Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our main product (the advert) has conformed to the forms and conventions of real media products in several ways. In my earlier research I outlined what aspects are vital in an advert to make it successful. I feel that we have successfully covered all these aspects in our final piece.

Firstly, one of the most important features needed in an advert, is the fact that the advert can connect with its audience. Throughout my research and planning I emphasised greatly on how important it was that we did this, through our advert being entertaining and attention grabbing. We wanted to be different and stand out, so our storyline needed to be interesting as well as addressing the audience about our product. We used the comical German voiceover to amuse the audience, but also to make them listen.

Another feature was making it memorable and easily recalled, possibly one of the most important of all because you want your product to be remembered when the consumer goes to buy. We did this by having several things, first we made a quirky brand name, ‘Lutz’  which is short and simple enough to be remembered easily. We wanted a comical aspect to it, so having the nutty German scientists made people laugh, which in turn made them remember the advert better. We also purposely chose the soundtrack, to be one that is already a popular piece of music, but one that can be linked with our product when people hear it outside of the advert.

One of the features we did challenge was possibly the only slight flaw in our advert. The fact that it didn’t provide the audience with information quickly and sufficiently, however from the beginning we said we were out to entertain and fascinate with our funny characters and special efects, and with that we grabbed the attention of the audience.

However this one feature we did do, which theorists have often mentioned is, not too confuse the viewer, making them hunt for the pertinent information. I feel that with our storyline and text and the start and end of the advert we were clear and precise in what we were trying to say about our product. We entertained the audience with our slow motion effects and stated the name of company and what it is, but we didn’t confuse the viewer.

The final feature that theorists recommend an advert have is its ability to call the viewer to action. I feel that we did to a degree, our advert was long but entertaining, and some aspects might have viewers wanting to watch again like the slow motion, to either see for themselves or show a friend. Also this could lead them to our website or links to our company.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

As a group we effectively managed to combine the ancillary texts (Radio Advert and Web Pop-up Advert) and the main product (Advert). We made sure that we maintained an underlying theme throughout all three media products, such as the German voice over and German mad scientists. By combining the media platforms we created a subconscious link between all three of our products in the mind of the audience. This actively helped promote the other products via the integration of the media platforms.

We deliberately used the over voice from the advert, of the German scientist in our Radio Advert and we used classical music to create an association. Also we wanted to stay comical, so that Lutz would be associated with producing humorous advertisements. We used images from the advert on our Web Pop-up, so people would immediately recognise the company if they had seen the advert. Even though you can’t see the Radio advert, you can go online to look at it and there we have used the same fonts and styles of text to create links between the three as well.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used media technologies throughout all stages of the production of our media product. One of the most valuable media platforms was the internet. Without this I would not have been able to research and plan efficiently. It allowed me to explore media conventions for our specific needs through platforms such as YouTube, there I was able to look at past successful adverts and find music and influences. Also, it enabled me to gain lots of information about the industry, which would have been extremely difficult had it not been for the internet. The Times online was especially useful to gain information and theorists views on advertising.

Another way the internet was extremely useful was through social networking, this allowed us to plan and share information effectively; meaning that we could easily contact one anther about dates of filming or share videos that could influence our own piece.

Using the apple Mac software was not a problem as last year I edited our piece, so this year was simply me developing my skills as an editor on the Mac. However, for our ancillary tasks, creating the Web Pop-up Advert was new to us but we found the creation site to be easy to navigate and use.

YouTube and Facebook were really key to us gaining feedback and analysis on our products. From these sites we were able to broadcast our product globally, creating a wider audience.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before filming, audience feedback was used to establish the age range of our main target audience and the influences advertising has on that target audience.

We found out that our target audience was not just old but young and that comical advertising was the most effective and popular, so we took this into consideration when developing our advert.

After filming and editing, audience feedback was vital for us as it was the best way for us to take constructive criticism from a wide variety of viewers. From this we can then go on to develop our product to make it better. From receiving feedback from teachers, parents and friends we have learnt a few things. Many of the comments made via Facebook and YouTube have been extremely positive and supportive so we are very pleased with that. However some have criticised the length of the advert, saying that it drags on too long and could be a bit snappier. But this is why we created the short version, just to get to the point/product and bit quicker. Our longer online version is aimed to be entertaining, we wanted to fit in a good storyline, as well as having effects and comedy. Taking on board what people have said, if we were to do this again, we would probably take some parts out.

