Evaluations
Promotional
2 ½ min Video for client
For this project my aim
was to create a video for a client that would promote and advertise their
business/vocation. I chose a Personal
Trainer who works at a local gym, and does fitness classes’ and one to one
sessions.
The
Client:
I chose someone I knew
would have liked a website and video doing to help them gain more clientele. I
also knew my client on a personal level, so this had both its advantages and
disadvantages in the working environment.
The client was a male
personal trainer called Alex. He has worked in the fitness industry for five
years and would have liked to have gone freelance, but does not have the client
base to do so. The aim of this project is to create a video for Alex that could
enhance his reputation, gain him new clientele, and raise awareness of his
profile.
What
we needed to do:
To ensure it was
successful, we firstly needed to gain an approach of how we were going to
conduct the video, and select a target audience. After doing this, I raised
awareness of the impact of social media, and having the video hosted on a
website. My client agreed, and this set the basis of what needed to be done.
I needed to get as much
information in the pre-production planning stage as possible. This consisted of
moodboards for the website, colour schemes, sitemaps, and ideas of website
providers we could use.
I looked at some other
videos that have been done in the fitness industry and how these have taken
certain aspects in to consideration. I used these to gain a bearing of how to incorporate
many different parts in to a video.
We also discussed ideas
of how we would film, and what the video would consist of, as Alex also has
other sporting achievements and interests.
The difficulties in doing
the PPP were finding the right balance of being able to discuss things
professionally, gaining enough time together, and also, gaining sufficient
feedback, as I found that as I knew him on a personal level, he may neglect to
tell me his true thoughts.
The advantages of this
were that I could play around with ideas more creatively, and get on with the
tasks when I had the chance, as Alex generally was happy with the initial ideas
we had come up with.
The
making of:
The video had to ensure
that it promoted Alex in the right way; not to hard-core that it would put
people off, but serious enough to make people aware of the intensity of the
sessions.
We decided that we
would have a mixture of Alex training outdoors, doing weights, taking fitness
classes, and working with clients.
This meant there were a
lot of locations, timings, and situations where the filming had to be done at
particular times, so this affected the speed of how the project developed. Once
the filming’s were completed, I had ensured that I had gained enough
alternative footage and photographs to be able to edit and use, that we had
something to work with, making sure we did not have to re-film anything.
Once the footage had
been collected, I put together a simple but effective storyboard. Knowing that
there were four main sections of filming, I gained some other photos of Alex
from his bodybuilding competitions, and thought this may be a useful idea to
incorporate to tell people a bit more about him.
Storyboard:
Putting the video together
was one of the hardest aspects of the project. I have not had much experience
of this, and I don’t have highly technical software, but I used what I had to
try and create a simple but effective video.
This part took me
around two weeks, to get to a stage where the timings were correct, and then I
could progress with the additional items such as music and voiceovers.
I conducted a voice recording
of Alex to place over parts of the video. This was scripted to the video and
had to be exact to the timings and parts that it was desired for. We did not
have too many issues with this part, as it was short and simple, but effective.
To include in the
video, I had also asked one of Alex’s clients to record a voiceover to
incorporate within the video to break the music and tension of the video. The
idea with this was to also give the audience of the video a real life insight
in to what training with Alex is like.
I feel that this worked
well within the video, as it fitted well with the tone and the type of video that
was created.
The same person also
conducted a podcast for myself, of which will also be incorporated into the
website.
The website itself went
through a couple of designs, but once the provider was chosen, my client picked
this himself, as he had an idea of what he wanted.
The website creation
had to evolve from just information and the video, as I would have liked to
have created a fully working website that was efficient and could be hosted.
After discussing this
with my client, we decided to push ahead with this and create a fully
functional website.
The main issues where
deciding what tabs, and what would be included within this.
After making some
adjustments we came to decide on certain aspects that would and wouldn’t be
included, and started to progress with putting content on the website.
This is one of the
first screen shots of the website in progress.
This developed over the
weeks in correlation with the video being put together and edited.
After the website was
finished for design purposes, my client also wanted to include some other media
aspects, so I created him a Twitter account for professional use, and put this
on his blog as a live feed.
I have also placed a tab
labelled media, of which this is where the video, the podcast of his client,
and any other future media items can be placed. This makes his site more
interactive and non-linear, and also appeals to a wider audience because of
this.
I have also created spaces
for a photo reel and an archive of photos.
Problems:
The main problems in
conducting the whole project were time scales, although it was completed weeks
before the expected date. Certain aspects were re-arranged on many occasions
such as filming and communications were sometimes limited in terms of the
project.
I see my client most
days, as I know him on a personal level. I some respects I felt this helped,
but the negatives where that the timings were sometimes cut short or
re-arranged without much notice. It also became difficult to gain a grasp of
whether my client was happy with the product, as he did not give much feedback
other that ‘it’s good.’
Successes:
The successes were that
also because I knew my client on a personal level, I could guess what things he
may or may not like, and made this my advantage in ensuring things were done to
timescales. If he was unsure I would urge one direction or another, and that
would make him feel at ease with the decision.
Also, the conversations
were chatty and informal, which helped with the progression of the smaller
details, of which with a more formal client, this may have taken a meeting or a
scheduled event.
Being able to drop the
website and video into conversation when seeing him for other purposes also
helped, as this led to me gaining more information and clearer and quicker
perspectives of what he wanted.
Future
impact:
The process of making
from scratch a full promotional video and website has helped me immensely in
gaining knowledge of what works and doesn’t work for future projects of this
nature.
Professionally, I feel
that this is a learning curve of first practises, as I have never done this
type of project before. So this has given me ideas, confidence, and more
skills, to be able to carry out making a video and or website from start to
finish in the future.
