Evaluation: Corporate Video Evaluation

The overall task and brief of the client was to make a 90 second video for the college to go onto the website explaining and showing off the chosen parts of the college that needed some more marketing. The clients Jon and Lottie who are in charge of marketing asked us to make sure the videos come across as natural and not scripted as well as being up to a professional standard, so they can be used on the college website.

I didn't have a specific or allocated role apart from doing the camera work because as we were working in pairs it was easy to share all of the work. Such as doing the pre-production work, editing, and organizing who we wanted to speak to we did all together. Whilst I did the filming my partner would help find a good location to get the kind of thing we wanted and found things to film.

I think my favorite aspect of the task would be the editing which we did after all the filming was done because as well as finding it more interesting that the other things involved that went into making the video, it was also a reminder on how to do some things that I had forgotten how to do. I also like having to figure out what clips should go where and how they should be cut, and putting in transitions and effects, etc.

The most challenging aspect of the task was definitely trying to organize who we were going to interview and then trying to arrange the interviews with those people. This was because some of the people weren't very cooperative, such as not answering emails, or agreeing on a meet up time and them not sticking with it. This meant we ended up getting a little behind on filming because it took so long to speak to the people we wanted, and we had to film some extra clips during the editing period to quickly add in.

What I took from the project was to maybe try and organize the interviews maybe more in advance so we might have gotten them quicker, as well as to plan out what it is exactly we wanted to film during the pre-production because we kind of just figured it out whilst we were filming.

There probably isn't really anything I would change as I am still happy with how are video came out, apart from maybe how long one of our interviews were and it was quite difficult to cut down as all the information was still relevant.

This was from the second interview in the video and there's a few changes I would have made to this the first one being the shot is slightly under exposed as the room we filmed this in was a bit dark, we should of opened the blinds that would of helped to light it better. Something else as well I probably would of changed where the interviewee was sitting so we weren't showing to much of the other stuff in the background like the microwave and the Grinch on the wall. This interview was also very long so it needed to be cut down but all the information said was very relevant to our video so we had to film a few short clips to try and separate it out a little bit.

This was one of the short clips we filmed to separate out the second interview, one of the things wrong with it was we tried to do a tilt up and down to show all the coloured papers but the tri-pod we had was quite stiff causing it to be quite rough in the tilting which is very clearly seen in this clip, I wish it was a lot smoother. Some editing could of also been done on this to brighten it and to help make the colors pop more. 

This was the third interview it was the shortest one out of them all and other than just one thing I think it turned out pretty good, the lighting doesn't need to be changed and I'm happy with the composition. This was also slightly pointed out in our survey responses, this clip does look very scripted and robot like when the interviewee is talking. It was not in fact scripted, its just the fact that they came prepared an knew what they were going to say. In this manor I think it does make it seem quite professional which is one of the things we were aiming for, but it could of been more natural. Also right at the end it cuts of quite quickly into the last interview, so I would of just edited that so it lasted at least a second longer.

This was the last interview which again I am also happy with how it turned out as I think it was very natural, the interviewees gave the information needed and came across as being friendly. But a couple of small things that I would change is the focus is quite right, its slightly blurred, so I would make sure everything is in focus next time. The last thing I would change is it is slightly under exposed especially since they are both wearing black it makes it seem all quite dark, so I would brighten that up, which could of probably been done in post-production.

The way in which I have chosen to present the feedback is by writing it down on paper to begin with then taking a picture of that and posting in on the block using anyflip, this way is easy to put up and has everything said written down. Another way to present feedback could be by creating a checklist and ticking of everything that has been said you've done and then its clear from the empty boxes what could be added or by use of a survey.

One of the constraints when working on our video was copyright as we were limited to a certain selection of music that we could use, the website used was Bensound which allows you to download and use royalty free music. Along with financial constraints as its not like we had a huge budget to spend on a ton of props, etc. Whereas if we were undertaking this task in a professional industry things like this wouldn't be as much of a constraint, there would be a lot more access to do things as well as having more people to help work on it.

I think my partner and I managed the task pretty well. Time management and working to agreed timescales wasn't really an issue, even though we had a slower start at the beginning we still met all the deadlines on time and got to finish everything easily. In terms of how we organized our time it was pretty simple as we made sure to send any emails out to arrange interviews, etc., at the start once we figured out what we were going to do. We also both have all the same free periods in our timetables this meaning if there was anything we needed to film or do outside of lesson time it was easy to figure out a time that works. We worked on everything and agreed on everything we did together so there wasn't like one person taking charge and organizing and telling the other person what to do. This meant we both had ideas we would talk about and agree on making the partnership work well. In terms of communication in our task it was quite difficult when we organizing the interviews as it was difficult to get communication back from some of the people we emailed, but we worked through this problem and still got the finished product we wanted. I think we met the requirements of the brief well as we covered all the information needed, it was the right time length, and also from taking a survey on what other people think of the video the feedback came back mostly as it looking professional and looking natural.

