Advert 1 - Couple on the bench

Completed advert 1 (low quality setting)

Advert 2 - Couple and the cat

Completed advert 2 (low quality setting)

Advert 3 - Couple meet the parent

Completed advert 3. (Low quality setting)

Audience feedback

After completing all of our adverts, me and Hannah began showing people our adverts in order to get some opinions and thoughts from our target audience. We did this by creating a group and uploading the adverts onto Facebook. (www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=81441707107) and allowing people to freely comment what they thought. We also personally showed people and asked them what they thought of our adverts in order to get more specific answers.

According to responders of Advert 1 (couple on the bench) on Facebook, these are some views of those who responded:

"Advert was cool! The location was brilliant, lightning was perfectly set, and gud actors. Lucy is very strong about any man she wants! Even the music used was suitable. However, i felt that ben's glasses were too big and should use specs. Anyway, apart from tht, i thought it was really good. :):)"
Here, the characterisation of the character did not match this particular responder suggesting that the 'geeky' image that we were trying to portray may not have the same humorous effect on everybody. Despite the difficulties that we had in creating the same lighting on different days of different weather, we have successfully managed to cover up the problem therefore meaning that people did not notice it as much.

"The advert is well good - all the shots and the way they are assorted are really good and it keeps you interested. Plus it's really clear what you're advertising. It's so funny too :p But yeah, this one's great. :) "
This proves that we managed to successfully add an aspect of humour as we originally intended. It further shows that we have engaged the audience because they know exactly what it is that we are advertising meaning that the message is clear and coherent. This again supports the fact that the product we are advertising has been made clear meaning that the structure of the advert is easily understandable.

According to responders of Advert 2 (couple and the cat) on Facebook, these are some views of those who responded:


"it wud be better if u had a girls voice for this one because its like the girls turn for bad breath lol"
This suggests that people were not fully engaging with the voice over, perhaps meaning that they were therefore unable to trust what is being said. It also shows how people notice the voice over, and how this has a large impact on the way they perceive the product meaning that if we were to do this again, we could change the voice over to suit the target audience more.

"That cat is an awesome actor, lol. This one's cool too, the shots are good again, like the first one."

"Love the cat, definitely the star!!!"
The two above comments highlight how people liked the cat within the advert suggesting that people like the originality of the idea.

"voice is weird - could someone else do it? That's all I'd change... someone with a cooler voice..."
Again, the voice over has been commented on suggesting that we perhaps got the voice over wrong for the target audience. It can be seen that the voice over is aimed more towards younger children rather than young adults therefore to improve, we could have had a more upbeat tone to the voice in order to attract more people. Furthermore, it would have to make the audience feel more like they are 'cool' to take mints.

According to responders of Advert 3 (couple meet the parent) on Facebook, these are some views of those who responded:

"i think it wud be better if there wasnt as much talking"
This highlights that some people would rather see the action rather than hear it, however in the case of this advert, it would not make sense if there was no dialogue. If we were to remove the dialogue, we would have to think of a simpler narrative, and we could not have the humorous line 'do you use protection'

No i like the alking - it lets the audience feel like they're actually meeting the parents for the first time too - if you get me.
This is an opposing opinion to above, suggesting that the voices added a sense of realism which helped the audience feel that they can relate, and feel part of the action.

"they are funny and reli engage the audience. I reli want to try ur mints now lol! i thought the way u kept the product central in the shots was very effcetive as it made the audience very aware as to what was being advertised.The music fitted in perfectly as it created a steaddy pace and wasn't to fast. I rekon ur audience recognition in this one is spot on as your portraying that dreaded question from the parents 'do u use protection?' (ha that made me laugh lol) making you directly relate to the targeted audience"
Again, the way in which it has been made clear which product is being advertised has been commented upon highlighting how we have made the advert clear enough for it to be understood. Furthermore, the responder believes that we successfully targeted our audience by having an issue which will directly have an effect on their age group showing that our audience research paid off. Furthermore, the responder clearly found the advert funny which again shows that we were successful in creating humour.

"Yeah, the music is a really good choice in all the vids. The story made it really clear what the advert was for and what it was all about, if that makes sense. You're adverts are so good though, they're clever ideas for the stories too."
Here, the narrative proves to have been a success in engaging the audience and making them aware of the product. The music also attracts the audience and fits well with the narrative structure. Furthermore, it is clear that the responder likes the originality of the narratives highlighting that the way in which we came up with something different to the normal, makes the advert more appealing.


Other useful comments:

"they all made me laugh but cat one most and i think that poss for me would stick in my mind more than the others. the couple on bench is very common doesnt stick in your mind."
This again supports the idea that originality is important in the narrative as this makes it more memorable. The couple on the bench advert could have been made more original by including more shots or having a different scenario.

"The best thing about the adverts is the product. It has bold colours so it's easy to remember what it looks like and the advertising slogan is very strong - quite similar to the 'Phones For You' slogan with the three actions, and everyone knows what that advert is.

Secondly, the continuity is very strong with the two familiar characters in each advert where you're following a story. Also very successful in the BT adverts, so a successful technique. Also Ben's 'Geek' character is memorable, and very funny so it would stick in people's minds.

The music is all catchy, up-beat and memorable. It would command attention if people were not completely concentrating on the TV."
This shows that we have clearly engaged this responder as an audience and that the advert is successful in being memorable. The characterisation of the male character has further made the adverts funny which is one of the things which we aimed for in our advert.

Advertising agencies

Below are links to advertising agenceies who have clients within similar fields to our mints. For example, wrigleys extra, mentos and tic tac.

http://www.amvbbdo.com/
-Did the 'get extra close' advertising campaigne (see below for one example)



http://showcase.brandrepublic.com/bartleboglehegarty/
-Have Mentos as one of their clients (see below for one example)

Final days of editing advert 3

Last week we spend a large amount of time editing advert 3 in order for it to be finished. The first thing we did was to put all the shots that we had in the correct order, followed by cutting the clips down in order for it to run more smoothly. This allows us to see what may need re-shooting and what can be kept and removed from the original storyboard plans.