Another comment made on our advert was the location of where it was filmed. We had to use the gym, because the green screen wasn’t going to be big enough. We tried to hide the fact it was a gym, however in some shots you can clearly see that it is a gym, which ruins the whole scientist’s laboratory effect. So if we were to film again, we would spend longer on finding a better location or get a bigger green screen to meet our demands.

The last main criticism made was that there wasn’t enough product placement in the advert, apart from the end, the viewer doesn’t see the packaging, so when they go to buy, it would make it harder for them to know what they are looking for. With this in mind, if we were to do it again, we would have the packaging placed on the table along with the science equipment throughout the advert, so viewers could clearly see it.

Feedback

After our Advert was uploaded onto YouTube, we wanted to gain feedback on it. One of the best ways to do this was through Facebook, so I simply posted on the News Feed on Facebook, a link to our video on YouTube, where people could watch it. Above our video I left a comment asking for any kind of feedback and then just waited.

A few days later I went back onto Facebook and found that we had gained a lot of feedback, which were all very positive.

Also YouTube itself allows people to comment or like any videos and here we had some feedback from an anonymous viewers, where its always better to receive constructive feedback when its not from your friends or people you know.

Lutz Coffee Final Online Advert

This is our final 3 minute long online advert, which has been shortened down to 30 seconds as another version.



I am very pleased with the outcome of our advert, after all the research and planning we did I feel satisfied with all the aspects of it. We were able to get laughs, but also able to address the audience the way we wanted to, portraying the effort and time put into the product. We entertained the audience the way we wanted to as well having some action in ti to grab there attention, as the slow motion shots looked really good. I think that this advert achieves all the major factors that it needs to be able to sell packs of coffee because it offers an interesting talking point, a comical narrative to interest the viewer and a unique presentation of media techniques such as slow-motion imagery.

Lutz Coffee Short TV Commercial

We had a 3 minute long online version for people to view, but if we wanted our advert to go global we needed to cut it down to around 30 seconds so that it could be broadcasted on television, as a TV Commercial. We made sure in our short version we kept all the good/funny parts and still had enough for people to understand the story

It is commonly seen that companies will have longer versions of their adverts online or may at first show there long version on TV and after a while only broadcast the shorter version. For instance the 'Cadburys Spots vs Stripes' adverts are around 30 seconds when seen on the television but they invite you to watch the full version of the advert on their website. This technique not only saves the company money but it draws customers in to buying the other products on the website creating potentially more free advertising.

Lutz Coffee Facebook Page

This links back to what I mentioned earlier about media convergence that Facebook is a social networking service, it has more than 600 million active users. Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics. Every day millions of Facebook users share information, including sharing videos they’ve seen, showing the latest products or generally sharing links to shopping, gaming and many other internet websites. Advertising has grown with these sights; people are seeing commercials and sharing them with friends over the internet at a very large rate.

It was important that we kept with the times and created a Facebook group for Lutz Coffee, which brings in a whole new audience which varies in age, nationality and culture all over the world, thus expanding Lutz’s recognition and audience.

Ancillary: Radio Advert

 

This was one of our two ancillaries, the radio advert needed to be direct, yet attract and entertain the audience. We needed to make sure we stuck to our theme of germen scientists, so that the audience could link the radio advert straight way with the TV commercial. This is a key factor to advertising because it gives the viewer/listener a unique part of the advert that they subliminally remember. This is evident when looking at the 'Go Compare' adverts, which now do not even need to contain lyrics to their songs to to be recognised by most of the population. The video of the radio advert also shows the packaging of the Lutz product which is viewable via the Lutz Youtube page or Facebook profile.

We made sure we addressed the audience about our product and urged them to try it, as well as being humorous about it, just so the audience enjoys it more.

this clip of audio is the correct length to keep a listener's attention and still highlight the main factors that our product has to offer.