Looking at the feedback I have received from everyone I do agree with what has been said even though I didn't notice before hand. The feedback that we got from both the clients, peers and teacher all pretty much state the same kind of things we needed to improve and change. These included the music being to loud and the start so we used the fade tool so it didn't over power the person talking in the interview. There was some changes we then made to the graphic titles that were though out the video by request of the client. We also had a part where one of the interviews cut off quite quickly and we also needed to add a few cutaways to one of the longer interviews. But we did also get a lot of good feedback such as it was informative and had good coverage of the subject as well as fitting music and well done composition. Overall I think I did well with this task as everything that was asked for in the brief was achieved and we had a lot of good feedback and the changes we needed to make were not huge ones and could be done quickly and efficiently.

The requirements of working to a brief

 Briefs

A brief/project brief is a set of instructions that are given by the client that explains what it is that's being asked for and this will include different details about it such as deadline dates, etc.

A commission is when TV broadcasters would pay you to make them a product based of a brief and ideas that they already have come up with. They usually occur when the production company has already earned a good reputation. An example of a TV broadcaster that often gives out this type of brief is the BBC.

In terms of media, tender is when a client will advertise out to the public that it is a specific type of media product that they want made. This then means the client will get several production companies come to give a pitch, and this usually gives the client a good range to choose from and they can find something that fits what it is they want. 

The difference between a formal and informal brief is that the formal one will be professional and the person giving the brief will tell you what it is that they want giving you all the instructions. Whereas and informal brief is more casual and when the brief is being given it would more like a conversation between the two parties, each asking questions and discussing it.

A co-operative brief is when two or more production companies are hired to take on a project to complete a brief. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of this is that is does mean it could be finished quicker than usual but the two companies may not work well together making it harder to work together. This also means with the profit that is made, it would have to be shared between much more people.

A negotiated brief is when if a project runs into some issues that the client or production company would like changed this can be discussed between them and then changed to help whoever had the issue. Some examples of things that can be negotiated are pay, client involvement, idea generation, and anything from the appearance to the contents.

https://alexandermoriarty.weebly.com/year-2/working-to-a-brief#

Reading a brief

Reading a brief is looking through what it is the client has expressed what it is that they want so with this information its now very likely you'll create exactly whatever it is that the client has outlined.

In the brief we were given it was specified that we had to meet the deadlines that was given so everyone was ready at the same time as well as giving us time for the clients to look at the first drafts and tell us what could be added to the final draft. It was also specified that the video should look professional and natural. What was more flexible was what we chose to do in our videos, we kind of had full control on what we were going to in that, obviously still sticking to the brief given.

Negotiating a brief

I think there might have been some small room to negotiate the brief but that wasn't really necessary as it was quite a simple brief that everybody was able to do without having any major troubles that would need negotiating to change.

When responding to a brief its possible to face some constraints for example these being legal, ethical, and regulatory. Legal constraints are legal laws that control the media sector making it important to follow and take them into consideration otherwise you are at risk of receiving negative repercussions, such as a fine. Ethical constraints are something you could get arrested for like legal but they are still very important. These make sure you are working within accepted parts of society and you have to show things in a certain way to avoid offending anyone. 

We did have to make one small amendment that went at the end of out final product which was the college logo, we originally didn't put it in and were just going to leave the video fade out into black and leave it there. But it was decided that to make all the different videos match in and correspond in some way they would all have the college logo at the end and beginning. There could be amendments if what is currently available not enough, for example in terms of budget maybe its need to be raised slightly because what is needed to film couldn't fit within it.

https://sites.google.com/site/understandingmedia162/home/star-bores

Opportunities

The reason someone might respond to a brief is it could be a way to make some money if done well and up to the standard the client is looking for. Also to possibly help get your name out there and more noticed to open more opportunities for yourself in the industry. It can also be used to gain more experience and to get used to being given different kinds of briefs, to help improve your abilities.

The main opportunities we had for self-development was after being given feedback after the first draft and learning and realizing things we could do differently, so learning how to make things better that what they were. I also think the project as a whole was an opportunity for self-development because of projects I had done previously this gave me a chance to development my skills more.