During one of our editing sessions, me and Hannah shared responsibilities in order to get it done quicker. Due to two shots of the mother needing to be shot, Hannah went home and took the responsibility of getting them shots done ready for us to use the following day. Due to Hannah having to leave earlier in one of our editing sessions, I made myself responsible to edit the shots on the Macs (that we had already planned to edit anyway) to makethe lip sync of the narration and the voice over fit correctly in the advert. The following day, I we both put our work together and continued finishing off the advert.

One problem which we faced was the music because none of us could find a downloadable instrumental version of the song that we had chosen to use with the advert. ('Heartbeat' by Scouting for Girls) With time running out, we therefore made a 'plan B' we decided to use the Edirol, which we had already used before, in order to record the music. Once we recorded the music, we uploaded it onto the Macs and used Adobe Soundbooth to edit the music to fit the advert. The disadvantage of doing this was the background noise from the recording which was really obvious when put into the advert, making the advert have an unfinished and unprofessional feel as well as loosing any aspects of verisimilitude. We therefore had to tweak the music by overlapping it and adjusting the sound in order to cover up these sounds. We further had to edit the dialogue of the advert because the sound did not flow well enough due to the amount of background noise.

Progress in re-shoots

Me and Hannah have finally managed to get footage from our re-shoot sessions last week. To begin with, it didn’t go very well because we struggled to achieve the shots which we originally intended to use meaning we had to find ones that would be more effective. Some shots that we did were the same as the ones which we put in to the first sequence of the advert because they worked well, but had to be re-done due to the characters having slight changes to their costume.

Some of the shots were more time consuming than others, such as when the boy greets the mother, because we tried it in different ways so that we could choose the best one when we edit. Furthermore, the dialogue proved a problem at times because the actors were not speaking loud and/or clear enough meaning that we had to keep trying to get the shot looking the way we intended it to.

Whilst we began filming we also found it a challenge to make the ‘meet the mother’ part of the advert understandable to an audience. We have had several ideas in which to portray this yet many of them appeared to be too complicated to show. We have therefore kept it quite simple, and have tried not to over do the interaction between the couple and the mother because we found that the shots looked messy which brought focus away from the couple and the actual product.

After our latest filming we now have the very end shot to complete which will only take a short amount of time so can be easily done after school.

Unfortunately, me and Hannah have not been able to make use of the Macs during the half term due to us already having made plans to be out filming re-shoots on those particular days. However, if all goes to plan, (and hopefully with no more re-shoots) then we should have the advert complete by the end of this week because we have planned to use our frees and after school sessions to complete the editing of this final advert.

Plans for re-shoots

The re-shoots will be on a tight schedule due to people only being available at certain times etc. We therefore have had the 6th and 8th of April to try and finish as many re-shoots as we can complete ready for editing.

Delay's that we have encountered

Recently, (since prior discussions about the advert) there have been several delays in the production of advert 3 (re-shoots, editing the re-shoots and music) meaning that we are getting more and more behind our original plans/schedule therefore are not progressing. Hannah and I have tried to decide on shots in which we will use for our third advert, yet the ideas that we have seem to make the advert over complicated. We have attempted to overcome this problem make notes on the order in which we will film our re-shoots to avoid confusion, as well as draw up a brief storyboard of the shots we will need to do. This will help filming go quicker as well as give us an idea of what the outcome should look like.

Another delay which we have had is characters/actors. Firstly, it has been difficult to get our actors available at the same time meaning that it is impossible to film because we cannot change actors now, and in most of the shots we need the two of them to be present. This has therefore meant that we have had to reschedule our planned filming on several occasions despite us trying to overcome this by organising to meet in advance. Secondly, after our discussion with our teacher, we decided not to use the same girl to play the mother role, therefore we have had to try and find somebody else. Using a real mother, or somebody who is distinctively older than the couple, is the ideal because it will make the advert more understandable to an audience. The only time in which we could have a character like this is during the holiday when Hannah’s mum would be free to film with us, including any extra re-shoots if necessary. This does however mean that there would be a week where we can not do much filming, but it allows me and Hannah to look through music, deciding upon a potential soundtrack to accompany the action as well as complete shots which do not have the mother in etc. The risk of doing this is that we may not finish or even start the editing during the break therefore will have to stay after school to finish off the editing for the advert. Me and Hannah have, however, agreed that we will stay a couple of hours to complete the advert, and try and get it done within two long after school sessions in order to try and get it done in one go because we find this a better, more convenient method than doing little work across several days.

Changes of Advert 3 (2)

As said in the previous post, there are going to be several changes made to the advert. Below is a quick breakdown of what happens in the advert now:

-Establishing shots of the couple arriving at the house. Both dressed smartly. Boy wearing shirt and tie and geeky glasses, girl in shirt and black trousers. (LS)
-Aud. aware of nervousness of the boy through dialogue ‘I hope your mum likes me’ said whilst girl adjusts his tie (CU)
-Couple enter the house, girl calls ‘mum, I’m home’ (MS)
-Boy is introduced to girl’s mother. It is established that the mother thinks the boy has bad breath. Dialogue including ‘mum this is Ben’ and ‘nice to finally meet you’ etc (MS & CU)
-Couple settle down in the house, when they are alone they hold hands etc like previous adverts, passing of time is shown (CU, MS)
-Mother re-joins them followed by awkwardness. Mother then raises the question ‘Do you use projection’ (MS, CU)
-Reaction shots of couple. Followed by speech such as ‘Well..’ and ‘mum!’ (CU)
-Jingle (CU)
-End shots, mother passing mint to boy and acceptance of boy by mother (CU, MS)

Changes in advert 3 (1)

After filming and editing a large amount of advert 3 (see below for first uncompleted version of this advert), we weren’t sure as to whether our idea worked well in achieving verisimilitude and meeting the codes and conventions of an advert. We felt this because unlike the other two adverts, according to our original storyboard, there is a lot more speech in this advert and to begin with it did not look the way we had originally wanted it to look because it felt too story telling. Furthermore, we had difficulty finding somebody to play the role of the mother because everybody that was available for filming looked too much like the actual couple meaning that realism was lost. Me and Hannah therefore decided to get some opinions from our teacher on what can be improved on and found that we had to more or less re-shoot the whole advert. There were many aspects of the advert that needed changing as well as many problems which needed to be resolved. Below is a list of things which became an issue when we discussed our draft of the advert.

