Throughout pre-production, I have created many documents in order to help me plan my production. These documents help with both organisation and actually pinning ideas down onto paper, which helps me fully visualize my ideas. All of my pre-production work will be below. Timeline
Creating these two timelines was very useful for me, as it allowed for me to visualise roughly what happens when and how I'm going to fill the 30 seconds required.
This was the first stage of my creative pre-production.
Storyboard
Above is a page from each of my two storyboards. I created these in order to plan out each individual shot, both in terms of framing and in terms of duration, so I would not have to do this on the filming day. This was the second stage of my creative pre-production.
Script
Both my adverts use voiceover a lot as the character interacts with the voiceover. Therefore, creating a script was vital as it will help me during production, as it means that my voiceover can just read directly off of the script which would make it more smooth. This was my third stage of creative pre-production.
Bottle Logo
This is the logo of my product that will be placed both on the bottle and in the end titles. This was useful as it allowed me to fully create my brand identity. This was the fourth stage of my creative pre-production.
Character, costume and hair and makeup list
Above are my character lists which have planned hair and makeup on them as well as costumes. The hair and makeup are stock images that look how I want my actors to look. This helps me design their look on the day of the shoot. This is my first stage of organisational pre-production. Location Report & Risk Assessment
A location report is very useful in production as it helps to have a clear idea of where I am going to be shooting on the day and therefore the day can run smoother as there will not be time wasted on figuring out where to shoot. The risk assessment means that I will know what to avoid doing on the day of the shoot to minimise the risk of an accident. This is the second stage of pre-production.
Shootboard
Above is one page of my shootboard. This organises the order the shots will be taken in based on practicality, and so is very useful as it saves time on the day as there will be less travelling around. This is my third stage of organisational pre-production.
As seen above, I have been through a lot of pre-production in order to help my shoot run as smoothly as possible on the day. It was worth the effort as it will help me a lot when it comes to shooting.
I have created a shoot schedule that will help me shoot on the day. It has been organised practically, for example shots will not be filmed in order but rather to take into account locations etc. It's also been planned so that the actors for the first advert do not need to be there when filming the second advert and vice-versa. Below is the shoot schedule
The ASA are the body responsible for regulating adverts, hence it's full name being 'Advertising Standards Authority'. Whilst they do not have the power to prevent an advert from being published, they can remove the advert based on the complaints received about it from the public. Therefore, it is vital that I understand these rules and do not break them in the making of my advert.
The list is very long and not all of the rules apply to me, so below I will be breaking down the articles of the list that are relevant to me. Click here if you wish to see the full list.
It is also very valuable to understand the channel of E4, as this is the industry in which the adverts will be shown. It is vital to understand the brand identity of E4 and the target audience in order for my advert to appeal as much as possible to the target audience of that channel.
Finally, to make my production appropriate to the media context set by the brief, I need to understand the rules and regulations of copyright music.
ASA
4.2 Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards
This is a rule that can often be broken by mistake, for example a company may not notice that something in the advert offends someone. This was the case in the advert on the right - the infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad. This advert was pulled by Pepsi before being banned, but this was due to the widespread offence it caused, as many said that it mocked and over-simplified the civil rights movement in the US. This therefore caused widespread offence against moral and cultural standards.
I have to take this into account this rule, as if I am not careful one of my adverts may offend people of the LGBT community.
3.12 Advertisements must not mislead by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product or service
Again, this is a rule that can be very easily broken, as a company wants to sell their product as much as possible and therefore exaggerate the effects. The advert to the left is a Rimmel London mascara ad featuring Cara Delevigne which was banned for exaggeration. In this case, the use of fake eyelashes made it seem like the mascara was giving this effect, when it was not.