Ancillary: Web Pop-up Advert

Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements. The pop-up window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well. (Taken from Wikipedia Definitions)

This Web Pop-up Ads is to compliment the advertising campaign of my group's advert and to create a hub for potential cutstomers to visit our Web Site, Facebook page and Youtube profile. As research from looking at other Web Pop-ups suggests, customers like to know where the product their buying comes from and what it is sourced from. To ensure customer satisfaction the Web Pop-up leads to the website which deals with this issue. The second paragraph associates with the viewers of the television advert, it focuses on the scientists that created the secret recipe which makes LUTZ. Coffee so unique.

Fairtrade is also an essential part of advertising natural products because customers like to feel proud that they are giving money to help projects in third world countries. Fairtrade is a world renowned company that helps the farmers that supply to large companies get more for their produce to help support their families.

The Pop-up invites enthusiastic customers to try out new blends of coffee with the chance to win VIP passes to taster sessions of LUTZ coffee. I felt this option was a good way of connecting to customers and being able to build on the LUTZ franchise with more chances to interview fans of the product and find out what appeals to them about LUTZ coffee.

When the Pop-up is clicked on it dirests you to our web site where there are both links to the LUTZ coffee facebook page that allows customers to contact us about their opinions of the product and allows us to gain feedback and trust that could help build on the franchise. The youtube icon allows visitors of the site to view the LUTZ coffee advert in full and view other related videos to do with the LUTZ company.

Here is the link to our Web site- http://www.lutzcoffee.weebly.com/

Changing of plan with the Green Screen

Filming Day 1 Dilema

Over Christmas we had a day of filming our advert, but found a major problem. At first we were planning on using the green screen as our background, but as we were filming we found that it was just not big enough to deal with the demands of some of the shots we wanted. The shots where we would be diving around a throwing coffee, we found the green screen wasn’t going to be big enough to cover the shot and left gaps in the background where you could see the room we were in. This meant that we could no longer rely on the green screen as our setting and also meant the days filming went to waste.

After a group discussion we decided that we would have the gym itself as the setting, but clear it out to make it appear like a giant lab. This would make the filming a lot easier because we didn’t have to worry about gaps with the green screen and it made the editing easier as well.

Voice Over

Choosing to have a Voice Over

Sound is one of the most important aspects to an advert as the majority of people recognise adverts from the music, voices or noises. It was key that we had something different and something that the audience could easily link with our company when they heard it with out seeing anything.

Dom, a member of our group, was very talented at doing a German accent, so we decided that he could do a voiceover to tell the story as the it was going along on screen. The benefits from this was that his voice could be heard and people would recognise it and link it with Lutz, this was especially important when it came to our Radio Advert which is all audio.

Advert Length

We wanted to show all of skills and knowledge we had picked up over the two years studying media, but felt creating a 30 second advert was not enough time to show everything we wanted, so we decided that we would make a long version and a short version of our advert. The long version could be broadcasted through the internet and the short could be through the television.

We had taken this idea mainly from Cadbury’s who are renowned for their long, but very unique and entertaining adverts.





Both these adverts are a lot longer than most adverts and would be broadcasted at this length for a while and then a shorter version would be broadcasted in its place, the longer version would then be accessible to watch via the internet, through their own website or via YouTube etc.

We would do the same with ours, we would have a long version accessible through the companies website and video sharing internet sites and we would have a short version for TV purposes.

Chosen Soundtrack

After some testing with other tracks I found one that went really well with the pace and rhythm of the advert. It was Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 21, Andante.

 

The track really suited what was happening visually on screen and was generally a beautiful piece of music which would grab a lot of people’s attention. We wanted our advert to look very classy and this music did it justice.

Choosing Brand name

As our characters in the advert were German we wanted to stick with the theme for our brand/companies name. We wanted something quite charming yet something that had a stereotypically German ring to it; so that the audience are almost forced to say the name in an accent, which could help them remember it.

Another aspect to the name was that we wanted it to be short and quirky, nothing to hard to pronounce or remember.

