AS 3 - Task Three - Soures of Information

Before starting the process of creating my advert I made sure that I had carefully planned and pre-produced all the documents necessary to create a good advert that appealed to my target audience. The planning ensured that I didn't miss out any key elements that would be vital when creating my advert. In the planning process I wrote notes on paper and created a storyboard with different ideas on how to create my advert. I also done significant research into my chosen area to help with my ideas and to decide which area was best to go into when creating an advert. Finally, spoke with my group and collectively we decided that out of all the products we wanted to advertise, headphones were the best.

Proposal

The proposal of my advert was an important part in the production stage of making the advert. By conducting a proposal I could see whether or not my ideas were interesting enough that they'd appeal to a number of audience members and target groups. In the proposal I outlined the ideas for my advert and how I would benefit all audience members. I made sure that I explained how I got my ideas, which was through the use of market research and research into other existing adverts on the same product. I also explained why my advert is different to other adverts on the same product, and why my product, which was Headphones, was a good market to go into when creating adverts. I could have improved my proposal by explaining that I had a range of different ideas and decided which method to choose after talking with my group. Additionally I could've introduced a range of different ideas for certain shots, for example instead of saying a close up, I could have explained why I wanted to use that shot type and why I think it would've been effective.

Storyboard

Storyboarding my advert was very important as it plays a vital role when organising how the advert will work and what it will look like when it is complete. The storyboard helped me decide how I would edit my advert as it allowed me to experiment with a range of shots to work out which one would work best. Using a storyboard provides a visual idea of what the finished advert will look like and therefore allowed me to see in advance which shots would work well together, it also meant I could understand how to create the shot. Throughout the production stage of my advert, the storyboard is one of the documents I returned to most often as it acted as a guideline on how to create the advert. However, to improve I could've added in a wider range of shots. Most of my shots consisted of long/wide shots and close ups, before I finished the final product I could have experimented with a range of shots to determine which shot had the best effect. Furthermore, I could have followed the storyboard a lot better. My finished advert was different to the original ideas we came up with initially, this meant that the filming of the advert was slightly rushed and not to the best standard it could have been.

Shooting schedule and shot list

Having a shooting schedule and a shot list was important when creating my advert as it helped us to stay on track with the different scenes we needed to shoot and where. We used the shot list more than the shooting schedule as the shot list was a good way of organising the shots and it helped us decide how many shots we could do at once. I also included the different shots I was going to include when i filmed in certain places. Having the shot list meant that it was easier to carry round and it was more precise than the storyboard and it was more organised. The shooting schedule wasn't used as often as it wasn't as clear and as precise as the shot list. It didn't specify which shots were needed and where they would take place.

Location visit and risk assessment

Planning the location that we were going to film at was important as we needed to make sure there would be enough space and permission was granted. The production visit included a map of the area and the different routes that take you to the location, we filmed our advert at school so I included a map of the local area. If I was apart of a larger recording company the location sheet would have been highly necessary as the actors would need to know how to get to the correct location. Within the location visit sheet I added in some health and safety issues that may have occurred when filming, for example there was a risk of slipping over or falling down the stairs. I then added in potential filming problems and created a risk assessment sheet to ensure that all areas of concern were covered and what to do if a problem arose. In the risk assessment I outlined the potential hazards such as ear damage from the headphones and slipping and said who would be at risk if that happened. I then calculated the likelihood of the hazard and the risk level to make sure that every shot we took was safe for both the cast and crew. After completing the risk assessment I was able to manage the risk and ensure every ones safety. However, I could have improved the risk assessment by being more precise with the risk level and making sure i covered every hazard.

Cast and crew contact details and budget

As I am not a professional recorder the cast and crew details were not as important in the production stage of my advert. The advert was filmed in a school and all actors and actresses were members of the school society so contact with them was not as important. However it was important that I had the contact details of the people in my advert to make sure that if someone was missing or there was a change of plans then they could be contacted easily. We also had to make sure that we set ourselves a budget for the production to ensure that if the equipment was damaged we could pay for repair, and to also help us pay for props we needed in our advert. The budget we set for ourselves was £1000 which we felt covered the cost of the camera, tripod and SD card, props and any additional costs.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think that pre-production planing is highly important when creating an advert or production as it organises it making sure that it runs smoothly, the pre-production process helped to make sure my advert worked and that everything went to plan. There are, however, some improvements I would make if i had to do it again. Firstly, I'd make sure my storyboard was more precise and showed exactly what I was going to do. Also, I would organise my documents more carefully to make sure that they were more helpful, and I would try to use all of the documents rather than a select few.