How did you use Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation stages?

Throughout the production of my A2 media portfolio I have used a wide variety of different media technologies. All work produced for my coursework can be seen on my blogger site which is the first example of media technology that I have used. Using blogger.com has allowed me to display my work in a variety of different forms which otherwise would not have been available. It also enables me to make any changes I deem necessary to make sure my work is to the highest standard.

Media technologies were vital in research for this project. YouTube has been heavily involved throughout the project including researching existing energy drink advertisements. By analysing current, professional, advertisements it allowed me to notice various conventions that appear in adverts of this type. The comment feature on YouTube was also helpful in determining whether that particular advert was successful or not.
The Internet in general was vital for the research process. Most of the research we conducted was on how to make successful advertisements. We also thought it would be important to find out the cost for advertising to assess which ancillary projects to make with regards to value for money. We also thought it was vital to research the ASA to make sure our advertisements meet the required codes so our advert did not mislead, offend or harm anyone who may witness it.
As well as research into advertisements we also researched audience. The audience are the most important aspect of any advert as they are the ones who deem whether an advert is successful or not. We researched multiple audience theories using the Internet and various media resources we received in lessons and applied them to our product.

Media Technology was also involved in the planning process for our advert. Once we had decided that we wanted slow motion footage in our advert we thought it would be best if we could test the camera fully so that we were prepared when we were ready to film. The Casio High Speed Exilim EX-FH20 was our camera of choice and we tested it thoroughly before filming at a number of different frame rates. Media technologies were pivotal in deciding our soundtrack. We wanted a popular song and also a song that people could imagine themselves exercising to. After listening to tracks on YouTube as well as looking through the charts at the time we eventually decided on a song, which we then used as our soundtrack throughout our campaign.
Adobe Photoshop was also used in planning our advert. We needed a label to use on our bottle in the music video. We decided to use photoshop as it could give us the professional feel we craved despite our little knowledge in the software before we started. We eventually created a label with the brand name large enough to be seen clearly throughout the video.

Construction of our project was heavily reliant on media technologies. Firstly filming was done using two cameras, the slow motion Casio High Speed Exilim EX-FH20 and for the other shots a Creative Vado HD. Filming in HD was important as the majority of TVs support HD and by filming in HD we would appeal to the largest audience as the advert can be viewed in Standard and High Definition. The use of the slow motion camera also gave a contrast to the other camera which emphasises the struggle to perform of the runner.
The editing was done on a Macbook using iMovie 9. The editing allowed us to fit the clips together as well as change the colour in the initial clips. This allowed us to implement our main idea of Regenerate bringing the colour back into the workout. It also allowed us to insert our soundtrack to make the advert memorable as well as text at the bottom of the screen to meet ASA regulations.
Photoshop was used once again in the construction. The Internet pop up was made using photoshop as well as the magazine poster and the end of advert picture used in our full and short advert.

The image used in the sponsorship sequence was taken using the camera on an iPhone 4. It was then edited using an app called 'ColourSplash.' This allowed us to continue the theme of Regenerate bringing colour into the workout by making the picture black and white and the bottle in colour.

The website was made using weebly, a free online website making service due to our limited budget. We also used Facebook and Twitter to support our advertisement with respective pages for our product.

The Evaluation is presented on my blog with all the other posts allowing for a fast change between all stages of the project. It also allows me to use photos, and links to other areas breaking up the text. YouTube was also vital in terms of my evaluation as it allowed me to post my video and receive the necessary feedback in order to learn for my next product. Social networking sites also allowed us to widen our feedback range to an audience similar to our target audience.
Overall media technologies were vital in the production of my A2 media portfolio. Without them our product would not have been up to the same standard.

What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

Once we had completed our adverts we posted them to YouTube where we could receive any feedback. As can be seen in my earlier post we also used social networking sites, such as Facebook, to extend any potential feedback we may receive. We concentrated on getting feedback on our full advert because the shorter advert contained the same footage just cut down.

Overall our feedback was fairly positive. We received praise for our song choice and our easily understood narrative, due to the colour effects. This suggests that our advert would be successful if launched for real as the message showing the effects of the drink were easily understood and the advert would be remembered due to the popularity of the song.

