SC Review and Reflection

Review and Reflection

We were given an assignment to create two advertisements both advertising L’Oreal shampoo. Before filming our advertisement we had to complete all pre production tasks including location reconnaissance, call sheets, filming schedule, risk assessments and scripts for each of the advertisements. 

In the first advertisement the techniques which we tried to portray were celebrity endorsement by making the actress look glamorous and celebrity like. Another technique we used was beauty appeal by using an attractive actress in the advertisement that will appeal to women and girls watching the ad because they will want to buy shampoo if beautiful celebrities are using the product. The other technique that we tried to portray was the colours of the product packaging and the setting to match like the real L’Oreal advertisements we tried to do this as best as we could. In this advertisement the product packaging was white, red and gold the setting we used was red and cream colours and the actress wore a cream/beige dress therefore the setting matched the product as best as it could.

In the second advert we used the same techniques as the first. The use of Celebrity endorsement is making the actress portray a celebrity and beauty appeal making the actress look appealing and glamorous therefore making costumers wanting to use the shampoo as well. Also we used the colour technique again. In this advert the product packaging was red and gold, the setting we used was mainly white and we tried to get some red into the setting by using red flowers in the background. As it was colour protect shampoo the actress changed from dull clothing to a bright colourful dress this gives the effect that the shampoo makes your hair brighter.

When editing the first and second advert we picked out, which we all thought were, the best shots which we wanted to use. We then edited them together so that they flow for the advert putting them into the narrative that we wanted.  We didn’t use any transitions in our advert because we wanted it to look as similar as the real L’Oreal adverts and they just use cuts throughout the adverts as it looks and flows better. When we had finished putting the clips together we decided to slow down one of the clips to make it look more effective, and L’Oreal do normally use a slow motion shot within their advertisement to show the hair flowing and full to show the benefits of the shampoo. The customers want to see the benefits of using the product therefore we mainly used shots that focus on the hair of the actress, this will persuade the customer to purchase and use the product as they can see how good it makes your hair when it is used.

Also while editing we added an instrumental for the background music. In L’Oreal adverts they use the background music to set the mood of the mood of the product most of the time they use up beat music giving the effect that the product will make you feel good and lively, or they use soft music to give the effect of your hair will be flowing and soft when the product is used. For our advertisements we used popular chart song instrumentals for the background music these songs are upbeat as we wanted to give the effect the product will make your hair full and lively. This gives the costumers ability to get a feel of the product that they can buy. So we knew how effective our advertisements actually were, we showed them to the rest of the class to get feedback. We received positive feedback overall as the viewers thought that we used the same techniques as a real L’Oreal advert and it looked as similar as it possibly could. Also they commented on the pacing and the flow of the advertisement which they thought was well done.

There were some things that could be improved within our adverts such as the lighting which reflected off the camera caused two lines of light to reflect down the middle of a certain shot of the advertisement and made it look unprofessional, if we could do this again, the next time we would make sure the lighting is set right for the shot so we wouldn’t have the problem of it reflecting and ruining the shot.   Also the sound for the advertisement could be improved as it wasn’t recorded with the correct equipment. The sound was recorded with the video on the camera as we didn’t have the audio equipment to record sound separately; if we did the audio would be clearer and louder for the viewers to hear. The colour schemes in the setting of the L’Oreal adverts match the colour on the packaging of the product, we tried to resemble this as best as we could in our advertisements but we had to settle with the colours of the settings we had we couldn’t change them although we used props and clothing that matched the products. If we got chance to do this again we could look for a location that matched the colours we wanted better so it would look like a real L’Oreal advert. However overall, despite the minor improvements needed, our advertisements were very well done.

We took in to consideration the ASA guidelines while producing our advertisements. Our advertisements can be played at anytime of the day as there is no alcohol, sexual innuendo or violence within the ad; as the ad involves beauty claims we made sure it is truthful and does not exaggerate the benefits of the product.  Overall our advertisements are not affected by the ASA guidelines and abide by them therefore our ads would be able to show on Television.

