AS 2 - Pitch

http://prezi.com/g0sdjiimz93q/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

AS 2 - Task Four

Before I make my advert must make sure that I do some research into the ASA and BCAP guidelines to ensure that I don't run into any legal issues regarding my advert. If I don't check the ASA and BCAP guidelines then my advert may not be aired as it could have issues such as legal and ethical issues e.g. copyright music copyright of ideas etc and also codes of practices e.g. risky content, false advertising, and product placement. (image below)

After completing my research I know that my final product will not come into any legal issues. The ideas for my advert are all original, before deciding on a final production I looked around for inspiration, and collected a range of different ideas to help me create my product.  After looking at these different adverts I came up with an idea that was original with no copyright of ideas or music. Additionally I have made sure that my advert contains appropriate content, this will ensure that no one will be offended by my advert. (04 - image below) I have decided that I will not have product placement in my advert which means that I will not be featuring any other product, other than my own, in my advert. The most important legal issue is false advertisement. (03 - image below) I have come up with an idea that ensures the product will be advertised as it is, without adding anything extra. I will make sure that the way I advertise my advert is true and that people buying my product will not be disappointed with it. Finally I have made sure that I am careful with my filming, I need to ensure that no members of the public are involved without their permission, there are also no references to other people with public profiles. (06 - image below)

AS 2 - Task Three - Requirements for a Production

Before starting my practical production I have to make sure I look into the requirements for the production. This is important because it helps to make the whole production process go smoothly. By looking at requirements and information before I start I can estimate the money I will need to hire equipment and for travel to the filming destination. It also allows me to find a suitable location beforehand and gives me time to recruit actors and actresses who are willing to take part in my advert. Additionally I can arrange costumes and props in advance so that they are ready to use on the day. When making a production it is vital that the team are given set time frames and budgets as it allows them to have a target to work towards. It also means that there is an organised plan which constantly reassures the clients and the team. It also means that the clients have a date to look forward to, which means that the time scale is more important as we don't want to disappoint them. 

There are different requirements that I need to take into consideration when creating my advert. Firstly there is the requirement of technical equipment. To be able to go ahead with my advert I must get hold of a camera/camcorder. There are many ways I can do this, but I will rent mine from a website which lends them for a certain price per day;

http://www.hireacamera.com/camcorders/xdcamex.asp

This website offers out tripods, cameras and camcorders for rent and you pay by the day for example if I wanted to hire out a Canon XF100 I can get it for £61 per day ex VAT. This is a good idea as we will be filming for around 3 days which means the cost can be split evenly between our production group and we can get all the filming we need done. We also need to take into consideration the idea that we may also need to hire out a microphone and a boom pole in case the sound quality is not very good on the camera. We will spend all day filming the shots to make sure that we get enough to make a successful advertisement, filming all day allows us to get extra shots in case we need any more than our original plan, ensuring that we don't have to hire out the camcorder again to get shots we may have missed. After each session of filming I will ensure that a copy of the shots will be saved on a computer as a back up option if the camera breaks down. 

The next requirement we need to take into consideration is the potential filming locations. Initially we decided to film in a public area such as a marketplace or shopping mall, but after some careful consideration we decided that the best place to film would be inside a house as it is free and we don't require any specific permission to film there, other than the homeowners themselves, which are likely to be a member of family or a friends parent. In order to film at a house I would need to either ask my parent or contact a friend and see who would be willing to let us film there. The location we want to film at will be within walking distance. There are not as many problems with a house location as there would be if we were filming in a public area, but there are some, for example lighting may not be right and to be able to make a successful production the lighting needs to be sufficient, also there is a chance that maybe the electricity may run out or there may be a power cut, meaning we would have to stop filming for that day, which in turn would affect the rate at which we create our production. If something comes up and we can't film at this location there are many other places to film; http://filmlondon.org.uk/ is a website that displays the best places to film in London. There are a range of locations to choose from on the website which means we have plenty of back up options if we cannot film in our original location. 

Next is the requirement of actors and actresses. For my advert I am going to look for volunteers aged between 16-25 so that I can make a good advert that engages people of a similar age to the actors and actresses. I don't have a specific gender that I need for my advert, but they are likely to be mainly female. However we need to take into consideration the results we received from the market research which showed that mainly females bought headphones, so to make our advert even more successful we need to create something that also appeals to males. When looking for people to act in my advertisement I am going to contact friends and let them volunteer to be in my production. I can achieve this by organising auditions. I would set the potential clients a page of dialogue which they would go away and learn, I would then arrange a place and a time when the candidates can come in and audition one by one. After this I will then look at each of the auditions and carefully choose the right person for my production. If I was to hire a well known actor they would have to be paid a sufficient amount in order for them to accept the role, the rate would be set hourly so that they don't face the risk of being underpaid. Additionally if I was to cast unknown actors the advert may not be as much of a success compared to having a well known actor in it, however if I provide them with an excellent role and they portray it well then it could mean that more people would watch the advert and want to buy the product. There will be no members of the public involved, therefore we will not need to get permission from them. However, if we do end up with a member of the public in the back of a shot I will ensure that I have produced a form which I would ask them to sign ensuring that they will not sue me.  