After a group discussion we came up with a few names:

• Steinen’s Coffee
• Germany’s Finest
• Vonderful
• Lutz

In the end we chose ‘Lutz’, we felt this covered all the aspects we wanted, it was short quirky and wasn’t hard to remember plus it sounded very German.

Costume

The costume is vital as it will portray who we are meant to be as much as the setting and make-up will.  We need to dress like old men so I am planning on wearing ideally:

• Brown Cords
• Old Dull Shirt
• Dated Tie
• Smart shoes
• Waistcoat/Sleeveless jumper
• Lab Coat
• Goggles

The costumes will be used as a comical effect as well as creating the setting for the advert.

Props

We needed to look like mad professors working in a laboratory, so in order for our audience to establish the setting in our advert, props were vital. We needed test tubes, Bunsen burners, goggles, clamps etc. to create the ideal mise-en-sen, luckily we didn’t have to spend much money and we were fortunate enough to borrow the props from our schools science department.

We also needed a Hessian sack and for it to appear like it was full of coffee beans, but instead of filling it up, we put a stool in the sack and a tray on top and simply poured coffee beans on the tray. When the tray was completely covered ad the sides of the bag were rolled up, it appeared like the bag was full of coffee beans.

Change in Location

Looking back after the filming tests, we needed to decide which location was best to film in and in the end we felt that the gym at school was the most ideal because of it’s space and of how much natural light it let in.

The only problem was the fact that it was used on a regular basis which meant the only chance we would get to use it would be in the holidays, especially if we needed it all day. But after discussing time and dates with the care taker, coming into school to film in the upcoming Christmas Holidays wasn't a problem and was sorted

Initial Soundtrack

Choosing the right soundtrack was important. We needed the rhythm and beat to go along with our shots. We needed the right tempo to excite the audience, but we also needed a very elegant piece of music that would enhance the slow motion shots making them look even better.

The first track that we spotted was Time to Say Goodbye; we used in the green screen and slow motion testing.

We liked the tempo of this track and we thought it would work well with the slow motion shots. We also liked that the track itself also tells a story. Another positive is that this track is renowned so when it’s heard people may pay more attention to the advert because they like the song.

Another track we liked was Chopin Nocturne Op.9 No.2



This track is good because of its nice easy tempo and rhythm all the way through, but does lack a bit of kick to it, as there is going to be a lot of action on the screen so the track can’t be too slow or dull.

Tracking

In our piece we wanted to get the best shots we could, obviously we didn’t have the equipment most big production companies had, so we had to improvise. One of the shots we wanted to get right was our tracking shots, but the problem was how were we going to get something that would hold the camera on its tri pod and something that would also have wheels so that it could be easily pushed along. 

Luckily we were able to use a prop from our schools pantomime, it was a sheet of wood, which had wheels attached to the bottom. There was enough space to put the tri pod on, all we needed to do was tape it down.

The improvisation was a success and we were able to get the shots we wanted in the practice.

Developed Make-up

After the initial make-up, we felt that we were ready to try it out on all four of us, we wanted to look like old men so it was important that we emphasized the make-up, so that the cameras could pick it up.

When we first applied the make-up we had a screen test, to see whether our camera could capture all the work that had been done to our face, otherwise it would have been a waste and luckily we found that it didn’t at first, so we went back and had Steph emphasize the make up more.

The second screen test was much more successful, the make-up was showing up and it looked great.

We wanted our make-up to be stereotypical of what old men look like, so the main features that helped us appear older was the darkness around the eyes, the burst blood vessels on the cheeks, the red nose and of course the wrinkles.



Initial Make Up

In our advert we wanted to look like old men, it was important that we made sure that the make up looked good before we went to film, so getting the make up done was crucial, so that on the day we knew exactly what we wanted to look like and how long it would take to make us look like that so that we weren’t wasting time.

I was very fortunate to have a very talented make up artist as a girlfriend, so the problem of getting somebody ‘good’ to do our make-up wasn’t a problem. A few days before our filming date, I decided to get the make-up done on me, to get an idea of how good it looked and to see how long it took Steph to do it.