However we didn't learn too much from our positive feedback. It was more important to receive any criticism on our advert so that we could learn for our next production. One criticism was a small continuity error in the bridge sprint scene. At one point Adam is sprinting and then after a cut it appears as though he is just starting. This small editing error could be easily rectified and would be something to consider next time we make an advert because even little errors could prevent people from buying our product.

Another small criticism we received was also an editing issue. It was suggested that the cuts on the bridge could have fit in better with the beat of the music. We agree with this point as it would make the advert flow better and as a result more effective. However this was something we did try to achieve but found difficult due to the varied lengths of clips we filmed. This is something to bear in mind next time we produce an advert as we would have to think further ahead in the filming process so that we cover every eventuality.

Both criticisms on our full advert were down to editing errors. This may be down to both me and Adam having little experience in editing before we made our advert. As a result next time we would have more experience in editing than before this project.

We also received feedback on our ancillary projects. Our Internet pop up advert was well received as it contained many features of existing Internet pop up adverts. One small criticism was that it could become quite repetitive as the 'Prolong Your Workout' is on a constant loop. This could have a negative effect as consumers may deliberately avoid our product as a result, however as can be seen with GoCompare adverts repetitive and annoying adverts can be effective.

Overall we were encouraged by the positive reception that we received in our project. However we have learnt to be more thorough in our next project, especially in the editing process where the two small errors were pointed out.

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

Our main product (full advert) has conformed to many of the codes and conventions of advertising. In my earlier research I identified the various codes and conventions of TV advertising as well as well as discovering how they differ in advertisements for energy drinks.

The first convention our advert meets is the use of a song to promote our product. Our advert uses a popular song which will help to make our advert memorable. This means that whenever that song is played there is a chance that viewers of our advert will recall our brand name which could potentially lead to further free advertising or them taking action and buying our product. Not only does our advert use this song it can also be linked to our product as it has the tempo similar to good motivational exercising music. The lyrics can also be linked especially 'I get a feeling that I've never had before' which implies that our product has an effect like no other.

The use of music is just one of many conventions met by our full advert. In TV advertisements it is vital that the viewers know what brand is being advertised. This is especially the case for a new product such as ours in which the brand is unknown and as many shots as possible are required in order to get the brand name known. I feel as though we have met this especially after filming extra footage after receiving feedback from our class. Showing the brand name was met through the slow motion drinking footage, the relay style baton shot towards the end of the advert and the final screen which contains our brand name. The slow motion footage is the longest time the brand name is on screen. This accompanied by the soundtrack in the background helps to make this rememberable and the brand name is the most important aspect that we want viewers to remember. In the relay baton shot not only is the brand name on show but there is also additional text saying 'Prolong Your Workout' which is a tag line used throughout our campaign. This tag line is not especially catchy like many tag lines however it does inform people of what our product provides and also after extensive usage throughout our campaign it will begin to stick in the minds of viewers. The final showing of our brand name is the final screen. By showing it last it is fresh in the memory of the viewers, especially if the advert has been effective at grabbing the attention of the viewer which we feel we achieved.

A convention of energy drink adverts especially is a visual effect that drinking the product will have. We feel that we have met this with our advert and possibly developed it further with the use of colour. By drinking Regenerate the colour is brought back into the advert after it had previously faded away from the advert as a result of the workout. This is our visual aspect that is present in other energy drink advertisements showing the effects the product has on screen. However we developed this further by using the soundtrack to further show the effects of the drink. Before drinking the song is fading until the point where the song is quietest when Regenerate is being drunk. Upon finishing the drink the music returns to the fastest, and loudest part of the song for the final sprint across the bridge.

One aspect of our advert that may differ from the codes and conventions could be the fact that our advert doesn't show the product or information straight away. The reason for this is that the narrative of the advert meant that it was difficult to show the product towards the start. However by the use of such a popular song and the effects of fading the colour from the advert until the drinking takes place we believe that viewers will still be engaged by the time the advert reaches the drink scene. Also by making a shorter advert where the drink is shown much earlier this combats this problem and this is likely to receive the higher audience because it is likely to be shown more often on TV due to cost implications.

Finally applying media theories to our advert we can see that our advert has similar effects to real media texts. The consumer involvement theory is met through getting people to remember of a time where they have felt similar to the actor on screen and as a result take action to prevent it happening to them again. They may also take action by going to our website to view the full advert which means they are more likely to be exposed to Regenerate for longer. Also if the hypodermic needle model is to be believed then we have also achieved success as our advert has visual effects as a result of drinking our energy drink. This would then be absorbed by the viewer and they would bear this in mind when it comes to shopping for energy drinks.

