Production Meeting- 15/12/15

Meeting time 
25 minutes.

Meeting date:
14.12.15

Agenda:
Gabby, Eli, Gabriel & Daniel

Decisions:
Gabby and Eli pick up equipment Wednesday (16th.12.15 ) at 2pm
Tyla Confirmed as backup.

Pre-Production Documentation

Production Meeting- 08/12/15

Meeting time: 

45 minutes 

Date of meeting: 

08.12.15

Attendance: 

Eli, Gabby, Dan and Gabriel 

Agenda: 

Decide on filming date, make sure all equipment is available and booked

Decisions made:

• Filming on Wednesday 16.12.15 
• Meeting point at 2.00pm at Jcoss main entrance 
• Group must walk to New Barnet Sainsburys and get the 326 to Totteridge and Whetstone, 251 to Mill Hill Broadway and then Thamselink to Elstree station. 
• From the station group will walk to the location; 3 Grange Road 
• Eli will bring jeans, heels and a high-end jacket and fairy-lights 
• Gabby will bring makeup needed for the advert, Gabriel has already purchased perfume bottles and hairbrush and hair dryer available 
• Equipment has been booked for Wednesday from after form time and Gabriel will return it on Thursday morning 
• The group will arrive at the location at 3.30pm and filming will start straightaway 
• Talya, who lives opposite the location is the backup actress for the ad and is available on the chosen date of filming 
• Gabby is the backup camerman as she is the assistant so will know the aims and the storyboard 
• Actress- Eli
• Camerman- Gabriel 
• Camera assistant- Gabby
• Director and Producer- Dan 
• The group have reviewed the risk assessment to go over all the solutions needed to go in place in order to reduce potential hazards, Eli will be responsible for making sure this is handled. 

Gabriel will be providing food and soft drinks for all crew members 

My Opinion on Unit 1- The first two tasks

Unit 1 Thus far

So far unit 1 gave me an interesting insight into what pre-production techniques are used before you begin an actual production. They have shown me that productions that are expected to be done at a professional standard have a lot more bit by bit planning that go into them as opposed to just getting on and hoping for the best with them like a project in lower school years would be like.

My Prezi allowed me to explore each of the pre-production techniques in detail and discover how each little part comes together in order to eventually become an Advert, Film, TV Show etc. By looking at each method individually I could see exactly how the different techniques are used for each individual aspect of the advert whether that be looking at the creative brief in order to come up with an idea, putting together a budget or even learning what each member of the production team (the personnel) were supposed to do as a role.

It then came to the pitch and the supporting documentation that went with it. I found that since we were working in a group the work load could be spread out meaning we could each focus on a specific aspect in detail and to the best of our abilities. The two aspects that I looked at/covered were the budget and the storyboard. By creating a budget, I got an idea of what real life TV adverts will cost due to the different aspects such as personnel and equipment. Since we are not paying for a location however it made it so the production was a lot cheaper. I also created the storyboard so that we can get an idea of what the production will look like when we film it. Although I am not the best artist I feel that this is still something we can work from. When it came to the pitch and the presentation I felt that my group adequately gave our pitch for our idea and outlined all the key points that we were asked to cover in detail.

10 Second Mini Ads Analysis and Notes

Cadburys Creme Egg 



Content

• The ad itself is short
• One actor with very limited dialogue
• Limited costumes
• Small Simple Set-Probably built, Possibly on location, Props that would have been easy to acquire
• It is set in a bedroom of a 'teenager' practicing chatting up a creme egg as if it were a female

Structure

• Starts off with a bit of dialogue with the actor talking to a mirror as if it were another person
• He then looks into the camera as if it were another person (breaks the fourth wall)
• The tagline then appears with a picture of a Creme Egg

Technical Elements

• Quiet- Diegetic sound from the location. The only noise we hear when the actor is talking is him and the sound of a dog barking from outside
• The first shot is a long shot and is establishing that we are in his bedroom, it is trying to show he is a typical teenager with various things lying around the bedroom
• The final shot is him staring into the mirror (the camera) and therefore we get a shot from in front of his facing he smiles into the camera
• There is no camera movement and there are only still shots of what is going on
• Once the tagline appears there is a voiceover that reads it to show that we are now outside of what is going on within the ad and to show that is finished.
• There is a lack of editing due to the fact that there is a lack of shots. The shots are short to medium length

