2. ASSIGNMENT 1:
CODES & CONVENTIONS
You are to produce a case study on
‘Corporate Video Production’
Aimed at informing:
• Corporate and promotional programme production codes
• Conventions
• Styles
• Techniques and purposes
• Including detailed information, Illustration, hyperlinks of research and reference.
3. VIDEO AND AUDIO TRANSITIONS
Transitions are used to make the editing of the video flow easier
through scenes, audiences tend to find videos with more
imaginative transitions rather than abrupt cuts a lot more visually
appealing. The Transitions depend on the style and content of
the film, as to be effective they have to coincide with other
factors within the video such as music, pace and overall style.
Like in the promotional video for south Australia, the whole video
has a fast pace supported by the quick succession of cuts that
fits in with beat of the song that plays loud throughout the whole
video and is the only piece of audio, the well timed cuts between
shots make for a very visual pleasing sequence. The promotional
video for sandy balls family resort use slow fade in and out
transitions between shots as it keeps in with the calm format of
the whole video, as the company are trying to promote a calm
and easy holiday environment and are representing this through
certain pieces of narrative seen in their video such as the slow
music and calm descriptive voice.
4. LANGUAGE/SCRIPT
Corporate programmes are used to inform about a business or
product and promote that business or product to an audience.
This means that the script needs to include information
surrounding the reason for the video, introducing it to the
audience as if they have no idea of what it is. For example in a
promotional video for The Crown Hotel a man is shown as he
takes the audience on a small tour of the hotel describing in
little detail the Hotels amenities, the man talks as if he's friends
with the audience, what he says and the way he talks makes the
audience feel welcome which is the vibe that hotels should try
and create in order to entice viewers to stay. In a promotional
video for a British family resort, a calm voice talks about the
beautiful location in which the resort is located and explains key
attractions of the resort, the voice talks softly to depict the
peaceful wildlife and give it that family feel.
5. SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
A shooting technique used a lot in the promotional video field is movement, by using
certain pieces of filming equipment such as dolly's or steady cams film makers are able to
create steady movement and flow within a frame, instead of just simple still frames the
camera has motion which helps to not bore audiences and keeps them engaged. For
example a promotional video for a pub in york called house of trembling madness uses an
array of panning shots which display all areas of the pub, the panning shots are in quite
quick succession meaning the frame is in constant motion creating a steady flow
throughout the video. Although the use of movement makes the video less boring, it
seems to be overused in this film as similar movements of simple panning is used in
almost every shot, which slightly defeats the idea of making the video less boring with
movement as the video is slightly repetitive and therefor tedious. Another way of making a
promotional video more entertaining is by employing an array of different shots and
camera angles, such as in the promotional video for south Australia, they use close ups,
tracking shots, long shots, low angle shots etc. The video is very busy with a lot of
different things going on one after the other, the constant change in camera angles helps
to differentiate between scenes and certain points in the video.
6. VOICE OVER
Voice overs are extremely common in promotional videos as
most businesses main concern is to show of their facilities or a
certain product. Voice overs give the audience a full view of
what the product is whilst providing them with a guided
narrative that explains what is included in the video and why.
For the promotional video for family resort ‘Sandy Balls’, a calm
male voice describes the location of the resort, he says
‘surrounded by nature, the perfect get away, sheer natural
beauty's shots of sunlight coming through the trees and dears
running through the forest is shown, both the narration and the
film support each other. A voice over is used slightly in the
promotional video for ‘The house of trembling madness’, as one
of the staff is being interviewed and starts to talk about the wide
selection of beers they have, followed by an L cut as the audio
of the interview continues but the screen instead shows a
panning shot of a shelf containing all the bottled beer the pub
offers, giving the viewers more of an understanding of what he's
talking about
7. LOGO
to help highlight the company's name and make sure the
viewer recognizes the company through its logo, promotional
videos usually show the logo at the start and end. A logo is
useful in a video as it can be used to add more excitement to a
scene that displays important information of the business such
as telephone number, address and website, which is usually
shown at the end of a video. For example at the end of the
promotional video for sandy balls family resort the logo appears
on the screen along with information regarding the website and
the company's number. In the promotional video for south
Australia the logo isn't shown until the end and with no dialogue
the audience is left guessing what the actual video is for
throughout the sequence, this is probably due to how the video
is more visually captivating rather than informative.