I would work with
clients I know on a personal level again, as this one overall was a successful
and positive experience, although that may not always be the case.
I would like to continue
developing my skills in video production and website planning and creating as
it is something that has a vast business market, and journalistically, I can
use it to offer other skills, and purposes, such as writing the content for a
website.
The overall experience
is something that I will continue to develop and expand upon to ensure that I
can be knowledgeable and skilled in many different areas, all of which I can
use for my future career in the media industry.
Analysis
of my Newsroom Exercises
The newsroom exercises
have enabled me to develop and produce a thorough and comprehensive selection
of varied writing styles and genres to build a portfolio of various journalism
works.
Initially, the tasks
given helped me to understand the basic concept of journalism, and the theories
surrounding a journalist’s role in society and as a vocation. This was
discussed and explored through investigating the NUJ code of conduct, and thus
comparing and looking at a Japanese theory of investigative journalism by Ansei
Inoue.
One of the first tasks
given was to write my own Obituary suitable for publication. In doing this, I
found it difficult to write a biographical piece from an exterior perspective,
as I wanted to refer to myself in the first person. I also found it hard to
distinguish which items should and shouldn’t be included within an obituary.
From doing this, I
learned how to write quickly, accurately, and for a purpose in a short space of
time, whilst also considering hierarchical based items as mentioned in another
aspect of the writing exercises, which was to work in a hierarchical structure
of importance.
This was an aspect
covered in the Japanese Theory of Journalism, to work in a reverse Pyramid.
This technique is useful for writing interviews, reviews, articles, and any
writing exercises that have to be succinct. I took this advice through to the
tasks that followed from these first experiences.
As the new media and
interactive media develops, there are more mediums and alternatives to make and
distribute news or stories. These are some of the aspects that were covered
within the newsroom. I looked at alternative methods and online sources of
storytelling, such as Vimeo, Cowbird, Unsungnewyorkers, amongst some others,
and considered how and if these are relevant in the modern journalism vocation.
I reviewed some aspects
of stories that I had viewed as videos, and speculated on how this can be
useful for a journalist and what affect it may have on the profession. After
exploring these mediums, I wrote a piece concerning how there is a difference
between journalism, and storytelling, and my thoughts on how and why this must
stay separate to keep the profession of journalism alive.
Some of the aspects of
these new media websites can be sued by a journalist as part of creating a
wider and diverse audience, but the main interactive based new media tool that
I found to be most useful was Storify.
This I feel is a tool
that can be used as a journalist, professionally, and adequately to create and
tell a story for an intended audience on what is considered news. I used this
to create some stories of my own, one of which was for the 2012 U.K Budget.
The basis of Storify is
to create and use new and social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and using
web links, to create a story in a succinct but comprehensive and thorough manor
that can be distributed with immediate effect.
This version of my
Budget analysis was one that I tried to vary and derive a more cynical yet
truthful approach to the topic. I used imagery that would not be used in
general media representation, and I wanted to challenge and border the
political correctness and reserved approach of how media represents certain
matters.
I used captions and
titled the story, a Budget for everyone, which was solidified at the end with
the image that also incorporated everyone. It was meant to use a style that
might be seen on light hearted news programming such as Channel 4’s 10’oclock Live.
I did this as I do not
want to be the type of journalist that follows conforming attitudes towards how
a story of piece of news should be presented, but I want to enforce my own
style that is in line with public perceptions, rather than one that donates the
practise of ‘us and them’ keeping the public’s views silent, and the political
views heard.
I feel that this style
would aid my success in the journalism sector, as it would effectively separate
my style and approaches from that of journalists that are afraid to use wording
or imagery that could offend, yet is truthful.
I have used Storify on
many occasions for different purposes, but all of which tell stories as part of
being a journalist.
The newsroom exercises
that were ‘Live’ were one’s that I found most difficult, but also the most
compelling and realistic to write.
I have written articles
on a Presidency election, a Politician accused of breaking the law, and a Beer
and Cider festival event of which I attended and reviewed the event immediately
after.
These exercises gave me
a tremendous insight into the aspects of true journalism, and a newsroom
environment, whilst also equipping me with techniques to help speed up my
writing, make it more concise and accurate, and deliver a report that tells a
story in a short space of time.
Other aspects covered
in the newsroom were reviews on aired T.V programmes, particularly, ones by
BBC’s Storyville.
These documentaries
were based around many different topics, and I was expected to review these and
write reports suitable for a Broadsheet publication.
I found the Broadsheet
writing much more definitive in the vocabulary selection, and the intended
target audience, as I could write a more sophisticated or elaborative review
that would be from various angels depending on the stories.
I found that in doing
these tasks, I developed a style that I otherwise did not know I had. I
followed some similar patterns and tried to follow a basis and analytically
presented the articles in a journalistic format that took the reader on a
journey through the review.
The final piece of
writing I did was the Murdoch, an Empire in Dire State. I chose to write this
in a very different style to what would usually be done, whilst also placing my
views into the piece, as it is an opinion piece. As I’m entering the sector, I
feel that it is imperative that I understand all concepts surrounding the
current state of media, and all that affects this.
Using this style whilst
asserting my opinion has helped me to analyse the current state of the media,
whilst drawing upon other aspects that are affecting the sector.
Throughout all of the
newsroom exercises I undertook many aspects of journalism, and developed skills
in a varied amount of areas, such as reviewing, interactive, broadsheet, and
tabloid writing, and also, finding my
own writing and journalistic style and preferences.
The experience of
undertaking these weekly exercises has developed me professionally and moulded
my writing into something that I can use as a tool and adapt in many different
styles, mediums, and works, all of which will equip me with good knowledge and
experience to expand, develop, and use, for future writing and journalistic
experiences.