Gumtree Success

Content

• The advert shows a man selling his speakers to 2 young guys who are dressed in 'urban clothing'
• The two guys then walk off and it cuts to them in a room dancing to the music
• The tagline then shows up with the logo and it shows that the Gumtree app can be downloaded on apple and android
• There is a voiceover narrating what is going on

Structure

• The ad has no dialogue but it shows the actors doing very simple things
• There are a small amount of actors
• After the first shot it then cuts to another one where the tagline then shows
• Small amount of shots

Technical Elements

• Medium Close up shots
• Medium length shots as there are only two shots
• There is a voiceover that is non diegetic
• The only dialogue is a brief exchange between the people and isn't supposed to be the focus which is why it is quiet
• Two very simple camera shots with minimal movement
• The first shot shows the two young guys giving the man selling the speakers money and return they take the speakers.
• The second shot shows the two guys in a bedroom dancing in a comedic way using the speakers they just bought. The bedroom has a large amount of posters and I feel that this along with the speakers and the dancing are to establish the fact that they enjoy music

Sofaworks

Content

• The ad shoes two delivery men bringing in a Sofa
• There is then an alarm going off with a voiceover saying "stop right there" at which point they both sit down and begin watching TV
• They are in a living room when this is happening
• The logo for the business then appears in the bottom right of the screen

Structure

• The ad starts with them bringing the couch
• There is then a voiceover and they then stop what they are doing
• The two actors within the ad have no dialogue

Technical Elements

• Still camera shots
• Short edited clips
• Only 3 shots
• The setting is in a living room. There is a TV, a rug and furniture around to establish this 
• The sound is non-dieetic, there is a voiceover and the sound of a live audience clapping but this is not within the scene- creates a comedic effect

Assignment 1- Advert for McCann Erickson

Task 1

For the first task of the assignment I had to begin researching the different areas that I would have to be thinking about when it came to planning and creating my advertisement for McCann Erickson. The client that I chose to create an advert for was Coca Cola and therefore I took this into account when doing my research and thinking about the kinds of things that would be going into the advert.

Harvard Referencing

What is Harvard Referencing?

What is it?

Harvard Referencing is a way of referencing where information or quotes have specifically come from. They are a way to show that the writer of the article, essay, presentation etc has an actual viable source of information and isn't just making things up. The referencing also gives the reader a way to check where information has come from and helps someone like an examiner or a teacher to check that the information is reliable and accurate. 

What is the importance of a Bibliography?

A bibliography gives reliability to a source of information. As well as the Harvard referencing it gives the reader a place to check the reliability of the information that is being given. It shows that there is an actual source where the information is coming from and gives people the ability to check and compare the information that they are bing fed.

Depending on where a quotation is from, it will have to be referenced in a specific way:

For Books reference:

• The author or editors name
• The year the book was published
• The title
• The Name of the publisher
• Page in which the quote can be found
• Volume number

For Articles reference:

• The authors name
• The year the article was published
• Title of the article

For Electronic Sources reference:

• The date you accessed the source
• The type of source that it is

Creative Brief for Advertising

Creative Brief

Creative Brief Example
(Aviva Car Insurance)

This is a creative brief for Aviva Car Insurance. A creative brief outlines what a company does and the message/product they would like to get across in the advertisement made for them. They will then send this off to advertisement agencies and whoever comes back to Aviva with the best idea for an advert will be hired to film it. This is how all companies will decide who they would like to film their adverts. Aviva through their adverts want people to buy insurance through them. Creative briefs usually also point out who they would like their ideal target audience to be.In the case of Aviva they are aiming their service at drivers, experienced rivers in particular who have had their license for over 15 years. Some creative briefs will also include background information about themselves, on the off chance an advertising company isn't sure who they are or isn't exactly sure of they're aims and objectives.