8. TITLES
Titles are usually used when someone is shown on screen
talking, it can give the audience more of an idea of who the
person is and how they link to the business or product or
explain the context of the scene. for example in the
promotional video for the Samsung solid state drive a
majority of the scenes are interviews with customers, the
interviewees are shown to be answering questions about
things concerning computers, instead of an interviewer
behind the camera asking questions the questions pop up as
titles on the screen, this helps the video flow better as the
interviewees are able to constantly talk.
9. UNIQUE SELLING POINT
The main idea of a promotional video is to promote a
certain product, the key points of what makes that
product or company different from the rest will be
focused on. For example in the promotion video for
dollar shave club.com the video focuses on the quirky
attitude of the company's founder as he walks through
a warehouse talking about the company, the comical
value of the video is used to reflect the companies
style as most people would think that this is quite a
boring company but the video exceeds expectations to
better engage with audiences. In the promotional video
for the house of the trembling madness the dialogue
and scenes focus on the massive array of different
beers, which is the thing that differs them from normal
pubs in the area.
10. CUTAWAYS
Cutaways are short shots normally with a voice overs related
to the narrative, they give the audience visual and
informative insight at the same time. They can usually be a
variety of shots such as close ups of an object or an
establishing shot of a business. For example in the
promotional video for the Samsung solid state drive
cutaways show someone working on their computer with the
drive installed against without the drive installed as a voice
over describes the problem they have and how the drive fixes
this problem. In the promotional video for the crown hotel,
the man addressing the camera is sitting in a restaurant as
he describes the food and the dining experience as whole as
being ‘absolutely excellent’ the shot cuts to a close up of the
food he is eating.
11. INTERVIEWS
Interviews usually involve specialists or someone who is involved
with the company or product to offer professional insight and
knowledge of the technicalities, sometimes companies also use
customers or members of the public, letting viewers see the product
from a consumers perspective. In the promotional video for the
Samsung solid state drive, everyday people are interviewed.
Interviewing normal people rather than people that work for the
company is useful as it allows questions that consumers may ask
themselves to be answered. although the people in this promotional
video are clearly actors and everything is scripted, the questions that
are asked are still relevant to a consumer such as ‘what are your
frequent computer related problems?’.
12. MUSIC
Music is usually played on a loop to keep the video interesting
in parts where there's no dialogue, it is used to set the tone and
grasp the audiences attention. For example in the promotional
video for sandy balls, calm and quiet music is used along side
the calming voice of a narrator as the video shows slow panning
scenes of nature and wildlife, this represents how your stay at
the resort surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery will be a
peaceful holiday. In the promotional video for south Australia
music is the leading sound throughout as there is no dialogue at
all, the song used has a quite rugged tone to it with lyrics like
‘dust black coat and a red right hand’ which relates to the
ruggedness in the video of the men and women working hard
outside in the sun, labouring away on their farm, the music has
an abrupt and heavy beat allowing I to keep up with the fast
pace of the video that has multiple cuts in quite quick
succession.
13. GRAPHICS
Graphics are used to make certain parts of a video more exciting in
order to better engage with viewer. Graphics allow the producers of
the promotional video to involve literally anything they want, like in
the promotional video for Cinesite VFX and Comic animation MMXIII
The whole video is made up of animated graphics that play out an
entertaining sequence of astronauts being attacked by a space alien,
the small clip grabs the audience with the extremely high quality,
mesmerising animations that make for an entertaining yet subtly
informative video as they are showing their skills and what they do
by everything in the sequence rather than what you specifically see
or hear. Graphics are mostly used in more subtle ways, such as in
the promotional video for the blendtech video, the video has certain
comedic values accompanied by graphics that stay within this theme
with bold and colourful fonts that randomly pop up on the screen in
certain parts.
14. ASSIGNMENT 2:
CURRENT PRACTICE
Analyse two or more different corporate promotional videos in detail and provide in depth:
• Research into current practice in corporate and promotional production eg
proposal, treatment, storyboard
• Identify the message being produced in each type of programme
• Identify the style and techniques of each type of programme (how they address the
audience, equipment used, approx budget, shots used etc)
• Research into the target audience for the programme
• Identify the current practice in technology used in the production of the programme,
eg SD, HD
• Identify legal and ethical issues that might arise when producing this programme
(privacy; libel; copyright; current law relating to, eg race relations, disability, obscenity)
Ethical issues: representation, eg race, gender, religion.