• Characters in the advert – The person who played the role of the mother looked too much like the actual couple therefore lacked realism. Furthermore, the narrative is not made clear enough meaning that the audience do not understand why the mother over reacts to the couple’s over affections/kiss. We are going to amend this by re-shooting during the half term, meaning that Hannah’s mum will be available for us to shoot.
• Mise en scene – We made both characters have a smarter look to meet the parents, yet the male character needs to be wearing a tie in order for us to include more shots at the beginning, for example, his girlfriend adjusting his tie. Furthermore, we are going to keep the ‘geek’ look by making him wear the glasses which also help in recognition for audiences.
• Dialogue – In our original storyboard, there was dialogue in the majority of the shots because this helps audiences to understand what is happening. However, when shooting, we did not use dialogue and this therefore makes the advert confusing, lacks realism and looses its narrative. Secondly, the fact that it was only the mother that spoke her line makes the whole shot look out of place. Next time we shoot, we are going to get the actors to speak so we can use this as our dialogue.
• Narrative – Some tweaks needs to be done in the narrative/arrangement of the shots in the advert. At the start, the couple ring the bell however it came to our attention that if you are seeing your parents, you would just walk in. Therefore we have to have a re-look at our original storyboard and remove some shots which are not necessary.

After these discussions of the problem, we then decided on re-shoots to replace the ones that we already had. Despite this meaning that we would have to re-shoot more or less the whole advert, it means that our advert will ultimately meet the codes and conventions a lot more than what it did before, therefore producing a higher quality advert.

Advert 3

Below is a video of advert 3 so far:
(to be uploaded)

Music for Advert 3

Me and Hannah have spend a large amount of time looking for music to suit advert 3. From a very early stage, we decided that we did not want music with lyrics because this would clash with the dialogue present in the advert. We have therefore had to find and instrumental version of a song and/or within a song.

Eventually we decided to use the instrumental version of 'Heartbeat' by Scouting for Girls. (See below to hear music) We have chosen this song because we feel that when edited, certain parts will fit with the action, for example, the heart beat at the start and end of the song would fit well with the beginning of the advert because it would highlight that the boy is nervous to meet his girlfriends' parents. Furthermore, the song fits well with the pace of the advert which is a vital thing to consider when choosing music.

Below are just a few other examples of music that we looked at, but rejected:
- Instrumental version of 'That's not my name' by The Ting Tings
- Instrumental version of 'Are you gonna be my girl' by Jet
- Instrumental version 'she's so lovely' by Scouting for Girls
- Intro of 'Kids' by MGMT
- Instrumental version of 'Love story' by Taylor Swift

Below is a YouTube video of the song which we ultimately decided to use:

Uploading footage onto macs

After our first two shoots from the previous day me and Hannah spend a double free period in the mac suite to upload what we had so far. This proved to be very time consuming because the camera that we were using from home had problems connecting to the MACs meaning that we could not capture the footage from the camera to the programme. We wasted a significant amount of time trying to work out a way for us to upload the footage and all this meant that we had not yet moved forward with our work. With the interruption of a fire bell, we then had to abandon what we were doing and come back to it as we had planned, after school. This caused us a lot of worry because we felt like our progress had come to a halt and that we were not going to get any footage done with the seemingly bad luck that we seemed to have. We did however pick ourselves up by persisting in trying to get the things we wanted to get done so that eventually we could put something together.

After school that day, we successfully managed to get hold of a camera. This was a relief to us because we could finally get all of our filming out of the way the following day, and we could finally upload the footage that we had so far.

Me and Hannah spent about 2-3 hours uploading the footage, and taking the decent shots to put the opening on the advert together. We managed to fully edit the first couple of seconds of the advert meaning that we had to finish filming and editing the rest of the advert because we had rejected the rest of the footage. The opening which we put together matched the storyboard, and we felt that it created a successful opening couple of shots to the rest of the advert. The footage that we rejected was not good enough because it seemed sloppy, and felt too similar to the previous advert because the couple were sitting on the same sofa. We therefore have gone against the original storyboard and have decided to have the advert set in the kitchen so that the location differs in all three adverts.

Problems with equiptment and first shoots

Me and Hannah have been ready to film advert 3 for some time now, however we have failed to progress in our advert due to us not having the equipment needed for us to begin filming. We have made sure that we check for equipment often enough, yet we still have had no luck.

We gathered that little progress is better than no progress, therefore I have decided to bring in one of my own camera's for us to use until we can get hold of a school camera. Unfortunately, because the camera is old, it does not work very well and cuts out regularly meaning that it will be very time consuming to film what we need to film. Despite this, we have gone ahead with using this camera in order to make a start to our advert.

In the first shoot, we attempted to begin our filming and found that we got some good opening shots of the couple arriving at the house. We tried out several angles which we felt would give us a variety to choose from when it comes to editing in the MAC suite. Unlike the other adverts, we found this one more difficult to film because we found ourselves stuck for ideas when it came to new ideas and new shots. In the first shoot we stuck to the storyboard however even when filming, we felt that this did not achieve its full potential.

In the second shoot the following day we picked up from where we left. The camera was still playing up on us which causes a lot of stress and panic meaning that we did not progress as far as what we would have hoped. In addition to this, we weren't sure if the dialogue worked well within the advert which caused us with confusion and hesitations during out filming.