Creative Brief for Coca Cola

Mcann Client Background- Coca Cola

• Coca Cola was first made in 1886
• Between 1888-1891 Coca Cola started to be marketed to local pharmacies. The mixture was sold to pharmacists who would put it into cups for customers to by and drink
• In the early 1900's the company began bottling Coca Cola
• In 1923, they began to market Coca Cola to the world.  Coke was a sponsor of the 1928 US Olympics team. Around this time the six pack was also invented.
• Coke also owns a lot of other drinks such as Fanta, Sprite, Oasis and Powerade
• In the 1940's the Coca Cola manufacturing and bottling facilities would have been used as munitions factories meaning that they would have got a huge pay out as a result of the war. This would therefore have allowed Coca Cola expand a great amount due to this high income.
• The early Coca Cola Ads were always associated with "fun, friends and good times" which is something that they try to continue even today in their campaigns
• In the 1980s Diet Coke was introduced and became the top low calorie drink in the world
• In the 1990s Coca Cola received on-going support from FIFA, The Rugby World Cup, The NBA and The Olympics

The Task/Objective:

To create a TV Ad campaign that appeals to consumers of Coca Cola as well as to bring in a whole new audience of Coca Cola drinkers. We aim to show Coca Cola as a drink that should be consumed sensibly and in moderation. Through our AD we want to show off all the products we offer in order to give our customers as much variety as possible so that they make the right drink choice for their diet and for their lifestyle.

Target Audience:

Our Target Audience needs to be aimed more at people above the ages of 12. We need an AD campaign that targets those who know the risks when it comes to drinking Carbonated Drinks. Therefore we would like this campaign to be aimed specifically at those looking to have a drink that is the main quencher of their thirst in party and celebration type situations. We want our consumers to see that by drinking Coca Cola they will be refreshed in body, mind and spirit. Since Coca Cola is a world renowned and well known brand, it should be used to promote Coca Cola not just for the UK but for the world. We want our AD to be memorable and talked about globally.

What Must You Include:
"Open Happiness" is the tagline that must be used by the end of the advertisement and therefore 'Happiness' is a key theme that we would like you run with when making our advertisement.


How much does The Average TV Advert cost to make and why do costs vary?

TV adverts can vary depending on specific factors to do with two sides of things. Firstly there is the creative side of costs which is the cost of actually producing an Ad or Ad campaign. Then there is a media side of costs which means the cost of what media outlet the product will be advertised on. Already depending on what type of media outlet, means that from early on, the Media costs will be thought out so that way once the advert is completed, then they will be a step ahead of themselves and prepared. There are a number of variables that can effect the media cost of simply getting a TV advert aired:

• Time of the advert- Depending on the length of an Advert, it will cost more to get it aired. For example a John Lewis Christmas advert, just for the length of time of the advert would cost more than maybe an advert for a bar of chocolate (Obviously depending on the chocolate)
• Seasonal- Specific months will be cheaper than others for a TV advert to air. The summer is usually the cheapest whereas Christmas times would probably be the most expensive
• Time of Day- Peak times (Times when everyone is tuning in) will be a more expensive slot than say airing an advert at 9am in the morning when most people will be either just waking up or getting into work meaning there will be a lot lower viewership
• Popularity of the channel/TV- TV channels with a far bigger audience than others will be more expensive than audiences with smaller channels. For example an advert during the middle of a Nationally watched event such as a sporting event or reality show on a channel like ITV (e.g. World cup final, X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, I'm a Celebrity get me out of here etc) will have a more expensive advertising slot than say during a re-run of a classic show on a channel such as Dave or Gold. There is a Daily Mirror article from November 2013 which states that just 30 Seconds of an ad slot for a product or company during the X Factor breaks would cost £200,000. 

