Evaluation

Hello readers,

Today I'm going to evaluate my advert and my process of making the advert.

1) Meeting the project overview.

All of this has been done on my 2nd blog, in which I talked about Walkers 'looney tunes' advert (relevant), Smith's crisps (historical) and Lloyds' epic journey advert (irrelevant). I did talk about all of the forms, advertising and psychological techniques used and who the target audience is and how to influence them into buying the product. I do feel like I put enough detail in there to make it acceptable

In my third blog, I went through all my ideas for the final product. I made a mind map detailing all of my current ideas on names, slogans, logos and what special features crisps could have e.g. shape. I feel like I put a bit more detail in than the previous blog in terms of describing my thoughts more thoroughly. I decided to plan 3 brands to give my focus group a bit of variety for their ideas.

I went through this on my 4th blog with charts and graphs detailing all the patterns and conclusions. In each graph I added an average section to find the prime numbers, for example, the average for the musical genre for the video was supposed to be classical music however this didn't end up happening as it didn't work well with the final product. Another example could be the color scheme, most people thought that fiery colors would work the best with the product, I did incorporate that in terms of the actual product and also in the advert there is an explosion.

In my advert, I didn't really include a logo but the actual product was shown on screen, but I did finalize a name and slogan, however, the slogan wasn't used in the actual advert. The three objectives I chose were:

1) Create a funny, family-friendly advert.
I find the advert to be funny just because of the bizarre nature it and it's definitely family-friendly as there is no swearing and no sexual behavior.

2) To make the advert memorable
The advert's premise alone is too crazy to be forgotten: a cannonball flies out a boring packet of crisps and shows a guy an alternate reality where he bought a better brand.

3)To follow the ASA guidelines.
My advert does follow the ASA guidelines as I checked before starting the production.

I think the advert appeals to the audience as it's weird and surreal. It will appeal to kids in the form of cannon-head. It could appeal to fans of the Sci-Fi genre with the alternate realities.

I feel that the camera techniques and shots I used helped with the advert as it made the advert seem more professional and also helped the editing process e.g. the black and white Kane in the colored background.

I mentioned how the advert fits in with the codes of the ASA in the proposal blog.

In my pre-production blog, I did the storyboard, plans for graphics, equipment, schedule, permissions, location recces and contingency plans. However, evidence for file renaming wasn't done as I planned to just go onto my blog when filming for the script and storyboard. Also, the storyboard for editing wasn't done due to me forgetting in all honesty.

In all honesty, I simply explained what I did with images of the finished product of each step. I did explain how I edited and how I used certain video techniques. I didn't really explain how it fitted within my chosen advert format, however, I do think that the final product did just that.

I'm not going to lie, by this point I had lost my actual copy of the brief and had no idea I had to do this, which now as I'm seeing for the first time I wish I'd printed off a second one. I will learn from this mistake and do this in future projects.

I did show the advert to several people who fitted my demographic but forgot to record their responses. The response was as follows: 'Very good, when I say "what's so great about Cannon-Bitez" could be louder.'- Kane Harrison. I showed my 6-year-old brother, who shall remain nameless for legal purposes what he thought of the advert and the response was: 'very weird, I was a bit scared when the ball came out the packet' when I asked why he said 'it looked creepy' So if this ad campaign were to continue with this character I would have to make him look less "creepy" possibly asking him how I could do that.

2) Comparison of final product to proposal.

I'd say that the advert is ever so slightly different from the proposal as my first plan was to start in a shop, and due to scheduling difficulties, this could not have been possible. I feel like the message was sent across quite well as the people who I showed the advert to, said they would buy the product. I did say that the majority of the advert will be in black and white, this was again due to the fact I planned to use the shop but that didn't end up happening.

3) Evaluation of the final advert.

After finishing the advert, there are definitely aspects I am proud of for example the animation of Cannon-Head and the transition from B&W to color. Yet there are aspects where I feel like more could have been done for example the masking of Grey-Kane there are points in the edit where the grass around him turns grey and/or he gains some color. In regards to the demographic, children and parents I feel like the advert does appeal to them as Cannon-Head would appeal to children as they'll remember him when buying crisps. It appeals to adults possibly in the form of nostalgia as I think it's similar to Wizard of Oz with the change of colors.

4) Evaluation of audience research.

I feel like the audience research really helped figure out what my final plan was going to be for example what music I should use and how my advert should appeal to audiences. I also think it helped me get a clearer picture of how my final product should play out, I didn't really use a logo in my product as most crisps just normally have their name in a fancy font so I didn't really think I had to include one.

5) Evaluation of using techniques.

I think the techniques I used, masking and a black and white filter which I think worked well with the advert as his hand transitions from black and white to color to try and symbolize the fact he's now getting a better perspective of life. As far as advertising techniques are concerned:

Overt messaging: The message was clear and easy to understand.

Brand highlights Day-To-Day problems: I guess my advert could fall into this category as it is about a guy who is bored with his standard packet of crisps, as I reckon some people are.

Time of day: Its mid-day which is normally when people have their lunch or a snack.

Repetition: In my advert, the brand's name is both said and shown, which will make the name stick in people's heads.

In conclusion, I see that there were parts I missed and I am happy with the actual advert. For the next project, I will print/download 2 project briefs just so I have one spare.

The final Product

Hello readers,

In this issue you will walk through the process of the final advert after editing.