How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product and Ancillary Tasks?

An advertisement campaign is much more effective if it consists of more than just a TV advertisement. We therefore made many ancillary tasks to accompany our two adverts. Our ancillary tasks consist of;

• A Radio Advert
• Sponsorship Sequence for ITV weather
• Internet Pop Up Advert
• Mobile App Pop Up Advert
• Magazine Advert

As well as the above ancillary products we have also made a website, Facebook and Twitter pages for our product.

Throughout all of these adverts we made sure that we maintained a similar theme. This theme consisted of our colour scheme which was an orange that faded to white on the images and animations. This colour theme is also present in our film products where the product brings colour back into the shot. This is present in all our filmed adverts and can be related to our images and animations. Sound was also very important throughout our advertisement campaign. Obviously sound is not present in the images and animations but in the radio advert, sponsorship and TV adverts the same soundtrack is used. The same actor, Adam, was also used in all of our filmed products. By using a similar theme we created synergy throughout the campaign. This association makes the brand name more likely to be remembered by the public who are exposed to the advert, especially as they come into contact with the advertising more often than if we just made a TV advert. A much wider audience is also reached through the vast range of ancillary tasks on a number of different media platforms. If launching this campaign for real there would be cost implications and we would therefore have to choose between which ancillary products to launch with our main TV advertisement. By having an association between all of our products we have made them interchangeable making for an effective campaign.

Feedback on Our Advert

After completing our adverts we uploaded them to youtube. By doing this our video is available to the public to view and comment with their views on our advert. It is important to obtain feedback so that we can look for ways to improve next time. From an advertising perspecitive feedback also allows the next advert that is produced to be more effective which could result in more sales for the company.

With our video on YouTube it is open for anyone to comment on. Commenting on YouTube means that the video is fresh in the mind of whoever is commenting making any feedback even more appropriate.

This screenshot shows the actual comments on our YouTube video for our full length advert. Overall the feedback is very positive mainly praising the use of the song to suggest the effects as a result of drinking our product. There was similar praise for our editing. The use of colour was praised as it also suggested a relation to the product. These two points are also reassuring for our ancillary products which use the same song and a similar theme involving colour.

One criticism we did receive through this form of feedback was a small continuity error in the bridge scene. 'rafaliscooltoo' suggested that in one scene Adam is sprinting and then after a cut it appears as though he is just setting off. Fortunately this could be easily rectified but shows the importance of feedback especially criticism.

In addition to the comments on the YouTube video we decided to use social media to get the views of friends on Facebook. Getting the views of a similar age to ourselves is important because our advert would likely appeal to our age range. The screenshot to the right shows the actual message sent through Facebook's messaging service.

Once again we found the general feedback to be positive. One message we received was:
"The song choice for this advert is very effective, as it literally makes people feel good, so it portrays a positive message with the energy drink. The use of close ups are extremely effective, as it shows emotion which helps us as an audience relate to the actor. Also, the Olympic logo at the end adds a good touch to the advert as makes people want to buy your drink because if athletes buy it, then it would be good enough for everyone else. However if i had any constructive criticism it would be to cut to the beat of the song."

Once again the song choice is praised for the positive feeling that it gives the viewer, which implies our drink has a similar effect. There was also praise for our end of advert picture, something mentioned in a YouTube comment, which gives a professional feel. One small criticism was that the cuts weren't to the beat of the music. This may be the case but it would be difficult to make this happen due to the length of the clips not being as long as the time in between the beat changes in the song.

Another comment we received was:

 "The combination of the slow motion shots and the change of pace in the song are very effective, as together, they highlight the runners struggle to perform. The transition from black and white to colour is also effective, as it portrays a positive vibe to your consumers."

This comment praises the slow motion part of the advert and the way the song also changes pace at this point suggesting the struggle in performance. This is good to hear as it is the effect we desired in order to suggest the positive effect that Regenerate has. More praise was received for the use of colour and it suggesting a good positive feeling to the viewer.