Our first shoots were abandoned early due to camera problems. We found that every time we wanted to get some shots the camera kept cutting off therefore didn't capture what we wanted. This meant that we had to pros pone the rest of the filming until the following day. We also felt that if we could upload the footage onto the Macs then we can view what we have so far which we find easier to manage because it allows us to see what needs to be done and what works well.

Shooting Schedule Continued

Me and Hannah have had to keep re-arranging times to film due to problems getting hold of equiptment for the filming part of the production of advert 3. This has therefore caused us to be behind our intended schedule for advert 3. These are they dates which we planned to film on after arranging eqiuptment.

Date: Tuesday 10th March
Who: Me, Hannah, Ben, Lucy
Where: Outside Hannah's house
Time: 3-4 hours in morning
To Do: Begin filming opening shots from storyboard. Do jingle.

Date: Wednesday 11th March
Who: Me, Hannah, Ben Lucy
Where: Hannahs House
Time: Lunch, P6, P7
To Do: Continue through storyboard

Date: Friday 13th March
Who: Me, Hannah, Ben, Lucy
Where: Hannah's house
Time: P3 onwards
To Do: Complete filming/re-shoots

Problems for Advert 3

Me and Hannah have been discussing our plan for advert 3, and we have come to some problems. Our first problem is that tomorrow's filming, 27Th Feb, can not go ahead because our male actor is sick. We therefore have to reschedule this date and fit it into next week's shooting. This could cause some problems due to ILP day's next week, meaning that we will be loosing two days of filming. We therefore have to organise ourselves so that we can spend after school time/weekend either filming or editing.

Another problem which we have come across is the mother actor. We were originally going to use Hannah's sister as the mother, however we decided not to use her because it will not be convenient for us in the long run due to her being away at university during the week. We therefore have to find somebody who has similar frees to us so that we can film as and when we need to.

The last thing which me and Hannah had worries about is the original storyboard. We found that unlike the previous two adverts, this one has a lot more dialogue. As it stands, we plan to keep the dialogue the way it is as this is where the humour will come into it however this is liable to change if it doesn't provide our intended effect when uploaded onto the MAC's.

Progress

Since we have started our coursework we have made a consistent amount of progress meaning that we have continued to move forward in our work as well improving our work through the learning process.

At this current stage, two adverts have been completed, meaning that we now only have one more to film and edit. I believe that our consistent amount of progress is down to our organisation skills and ability to work as a team. This has therefore given us a determination to make adverts which we can be proud of as well as to ultimately meet the deadlines.

After believing that I would be better off working alone due to various problems in working with a group after last years coursework, I have learnt that it is possible to work as a team and that all of you can have an equal amount to do as long as you all stick with the set schedule that you set yourself as well as apply communication skills so that everybody knows what they are doing. I also think that by making personal deadlines, it allows us to complete certain tasks by a fixed date meaning that the progress made on our coursework is more significant. I believe that I need to communicate my ideas with my partner in order to overcome everything that we face regarding our coursework. The advantage of our partnership is that we have identical timetables meaning that most of the time we can do our filming and editing together, meaning that we both put inan equal amount of effort into the coursework.

I also feel that our organisation skills have also contributed to our steady progress. To begin with, we did tend to miss dates in which we had originally planned on filming, and we realised that we could not carry on doing this if we were to meet deadlines. We found that because we did not always organise our time well, that we found ourselves rushing when it came to completing finishing touches of the advert, such as the music, meaning that we were over a week late that the original deadline that was set. We have overcome this lack of organisation stage and have been able to progress and be ahead in our work due to us sticking with our shooting schedule. In completing the majority of shooting and editing a week before the deadline, it allowed us enough time to focus on music, voiceovers, and re-shoots. We also found that by getting the filming out of the way early, it gave us more than enough time to fully edit the advert.

One of the key things which I have developed upon since last year's coursework is the use of camera. Before we started this coursework, I had very little knowledge on camera usage because my primary focus/role in my group last year was editing, meaning that I didn't use the camera as much as others. I feel that I have a much better understanding on how to use the camera. To begin with, my lack of camera skills were shown when we failed to tell the story of the advert through the camera, as well as having poor shots which did not meet the codes and conventions of an advert. However, after some discussions with our teacher and some more experimenting, we soon learned how to tell a story with the camera, as well as discovering more interesting camera shots.

Our progress was however, quite limiting at the very start of the project because we we had no experience in working with the new Adobe Premier software on the MAC's. This meant that we had to focus a lot of our time learning how to use the features meaning that valuable time was spend 'experimenting.' The advantage of this was that we could play around with the features and have an idea of what works well and what doesn't. Furthermore, the more time we spend on the programmes features and editing meant that we could master it therefore ending up with a good final piece.

At the beginning of this coursework, I wasn't feeling 100% sure about our overall idea, and i was having doubts as to whether we could achieve three good adverts. I was also quite reluctant to use other people's suggestions, believing that our idea was the one to stick with. However, as we begun the production process I soon realised the potential that our idea had and I realised that experimenting and getting feedback and/or ideas from potential consumers really helps to influence and guide my thinking. At several points during our project, we went against our storyboard and tried out new shots, which ultimately made the advert meet the codes and conventions much better, also showing the development that we have done. We also asked people's opinions of the work we had completed and this feedback helped us to see the project from an audience point of view meaning that we could tweak things in order for it to fit better with audience expectations. It also gives us a different perspective to view our work from, meaning that we could be more critical with our work leading to consistent progress in changing and improving our advert.

This coursework has enabled me to learn simple things, such as how to use several editing programmes such as Adobe Premier and Adobe Sound booth, which to begin with, I had no idea how to use. This means that if in the future I need to use these programmes, I will already have background knowledge from the work that I have been producing towards our adverts. In addition to this, the coursework has made me appreciate moving images in the media, in a variety of mediums, a lot more because I realise how much work is needed to produce a piece of media.

The next step which I will be taking from this point is to complete all of the filming during the space of a week, meaning that we have time for re-shoots etc before the deadline. I also aim to keep up the consistent progress by continuing to spend a significant amount of time editing in the MAC suite in order to get our final advert completed.