Review and Reflection AW

Review and Reflection

We were given an assignment to work as a small production crew to produce two adverts about the same product. The product we were given L’Oreal shampoo is major leading cosmetic product that is sold all over the world, therefore it was important that we advertised the product well and used all the key advertising techniques to sell the product to our target audience.  It was important that I conducted in-depth research during the pre production stage analysing existing adverts and the consistent techniques used.

In both adverts we used fictional characters to demonstrate the use of celebrity endorsement a key technique to advertise the product. Celebrity endorsement allows the product and ad to appeal to an existing audience based around fans. Production companies know that people are heavily influenced by celebrities and celebrity culture linking in with beauty appeal as often all celebrities used in ads are beautiful metaphorically creatinf a form of bribery as using this product may result in giving you a desirable extra something that makes you appear more attractive.  In both ads we also used colour techniques, including colours on screen that match the colour of the products packaging therefore constantly linking back to the product. For example we used red flowers against a black background not only does this represent the colour of the bottle but metaphorically suggests that by using this product it will allow you to stand out amongst others. Finally throughout the whole ad we used simple techniques such as diversion as by using the product you are tackling a problem with your hair to improve your lifestyle promising a benefit.  Including statistical information and facts about the ingredients help to sell the product used to prove the superiority of the product making it more appealing to the audience.

After filming it was important that we edited the ads to ensure the final outcome appeared professional. Using Adobe Premier, as a group we had to work together and agree on what clips we should use. The main decision we had to make was what clips were best , once cut and put together to flow naturally and tell the story. The length of our ads had to be a minimum of 30seconds long therefore we had to work carefully to ensure we not only reached limit but did not excel the limit either. The two main editing techniques we used in both ads were simple cuts and slow motion effects to enhance the action on screen. Used to create an artistic effect slow motion is used to focus the viewer’s attraction on the main subject -the characters hair demonstrating style, healthy hair and glamour. It also has a slight psychological effect as the slow action on screen could demonstrate a calmer less stressful lifestyle as a result of using this product.  Also we had to decide what soundtracks would go best with our ads to reflect the action on screen and appeal to our target audience. We decided that it would be best to use modern chart music by artist that appeal to both younger and older adults. The two songs we used were both instrumental version’s, using instrumental versions was a decision we made as a group as we thought it would be best that not lyrics were included that could potentially distract the audience form the subject and product. The songs we used were ‘All night’ by Alexandra Burke and ‘heartbreaker’ by Alexis Jordan to modern day female artist. When editing the songs it was a simple task of ensuring that the track was cut down to so that it to also only lasted 30seconds fitting the ad. Although we did use another effect on both ads using the fade out tool so that the music began to soften and become quieter as the ad came to an end. We used this effect as we did not want the sound to end abruptly and be synced well with the adverts using songs that reflect the mood and emotions of the action onscreen.

When measuring the effectiveness of our advert, we had to consider the success of our ad in comparison to existing L’Oreal adverts and how it compares professionally taking into account the equipment and time scale we had. Overall I would access both our adverts as being successful in that it could sell the product and appeals to the right target audience. Both adverts were particularly effective in that we followed the basic common structure of professional L’Oreal adverts. The different techniques we used in the ad all contribute to its success and help persuade people to buy the product. Using a fictional celebrity is particularly effective as the ad will appeal to an existing audience and allow fans to be like their idol using the products they are promoting. Both adverts are very similar therefore are effective in the same way. Using colour schemes was a very persuasive technique used to sell the product as it constantly links back to the product.  The different shots and effects we used have also contributed to both the adverts success as we thought carefully when filming about the different camera angles and what angle should be used to create a desired effect.  For example we used several close up shots in both adverts focusing on the subject to demonstrate the effects of using the shampoo. Also using different shots can create an impact on it own as a viewer may only be flicking through the television and see one shot therefore it is important all shots are effective and give you an idea about what the advert is selling making a lasting impression on the viewer.