Step 1: Kane

As mentioned in the pre-production of the advert, I wanted the original Kane to be in black and white, to symbolise the life he's having right now, boring and lifeless. As planned this was a very tedious job and after editing, it looks like a five-year-old might have done a better job cloning Kane. I simply took to shots, while filming, the original Kane and the alternate exited version in colour we see on the bench, and placed them on top of each other. Then I masked around the original Kane which was very annoying as he was moving in shot and his arm moved in shot which meant I had to be more observant, when it comes to masking it. After that I simply added a black and white filter then a brightness and contrast filter to make it stand out a bit more. I did this for the other shots where you can see the original Kane and his hand when he's holding the Cannon Bitez, however, upon realisation that I would have to track around the packet and change the masks and everything, I ended up deciding that he should possibly turn to colour, possibly to symbolise that his world has a bit more colour in his life.

Step 2: Editing the base sequence.

Editing the base sequence with the updated version of the shots wasn't that difficult, i just ordered them and added a black and white filter for the first 3 shots and a transition from colour to Black and white. I also added an explosion to make the transition between the shot where there is no packet in his hand to where there is more visually pleasant. I also recorded my lines for Cannon-Head and added them to where I wanted the character to talk, I would later come to animate the character is step 3. Finally I put a title card with the product name at the end for audiences so they'd recognise it when in the shops.

(me exporting the sequence for the next step)

Step 3: Animating Cannon-Head

This was a very strenuous task I had to listen frame by frame when a new syllable started and ended. I also downloaded the base image for Cannon-Head for when his back is to the camera, which was easier to animate as i just needed to move it around. To create the character, I used Photoshop and a tutorial shown below:

This explains everything about animating a character and how you should organise it and what happens in A.E., it also told me which "mouth looks" I needed, which was how i got the mouth to move and look like the character was talking. I started off by Simply getting the characters movements down looking at the other section of the composition to see how it looked and what i needed to do later, for example as you can see on the photo at the bottom of this step there is a mask on the outside of the screen, this is because the cannon is supposed to look like he is coming out of the crisp packet and the best way to do that was to mask remove the parts which you wouldn't see behind the packets, so I created the mask and selected subtract to remove the invisible parts. This made the animation look more believable

After all that had been finished I went on to animate the mouth movements for when my character is talking. This was ultimately the hardest and most patience-filled job I've ever had to do but in the end I was filled with a complete sense of euphoria and I was very happy with how it turned out.

I then edited effects like opacity for when the cack of the head is showing, and for when the baseline transitions to make it seem more fluent and realistic, although, how realist can you get when you've got a floating, talking Cannonball trying to sell crisps?

(The project open in A.E.)

Step 4: Finalisations

After I wanted to add the selected music but when i put it in and played with the speed (trying to make it fit) it didn't really go well with the advert, which led me to having to find a new piece for the advert. I listened to some epic music just as i claim the crisps are an explosion of flavour so i wanted something punchy. I then realised something light and upbeat so i listened to some "Happy Music", which is where I listened to the music found in the final product thinking how this could fit in. I downloaded the music, put it into the project and saw it fit perfectly with how I pictured.

(The selected music)

I then wanted to see if I could make the product more stylish by increasing the contrast of the product. I put an adjustment layer on top of everything in the workspace, but when I saw what it had done to Cannon-Head, I had to immediately delete it. It had turned the character into a sort of brown circle floating in the air.

(The final product)

Step 5: Exporting

I then exported the product feeling accomplished with what I had achieved and happy with the product, wondering what I could have done differently, and wondered how things would look if I had that extra ounce of patience to make things a bit neater. Anyway, the product was finished and I was happy with the result which is the main thing.

The advert is at the bottom of the page for viewing.

Knowing that this is the end of this project is both a relief and a bit sad in all honesty, I have truly enjoyed doing this, making an advert all by myself and having the opportunity to have my creativity run wild I think was the best part of the project and after making the product I think not many people could have come up with something like this. I know that isn't modest, more arrogant if anything but how many people have had the idea of making a floating crisp-selling cannonball show a average crisp-eater an alternate version of himself to see how life would look if he bought the seller's crisps? I bet it's not many.

I'm looking forward to the next project and seeing how creative i can be in it, wish me luck.

The Advert:

Filming the advert

(Disclaimer: the advert was filmed on the 3rd of Novemer but I am posting today as I forgot to actually post it)

Hello readers,

Today I did my filming of the advert.

It took up the whole day filming as we had to pause due to a father and son coming to play football. We did try to work around them by filming shots where we couldn't see them however the noise they were making could be heard in the recording.

So we went to my house across the street and waited for them to leave. After the hour we took the rest of the shots I needed and put them onto my computer and then onto my drive.

During the filming Kane, the actor, had to use his imagination as much as possible. I asked him to visualise a floating cannonball with a face, which was a sentence I never thought I'd say and Kane thought he'd never hear. But this turned out to be a difficult thing as he kept laughing due to the fact I was essentially talking to the air.

For the crisp packets I printed off nets of what I wanted them to look like and glued them together but as I hadn't scaled them properly they were quite flimsy and easily squashable. The glue I used wasn't that great either but as I only got them the day before filming I'd say they were a job well done in terms of style and size.

As you saw on the photo at the top, I used my photo to film. This was because I had forgotten to request a camera the week before and my new phone was the only good-quality camera I had available.

Overall I am very happy with the results of filming and think that editing will go smoothly and according to plan.