial issues. We could possibly use boxes with a cloth and a mirror, a table and a mirror or maybe even look around into shops that sell them and see if there is anyway of using them.
Equipment: For this shoot we need a tripod, camera and the platform attachments and we have booked all of these with Andreas and are collecting them at the end of the lesson.
Film Distribution..
The process of distributing a film involves enticing the audience into wanting to rent or go and see the film, to do this the company will arrange private screenings, advertising campaigns and over marketing ideas.
Roman Holiday - 1953
Is a romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn, the film won seven different awards and wasn’t released on DVD until 2003. At the box office it made
$5,000,000 (USA) ( January 1955)
$12,000,000 (Worldwide) ( January 2004)
$3,000,000 (USA) in rentals.
Roman Holiday is fairly easy to find on the internet, you can view snippets on YouTube, many websites appear offering the film as long as you pay a monthly fee also other sites display how you can buy the DVD e.g Amazon. If you Google a review many reviews come up , which reveal the plot and story line.
Lolita- 1962
Is a film about a man who is looking for a place to stay, he is invited in by a widow, he isn’t too sure on this until he sees her young daughter, he soon develops an emotionally attachement to her, in the novel it is much more peverse however it had to be toned down for the film.
The book that was banned in Paris in 1956 until 1958 and was not published in its full form in the UK or US until 1958. Users have rated it 7.7 out of 10 and in reviews people generally liked the film and felt it was interesting and was a good representation of the novel. At the box office it made $3,700,000.It is also easy to watch it on Youtube by small snippets and scenes.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore -1974
Is a film where Alice loses her husband and takes her son across america in search of a singing career.
It made$18.6 million (US) and is still fairly accessible, you can watch bits of it on Youtube, rent it or buy it on dvd
reviews generally give it 8/10 and its easy to find loads of reviews online.
The Princess Bride 1987
This is a fairy tale about a princess called Buttercup who falls in love with Westley but gets engaged to the Prince of Florin.
The film made $30,857,814 and its easy to find reviews for this film, they generally say 8/10 and its good for both children and adults to enjoy.
You can buy this film in a special edition copy, however there arent as many youtube clips as the other films.
The Lion King 1994
This film is about a lion prince whose uncle is out to banish him and kill his dad so that he can become king.
It made $783,841,776 and the reviews for this film as easily found and positive, this film can be found all over the internet, you can buy special edition dvds and blueray ones.
Tormented 2009
This film is about a group of bullies who drove their victim to suicide, he then comes back to haunt them, killing them off one by one, it made £284,757 and doesnt rate very highly on reviews, scoring only between 5 and 6 out of ten, however it has just been released on dvd so its easy to buy a copy and watch clips online.
Research into technicalities..
Two Adverts:
For our production it is likely that problems will arise with location, actors, acquiring music and the weather, therefore I’ve begun to research into these technicalities.
Location:
Considering we could potentially be filming in London I began to research into seeking permission from the Borough councils and found out that if we are using hand held equipment and in a group smaller than 5 we should be ok, however we may be asked to stop, which could interrupt our schedule of our coursework, therefore if we choose to film in London it is best that we inform the council. Below is the extract from the website, I also found a Powerpoint displaying the email addresses and telephone numbers for who to phone.
http://www.filmlondon.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1151#bfs
Street filming and public properties
London is divided into 33 separate boroughs and each has its own Borough Film Service (BFS) that deals with filming requests for all Local Authority managed locations (e.g. streets, estates, commons, town halls, some schools, shopping and leisure centres etc.)
Filming in London
There are no laws to prevent anyone filming on public streets, however it is an offence to cause an obstruction or to place materials on the highway without an appropriate licence. In theory a small crew (5 people or fewer) using a handheld or tripod camera should be able to film on the street without obtaining permission, however legislation in this area is open to interpretation and if the Local Authority is not aware that you will be filming in the area there is a chance that you may be asked to stop.
- From this research, I now know that although we can film in London without permission it is best to email the appropriate person so they know and have the opportunity to give us printed permission to do so, just incase we are asked to stop as it could interfere with our schedule if we are unable to film when we want to.
- Following location scouting in London we now know that we must inform the Royal Park Police and gain their permission, Elliott took it upon himself to find the email address for them and Amber emailed them, once they have replied we can act apon their reply as to whether we need find another location or setting a date to film.