After the overall creative process was complete including editing the final products were shown to the class therefore we were able to receive feedback both positive and negative allowing us to understand what we did well and what could be improved. Most of the feedback we received was very positive the main comment being that we reflected L’Oreal well and followed the basic structure of an exciting professional adverts also that it was persuasive and the range of camera angles and shots we used were effective and allowed the audience to recognise we were promoting a cosmetic product.

As this was my first major project covering this type of criteria it is important that I am able to analyse my own work and look at the areas that could be improved for future project. Whilst I think both adverts are successful considering the time limit and equipment we had available there areas I would improve.  To help persuade the audience to buy the product to improve both adverts I would try to maybe focus on the scientific facts and ingredients in the product including a short animation motion to demonstrate how the ingredients work to improve your hair. I think this could be a unique selling point that influenced the viewer to buy the product as it allows them to see how it works before buying the product and also using statistical information always creates a sense of security as it is a natural instinct to trust a scientific fact and professional opinion.  I would also change the lighting for a more professional outcome. During pre production I would try to organise lighting equipment to use as in both ads the lighting if quite poor and at time does not reflect the mood we are trying to portray as it looks quite dark. Lighting could also help enhance the camera shots we have used such as close-up shots using lighting as a key technique, helping to create moods and emotions on screen or be used as a contrast with the colour scheme’s used linking in with the products packaging.  Finally the sound quality on our adverts are poor in comparison to professional adverts therefore next time I would ensure we used the microphone as well as the video camera as we only captured the sound by using the camera. Throughout the ad it is quite difficult to hear clearly what the characters on screen are saying or the sound is quite mumbled and unclear. Using the microphone would allow us to record the sound without any complications and would pick up the sound more clearly.

Due to the scale of our production and as it is a college assignment legal issues and copyright do not necessarily apply to our work, however in the professional industry all productions have to be monitored to ensure they meet ASA (Advertising Standard Authority)  guidelines to check they are suitable for everyone and could not potentially offend viewers. If our adverts were to be published professionally we would have to check that they meet certain legal criteria ensuring our adverts inform, entertain and promote healthy competition and do mislead harm or offend. There are broad principles apply regardless of the product being advertised. If our adverts were to be published we would have to make sure we have not breeched any copyright issues in terms of the music used as we could potentially be promoting a musicians music which could be seen as unfair, all scientific claims must be true and scientifically proven, and statistical information must be true for example information about surveys that may or may not have been conducted by an advertising company during pre production. Our adverts must been seen to promote equilibrium amongst all ethnic groups.  After reading through the ASA UK Code of Broadcast regulations I believe our advert does not breech any of the conventions therefore is suitable for everyone to watch without being offended r harmed in any way.

Review & Reflection JP

Advertising Techniques

In this project we were asked to make two adverts to promote the shampoo L’Oreal, there were many advertising techniques that we used in both the ads. When researching previous and professional L’Oreal adverts we gathered together ideas and techniques that could help us make our adverts successful and effective. One technique that we tried to use was celebrity endorsement, even though the actors in the adverts were not celebrities our whole idea was to encourage this and to make it look like we were.

Colour scheme was a main technique in the adverts as we used the colours together to link to the colour of the shampoo bottle, in our first advert the location of the first house had red carpet in the kitchen and I who was the actor had red make up on to link to the bottle of the shampoo bed red and cream. Also in our second advert the bottle was also red and we gathered together objects that could contrast well with the colour scheme.

Beauty appeal is a big attraction when watching adverts that are promotion makeup, skin care or hair treatment so this was a big technique that we needed to involve in our adverts and make this the main thing that was noticed and stood out, for this we made sure that our makeup, hair and clothes all looked nice and well presented. An editing technique that we added into our advert to look effective was slow motion, we used this once in both adverts one when spinning around and the other when jumping onto the bed.

When Alex was spinning around we caught a good shot of her hair in full this idea was useful and made the advert more persuasive as her hair looked silky and shiny. The other one when jumping onto the bed made the advert and the model look happy and showing how the shampoo is making this good mood appear.

