StonePillow

For the StonePillow project, we have been asked to create a 30-40 second promotional video, showcasing StonePillow's services, intentions and to kill stereotypes revolving homelessness. During the visual technology stage of my work, I learnt different methods of promotional videos that I will use in this project.

Context

•Contextual Awareness:

•How does my Stone Pillow project refer to issues in the real world?

My project shows homelessness and tries to portray the way these people live, and the attitude the public have towards them.

•How have you chosen to represent the issue of homelessness?

I have decided to represent the issues throughout newspapers as this gives me lots of creativity in the media side of the project.

•How have homeless people been represented in the media and in films?

I have decided to portray my homeless character as quite weak and vulnerable.

•What is society’s view of homeless people?

Many people of society ignore the homeless and think very little of them.

•How can homeless people be stereotyped?

Homeless people are stereotyped as drunks and substance abusers which is why the society think so little of them.

•How has your own work been informed by looking at existing charity promo films, ie for Shelter, Children in need, Women’s Aid?

I have taken techniques from other companies like water aid to get the cadance of vulnerability to make the watcher feel a certan way.

Research

To start my research, I watched many promotional videos:

From watching these videos, I learnt that there are many different ways to shoot a promotional video, and many different aims within that.

Sympathy

This is a very good way to make the audience feel bad for the character in the video. The point in this approach is to humble the watcher, make them feel bad, so that they are more likely to donate or support the charity.

Positivity

This approach emphasises the good in the bad senarios. The message of the product may highlight what the donated money is being used for and the effects because of it. Showing the characters as cheerful and happier makes the audience want to continue to do with, therefore enticing them to donate.

Infortmative

Having an informative and educational approach can work with a specific audience. Simply stating facts and informing the audience of the problems and what is needed, is a straight-to-the-point approch which can be very effective.

•Research into Filmmaking:

•Who are your key Influences in Film, Media and Art?

I really enjoy and am influenced by creators like Cole Bennett and Lee Smith (the editor of 1917)

•How does your Stone Pillow project show the influence of range of artists/filmmakers?

I am trying a seemless transition with the newspapers which is influenced from the editing one-shot style from Lee Smith

•Consider how you have used conventions from specified films in your own work: describe the convention; explain how/why you have used it.

•Composition: leading line, framing, symmetry.

I have used leading line in some longshots of an allyway or the side of a building

•Editing: jump cuts, Edgar Wright, transitions, dissolves.

I am creating a seemless transition wit the newspapers.

•Sound: sound bridges, voiceovers, foley.

I am using a very instrumental in the background which i believe is perfect for creating tension

•Structure: flashback, story.

The structure of my story depends on the newspapers and news articles. The story will tell a story within the articles relatingto real life.

•Aesthetic style: use of colour, lighting, different shot types (extreme close ups, long shot, dolly, low angle).

My shots will be full of alternating shot types by zooming from longshot to closeups.

•How does your intended audience use media? Where would be the best platform/place to put your Stone Pillow film? Why? How do you know this? Give a research source, not just your opinion.

The best platforms to put my video on would be Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit. These platforms are used by teenagers and are extremely popular – advertising on them would bring many viewers.

•How have you made your Stone Pillow film to target the specified audience? How have you used stylisation, effects, choice of imagery, suitable content, influences from music videos etc to help you shape the work suitably for the audience.

I have taken inspiration from Cole Bennett in my effects and transitions to entice my target audience to keep watching the video, to build tension, and to keep viewer retention high.

Diversity in Filmmaking and the Media

Female Film Director: Kathryn Bigelow is an American Film Director who made the original Point Break in 1991 starring Keanu Reeves.

A disabled main character in Film: AnnaSophia Robb plays the main character in Soul Surfer as her arm was bitten off in a shark attack within the story of the movie however she is not disabled in real life.

A film depicting discrimination: The Hate U Give is a film about a teenage black man who gets shot after being pulled over by the police. To show off to his lady friend, he grabs a hairbrush and pretends to start brushing his hair. The police officer proceeds to shoot the man. The girls then go to avenge his death by speaking out and protesting.

