Evaluation

For my final major project, I decided to create two short cinematic adverts based upon a specific product in which I chose to show off details on how to create the final product and also just by showing off the product to try and appeal to the target audience. For these videos, I decided to use Cocktails as they appeal to a very large audience, they have step by step ways to create loads of different cocktails. This would give me a lot of freedom in using whatever ingredients I wanted too to allow me to have as much creative freedom as I wanted. Another key reason I chose to make cinematic adverts, was because they are common and therefore could genuinely be a realistic piece of work I have to do in the future which therefore helps me to gain knowledge and experience in that field of work.

To begin my project, I began doing hours of research and planning to make sure I hade the best idea of how I wanted my FMP to turn out. I started by making a quick time table and set dates in order for me to have a work deadline for myself in order for me to stay on top of all of my work and to prevent myself from falling behind. Once I had set out all of my small deadline dates, I began planning specifics such as drinks, locations, shots and basically all the pre production work. I decided on many key parts such as what days I would be filming, where I would be filming, what equipment I would need and other details that overall just helped me be more efficient in the production stage of the project. Also, once all of this was done, I started doing some research on other alcohol based adverts to help give me inspiration and to just give me a better understanding of the theme of the advert. These can be seen in my reflection page on my blog in which I analysed three videos which all helped me in the filming and editing stage.

A day before filming, I re organised 'The Den' (The room I was filming in) to make sure there was enough space for all of the filming equipment and also to save me time on the day of filming which just allowed me to film more footage instead of wasting time setting and organising everything on the day. Once everything was set up in place, I used the storyboard I drew in order to follow the steps and different shots I wanted to do first which proved super helpful as It just saved me a lot of time and let us get more work done. Despite filming all of the shots I planned with the storyboard, we also spent some time at the end just kind of freestyling it and filming extra footage of whatever I thought could work and would just help make the advert have more footage and detail. This proved very helpful as it allowed me to work with more footage, have more freedom and also just added more depth to the video in my opinion.

After the couple days of filming, I began the editing stage of the project which to be honest I was more exited for as I would finally be able to see if it would turn out the way I expected, which it did! I started by choosing a video to edit first and then edit the next video after to prevent myself from mixing the different themes and just to make it easier on myself. Therefore, I started with the 'Blue Lagoon' video. I started by trimming all of the footage I captured and then put them into position so I at least had a rough idea of the order I wanted it to go in. Then, I started to just add small rotations and small movements in the majority of the clips as it helps to make it look more professional, which I learned from research and YouTube videos. I was able to do this by simply adding key frames at the start and end of certain clips and then changing the starting position either further to one side, more zoomed out or even diagonally. Once I was happy with the positioning of the clips, I began to start planning the transitions as in my opinion they make the whole thing just look more appealing to the audience. I already planned one of the transitions as I previously used it in a project and got some praise for it. This transition involved a frame by frame masking effect in which the shot changes to another shot as something moves across the screen. However, for some of the others, I used a transition package which I found by doing research and which just help to make the whole video look a lot better and professional without having to spend hours on one transition myself. Once the whole layout of the video was done and the transitions were done, I added an adjustment layer over the clips and then added an LUT (LookUpTable) which basically just helped to make certain colours stand out such as the fruit and drinks which just makes the whole advert look better and gets the attention of the audience more. These can be seen on my 'Content' page.

In my opinion, I believe this project went well as I was able to produce a video that I was happy with all while staying at home which was pert of it, to match the current worlds situation. Also, everything went as planned, I was able to use all the equipment I planned on using, was able to get all the shots I planned on using and other things. In terms of things that went wrong, I would mainly say the actual drinks were the only real problem that we faced. For example, instead of using Blue Curacao for the Blue Lagoon, we had to use an alternative (WKD). This wasn't that bad of a problem as the colour enhancer helped to make the drink seem brighter. This is common for food and drink advertisements as they have methods to make their products seem more appealing than they actually are. Other than that, I believe that the whole filming and editing stage ran rather smoothly and allowed me to record and edit how I wanted to which just made me work more efficiently. 

In conclusion, this whole project has taught me a lot about everything. A key example would be the dedication and work ethic you need to have in order to constantly make these sort of videos. For instance, you would be recording for around an hour just for a shot that would only be seen for around a couple seconds. This whole thing also helps you realise how difficult it can be filming a large and important project independently as realistically everything is down to you to try and produce the best possible video. However stressful this might be, it also helps to make you work harder and have better dedication towards it. After completing this, I now know more information on the topic in case I am going to film something like this in my future job or at University. Also, I know some things I can now do better to try and maximise my potential such as better time management, editing techniques to look more professional such as the slow movements.

Finally, this whole project has been super enjoyable from start to finish as we had complete freedom with it and could therefore get as creative as possible which I think everyone enjoyed as we could show off everything we have learned over the last two years at college. I can now use this key experience and use it in my future which could help me a lot in further education and also in a potential media based job.