Music:
So far we have one potential idea for Bisous, this is ‘Bird Song Intro’ by Florence + the Machine, I found this song and felt it suited the atmosphere we wanted to create for this advert as its peaceful and adds a slightly feminine feel to it, I showed this to the group and they felt it was appropriate. However in accordance to the brief we must use un-copyrighted music unless we gain permission from the artist or acknowledge them.
So with this I began to look into who owned Florence + the machine by looking on her website http://florenceandthemachine.net/ and found she was owned by Universal Island Records http://www.islandrecords.co.uk/ once on their site I tried to find an email address, however instead I found they were owned by ‘The Creative Coporation’ therefore these are the people to email, I found their email address and will send them and email requesting that we can use the track and am further awaiting response.
This is the email I sent to contact@thecreativecorporation.co.uk :
Dear Sir or Madame,
I am writing to request permission for the use of ‘Bird Song Intro’ by Florence and the Machine. I would like to use it for my A2 Media Studies advanced portfolio, for this I am creating two TV adverts, a radio advert and a web pop up with three other members of my class. We feel this song would create the appropriate atmosphere for our perfume ‘Bisous’ and would be most grateful if you could grant us permission to use it. Our intended audience for this will be the examiner and our fellow classmates only and we will acknowledge your company and Florence and the Machine within the video. If you have any further interests in our coursework project, please feel free to view my blog, where I have posted our planning and research. (kimriw@wordpress.com)
Thank you for your time.
Yours Faithfully
Kimberley Grant
(10th November) Since sending this email I have not recieved any further information from this company so when it comes to editing our footage will have to ensure that the artist is acknowledged.
For our second advert- Lost and Found, Christina began looking into what music we could use, we all decided we wanted it to be instumental and felt that Adele- Hometown Glory would suit well, in order to use this track we must buy it and also acknowledge the artist in our footage. (More investigation into this can be found here: http://christina1200.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/further-research/)
Props:
Another Technicality I have noticed they may cause us problems is, although we have a location for Bisous, we do not have the dressing table which pays a part in the scenary. The main problem in this matter is: to buy a dressing table would be expensive (especially the type we are looking for), transporting the dressing table to somone’s house would be expensive and what we do with the dressing table after the advert could cause problems, however a potential solution to this is to use either a table or boxes with a cloth over the top and then we can hang a mirror on the wall and that combined with clever camera angles could possibly disguise the fact we do not actually have a dressing table.
SMART Targets
In order to complete our coursework we have to create SMART targets these should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based. By condensing down my previous post including my deadlines we have created these which are posted on all our blogs:
Specific – Decide task from G324 advanced portfolio
Measurable – Required to be finished before progression is made.
Agreed-up – It must be done in order to progress onto coursework.
Realistic – We are capable of completing this task.
Time specific – Within lesson
Specific-Create the product that we want to advertise and give it a brand name
Measurable-The product will be created and a brand name will be given to it
Agreed upon- Its achievable because we need to do it in order to meet the assignment brief
Realistic-We have all the resources we need to design and create a product
Time specific- This will be done between the week
Specific- Come up with creative ideas for each aspect of coursework.
Measurable-We will have created 6 ideas for the advert , of which we will choose two , and several ideas for both the radio advert and web pop-up , in which we can present to the class
Agreed upon-The whole group believes that this is a necessary in order to progress on our coursework
Realistic- We have all the resources we need to come up with creative ideas
Time specific- This will be completed within the first two weeks
Research- Perfume Analysis
26th Septemeber 2009
Perfume advert analysis:
With our decisions for our adverts, I decided I should narrow down the types of perfume advert that I analysis, our audience is for females and males aged between 21 and 25 that are sophisticated and brand concious, I also tried to find perfumes adverts similar to the type of advert we want to create.
First of all I found ‘Eternity Moment by Calvin Klein’ this is similar to our idea 5 of Lost and Found, it used the black and white theme, with two lovers in a city and shows a serious of flashbacks to convey memories.