A commercial advertisement can be as cheap or as expensive as one would like to produce as long as it does a good quality job of trying to get the message across that they are trying to achieve. There are specific factors that will increase the cost of production aside from the pay that the crew get. These factors include:

• Whether or not they use a celebrity and their endorsement fees
• Locations
• Actors depending on level of experience
• Sets which require building
• Software experts such as CGI or motion graphics

Depending on what can be seen, heard and displayed in an advert, this will also cause costs to vary. An advert where you see mostly simple looking animations in 2-D rather than 3-D would cost something like £5000-£10,000. They will usually be short with a simple voiceover and won't have much going on. Adverts up to £10,000 or more may have a bit more complex advertising in 3-D to make it more pleasing to the eye. They also might have actors in the adverts but no one too famous or well known. Adverts over £20,000 will usually have less animated visuals and will have actors in their Ads in order to help get the message across that whatever their advertising will actually effect real people. These adverts will usually be more expensive since they are on location and might involve building a set. They will also have to hire the actors.

Advert Plan- Coca Cola

• Rugby World Cup Themed Coca Cola Ad
• Celebration of the World Cup- Different Settings- A Bar, Someones House where they're having a BBQ, Someone watching the World Cup on their computer, People playing rugby in school and spectators at a match for the rugby world cup.
• The different people are all reacting to the same part of the match differently- The people playing rugby at school act out that scenario as if everyone else is actually reacting to them
• Someone Scores and everyone celebrates at which point everyone is seen drinking a bottle or a can of Coke.

Urban Films

Urban Films
The next task I had to complete had me delve into the genre of Urban Film. I started by researching overall what it was that Urban Film was about. They cover this idea of Ostracised lower class and often black communities and the struggles that they have to go through. Urban films explore many issues such as divide in social class, drug use, gang violence, segregation and overcoming economic difficulties.



I then took a look at a few specific films to see how their setting and plots both were similar and different at the same time. By looking at this as well it also helped me to find out that there are specific people such as Adam Deacon or Noel Clark who work specifically with this genre of film as they have both written, starred and directed in Urban films.


The third thing that I looked at was the conventions of Urban Film. This is essentially looking at how the different production features come together in order to create the effect that the film is trying to portray. This can be a variety of things, such as how the camera is used, the different props or clothing involved with specific characters, the setting of the film and even the music that is used

Themes of British Film

Themes of British Film
For the second Prezi task I had to look at some of the different themes that British Film explores and I decided to look at some of the more notable ones from recent years that also had some similarities to each other. The four themes I chose to look at we Urban, Crime/Gangster, Monarchy and Period dramas. I felt as if these all went hand in hand with each other in some way whether it be that Crime, Urban and Period dramas are often exaggerated versions of real life situation. Or it be that Urban Films and Monarchy films often depict a major event or series of events that the main protagonist has to overcome.

British Film Institute Prezi

BFI Research Task
For the first prezi that we had to make, we were given the task of researching the British Film Institute or BFI for short. In order to go about this task I used the BFI's Official website as I figured that this would eb my best source of information. From doing so, it gave me an insight into who the BFI, What it is that they do, some of their internal and external activities as well as how they help the British Film Industry.

Pre-Production Techniques

Pre-Production Techniques

There are different areas when it comes to the pre-production stages of filming something. The Pre-Production areas are:

·     

    The Type of production- Film, TV Show, TV AD, Photo-shoot, Radio, Music Video etc

·      Who- The various kinds of personnel who will be working on the production

·      Contributors- People that are involved with the advert but aren’t directly part of it, for example people making an Anti-smoking ad may consult with a Specialist Doctor.

·      Finance- Budget by finding out average commercial costs of Advertising. Where is the money coming from (usually the client) and how will it be spent. Is the profit worth the amount of money being spent on advertising? Costing has to be planned out for each area of the filming process- Pay for the actors/crew, cost of filming in a specific place, the set costs, props and costumes, facilities and equipment. The Finances can depend on whether or not the advertisement is Above the line or Below the line.

·       Code of Practice- Is what is being done legal? Do you know that you have permission to be filming what you are filming and where you are filming it? Can the advert legally say what it is saying/market Ads to the people they are trying to market it to? In order to regulate this there are two organizations called the ASA (Advertising standards authority) and Clearcast who get sent adverts and check that Ads adhere to the ASA. Adverts have to adhere to copyright. For example if they want use specific music, they have to make sure that they can legally use the music they are using in an adverts. In order to do this, the company making the advert will have to get permission from the company that owns the song.  Before production, the planning team also have to do a risk assessment of the environment they are planning to film in.