Advert 1

Above is our advert 1, couple and the cat, with its improved changes. (still having problems uploading so will put it up ASAP)

Filming and editing Friday 30th

On Friday 30Th January, we completed all the shots that we wanted to achieve according to our plan, as well as have an almost finished edited sequence on the Macs. Both me and Hannah focused our whole day on completing as much of advert 1, couple and the cat, in order to meet the deadline and give us enough time to complete re-shoots and final touches the following week. We found the process of constructing this advert a lot easier than the first advert we did because we had learned from the mistakes that we made when filming the first advert therefore made sure we did not make the same mistake. We also planned our time well, meaning that we could get on with filming and editing in order to finish the advert.

Filming
To begin with, we spent Period 1 in the Mac room in which we looked back on the opening sequence which we had already filmed. We used this time to improve the shots through editing as well as focus on which music we could possibly use for this advert. When going over the music we came across for the first advert, we thought that 'The One' by The Ting Tings would fit much better with this advert due to the pace and the light hearted feel that we wanted. The music has a 30second introduction which fits perfectly with the length of time that we have to work with, and the fact that it is intrumental means that we can afford to have diegetic sound in the advert which is what we originally wanted when we drew up our storyboards. During Period 1 we also organised ourselves and booked out a camera and tri-pod in order to avoid disappointment for filming later during the day. It also meant that we could fully charge the battery whilst we were editing on the Mac meaning that we can get straight on with filming.

During break and period 3-4 we met up with our actors, Lucy and Ben, and set off to Hannah's house and begun filming the rest of the advert. We progressively followed the storyboard and list of shots in order to ensure that we did not miss out any vital shots, as well as to have a set order which will make it easier for us to find when uploaded onto the Macs. When filming this advert, we took some similar ideas to that of the previous advert such as the close up of the hands touching. This is a way of further linking the adverts together because they follow a similar plot line and all revolve around the couples affections.

From the early shots that we did for this advert, we knew that the shots with the cat in were going to be much harder to shoot. To overcome this, we left the camera running whilst we set the cat into position. This meant that we didn't miss the shot and we can pick the part that we want to use when it comes to editing it on the macs. It also saves us time especially when the cat becomes restless and acts unpredictably!

Unlike the other advert, according to our storyboard, there was a lot more diegetic sound in this advert due to the speech between the characters. Whilst filming we did a variety of shots in which the actors would speak and ones in which they didn't. We found that we did not want to have too much speech as this could bring the focus away too much, however we wanted to keep dialogue in the vital points of the adverts such as when the boy says 'you smell gorgeous' because this is the key 'joke' of the whole advert.

Editing
Once we had finished all the shots that we needed for our advert, we went back to the Mac suite to upload the footage and start putting it together. Firstly, we put all the shots that we wanted into an order without editing them so that we could get a rough idea of how it would look like and follow. We were pleased that we had all the shots we needed meaning that if any more filming needs to be done, it would be re-shoots. We were also pleased that we had a variety of shots, from mid shots to close ups, meaning that we are meeting the codes and conventions of an advert. One problem that we found was that the lighting was slightly different to some of our earlier shoots due to the sunlight being brighter and/or lighter. The change in lighting is especially evident in the jingle part of the advert because it appears much darker than the rest of shots. We have however, decided to keep it like this because these shots are all together in the same place and it isn't drastic enough to change it.

Now that we had a rough layout of the sequence of the advert, we began editing it by making the shots much shorter than the original. Without the editing, we had more than double the amount of time that we needed, therefore we had to do a lot of editing in order for the advert to flow and fit into the 30-40 second time that we have to work with. Due to our variety of shots which we did during the filming process, we had more than enough shots to work with meaning that when cutting, we could have several different shots which would tell the story, rather than having one shot which is too long meaning that the actors are telling the story, not the camera. For example, we have split the 'handing over the drink' shots into two different shots: one is a mid shot of the girl handing the boy a drink, the second being a close up as the hands touch in the drink exchange. Another example is the kissing part of the advert which begins with the boy leaning in as if to kiss the girl. This is then followed by a shot of the girl leaning in to the kiss from a different angle, followed by another shot of the boy bending down to get the cat, and ending with another shot of the girl being grumpy. We found that by doing this, it is much more effective because the camera tells the story. Furthermore, it allows us to squeeze in as many shots as possible meaning that it engages the audience much more. In comparison to the first advert we did, couple on a bench, this advert has much more shots and includes a lot more than the previous one without it being over complicated.

After spending time getting the sequence together, and watching it over in order to make it fit well, we moved on to adding the voice over. This was less time consuming than before because we already had the voice over saved onto Itunes from the previous advert. Importing the voice over was simple, however once we added the voice over into the sequence we had a problem of fitting it in with the action. This is because, unlike the previous advert, the shots were quicker meaning that the beginning part of the voice over did not fit. Me and Hannah therefore added the 'Shake, Click, Fresh, Ahh' to fit with the action, but left the rest of the voice over to finish for another day. At this point, we may either make the shots slightly longer to fit the voice over in, or re-do a new voice over to fit with what we already have.

Once part of the voice over was put into place, we then had to find the diegetic sound. The reason why we had to do this was because when we uploaded the footage, the sounds for each clip went faulty meaning that the sounds did not match the correct clips. We therefore found the clip in which the 'you smell gorgeous' sound was on, and had to extract the sound in order to put it onto the right shot in our sequence. To begin with, it was a bit of a problem because of the lip syncing, however we soon managed to make it match.

After doing this, we decided to add in the music 'The One' by The Ting Tings from our previous discussions of the song. We uploaded the music and put it against the advert, and surprisingly it fitted really well and did not need much editing to it, except for the end due to the instrumental part ending too soon. One problem that we encountered once we added the music was that it was too overpowering meaning that the voice over could not be heard very well because it has to compete with the sound of the music. We therefore, on Adobe Premier, made the soundtrack slightly quieter, but not so quiet that there is a drastic change with the rest of it. We then went onto Sound booth and imported the voice over into the programme. Using this software, it enabled us to made the sound louder so that it can be clearly heard over the music. Once we editing the volume of the voice over, we imported it back into Adobe premier and put it back in place accordingly.