Editing Decisions

When editing our adverts together we had to make decisions that we all agreed on and mainly work together as a team. The decisions that were made were where we cut and put the clips together to make the sequence relate and flow with the advert, because we shot quite a few shots we had to pick out the best ones as some had faults with them. The time that we got given for our adverts to be was 30 seconds, so as best as possible we had to cut the shots down and delete some to make sure the adverts were not over that time.

Also whilst editing we made the decision to add effects onto the adverts such as slow motion, in the first ad we made a shot of me falling back onto the bed was edited to slow motions, it made the advert more effective and be different to other adverts that we have seen, also it give out to the audience that the shampoo has had this effect on the character to make her in a good mood and feel good about herself because the effect of the shampoo has had on her hair.

 In the second advert we used slow motion in a slow of Alex spinning around showing her hair mainly, this was a good editing technique to use because it give a good view of the hair in a full shot and makes the hair look silky and shiny from the effect of the shampoo. After completing both the adverts by putting all the shots together and adding the effects we wanted we then had to decide on what music we should have in the background, we chose music that went well with each advert and had a beat to match the motion.

Another decision was to decide whether to have a voice over in the back on some parts of the advert to see if the advert was better with it, but having the music in the background in both of them we didn’t really need to as we thought the adverts were effective enough and didn’t need to.

How effective the advert was

I personally think the two adverts that we created were very effective, in the way of our target audience we met the criteria well. The advert we got chosen to make suited us well as it was L’Oreal, the main attraction is beauty and mainly women. We tried our best to meet the criteria and the beauty appeal to look like celebrities as all of the L’Oreal adverts are indorsed by celebrities. If this advert was shown to the public of a majority of women I think it would be effective and probably persuade them to buy the shampoo, as in our adverts both girls look happy and like they love their hair for the reason being the shampoo and what effect it has had on them.

Also by using beauty appeal it will attract more women to the advert as they will feel like they want to feel and look how the women do in the advert. During the adverts a technique that we used was slow motion one when spinning around to show the hair and the other when falling onto the bed, this shows the audience a good view of the hair and show what the effect of the shampoo is. Another reason why the advert is effective is because of the music that is used in the ad, it hopefully gives out a good vibe to the audience and makes the advert more exciting to watch to match the mood that the models are in the advert.

After making the advert we then received feedback from the class and all of the feedback was good and positive, there were comments such as our advert was just like a real L’Oreal advert by using the same techniques and the way it was filmed was similar also it was very persuasive and would definitely bring the audience in to buy the shampoo as we advertised it well.

Improvement

Personally I think our ideas and adverts were at a high standard and hopefully the audience and viewers will agree. There was a few things that would be improved and would definitely improve on next time we make an advert such as, the lighting of the in the shot was not as well as it could of been and didn’t go well with the shot in some parts of the advert, when filming in the bathroom in the first advert the light was too dark and couldn’t see my face as well. The lighting caused problems by reflecting off my face and caused shadows, next time I would consider filming in a better and suitable place and make sure the lighting is fitted with the shot and the camera angle.

Another issue that could be improved was the sound, we didn’t use the microphone when filming which we should of, we only used the video camera which made the advert not as good as it could of been. In some parts of the ads it was hard to hear the sound properly and the sound echoed when speaking, but the music that we sued in the background covered up some of the sound which was better for the advert.

 Colour scheme was another thing that we tried to include in our ads and thought it was quite important to colour contrast by using the same colour as the shampoo by having the same colour clothing or things in the background. The colour of the bottles in the both ads was red so an idea was to wear red lipstick and the carpet in the bathroom was also red so the colours went well together. Next time when making an advert I would try and improve the colour scheme by wearing a red dress for example or have red cushions in the background.

ASA Guidelines

By looking on the ASA website and reading the UK code of broadcast advertising I read the rules and guidelines of misleading advertising, Harm and offence to others, children such as the advert causing them harm and isn’t suitable for the ages under 16 and also privacy of others. From reading all of these guidelines our adverts does not come into contact at all with any of these and certainly doesn’t cause anybody harm from watching our advert. We presented our advert well and before creating the ads we went through the rules and guidelines to make sure it was suitable to show and that we wasn’t breaking any rules whilst filming.