We had to look like your stereotypical old man so the key aspects of the make-up were:

• Wrinkles
• Dark eyes
• Burst blood vessels
• Bushy eye brows
• Flakey skin
 

The results were brilliant, Steph had done a superb job first time around and now we knew how long it would take to do the make up and how we would look.

New Slow Motion Camera

Luckily our school decided to invest into a camera that specialised in slow motion shooting. Immediately we wanted to test it out, to see whether it was any good, so we took in down to the gymnasium to test it out.

The results were fantastic, the quality of picture was really good and the slow motion was stunning. We found the clips to look really professional and they didn’t look too far off the slow motion adverts we researched. We were now well on our way to film the real piece now that we had established that filming our slow motion shots was possible. Another positive as well was that we found that using the schools gym was going to be our new filming location as it let in alot more natural light and had alot more room.

Slow Motion Trial 2

This trial’s purpose was the same as the last trials only this trial took place in a different location. The problem before was the lighting in the other room. This room allowed more natural light in and we used industrial lighting also, hoping that this would improve the picture quality of the clips when slowed down.
Another purpose for this day was for us to practice some of the shots/scenes we would use on the day of filming when we would be all dressed up with props etc.



This trial was more successful, the quality of the picture had improved a little and it was helpful practicing some of the scenes. However the slow motion was still not to the standard we wanted it to be at, so we decided that we needed to change the camera we were using, the only problem was finding a better one.

Slow Motion Trial 1

We had done some research on slow motion adverts and we really liked what we saw. In our advert we wanted to have something different, we didn’t want to have a dull and boring ad, where it just states the facts and figures, we wanted to have some action in it. So we decided that we would have slow motion shots of us throwing coffee beans around and shots of us diving to dodge them. The only problem was that in the ads we watched the slow motion equipment they were using was very expensive. The school didn’t have that kind of money to pay for equipment like that, so we had to test what it would look like on a normal camera when we slowed the shots down on a Mac.

This first testing is done in one of the classrooms in school; we wanted to test the green screen as well as the slow motion camera. For this we used a Real Time Footage Camera and simply slowed the clips down on the Mac.

In this clip, we used paper balls to act as the coffee beans for when we filmed for real, to see whether the camera could pick them up when they were flying through the air.

Looking back at the footage we got, we were disappointed, because the slow motion just wasn’t good enough. The quality of picture when the clips were slowed down was really poor and when any sudden movements were made they would look blurry. We weren’t sure whether anything could improve the quality, but we thought that one possibility maybe the lighting, so we made plans to do another testing day.

Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important aspects when filming, it makes everything look so much more professional and for us it was key because the slow motion camera we were using needed as much light as it could get to have anywhere nearer decent picture quality.

To help us with this problem we used industrial lighting; these big lamps gave out a lot of light and are very useful in brightening up a room or for creating shadows. In our case they did a good job of helping the slow motion camera gain a better picture.

Another important part the lighting played was brightening the green screen making it easier to pick up when editing.

Initial Location 2

Green Screen Trial 2

We needed more natural light for the green screen to work and for the slow motion camera to gain a better picture. We decided to do another trial, but in a different room, this room allowed more natural light in, which meant less need for the industrial lighting, but meant we had less space to work in.

We made the decision that this room could be used for all the close up shots as we could only fit the smaller green screen in the room.

Initial Location 1

Initial Green Screen/Slow Motion Trial

At first we didn’t need to worry about the location of filming too much as long as it was a big enough room to fit the two green screens in and had somewhere to suspend them.

Our first location to try them out was at our schools drama studio. What we wanted to gain from this trial was to see, how long it would take us to set up the green screens and all the equipment, also whether the green screens could easily be put up in the room and finally what lighting we would need to make the room bright enough, because it is quite a dark room anyway. All this was necessary, so that on the day of filming we would be organized.

This day was really useful because if we hadn’t of done this trial, on the day of filming we would have had to cancel it. We found a problem with the slow motion camera. There wasn’t enough natural light in the room for the slow motion camera to pick up a good picture. Even when we used industrial lighting, we couldn’t get enough light in the room for the camera to work well, so the drama studio was out of the question now.