This advert uses black and white not only to create a sophisticated effect but to represent the male and female differently, Scarlett is show in white which creates connotations of innocence, whereas the man is show in suits and generally black, however this is not shown to represent evil but to make him seem powerful and bold. The advert begins with a close up of Scarlett and the man going in for a kiss as a voice over plays saying, ‘Just one moment can change everything’. The music then intensifies, the music is of voilins, drums and a piano which adds a slightly dramatic and pacey tone to the advert. The story then seems to play in reverse so that it goes back to begining of the story so the audience can see what leads up to the ‘Moment’, once the advert gets to the bit where the couple meets it then plays the footage forward to the ‘Moment’ where another voice over plays, ‘Eternity Moment the new fragrance by Calvin Klein’. Throughout the advert Scarlett is shown as an aspirational woman, she is shown in just jeans and a vest which shows her carefree side, yet she is also shown in a gown which shows her elegance. Whereas the man is shown in a suit and casual jeans and t-shirt, this shows him as manly and also sophisticated. Most perfume adverts use sex or the body to sell it, this advert also does this, the couple are seen on fresh white sheets kissing, this is done in an innocent sentimental way, which just subtley adds to the advert instead of making the advert all about sex. This advert finishes with a caption screen displaying the bottle and name of the perfume, this is done so that the audience will be enticed by the footage and then the bottle will be memorable, therefore it is easier for them to go into the shops and buy it. This advert was only 30 seconds long.
Following this I looked for an advert which advertises both a male and female version of the perfume, for this I chose XX and XY by Hugo Boss.
This advert features Jonathan Rhys Meyers and a brunette woman, they are situated in a boxing ring, there is an establishing medium shot of each of them, the woman is dressed in a black dress which denotes power and Jonathan is in a suit, however it isnt formal yet it is black so he is also powerful just in a more laid back way. They then advance towards each other, in these shots you can see the lighting used is artificial and comes from behind them, at the end you realise that the colour of the lighting behind them actually demonstrates continuity from the perfume bottle, as the man has blue tinted lighting and the woman has yellow tinted lighting . They then break the conventions of a boxing ring as the audience would expect them to have a fight however they actually begin to dance, the music played is quiete fun and the way the actors behave gives it a flirty edge which is carefree. The advert ends similar to the Calvin Klein advert with the caption screen displaying each of the bottles whilst a voice over speaks, this advert is also short and only consists of 22 seconds.
Although this advert isn’t nescessarily about perfume, it is made by a brand who also produces perfume. I chose this advert as it is similar to our idea for Bisous By Patelli, we want to use the same lighting effect that is seen here as she walks past the windows which are drapped in net curtains, in some shots the woman looks powerful, however in others she looks innocent, for instance when there is a side view of her face and the light is on her face she appears feminine and innocent. This advert switches between colour and black and white, the black and white gives it a fresh feel whereas the colour gives it more intensity and power. Throughout the advert there is a narrative voice over which tells a story about the girl and her make up this builds enigma code within the advert as the audience wants to know what the voice over is talking about. This advert is also slightly longer than the other two I looked at as this one is a minute long.
Christina also analysed three perfumes (http://christina1200.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/research-into-perfume-adverts/) and combined with my three analysis’ we noticed the following reoccuring themes:
- There is either really bright lighting which gives it a fresh feel or dark setting which gives the perfume a powerful and mysterious
- In black and white adverts they tend to use blonde females as their hair creates more of a contrast
- Men tend to have dark hair, I presume this is because it makes them appear more bold and the streotypical ‘ideal man’
- Most of the adverts appear to tell a story about the actors, this is to make it more appealing to the audience so that they can put themselves in the shoes of them
- The perfume is mostly displayed by a caption screen and voice over at the end of the advert
- The advert is usually between 30 seconds and a minute (as it will be on TV)
- They mainly use smooth quick cuts between each frame, this is so you can follow the story also other editing techniques such as fading to black arent really required
- All the adverts except for the Chanel make up one and Calvin Klein- Orange display some form of chemistry between the actors this supports the theory that sex sells in adverts
- There is a range of camera angles, however the medium close up or long shot is frequently used to show the location and setting, they use close ups to display chemistry between the actors
- The music is used to create an ambiance for the advert it goes in sync with the type of story they are trying to tell, for exemple the ‘Eternity Moment’ uses sophisticated romantic music which builds with the story, the CKin2u and XX and XY uses playful music but also shows the chemistry between the actors this music plays throughout and only the voice over plays over it.
With these results we can apply this to the production of our two TV adverts and even further research into how to get certain lighting effects like seen in the Chanel advert, also we can see how to edit the ‘hide and seek’ story. We now know how long to make our advert and how our actors should look e.g for Lost and Found our female must have blonde hair whereas in Bisous we have the option of a brunette or blonde, however our male needs to be brunette, the adverts have also given us clues into how to dress our actors- a suit for the man and a smart dress for the female and in Bisous the woman can be dressed in her partner’s shirt.
