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.