After all the time we spend working on the advert on Friday the 30th it left us with the following things to do for the following weeks:

-Make the beginning of the voice over fit with the action
-Edit the end of the soundtrack so that it doesn't cut off too early
-Show what we have to teachers/students for opinions on improvements

Re-shoots for advert 1

On Friday the 13Th, me and Hannah spend 1-2 hours doing our re-shoots for advert one as stated in an earlier post. The re-shoots including:

-Shot of boy saying 'you smell gorgeous'
-End shots of cat jumping out of boys arms
-Couple embracing/hugging

We completed these three shots, and tried to do multiple ones of the same shot so that we have a wider selection to choose from when we upload it onto the Mac's. We struggled slightly when filming the shots of the boy throwing the cat because we weren't sure which angle it would look more effective from. Several of the shots didn't look as good as we thought they would, therefore we ended up using the mid-shot and cut the shot just before the cat jumps off in order for us to add an extra shot. This was our alternative shot due to the original shots not being good enough to use as one long one. We were also going to have the couple embrace however from our previous advert we found that it looked really fake therefore ended up sticking with the couple hugging because it is easier to bring focus onto the mints which the girl is holding.

Advert 1

Above is the video of advert 1 (couple and the cat) We have since changed a couple of things (see later post for video) following the discussion we had with our teacher. In our discussion, it came to our attention that the shot of the boy saying 'you smell gorgeous' does not fit smoothly with all the other shots in the sequence. The camera angle looks odd, therefore we are going to re-shoot it by filming the shot as more of a mid-shot and the camera being on the side of the girl. This is because it needs to be established that the boy is reffering to the girl when he says this line meaning that her reaction to this makes more sence.

Another thing which needs to be altered, which came accross in the same discussion, is the last few shots of the advert. At the end, the boy notices the girl, however he is still noticing the cat meaning that it looks like the mints havent really done their job. We are therefore going to add an extra shot in which the boy throws/drops the cat once he notices the girl, and then end the advert with the couple embracing. This would help to portray the effectiveness of the mints better than what we have now.

Other than these two things, we are going to leave the rest as it is because it has turned out quite successful. Please see above posts for the newer updated version of this advert.

(we are currently having problems in uploading the video onto blogger-we will try and get it up as soon as we can!)

Advert 2

This is the first advert which we filmed and edited. It is Advert 2 in the advertising campaign.The hardest part in the construction of this advert was editing and choosing the music. It took us long enough to find music with suitable lyrics that match the action, however it took even longer for the music to sound like it flowed even after lots of editing. We have come back to edit the music for this advert on Friday 13Th because we felt that the music sounded too jumpy in the places that we had cut it. The beginning part of the soundtrack was fine until it reached the point where the voice over begins. It was not an option to have lyrics continuing through this part because it would clash with what is being said in the voice over. Furthermore, we found it difficult to make it flow due to the pace and sound of the music changing at several points. We therefore tried to overlap the music in order for it to flow better and this worked in the early parts of the soundtrack. After a lot of trials and adding different sections of the music to the end part of the sequence, we ended up using the very end and very beginning of the song by putting them together. We feel that this is the best option because the rest of the song has lyrics being spoken. The pace/beat of the music also fits well with the voice over. If we can find a better way of making it flow, then me and Hannah will add this on if it means that it sounds better against the soundtrack.

This advert, in comparison to the original storyboard, has the same outline, however has new shots replacing the original shots due to the original ideas not meeting the codes and conventions of an advert. Due to these slight changes, it caused other changes meaning that the overall product is much different to the storyboard.

In comparison to Advert 1, which we are currently finishing off, there are less shots involved. We therefore contemplated adding extra shots however we thought that at this stage, it would cause us to be behind in our work because the music would have to be changed to match, and the shots may not even flow well with the existing shots. We therefore stuck to doing our re-shoot of the girls reaction and the boy first sitting down.

Begining of Advert 1

Following our disastrous first shoot, followed by disappointment after watching the footage of this shoot, we are now quite happy with our progress.

After our next shoots, we put together about 12-15 seconds of the beginning of our advert. Some shots still need to be cut down further, and some will need re-shooting, however we are glad that it is finally and slowly coming together. We have changed the beginning of our advert quite drastically in comparison to the original storyboard. We are now starting with the geek reading a magazine followed by his girlfriend entering the shot and giving him a drink. We have done this in order to make it have a similar feel to the advert 2, couple on the bench, which we have already one. It also allows the cheeky, innocent part of the advert to come into it. We also feel that it adds an aspect of realism because realistically, this is likely to happen in a living room!

The part of the storyboard in which the cat is involved, will, if the shooting goes to plan, stay roughly the same and we do not plan to remove the cat from the advert. This is because the cat is the center of the 'joke'/humour of the advert therefore it is vital that the cat is kept.

The first part of the advert, which is liable to change after our next shootings, is as follows:

-Mid shot of boy on sofa, reading.
-Over the shoulder shot, boy still reading, he turns page.
-Mid shot of Girl walking towards sofa, glass in hand
-Mid shot of boy looking up and smiling
-Close up of feet as she sits
-Girl sits, mid shot as she passes drink
-Close up of hands as they meet in the passing of the drink
-CU/ECU of girls reaction
-CU/ECU of boys reaction

That is roughly what we have so far, we are probably going to change this around a bit in order to make it flow better. It is also likely that some shots will be removed in order to fit in to the 30second advert time gap.

Filming - 27th & 28th Jan

For the past two days, Hannah and me have continued to film advert 1, the couple and the cat. So far, we have uploaded footage from one of the days filming (see above post) however are yet to upload the footage of the following days filming.