Considering the USP of my product, which is it helps people be themselves and break society's rules, this rule will be very important to me. I need to make sure that I am not saying that the deodorant makes you be yourself, but that it helps you be yourself. 4.9 Advertisements must not condone or encourage violence, crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour
This is a rule that may not be as relevant to me but I still needed to take it into consideration when creating my adverts. The Be Stupid campaign by Diesel on the right was banned for encouraging anti-social behaviour, as many thought it would have a negative effect on people, specifically younger people.
Therefore, when planning my advert I had to take into account that there could not be any antisocial behaviour. I originally planned for graffiti, but this would encourage antisocial behaviour so I scrapped that idea early on.
5.1 Advertisements that are suitable for older children but could distress younger children must be sensitively scheduled
The advert on the left is an Asda advert that received 62 complaints, but these were not upheld by the ASA, and the advert was allowed to run. Many found the advert to be distressing to younger children, due to the girl having green eyes and a seeming lack of control over herself.
However, the ASA deemed the advert to be alright considering the Halloween celebrations at the time. The upbeat music connoted a happy mood in the advert, and therefore made it less scary.
Whilst my advert isn't targeted at children, it will still be shown before the watershed so I have to make sure that my advert will not distress younger children.
E4
E4 is a channel that is targeted at 16-34 year olds, and airs mainly comedy/reality shows, with
the Inbetweeners being the most famous comedy and Made in Chelsea the most famous reality show. I hope to use young actors to be relatable to the young audience of E4 as seen by their young target audience. Also, I intend to appeal to the youthful audience of E4 by portraying situations that may be relatabale to them, for example looking for love on a dating app. Prime time E4, so 7-9pm, during the week is filled by the Big Bang Theory and Hollyoaks, with other shows in the rest of the 2 hours changing within the week. This influenced my ideas massively, as I hope to feature comedy heavily in my adverts to appeal to the E4 audience, who are watching comedy shows such as the Big Bang Theory. Viewership is predominantly female, although considering Wave is a unisex brand I have chosen to ignore this fact when thinking of the ideas for the adverts, as I want to have equal appeal to both male and females.
Copyright Free Music
As stated by the brief, everything in my advert must be original apart from the music, which must be copyright free. Therefore, when making my advert music needs to be copyright free. I intend to use the Youtube channel called Audio Library, that has been verified by Youtube themselves, on the right is an example of copyright free music from their channel. This means that when I add the music to the advert, there is no legal right of the music creator over the material I produced, and therefore the adverts are accredited to me only.
The music I plan to use will be listed below. All is from Audio Library: Positive Rock by HookSounds
Succotash by Silent Partner
Ether by Silent Partner
Dog and Pony Show by Silent Partner
Overall, understanding the ASA codes and rulings is vital when creating my advert, as it had to be created to last. If they were to draw complaints, then they would be taken down and therefore the product would attract negative attention. It is also vital to understand E4's target audience, and therefore design my adverts to appeal to the target audience. Also, it is integral to understand the rules of copyright free music.
When making an advert, it is vital to choose whether to reinforce or challenge stereotypes, as this will bring appeal to a certain group. For example, if your target audience is active OAPs, then you will probably want to break the stereotype of OAPs sitting at home or in a home all day. I have researched many different adverts in order to inspire my ideas about representation, specifically about gender and sexuality.
CK2 Fragrance advert - Sexuality representation Whilst this is a fragrance advert, it can still be useful in terms of analysing representation. The advert presents a male homosexual couple riding a motorbike together. It presents this social group in a positive light, and also breaks stereotypes about homosexuals. Often, gay men are presented in the media as very camp, and not enjoying so-called 'manly' activities such as riding a motorbike. The fact that they are riding a motorbike and enjoying represents this group as much more diverse, and not in the stereotypical way that is often seen. This has inspired me massively as I have chosen to follow this idea of breaking homesxual stereotypes, although in my advert it will be between two females and not two males like in the advert above.