Time scale and budget is also another requirement which needs to be taken into consideration whilst making my production. The average time scale we have suggested is roughly around a month, which includes planning, sourcing materials, filming and editing. As there is a lot that needs to be done to create a successful production we have allowed there to be a few extra weeks after we have passed the original one month time scale. This is just to ensure that the advert is made to the best of our ability. The budget for the production is a decent amount as our plan was to make an advert using only our own belongings and locations, the only money we need to spend is on the hiring out of the camera as we don't have access to one for free. However we have allowed a budget of around £1000 just in case we have to pay for any repairs or extra props. Also, if something happen and it turn out we can't record on a certain day we have to take into consideration the extra costs for the camera hire. 

The last requirement we need is costumes and props. To make my advert I will need to make sure that I have all of the props I need in order to make it successful. The main prop I will need is some headphones as that is what our advert will be based on, we will also need some books so that we can create the revision scenes. As we are creating an advert for headphones we will not have to pay for them, which means we save money. I will use my own belongings for the advert as that saves money, which means more can be put towards the hire cost for the camera. After we have finished with the props they will be stored in my home which means they will be safe and out of the way. It also means they will not get lost somewhere. The initial idea was that no money would be spent on costumes and props as I was going to use my own belongings, but there will be a budget of £1000 to ensure that if anything happens to them we can afford to buy new props and costumes without having to worry about the cost. This money will be useful if we can't get hold of the costumes from our own belongings. I have made sure that I know what shop to go to if I cannot get the right outfits, I want to make sure that the people in my advert are wearing casual clothes, which is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt/jumper. 

AS 2 - Task Two - Ideas Generation

Advert ideas

Idea One 

• Black and white theme
• Everyone revising, looking tired and bored
• One person listening to music - they're in colour (colour helps to emphasise the quality of the music, they're enjoying the surround sound)
• The audience can hear the music slightly, goes in and out of music so that we can see the difference between the tedious revision and the liveliness of the person listening to the music
• The people revising will be in black and white - emphasises the tiredness
• The people revising will then suddenly be able to hear the music - become coloourful, potential dancing/flash mob
• It then goes back to the tedious revision and the one person listening to music
• Wide shots, close ups, 360 degree track, long shots, POV
• Humour/reality
• Appeals to mainly an age group of 15-20 - up beat music, colours, people dancing, realistic

Idea Two

• First person walks in dressed up in fancy clothing
• Everyone looks round - there is a person in the corner alone (dialogue)
• First person gives second person the headphones - they can now hear the music
• Become happier - everyone starts dancing
• Long shot, wide shot, close up, 360 degree shot, POV
• Humour
• Colour
• Appeals to age group of mainly 15-20 - colour, humour, music

USP - low price (under £30), high quality music, attractive, different types of people can enjoy it, buttons on headphones, appeals to both male and female audiences.

AS 2 - Task One - Part Three - Focus Group

Focus Group Questions

1. What do you look for in headphones? E.g. Colour, Brand
2. How much would you pay for the headphones?
3. Do you prefer wired or wireless headphones? Why?
4. Do you prefer bold colours or plain?
5. What type of advert would persuade you into buying headphones? E.g. Humour, Reality, Music
6. What do you prefer earphones or headphones? Why?
7. What do you think needs to be improved in the headphones industry? Why?
8. Do you own a pair of headphones, if so what would it take for you to change brands?
9. What type of style would you like to see from a headphones advert and why would you like that style?
10. Watch two adverts and see which one is the best and say why you think it is the best? –Describe how it makes you feel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8LWgmcN-k&feature=youtu.be

After we held our focus group we had a lot more information on the best way to sell our product and the different types of things we have to out into our advertisement in order for it to sell. The results from our focus group suggested that most people prefer earphones but there was a lot of information we were given which could be used to change their minds. Out of the 5 students, 4 said they preferred earphones. We then asked what they looked for in headphones and the majority answer was the sound quality and bass. Additionally many of the students also went for the way in which the headphones looked, so for example not bulky. We then asked if they preferred a specific colour and all the students said that they didn't have a specific colour they would buy. The next question was how much they would be willing to spend on the headphones, the majority of students said that they would spend between £10 and £40 and others said that they would spend £50 and over. The next thing we wanted to find out was whether or not they preferred wired or wireless, all 5 students said they preferred wireless as it's less hassle and there are no wires that could catch on objects. We then wanted to find out if headphones that were bold colours stood out to them and 4 students said that they would chose plain over bold, whereas 1 student said that they would choose bold over plain as it would stand out more. Our penultimate question was to find out which type of advert would attract them into buying headphones, the majority answer was adverts that had good music but were realistic as they knew that if they were realistic then the product they'd be buying would be as they were shown. Finally we showed them two different examples of adverts, one was the #Soloselfie for Beats and the other was for SMS 50 Cent headphones. After watching the adverts they all said that they preferred the #Soloselfie advert as it had good music and portrayed the Beats headphones really well. After completing our focus group we now have a good idea of the type of advert we need to make in order for our product to sell efficiently and appeal to all audiences.