Location: Green Screen

After a group discussion about filming locations we came to a decision that we wanted to have a totally white room, with nothing in it, just pure white. But this was going to be hard to come by, as there were no locations that met our needs, so we needed to re-think about how we were going to achieve this plain white roomed setting. We had to think outside the box and we came up with an idea. We thought about using a green screen to give us what we wanted.

We were fortunate enough to get hold of two green screens, one 6m by 2m and the other 2m by 3m. Also one of us already had the green screen software on their computer, so we were able to change the background when we came to edit.

Planning our Advert

Considering all the research we had done and after many group sessions, planning and story boarding, we had an idea of what we wanted to have and do in our advert.

The main concern was having a good storyline and characters in the advert, but over time we developed some good ideas.

We decided that we would have 3 to 4 scientists/professors sitting in a lab, but not just any scientists, we wanted to have the stereotypical ‘mad’ German scientist, this would have a comical effect and the concept we be easily understood by the audience.

Another aspect we wanted, that I have mentioned before, was the effect of slow motion, we wanted to have the scientist running around in their lab coats throwing coffee at each other in slow motion, although what equipment we were going to use for the slow motion was still to be decided.

The setting for the advert was going to be a completely white room, almost appearing like a white abyss, we would create this look by using a green screen. There we would have the stereotypical science lab equipment, test tubes, bunson burner, goggles etc to create the mis-en-sen we want.

Advert Plot

The point behind this would be that there were four German scientists who for years have been searching for the ‘perfect coffee’. But have never been successful in their experiments and they were running out of time. Finally one day they have a break through, as the key to finding the perfect Coffee, is finding the perfect Coffee bean. And from there we would have slow motion clips of the scientists throwing the coffee beans around in happiness.

Market Research/Target Audience

In order to address our audience in the best way, we needed to do some hands on research, interviewing the general public on their thoughts about Coffee.
From this we needed to infer what audience we were going to be addressing i.e. age group, more male or female etc. This was important to us, so that when we were planning our advert, we knew what would appeal and what wouldn’t to our audience.

This video is of my group interviewing members of the public, we asked over 25 people in and around the area, but here is a shortened down clip of some of the people we asked.



From this research we gathered that Coffee as a product has a surprisingly varied audience, we can infer that it appeals to a wide variety of age groups and people. Also that people enjoy Coffee for its taste, but mainly because of its benefits, acting as a stimulant.
We found that adverts do sway people when they go to buy, even if they have stuck with one brand for a while, if they see an appealing new advert on television they may choose to differ, which is what we wanted to hear, as our ‘fake’ product is going to be new on the market. Another analysis to make is that in the advert people like humour, it makes it more memorable and entertaining. Luckily for us form the start we have been planning to make our advert comical so this was pleasing to hear.
This research has been a big stride towards us developing our ideas for our advert. We now know what the audience like in an advert especially in a coffee ad, so all we need to do now is start planning and making.

Research: Coffee Adverts

After initial research into Food and Drink TV commercials, we decided that the product we wanted to promote was Coffee. We thought that choosing Coffee as our product would allow us to be creative with our advert as Coffee is a well known stimulant to millions and is drank by millions of people everyday, because Coffee has such I high demand we wanted to address the audience in a certain way, so we could engage them, but also entertain them at the same time.

Before we began planning our own Coffee Ad, we needed to see past Coffee adverts to gain some ideas and to look at what makes them successful, so that we could take all of the research we’ve done and create an ultimate advert.



This advert is great, because it’s addressing the problem millions of people have everyday, which is getting up in the morning and trying to be spurred up to go to work. The advert has comedy in it, which makes it all the more entertaining, whilst promoting what their product is for.



Here, the creators of the ad are trying to promote the quality of their Coffee, with a stereotypical Coffee bean farm in Africa. Their promoting the quality of the raw material they produce. People will like this ad because, people like to know where the food/drink they buy comes from. Although this isn’t actually the bean farm Kenco gets there coffee beans from, it sub consciously effects the audience, so that the next time they go to buy their coffee they will have an inkling that Kenco’s coffee is quality and comes from natural harvesting, they may not remember the ad when they go to buy, but it will effect their decision.