In general the feedback for our advert was positive. However more important than positive feedback is the constructive criticism received. Both critical points of view refer to the editing of the advert, one suggesting a small continuity error and the other suggesting the editing should fit with the music better. These points will be considered when producing our next product. Also when producing our next advert we will both have more experience in editing, which we didn't have when entering this particular project.

Overall we are very pleased with the way our advert has been received, especially the praise for the colour scheme idea which we thought would be effective in the planning stage. More importantly however is the fact that everyone who has viewed our advert immediately got the message which means our advert is effective in suggesting that Regenerate can benefit your workout.

Short TV Advert

This is a shorter version of our advert. It contains all the information needed to advertise the product sufficiently but is shorter than the other advert. This advert is under 30 seconds which would save a considerable amount in advertising costs yet still achieving the same effect. The advert features the same song, clips and editing techniques as the main advert making it instantly recognisable. It also has text diverting viewers to the website to view our full length advert if they have not yet seen it. By sending people to the website the company would benefit from more, effectively free advertising from the content on the website. When shortening the film we have not altered the narrative in anyway, even though this is under half the length of the full version, this means that even if people do not view the full advert they can watch this and still get the message portrayed.

Full TV Advert

This is our final full advert. I believe that it follows many conventions of adverts that make it successful. When analysing energy drink advertisements for our research a reoccurring theme was a visible effect that drinking the product will have. Our advert meets this through the changes of colour, tempo and the music getting louder. Our advert is also effective at showing which brand the advertisement is for. We got many close ups of our product including the slow motion which gives the brand name plenty of time on screen which is important especially when launching a new product. This particular advert may be shown for a week in order to get the name and advert known and then we would switch to the shorter version which would save money. This advert would be available to view on the Regenerate website. The end of the advert contains brand name, website and our sponsoring of London 2012. I chose the London 2012 sponsor over the others due to the nature of the advert being running which is an olympic discipline and also the shot where 'Prolong Your Workout' appears has similarities to that of a relay baton change.

Radio Advert

This is our completed Radio Advert. It follows many codes and conventions of Radio adverts. Our radio advert lasts 33 seconds. This makes it long enough to get the message across but not too long that the viewers are bored and switched off when the important information comes at the end. The information at the end means that the brand name is fresh in the memory of anyone who listens to our advert. The use of our soundtrack is also effective. Not only does it create synergy throughout our campaign it is also a popular song which means our advert would be played on a radio station with a similar genre of music. This would mean our advert appeals to the largest number possible and also should someone hear our advert then they may associate it with that song whenever they hear it.

Making And Editing Our Radio Advert

Previously we had edited our products using iMovie software. However for our radio advert we had no images and needed to record a voice over for information that could not be provided through the use of images. We therefore decided to use Audacity.

The first job was to assemble all the files required for our advert. Once again we decided to use Avicci - Levels to continue the synergy throughout our campaign. Without the use of images though we had to find sound effects that portrayed a similar message. We therefore used sound effects such as footsteps, heartbeat and an "ahhh" to suggest that exercise is being conducted and also that a drink of some form is being consumed. We then needed to make sure our brand name and details were known by the listener. In order to do this we needed a voice over at the end of the advert. This was created in Audacity using the laptops microphone shown by the image to the right.

Now we had all the sounds that we needed to make our radio advert they needed to be added to Audacity and arranged to make an effective radio advertisement. The advert starts with the sound of footsteps suggesting that someone is running, which is similar to our TV advert, this point is then reiterated by the heartbeat sound effect which gets progressively louder to emphasise the runners struggle. Next the sound of someone drinking cuts in over the top which is then followed by the 'ahhh' sound effect to suggest replenishment and regeneration. After this our song begins with the lyrics "I get a feeling that I've never had before" This is similar to our main TV advertisement where these same lyrics feature whilst Adam is drinking.

Towards the end of the advert our voice overs begin to feature over the top of our soundtrack. This is when we encountered a problem as the soundtrack was louder than the voice overs. This made them difficult to understand and as this is an important part of the advert it was vital that we amplified the voice overs to make them clear for the listener to hear and absorb the information. After some experimenting we decided to make the soundtrack quieter so that the quality of the voice overs was not damaged by trying to make them too loud.

After Amplify had been applied

Before soundtrack had been altered.

Once the clips had been organised and edited to create our radio advert we decided to compress the file into an mp3 file format. This would be the most compatible format for radio stations which we decide to advertise on.

Our final advert shown in Audacity,