AS 2 - Task One - Part Two - Target Audience Research

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

After conducting the Target Audience part of my research i have put together all the results of my survey and come to a conclusion on the best way to sell my product. From my results i can see that around 30% of the people that answered my survey do not own headphones, the other 70% do. Additionally the results show that Beats by Dr Dre are the most common brand of headphone but there are a large range of many other brands. I then asked how often their headphones were replaced and the majority answer was joined between every six months and when they were broken or lost. I then asked how old the people answering my questionnaire were and the majority age was between 16 and 20. Furthermore i can see from my results that the most common gender to buy headphones are females. My next question was how often do you use your headphones and the most common answer was every day, then i asked what people look for in headphones and the answer was the brand most commonly but many people said that they thought sound quality was a good quality for headphones, as well as colour, affordable and not bulky. Question 8 was whether or not the respondents bought headphones for personal use or as a gift and 100% of the respondents said that they bought headphones for personal use rather than a gift. I then asked how much they would be willing the spend on the headphones and the majority answer was under £30. My last question was whether or not the respondents would prefer to have buttons on the headphones or be able to control them with a digital device, 60% said they preferred the buttons on the headphones and the rest of the 40% said that they preferred to be able to control it through a device. In conclusion i think that i now have enough information to conduct my own advert.

AS 2 - Task One - Part One - Market Research

This advert is effective as it effectively demonstrates that all type of people can enjoy music, and the best way to enjoy it is by buying these headphones. We can see from the advert that there is a whole range of people with the same headphones, which again emphasises that anyone can purchase the headphones. They have chosen to use upbeat music to keep the audience engaged with what's happening. It also makes the people watching it want to get up and dance along with the people in the video. Throughout the advert, the people look directly into the camera, creating the idea that they are looking you in the eye. This is effective as we get to see their emotions and we get a sense of empathy. From their facial expressions we can see that they're enjoying the music. They creators have used a famous face as it helps to make the audience think that if they buy the headphones they can be like 50 Cent. I think the main target audience for these headphones are people who may be a bit older and have full time professions, and are likely to use these headphones as a way of relaxing.

This advert is also an effective way of selling the headphones. The advert shows a number of celebrities wearing the headphones in various locations. This will help to sell them as the audience will believe that if they buy them they will have the same headphones as their favourite celebrity. The idea of placing these celebrities in various locations emphasises the idea that they can be taken anywhere as they are lightweight and small. This will be effective towards audience members of a younger age, such as teenagers, as the celebrities in the advert are all relatively young and more commonly known throughout the younger generation. The editing of the advert is also quite fast, which keeps the audience engaged as they are unlikely to get bored. The use of the hash tag will appeal to younger people as they are more likely to be on social media, and this is helpful to the people selling the product as their product will be advertised through the hash tag. I think that the main target audience for these headphones are people of a younger age who are more likely to go travelling and be around friends.

This advert is effective as it represents all types of people in different professions. This makes it a good advert as it creates the impression that anyone can buy them. The idea of making it in a lift emphasises the idea that they can be used in any situation, showing that they are helpful. It also helps to show that the headphones can be converted into speakers and that  they can be used to make everyone happier, as it shows in the advert when the lift stopped working. The use of a song that has a fast beat engages the audience and ensures that they don't lose interest in the product or the advert, additionally the use of the colours also adds to this as we are drawn in by the different colours on the screen. Adding a competition into the selling of the product will help them sell because if someone wins the headphones and enjoys the product, they are likely to tell other people about the product, and therefore they will sell more. The target audience for this advert is mainly younger people but also older people who are more likely to be fully employed.

This advert is beneficial as it also involves a variety of celebrities wearing the headphone brand. It is always a good idea to have famous faces in the selling of your product as it creates the idea within the audience that if they buy the headphones they can be like their favourite celebrity, they will think that if is good enough for the celebrity then it’s good enough for themselves. Another good way they are promoting their product is through the use of up to date, modern music. This is a clever way of advertising as many people will recognise the song and be immediately pulled in. Also, as the song is quite upbeat the audience are more likely to keep engaged with what is happening in the advert. The creators of the advert have added in different words for the different colours to make the audience think that these headphones are right for them, using words such as 'Carefree' and 'Focused' appeals to a selection of people with different personalities, again emphasising the idea that they are for everyone. I believe their main focus is that of young adults or older.

After looking at various adverts i can see that there are many similarities in the way the adverts sell their products. A common way of selling their product is through the use of celebrities, by adding the celebrities into their advert the audience are drawn in as they believe they will be like the celebrities. Additionally each advert used upbeat music which allows the audience to stay engaged with what is happening on the screen, this means that they are unlikely to lose interest in the product. Also the people in the adverts, whether or not they are celebrities, are all dancing and enjoying the music, which helps to promote the headphones as it creates the idea of good sound quality and comfort. Overall when making our own advert we must make sure to include as many of these aspects as possible so that our product will be a good sell and appeal to various people.