We went about filming by following the order of the storyboard so that the shots are in order, and therefore making it much easier to remember what has been done and what hasn't. It also makes it easier to order when it comes to editing it on the Macs. The main bulk of the shooting on the 27Th was to film as many shots of the cat as possible due to them shots being the most time consuming and harder to achieve. We got a few decent shots of the cat, however the cat wasn't in the best of moods to be filmed therefore had to leave it and continue with different shots. Both me and Hannah found that this shoot was more successful because we knew exactly what we wanted to get done as we had planned it in the Mac room when we uploaded the footage of shoot 1. From making the last advert, we were aware that we needed shots of the characters reactions to things, as well as allow the camera to tell the story not the characters, therefore we hope that this is reflected in our footage.

Whilst filming, we were using ideas from the last advert in order to aid us with this advert. Me and Hannah were getting a bit worried that this advert is too similar to our previous advert, however decided that it was important for it to have a similar plot because this helps to accentuate the fact that it is from the same advertising campaign. The main thing which we originally discussed to change in the adverts is the situation that the characters are under which should initially aid to create the intended humour for the audience. The similar shots/plots to the other advert is the over the shoulder shot, the close up of hands meeting and the attempted kiss. Despite these being similar aspects, the way they have been portrayed is in a different way to the previous advert therefore they do differ making them not identical.

Yesterday, we managed to get the shooting for the jingle completed. This went really well as they are quite easy shots to do, and we already know how it goes due to us doing it successfully first time round in making our last advert. This time, Lucy, the girl, has to take the mints therefore she is doing the jingle. We decided to do some shots in which Lucy was saying the words 'shake,click,fresh,ahh' in order to experiment what it would sound like if she says it. This is because we felt that it could be just as effective to have her addressing the audience as it is to have a voice over. We have used a different effect to the last advert for the 'ahhh' part of the jingle. Using a hairdryer, we managed to get Lucy's hair to be pushed back as if a gust of wind had passed. This helps emphasise the effects of the mints and how refreshing they are.

In our next shoot, we hope to complete as much of the cat shots as possible, as well as the ending of the advert and any re-shoots which need to be carried out.

Discussions made following uploaded footage on Mac's

After uploading the footage from our first shoot for advert 1, couple and the cat, we were disappointed when we viewed our shots on the Macs because none of them met our expectations and visions of our advert. Despite us thinking that the shoot went well, the shots were not up to scratch and we did not like any that were done that day. (I guess it's not surprising for a first shoot!)We therefore have put some 'rough cuts' together and discussed how we could expand and improve the shots in order to engage our target audience as well as make the advert reach its full potential. We have also used the shots that we did on our first shoot, and compared it to our original storyboard to see which shots could be added and which shots should be kept. This is because in comparison to the original storyboard, some shots which we wanted to have, are not as good as we thought due to them not meeting the codes and conventions of an avert.

One of the things that we we rent happy about was the mise en scene of the shots. In the previous advert that we shot, and in our planning, we had the boy dressed as a geek, whereas in this shoot, he was wearing normal everyday clothes which didn't make him stand out as a geek. We therefore decided to assign our actor, Ben, with a set outfit in which would portray the image that we are going for. It is important that he is kept as a geek in all three of our adverts because this is one of the aspects which links the advert campaign together, and it is the image of the couple which makes the audience relate to the mint which we are advertising as well as create humour.

Another problem that we had with the shots, mise en scene related, is the on goings in the background. Due to the advert being set in the living room of a house, the living area changes every time and in some shots there are family member and items which move, meaning that the shots do not follow well. For example, in one shot, there is a green bag on the table, but in another shot the green bag has been moved which looks really silly when the shots are put together as you can tell it was shot on different days! Next time, We therefore have to make sure that the area we are shooting in can be easily adapted to our shooting, therefore have decided to use a different sofa which is located against the wall. This means that nothing changes behind the actors/sofas meaning that each shot will look like it was shot on the same day. The only thing that we have to be aware of is the positioning of the cushions on the sofa.

The third problem that we encountered, is that some shots were wobbly or tilted. This is because when we are trying to get footage of the cat, we tried filming it by having the camera really low down which was hard because there is only so low that the tri-pod can go. When we uploaded the footage onto the macs it looked unprofessional and rushed due to the shot not being perfectly still. Me and Hannah have therefore decided to keep the tri-pod at its lowest, but make use of the zoom in order to make the cat be in the shoot. We have also discussed having a low angle shot in order to make it look like it is from the girl/boy's perspective.

After uploading the footage and discussing how to move forward, we wrote drown all the shots that we wanted to do on our filming days, as stated in the shooting schedule post below. We now hope that this bad shoot will allow us to learn from out mistakes, an hopefully making the next couple of shoots a lot more successful.

Friday 23rd's filming

We have begun to start filming the shots in which we need the cat in for advert 1. Me and Hannah have decided to do these shots first because they are the hardest ones to do due to the cat leaping out of every shot. We originally begun by following our storyboard, however, as soon as we started filming we noticed that we would have to add in a lot more shots than what is in the storyboard. This is because, as we were doing the shots in the original storyboard, we found that the Lucy and Ben were acting too much meaning that one shot would last over 3-4 seconds which doesn't follow the codes and conventions of an advert. We are therefore still using the storyboard as a guide, however we are adding more shots in between in order to have a variety of shots. We are unsure as to whether these shots will look good or not, however in order to not be limited of choice, we are experimenting with different shots so that we can pick out and edit the best ones on the Macs.

Overall, the shooting went well and we managed to get a fair bit of shots completed. We have mainly been shooting mid shots, close ups, and extreme close-ups in order to not make the same mistake that we made in with advert 2, of having too many long shots. The main problems that we had was with the cat. Despite the cat being well behaved, we found that we had to get on with the shot really quickly before the cat runs off. This meant that we had to tell Lucy and Ben what we wanted them to do in the shot, as well as set up the camera in the right position before placing the cat into the shot, allowing us to be prepared and ready to continue shooting straight away. This ultimately allowed us to work more efficiently and was less time consuming.