This ad like the first one promotes what their coffee will do to you; it will get you up in the morning and help you get on with your day. And that is really their main focus, there is very little of the actual product shown, only small glances, but the ad definitely catches your attention, with its use of special effects and quirky story line.

From doing this research, I can now see what aspects we want in our advert, we want it to be comical, we want to engage the audience with something different using characters and special effects and we also want to present or state the quality of our product.

Food/Drink Adverts

After looking at successful adverts we needed to decide what kind of product we were going to be promoting. We thought about the resources we had, so we had to stay grounded with our ideas, we couldn’t be too ambitious. After a group discussion we decided that we would promote some sort of food or drink. The next stage was to research food and drink adverts to gain some ideas.



This is one of the many renowned M&S Food adverts, which personally I think they do a really good job of selling the product to the audience. From the advert I can see that there main focus is to simply show off the quality of food that they sell. There are no cut-aways from the food at any point bar the end, they are simply showing what hey have to offer and with the seductive over voice , it makes the advert all the better, so this is one way of selling food/drink products.



This McDonalds advert goes about selling their product a totally different way to M&S, they are using a comical effect, which is something that is mentioned in the theories I gathered. Making the audience laugh, will benefit the advert because it makes it entertaining, the person watching might want to show friends and they may do the same and so on, so this is an important aspect. I think when it comes to my advert; comedy will play a big part in selling our product or even just getting the audience to remember the advert/brand.



This advert also goes about a different way when selling their product, this advert is celebrity indorsed. A lot more people will take notice to an advert when they see that there is a famous person involved and using somebody like Stephen Fry, who is a very popular and a relevant celebrity right now, helps sell the product. Obviously with my advert I can’t get a celebrity to appear but, perhaps creating a character that will appear in a series of linked adverts will be as good, so this character will become iconic and be associated with that product, becoming a celebrity in him/herself.

Slow Motion Research

In our advert we wanted some action in it to excite and entertain the audience, but we also wanted to use some form of special effect and one effect we thought would be really effective was slow motion.

With this in mind we researched into other slow motion adverts to get some ideas.



This advert has some really great shots and what it doe straight away is grab the audiences attention, with the stunning slow motion. The camera equipment they are using would cost a lot of money, but if we could get close to anything like this, then our advert could really develop.



This advert is great because it not only captures the audience’s attention but also has a comical effect which will make the audience enjoy the advert more and are more likely to then show friends or talk about it.



Here is another advert that uses the effect of slow motion really well, the setting of San Francisco grabs your attention at first and then the 250,000 multicoloured bouncing balls being dropped down the streets is mesmerising.

From this research we can clearly see the effects of using something like slow motion in an advert. It makes the advert stand out from all the rest, which is exactly what we want to do; it entertains the audience and fascinates them. And in some cases can be used for a comical effect, which is something we’re now definitely considering doing in our own ad.

Initial Influences

It was important for us to research successful TV commercials from the past to get some inspiration for our own ad, but also to identify why these adverts were so successful.



(Gorilla is a British advertising campaign launched by Cadbury in 2007 to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk-brand chocolate.)

The advertisement, which first appeared on British television on 31 August 2007, it has been well received by the public – a version uploaded to YouTube received 500,000 page views in the first week after the launch.

I like this advert because this is like no other advert; the opening shot grabs your attention and the way they hide what the gorilla is doing makes you want to find out more. The whole plot is excellent because you would never associate a gorilla on drums with Cadbury’s chocolate but that’s what makes it memorable. Also the track used in the advert is quite old so for the younger generation watching it, when they hear the track away from the commercial itself they will associate it with Cadbury’s.



(Guinness advert launched in 2008)

In my opinion, I can see why this would make a good advert for obvious reasons, it is different so it will be memorable and it grabs your attention, the special effects make it look fantastic, but the main point behind this advert being good is it’s whole story line, its very cleverly done, showing evolution backwards is quite fascinating to watch.



(Stella Artois Advert launched in 2004)

This advert is really good, because it is really well shot and tells a great story in a only a few minutes, the whole concept is brilliant. This ad is certainly one that you would here people talking about, which is just what they wanted because it is easily recalled.