·      Target Audience- Who is the production being made for? This will affect the content of the production

·      Materials- What will be used by the crew and actors

·      Locations- Important in setting a scene

·      Time- Deadlines, Availability of people, Locations and equipment. Timetable of when specific features of the production are going to be done.

   What 'Materials' would be used for a TV Advertisement?

·      Scripts so the actors know what they are saying

·      Cameras that film in 1080p Full HD

·      Sound Equipment- Microphones and Mixers

·      Possibly a Green Screen

·      Different costumes or props if there is a specific theme or story

·      Lighting Equipment

·      Auto-Cue

·      Set/Scenery

·      Editing Software

·      Animating/CGI Software

Who are the Personnel that will be used?

·      Cameraman or Cameramen depending on the different shot compositions

·      Sound Person- Sets up the sound to best quality possible, in films and TV there will be additional people for sound effects and voiceovers

·      Lighting People- Set up the lighting/track the sun movement in order to make sure the scene itself has the best lighting possible

·      Producer- makes sure all the production features work successfully hand in hand with each other

·      Director- directs the actors

·      Actors/Voice Actors

·      Editor

·      Action Theme?-  Maybe a stunt man/stunt double

·      Cinematographer

·      Continuity- In TV Shows- Makes sure there are no continuity errors e.g. if a cup is half full/empty in one shot, they make sure it stays like that in the next shot (it may change due to multiple shots/takes being edited together

First Impressions of BTEC Media

My First Impressions of BTEC Media

Due to the fact that in the last few months I have gained a great interest in media and the media industry in particular I knew that choosing some sort of film, TV or media course would be the correct choice for me. Since around January this year, ive had it completely in my mind that I wanted to do something within the media industry either within TV or film which is also why the choice to take this course in particular has coincided with my choice to take film studies. Both course are a mix of both theory and practical work which was another deciding factor to impact my decision in taking these subjects. I am a firm believer in learning by doing rather than just by sitting and constantly taking note and/or annotating things every single lesson which is why I knew that taking these subjects would be a smart choice. I have taken part in helping friends in the past with their media projects and I have also used the  knowledge I had in the past in order to complete projects at school in a video based outlet rather than the generic Word Document or PowerPoint so therefore I knew the course would be engaging for me personally.

There are many different types of media outlet from text/picture based advertising through photo editing software to music both on radio or on video all the way to film and by taking both media and film it felt as if they would be a gateway for me to learn in depth about those different industries and use the knowledge and skills that I gain in order to hopefully one day pursue a career within the industry. My main interest at the current point in time is in TV and Film however Im sure that by taking the Media Course over the next two years my interests in this field will broaden.

As for why I took the BTEC instead of taking the A-Level, well as I mentioned before I learn best by doing rather than by note taking. For certain subjects, media in particular, it can be rather tedious to write vast amounts of notes that I will either forget by the time the exam comes around or the information will mostly be irrelevant as it is not included on the exam meaning I don’t remember the information that did not come up next year. I simply do not do well under the stress of exams and I feel like by doing coursework and being set assignments for deadline dates it also helps to get an idea of real life situations especially in this field as a lot of it on the production side of things is very hands on. I don’t feel as if exams truly ‘examine’ my full abilities and they only test how much I can remember. I don’t feel its fair to have my whole future put down to whether or not I perform well on one specific day. I agree that the theory obviously does help and teaches me why certain things are done the way they are, that makes perfect sense to me. However I would rather that than getting endless amounts of theory that I do not find engaging.

My first two lessons have been very informative as for what the course is going to be like and after seeing how people got on with media at my old school I am genuinely looking forward to actually getting on with the course. Both teachers seem like they are very experienced in this field and I look forward to receiving the knowledge and guidance necessary in order to do my best and get the grades and experience out of this course as much as possible