• Identify key issues to be considered when producing a corporate or promotional
programme, eg scheduling, health and safety
• Production practices: client liaison; ideas development; treatments; proposals;
storyboard; scripts; shooting
15.
16. VIDEO 1
The main aim of this video is to promote the new apple iPhone 7, the video seems to be mostly focused around a singular aspect of the
phone, the camera. This is probably due to the companies main competitors Samsung who released the galaxy J2 around the same time of
the iPhone sevens release, with the ultra high definition camera as their main selling point. More key aspects of the phone are also
highlighted such as the fact that it’s the first waterproof iPhone and its loud speaker system, the video focuses more on these aspects of the
phone as they are more appealing to the everyday user than detail on the improvements of the technical inner workings of the device. A lot of
candid style shots are used, showing everyday people walking around in public places using the iPhone 7, this style creates a more informal
format which makes the video more inviting to the viewer, during theses scenes lot of close ups are used of people using the phone which
helps to bring focus to the product and give the viewer an idea of the overall look and style of the phone in real time everyday situations.
Apple seem to apply a lot of movement in their shots which keeps up with the candid style and unlike just simple still frames the motion
keeps the audience visually interested and doesn't bore them as easily, the motion is captured with special filming equipment such as dolly's
or steady cams, in this video it is more probable that a steady cam was used for most shots as it gives the slight obscure movement in an
almost first person style that is shown a lot in this promo.
As Apple devices offer countless programmes and software's and can be used for numerous prospects, the target audience has a very wide
range of different demographics. For example with easy to use social media apps such as Facebook and twitter, efficient music downloading
software's such as iTunes and the new apple music and apps that allow people to take and store organised notes simply, along with the
overall lightness of apple products helps the products appeal to teenagers and university students, the products most used by this
demographic are iPhones and iPods. Whilst ipads and larger products tend to be used a lot by businessmen and adults as larger ipads allow
users to surf the internet quicker and with a big screen and more apps using the device is easier overall, as the ipad is larger than the iPhone
but smaller than the MacBook business and work apps such as Microsoft software's like PowerPoint and edexel and file and information
sharing software's like outlook are easier to use efficiently all with a light and easily portable device. As the promoted product in this video is
the iPhone 7 the target audience, although produced with many demographics in mind, is teenagers and young people. This is highlighted by
the mass amount of young people used for the promotional video, as a mass amount of the video consists of young people using the new
iphone , giving a clear example of the type of demographic the company are targeting with this product.
When creating the video apple had to consider the legal and ethical issues that could arise. For example even though the product is directed
at a certain target audience of teenagers viewers outside of that demographic are still able to easily obtain and view the video, such as young
children. In section one of the Ofcom broadcasting code under 'protecting the under eighteens', it states 'Material that might seriously impair the
physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.' so apple although a family friendly company had to make
sure not to involve material that would come under this guideline such as nudity, drug & alcohol abuse or improper/strong language. An
ethical issue that is especially apparent in todays media is equality amongst all, a subject stating how all people should be shown and treated
in the same way no matter their sexuality, religion or race etc, apple have addressed this in their video by implementing great diversity in their
casting with different of all ethnicity's from all around the world. Another legal issue that can be seen in the video is the liability clause shown
at the end which states 'water resistance IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Liquid damage not covered under warranty', this is the first water resistant
iphone but as technology and liquids usually don’t mix well their still could be altercations with the phone if a user was to get the product wet
so to make sure they are not liable for any instances where this may occur apple hove included this statement.
As most of the video is shot in busy, public urban areas a key health and safety issue that apple had to consider was dangerous traffic as a lot
of the actors and crew were at risk of being hit by a car during the filming process, to sustain from these dangerous occurrences it is
probable that with the mass amounts of money apple have they were easily able to shut down the surrounding roads in order to reduce this
danger. Another health and safety issue is highlighted in the scene where apple focus on the phones water resistant abilities, an actor is
shown walking up a set of long concrete steps in the rain, due to the wetness of the ground it would be easy for the actor to lose her footing
and fall down the steps especially as she seems to have her eyes fixed to the screen and not concentrating on where she is going.