Digital Video Editing Alex Ward

Above is the screen shot of Adobe Permier which shows my video editing of my L'Oreal advert. The picture demonstrates how i have edited the clips together to form a narrative as well as adding an audio track to enhance the on screen action. The editing i have mainly done is cutting clips down to ensure they fit together and flow well for a more professional outcome. Also i had to chnage the volume on the audio track to ensure the audience were still able to hear the dialogue on screen.

Final Adverts

Script Advert 1 - SC

Advert Analysis 2 JP

Narrative – What is the story of the ad, characters, settings, conflicts, resolutions?

This L’Oreal advert is a lot like all of them, with a lot of similarities but with a different story to it. This advert is showing that beautiful women in a dream like room with mirrors and her saying how amazing she feels because of the shampoo she has used, then a boy comes along.

The whole idea of this advert is to say to the audience that if you sue shampoo your partner or even someone you don’t know will be more attracted to you as your hair will be a shine to them as it is so smooth and silky.

Mise-en-scene (What colours, sets and props are used? Why?)

As the other advert that I was analysing this is very similar and all L’Oreal advert have the same story line and way of advertising in a way that will bring the audience to watch it. There is one main colour in this advert which is pink, the women in the advert is in a pink dress and the room that she is in is also pink with mirrors around so everywhere you will it will be pink, this is because of the bottle of the L’Oreal shampoo is pink and they have used a technique as the other advert did to make it affective and purposely do this to make the whole idea of selling it more real and to show how using this shampoo is glamorous and will make you feel amazing. The mirrors in this advert are used especially used so all you see around the room and on the advert is pink and to see the women who is advertising it everywhere.

Target Audience – Who is the product for?

The target audience in this advert is aimed at women in general, any age range but mainly for 16+. When women see this advert and the fact that a woman is advertising it will a lot of beauty will automatically attracted the target audience, as they will want to have hair and the confidence that the women has got to make themselves feel better, also by using a man in this advert it is telling the women that it is aimed at that the men will be all over them and want them because of their hair and make them more attracted.

Sounds -  What can you hear?

The sound that is in this advert is music in the background, the music is a soft gentle rhythm to make the advert seem calming and tense. All way through the advert is a voice over of a woman’s voice talking about the shampoo and how much it makes your hair shine as well as using some facts and percentages of the women that have been surveyed. By using a woman’s voice for speaking about the shampoo is a good thing to use as it is explaining about the shampoo and it seems more realistic. At the end of the advert the woman that is in the advert says “because your worth it” which is the slogan for L’Oreal shampoo, it’s a boost for women and a message to say that your are all worth to feel good about yourself if you buy this shampoo.

Advertising Techniques – What techniques are used and why?

In this advert there are many different techniques that are being used that are similar and very much like all techniques that are used in all L’Oreal adverts getting across the same message. Beauty appeal is the main advertising technique that is used in this advert and in all of the ads, by using a beautiful woman in a advert that is promoting beauty for hair is a effective way of advertising because the women that are targeted to it will be affected straight away and the women will want to have a look this the women on the advert and have hair like that which makes you feel amazing about yourself and have a lot of confidence. Sex appeal is another powerful technique that is used in this advert, as a man is introduced in this ad which is sending the message across to the women that if you buy this shampoo then men will be attracted to you more as they will love your hair more because it could make you more beautiful, not just on the outside. Another technique that is used and is used on all L’Oreal advert is the colour contrast, whatever the colour of the bottle is in the advert is the colour of the whole advert or parts of it, this is to make the advert more effective and how more power to it.

Camera Shots – What shots are used and why?

In this advert there are a lot of different camera shots and angels that are being used, all for the same reason. A lot of close ups are shown in the advert for the facial expressions to show how the advert is making the women feel and how happy it is to have hair like her because of the L’Oreal shampoo.  In the room with mirrors long shots are used to show all of the surrounding and the setting of the scene and how effective the mirrors are because all you see is the woman everywhere and the colour of the room.