1st October 2009
In this lesson we all continued our research and created our SMART targets (these have been published in a different post). Following this we had a group meeting where our teacher told us although it was a good idea to research our own aspects of the package it meant that the rest of the group was left in the dark as to what we had found, with this advice we decided it was time to apply roles for the production of the adverts these were as following:
Producer: Me, in this role I will be in charge of booking equipment, ensuring that all forms are filled in before we can begin to shoot, that the actors know when they are required, I will also have to check the weather forecast so that we know its a ’safe’ day to film for continuity reasons.
Camera Woman: Amber, She will be in charge of all filming and making sure everything looks right, she will also say whether the lighting is right for the scene.
Director: Christina, she will ensure that the story boards are followed and that the actors are positioned correctly for each shot, she will be in charge of telling them how to behave and checking that continuity is displayed throughout.
Editor/Sound: Elliott, he will edit the final product and finding the sound for it, also if we require any sound within the shoot he will record it for us.
We also assigned role for the Pre-Production and these were as follows:
Designing the Brand (Font, label style etc.)- Elliott
Designing/finding the perfume bottle- Amber
Casting: Group
Location Scouting: Group
Writing the narrative/script: Christina
Creating the story boards: Me
Filling in forms e.g personal release and health and safety: Me
Photographing the perfume bottles/location/actors: Christina
Finding Music:Elliott
Audition Posters: Elliott and Christina
Despite these specific roles, we will require the opinion and help of the other group memebers, for example we will all need to agree with what Elliott chooses for the brand logo, when I create the story boards I will need to get Amber’s opinion on what camera angles she wants to use in the footage and although Elliott will find the music we will all have to agree that it is the right music.
We also decided that although Amber is completing the main research on Radio Ads and Elliott is doing Web Pop Ups and Christina and I are doing the TV adverts research that we should all do a bit of reseach into the other aspects so that we can have some basic knowledge of what it entails.
Further to this we assigned specific research topics to each other these were as following:
- How to take pictures of glass- Christina
- Sex in advertising- Elliott
- How to make a good tv advert- Amber
- Perfume smells and investigating into technicalities: Me
Web Pop Up
The purpose of a pop up is to attract web traffic or get email addresses, they are usually generated by JavaScript or Adobe Flash. There are 5 types of web pop ups- Pop over which is an animated graphic, they do not have a window so it is hard to exit them, Hover ads are created by dynamic HTML this is so that they can get round pop up blockers, Banner ads are normally an animation with sound so that you know they are there, you click them then they take you to a website, a pop under which opens underneath your current browser so it doesn’t intterupt your current work, pop up is a typical advert or text box that opens when you enter a website as is a pop over. However not all pop ups are bad some installers and forms will open in the form of a pop up so it does not interfer with your current work.
Radio Advert
They say that radio advertising is the best form or advertising as you cannot close your ears, many people listen to the radio in the background so even if the audience isn’t listenning intentively they will still hear your advert. In research conducted into ads (http://radioproduction.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_long_is_a_radio_commercial), they found that 45 seconds or more is the most effective however the main convention is to make it as long as you need to get the message across but if it’s too long , make two. Also the more times you mention the brand the more effective it is. In the 5 I’s are used by the RAB when judging adverts these are:
- Listener Involvement
- Brand Identity
- Brand Impression
- Information
- Integration of the brand with other media.
With the use of all these a successful advert is created.
Perfume Scents
There are three parts to a perfumes scent theres are; the top notes which are immediate after application, the middle notes which emerge after the top notes fade, middle notes are often used to disguise the impression of the base notes which bring depth and solidarity to the perfume, these usually appear 30 minutes after application.
There has been 2 ways of group perfume scents:
Traditional 1900:
- Single Floral: Dominated by one flower
- Floral Bouquet: Containing a combination of many flowers
- Amber: Vanilla , flowers and woods
- Wood: Dominated by woody scents- agarwood, sandalwood and cedar
- Leather: honey, tabacco, woods and tars
- Chypre: bergamot, oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum
- Fougére: Lavender, courmarin, 0akmoss (mens fragrances)
Modern 1945
- Bright Floral: Single floral + floral boquet
- Green: Lighter more modern version of chypre
- Aquatic Oceanic, ozonic: Clean, modern smell (used to accent floral, oriental and woody fragrances)
- Citrus: Citrus-y fruit newly improved
- Fruity: not citrus fruits though- peach blackcurrant, mango, passion fruit
- Gourmand: ‘edible’ like scents- vanilla, tonka bean and courmarin
Fragrance wheel 1983
This came up with five standards families- floral, oriental, woody, fougére and fresh.