URL: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=Q6DSRPVY
YWS
17. VIDEO 2
The main purpose of this promotional video is to advertise the city of Dubai, displaying the key and inviting aspects of Dubai in order to attract mass
amounts of tourists effectively leading to a positive increase to Dubai's economy and world status. Very professional high definition shots are used that
really highlights the detail of each frame and mirrors Dubai's standards as a professional, high end, modern city with huge skyscrapers, mesmerising
architecture and upscale lifestyle that comes with the city. Almost every shot in the video has movement in order to engage more with the audience and
keep them interested instead of boring them with constant still frames, shots with movement can be effectively captured with the use of dolly's or
Steadicams. A key aspect of Dubai are its buildings, as it has the third highest amount of skyscrapers in the world with 148 towers and the largest
building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. With wide angle long shots and constant pans of the city the video really expresses this, to create these shots
producers would of used drone cameras in order to accurately film from great heights and due to their small size operators are able to easily manoeuvre
around the cluttered Dubai skyline, a lot easier than using a camera mounted to a helicopter for capturing such intricate shots in this area. The video
uses a subtle middle eastern tune that plays throughout the video and expresses the city's traditional Arabic values through the historical instruments
that are used, the fading sound of the string instrument that goes from loud to quiet fits in well with the slow fade transitions between shots, keeping up
well with the videos overall pace. The soft voice of a child that narrates throughout the video, creates a calm mood and again fits in fell with the videos
slow pace.
As the video is promoting travel and tourism within a new vibrant city busy and rich with life and new experiences, it is most likely that it will appeal to a
young adult audience as it provides exciting cultural experiences that are unique to the city, David Chapman, director general for the WYSE Travel
Confederation said ‘Young travelers today want, more than ever, to enrich themselves with cultural experiences, to meet local people and to improve their
employability when they return home’. An exceptional value of Dubai is the city's extreme wealth which can be seen everywhere you go from its extravagant
police vehicles to its Grande hotels, which includes the Burj AL Arab Jumeirah, deemed the ‘most luxurious hotel in the world’ with a seven star rating,
gold staircases and some rooms costing over £6,000 a night. Although not all hotels in the city are this extravagant they are still quite expensive and the
city overall has an incredibly high rate of living which would make for an expensive holiday. With this in mind the audience that this city will appeal to
would be mostly wealthy individuals that can afford to travel to this ostentatious place.
when creating the video producers would have to take the legal and ethical issues into account, as the video is used to promote tourism it consists of
both people from Dubai and people foreign to the city in order to show the city from both perspectives of people native to the land, highlighting the
culture and traditional values and people from countries all over the world which helps to relate to the viewer. As the video consists of and is targeted at
people from all different places in the world it has made sure that is doesn’t try an appeal to one demographic rather than an other solely due to that
demographics race, gender or religion etc, an issue that is met in UK broadcasting laws, for example Ofcom states 'The religious views and beliefs of those
belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination must not be subject to abusive treatment.' Another issue that the producers of the video would have
to deal with is making sure the video is suitable for children as children are used throughout the video as actors and as the videos key narrator and a
large amount of the audience will be families hoping to holiday in Dubai, not only would it be ethically wrong to involve material seen as harmful to
children in a video that children are in or is targeted at it is also uk broadcasting law that this cannot be done, Ofcom states 'Material that might seriously
impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.' so apple although a family friendly company had to make
sure not to involve material that would come under this guideline such as nudity, drug & alcohol abuse or improper/strong language.'
As the video contains a lot of aerial panning and zooming style shots that showcase the vast concrete jungle skyline that makes Dubai what it is and of
sorts put Dubai on the map as a modern and vibrant city. With these shots a massive health and safety issue that the producers have to deal with is the
likely event of crashing their filming device into one of these buildings which would not only cost great amounts of money in damages and loss of
equipment but could easily injure bystanders below with falling debris. To avoid these dangerous situations or at least minimise the risk producers have
used smaller pieces of filming equipment called drones which is a lot more agile than a helicopter allowing them to easily move around the cluttered
Dubai skyline with minimal risk.
URL:HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=WFTJL_H0
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