I don't think I really learnt any new skills but it was more just like re-capping and reminding myself of things I had learnt previously and had forgotten how to do, as it had been a while. There was one skill I remember learning which was how to redact personal details on the releases. The skills that I refreshed were all pretty basic one including things like how to create graphics, editing the sound, which was changing the volume as there wasn't any background noise that had to be gotten rid of. Along with just kind of remembering where to find a few of the tools.

Yes, I did have to multi-skill during the project because working in a pair means taking on a bunch of different roles. I took part in the researching, planning, filming and editing. I think the main thing I brought to the table was me having more experience in editing than my partner I believe, even though I haven't done it loads of times, I did a lot of editing last year and quite a bit of it by myself so that gave me chances to explore it alone and learn.

EN Corporate Videos: Research and Planning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding Codes, Conventions and Current Practice in Corporate and Promotional Programming

Initial research: EN

 

Questionnaire response analysis

 

Corporate/promotional video feedback

 

The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

Primary research/self-generated research

Primary research is a type of research that you collect yourself. 'Primary research is a methodology used by researchers to collect data directly, rather than depending on data collected from previous done research'. Some of example of this include surveys, interviews, analysis and observations. However, the most common being self-administered surveys, interviews, field observation, and experiments.

Before beginning to gather the data, its important to decide how you are going to conduct the research, what observations are going to be made, the questions asked, and to be certain that your process will be unbiased.

Secondary research

Secondary research is research that involves using data that has already been found by someone else. 'Secondary data is the data that has already been collected through primary sources and made readily available for researchers to use for their own research'. Some common sources of secondary data are imformation collected through censuses or government departments like housing, social security, tax records. Internet searches or libraries, GPS, remote sensing.

Secondary research is more cost effective than using primary research, as it is making use of already existing data. So because of this that's one of the reasons that make it a popular choice among a lot of businesses and organizations. As some organizations are not able to pay a huge sum of money to conduct their own research and gather data.

A pro of primary research is that it allows the person researching to obtain original data that are specific to whatever it is they want. A con of this type of research is because of the processes that are involved, as primary research can be quite time-consuming, sometimes possibly taking months or even years. As well as being a more costly process.

A pro of secondary research is that it is largely based on already existing data taken from previous research, secondary research can also be conducted more quickly and a lesser cost. A big disadvantage of secondary research is that the researcher might have difficulty obtaining the specific information they may need. Also, existing data may not have the currency necessary to be useful.

Quantitative research 

Quantitative data is the process of colleting and analysing numerical data. 'Quantitative research, in contrast to qualitative research, deals with data that are numerical or that can be converted into numbers'. The basic methods that are used to investigate numerical data are called statistics.

An example of quantitative research is the survey conducted to understand the amount of time a doctor takes to tend to a patient when the patient walks into hospital. There are four main types of quantitative research: descriptive, correlational, casual-comparative/quasi-experimental, and experimental research.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research involves collecting and analysing non-numerical data. 'Qualitative research seeks to answer questions about why and how people behave in the way that they do'. An example of  a qualitative research method would be unstructured interviews which generate qualitative data through the use of open questions.

Qualitative research involves many different formats and methods, each with a specific use and aim. Theses methods include face-to-face or phone interviews, focus groups, observation, natural, and textual.

A pro of qualitative research is it allows one to explore topics in more depth and detail that quantitative research, it is also often less expensive. One major disadvantage of this type of research is that it cannot quantify how many of your audience answer one way or another. 

A pro of quantitative research involves fast speed that data can be collected. This data can also be analysed fairly quickly. A con of quantitative research is the limited ability to probe answers. As well as experiments being costly.

Data gathering agencies

BARB (broadcasters audience research board) is responsible for delivering the UKs television audience measurement currency. They commission research companies Ipsos MORI, Kantar media and RSMB to collect data that represent the viewing behaviour of UKs 28 million TV and broadband-only households. BARB is jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and the Institute of practitioners in advertising.

An example of a data gathering agency is RAJAR (radio joint audience research) and is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the radio centre on behalf of the commercial sector.

Audience and market research

The main difference between the two is that audience research is conducted on specific audience segments to obtain information about them. Then on the other hand, market research is conducted to gather information about the market within which the product or service aimed at the audience operates in.

Some examples of market research are surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observation. Whereas for audience for example the amount of people that enjoy watching a specific genre of movies.

Production research

Production research is always needed when developing a new product. It is research to help give information on the characteristics of the product. It focuses on the production of a product, in other words, how's it made.

The methods of production research could be primary research, this means researching via books and setting up focus groups to gather people opinions.