Sure women advert - Gender representation
This advert breaks the stereotype of women being weaker than men and somewhat submissive. Whilst representing women in this way isn't as rare as the representation above, it is still not common in the media. The advert's voiceover enforces the idea of women being strong, in any situation in life. 'Strong full stop', is a direct quote from the advert, which represents women as strong; just as strong as men. This inspired to break gender stereotypes in my advert, although in mine it will be breaking male stereotypes, as the main character will get involved in so-called 'feminine' hobbies, that would not be associated with being manly.
Lynx 'Is It Ok?' campaign - Gender/Sexuality representation
This campaign focuses on breaking stereotypes of being a man and being masculine. In today's modern society, many expect a man to be tough and strong, as often presented in mediums like magazines and TV. Men are often presented as strong and muscular, but this advert questions this portrayal, through the line 'is it okay to be skinny'. This is a representation of men that is often not seen, and therefore would appeal to men who are not physically muscular, which is most, as it is relatable. There is also a scene that portrays a homosexual relationship in a positive light, which although is not uncommon, it still breaks the stereotype of the 'average man' image, which includes being a heterosexual relationship. I intend to break the stereotype of this 'average man' image, by the males in my adverts enjoying feminine hobbies, and I also intend to represent a homosexual relationship in a positive light in the advert with the females, in order to relate to my target audience. In conclusion, research into the representation of different societal groups has helped and influenced my planning massively. I have seen that most adverts tend to follow stereotypes and therefore reinforce them, but some attempt to break these stereotypes. These ones in particular have influenced the planning of my advert, as I want to break stereotypes about gender and sexuality, as that what my target audience also want to do but in the actual real world. Therefore, by breaking stereotypes in the advert, I would be making the advert relatable to my target audience, which would appeal to them as explored by post 4.
The use of content and appeal in adverts is probably the most important in terms of selling the product, as without appealing content in the advert, people will not actually want to buy the product. Therefore, researching the content and appeal of deodorant adverts is vital in making my advert successful.
The uses and gratifications theory breaks down appeal into four different sections, and suggests that the audience's active consumption of the media is to fulfill their own gratifications.
The first part of the theory is the media providing information and education, which provides the audience information that they didn't previously have, thus appealing to them. The dove men advert above provides information to the audience about their moisturiser technology, that they previously would not have known about. This new information will fulfil their need to be better educated on the subject, and therefore will appeal to them. This may persuade them to purchase the deodorant. I intend to fulfil the need for education, but in a slightly different sense. I intend to educate the audience on what they can do, for example what hobbies they can do, which they previously may not have known they could've done. This would link to my idea of the deodorant helping to break social stereotypes.
The second part of the theory is that the audience interacts with the media to escape from everyday life. This makes it appealing to them, as it allows them to leave the stressful real world, even if only for 30 seconds. The Old Spice advert above uses humour to provide this escapism, as the audience may get lost in the laughter and forget about everyday life. For example, the scenes of Terry Crews shouting provide some humourous moments that provide escapism. I intend to us this in my advert as well, as there will be humour between the voiceover and the character involved, as well as humour through the scenarios played out in the ad.
Personal identity is the third part of the theory. It suggests that the media source will appeal to the audience by being relatable. This can be seen in the Secret advert, which will be relatable to people who are transgender. As this group isn't often portrayed in the media, and so the fact that they relate to the character will mean that they will be appealed to, and therefore would be more likely to purchase the product. This will be the another appeal point of my adverts, as it will contain people who are trying to break stereotypes, and therefore will be relatable to people who don't feel they fit in with societal norms. These people are my target audience, and therefore my adverts will appeal to them.
The final part of the theory is that the media provides social interaction, which means that it appeals to the audience as it provides a topic of conversation with them and their peers. This can be seen in any advert pretty much, as they all provide a talking point that allows for interaction. For example, the Lynx advert on the left provides a talking point, e.g. 'have you ever tasted wasabi?'. My advert will provide a talking point, as it will allow people to talk with eachother about breaking societal norms.
Overall, the use of the uses and gratifications theory provides a good way to break down appeal and therefore use it in my advert. If the advert is not appealing, then people will not buy the product.