On the other hand, the advantage of filming indoors, in comparison to advert 2, is hat we have more control over the lighting. We now do not have the whether restrictions such as the sun and rain meaning that the shots will be easier to control. We are using ambient lighting in order to have an aspect of realism, and so far this is working well.

We plan to upload all the footage that we have got so far onto the Macs during Tuesday's lunch time lesson on January 20th. Me and Hannah are also going to move foward with this advert by spending more time on editing it in the upcoming week during our free time. In addition to this, we are going to make an early start in searching for music due to us knowing how difficult it is to choose the right song from making our last advert!

Shooting Schedule Continued...

Here is more of our shooting schedule:

Date: Friday 23rd January
Time: Period 4-6
People present: Hannah, Lucy, Ben & me. And the cat!
Place: Hannah's house in living room
Task: To begin filming the shots in advert 1 in which the cat is present. Try and get these shots out of the way early as these are the hardest shots to do. Experiment with a variety of shots
Props: A sofa and the cat.

Date: Tuesday 27Th January
Time: 1:10
People present: Hannah & me
Place: Mac Suite
Task: Continue to edit music for advert 2, and upload footage so far of advert 1.

Date: Tuesday 27Th January
People present: Lucy, Ben, Hannah & Me
Place: Hannah's house
Time: Period 3, break, Period 4
Task: Shoot the jingle for advert 1 using Lucy. Do any re-shoots. Finish off shots where the cat is needed.
Props: Sofa, cat, and mint packet

Date: Wednesday 28Th January
People present: Lucy, Ben, Hannah & me
Place: Hannah's house
Time: Lunch, Period 6+7
Task: Continue doing shots for advert 1 + any re shoots. Try and complete some of the ending shots. Re-shoot 1 of the shots for advert 2.
Props: Sofa, cat, mint packet, geeky costume

Date: Friday 30th January
People present: Lucy, Ben, Hannah & me
Place: Hannah's house
Time: Break, Period 2,3, & 4
Task: Re-shoots, 'cat' shots, and ending shots
Props: Sofa, mint packet, costumes,

Date: Friday 30th January
People present: Hannah & me
Place: Mac suite
Time: Period 1, 4, 5, 6 (and other intervals)
Tasks: Upload footage, carry on editing advert, post advert 1 & 2 on Blogger.

Date: Friday 13th Feb
People present: Ben, Lucy, Hannah, me
Place: Hannah's house
Tasks: Complete re-shoots

Music Editing

Since we have been back, me and Hannah have made a start on editing our chosen music to fit with the action of advert 2. To begin with, we imported the song and played it against out advert. In order to have an idea of what the song will sound like against the action, we did a quick rough cut of the song. This helped us have an idea of which parts that we need to keep and delete when it comes to editing it properly. It also determined the fact of whether we would keep that song or not because if the pace, lyrics, mood etc of the music did not fit with the advert then we would have to reject the idea. After discussing the song amongst ourselves and with Mr Michie we decided that we would keep the music as long as we did some serious editing! The music which we have chosen is Girls and Boys in Love by The Rumble Strips. We felt that this piece of music had a chorus which, when edited, was the best song we could find with lyrics that match the action quite well. In addition to this, the pace of the music fit well and we think that the music is young and lively meaning that it would appeal to our target audience.

Below are some of the lyrics of the song as well as a YouTube video so that you can listen to it. In bold are the parts of the lyrics which we want to keep. Bearing in mind that there are instrumental sections which we will use instead of the lyrics not highlighted in bold.

Rumble Strips Lyrics - Girls And Boys In Love Lyrics

Just ’cause you think it,
Don’t make it so,
Drop you to drink it,
Won’t let you go.

CHORUS
Plenty of girls and boys in love,
Plenty of girls and boys in love.

Move to the city,
Loose all your heart,
She weren’t that pretty,
You ain’t too smart.

CHORUS
Plenty of girls and boys in love,
Plenty of girls and boys in love.

But ain’t it a shame,
Woaaah oooohhh,
Ain’t it a shame,
Woaaah oooohhh,
Ain’t it a shame,I’ve let you go,
Plenty of girls… and boys in love.

Plenty of girls… and boys in love (3x)



We want to use some of the instrumental parts of the song as a mini introduction to the advert. (Perhaps only the first 1-3 shots)

The point in which we want the 'plenty of girls and boys in love' line to come in is when the girls See's her boyfriend (the geek) walking over to sit next to her. This line should last throughout the close ups of the couple holding hands and exchanging 'flirty' looks.

When the lyrics say 'Ain't it a shame' we want this to be said when the geek goes to kiss his girlfriend but he gets rejected. This helps add a sympathy aspect and is the exact message that the action is giving off.

After the rejection part, the voice over will begin.

We will then end the advert with an instrumental part of the advert, however we will have the music playing quietly behind the voice over.

I took the responsibility of saving the song onto a USB so that on Monday and Tuesday me and Hannah could go onto Adobe Sound booth, the programme which allows you to edit music. Originally we thought that the programme would be hard to use, however with a brief introduction on how to use the programme by Mr Michie as well as the use of the help tool meant that we picked it up very quickly. So far, we have cut down the music so that we are only left with the instrumental parts, the chorus, and the appropriate lyrics in the middle part of the song. We have also used what we have edited so far and imported it into our advert to see how it sounded like, and as we did so, we both discussed what extra parts needed cutting. In addition to this, it allowed us to view the timings and how much we had to work with when it came to how much introduction/instrumental music we could have before the lyrics begin. Once we discussed the timings etc, we went back onto Adobe Sound booth and have begun to narrow the music down so that it fits in the 30second time space of our advert. We still need to make the music sound 'smoother' so that it flows better and doesn't have the sound change from where we have cut the music. Once we have got this sorted, we will import it back against our advert, fit the voice over so that it fits accurately, and then we shall be complete! :)