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.