A black film director : Antoine Fuqua is a black American director who made the works of The Equalizer, Magnificent Seven etc.

Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives, including roles as criminals.

Wikipedia. 2020. Blaxploitation. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaxploitation#:~:text=Blaxploitation%20or%20blacksploitation%20is%20an,motives%2C%20including%20roles%20as%20criminals.. [Accessed 15 March 2020].

In the film “Love, Simon” it shows the main character who struggles to come out as homosexual.

“Tower Heist” is an action packed robbery film. The characters contributing to the heist are working class people who have been scammed and want to steal their money back.

“This Morning” is hosted by Philip Schofield who has recently came out as homosexual.

The film “The Frozen Ground” is told from the perspective of a woman who was sexually abused along with 30+ other women. She luckily survived and helped the police capture the killer. This was the first time she told her story.

“The Greatest Showman” is a movie that uses stereotypes to depict minorities in the circus performance. The protagonist gathered many thought to be ‘strange’ people to embrace their differences and put on a show.

“Sex Education” is a TV series that shows many different characters with different gender preferences and identity. This series portrays this in a positive manner and shines light on it instead of hiding it in the dark.

In the popular game “Cooking Mama” it shows a woman in the kitchen, as they are commonly stereotyped to be. Why is it not Cooking Dada? Why does it have to be a woman character? This is one example of a sexist video game.

Planning

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Project Proposal: Client: Stone Pillow Charity

Your name: Matthew Ede

Team members: Ieuan Alli, James Guy, Miles Borgars

Date: 20/01/2020

What is your final idea?

To tell a story through newspapers and headlines with the ending message “Change the Headlines”

How will you depict homelessness?

I am going to try to remove the stigma of homeless people being wasters and substance abusers

How will you communicate Stone Pillow’s work?

By adding Stone Pillows logo and explaining their services

How will this project extend your existing skills?

It will improve my camerawork, editing stills and decision making

How long will it last?

The video will last 30-40 seconds

Who is the intended audience?

Anybody who wants to make a difference within the homeless community

How will your idea target the audience?

By advertising all the good that their donations will do and the difference it will make

How is the idea similar to existing media that the audience already likes?

It will include newspaper articles and headlines

What is the project deadline?

14 of February

When will shooting be completed?

By the start of February

When will the edit be completed?

10-12 of February

Practical Skills

My Concept

My idea and concept for my promotional video is to keep it quite simple. Using simple but effective transitions to get to the point quickly so that viewer retention is kept to the highest mark. I had an idea of keeping a theme with newspapers and news articles. I am going to create custom news articles with headlines exclaiming "HOMELESSNESS ON A RISE". My video will tell a story within these articles as it will end with "STONEPILLOW SAVES THE DAY!" "REDUCING HOMELESSNESS" et cetera. I started by planning a storyboard of the key events in my video. For the first transition, I wanted to use the newspaper as a focal point for a seemless transition. I recorded some decoy clips and practiced editing the transition. Here is what I got:

I also had another brief idea of having a news article on a TV in a living room with a character watching it. The camera will pan and enter the TV as a transition from the inside world into the outside world. To simply practice this method, I created this:

For my final project, I will have to learn to use motion tracking and masking to my advantage to make this effect work effectively.

Nearing the end of my video, I am going to include a lot of informative text telling the audience about StonePillow and the effects of donating - persuading the viewer in contributing. To make sure the video is still interesting and engaging, I will NOT simply fade in and out the text. I however had the idea to create a type writer-like effect to transition the messages in and out of the composition. I downloaded a font called "1942 report" and created a letter by letter fade by animating the text layer in After Effects. After this I added a type writer sound effect in the background to sell the illusion. I am going to use this effect many times throughtout my video.

To get ahead of my work, I created all of the ending text animations first. I created a simple logo for myself that fades in and out at the end to give credit to the creator of the video. This is the first draft for the ending of my promotional video:

Draft 1

I then shot my draft clips to get an idea of how I could edit the final video. The following draft is using clips that will be re-recorded for the final shoot. Here is my first draft.

Medium Shot

Extreme Close-up

Close-up

I decided to shoot this part of my video in a medium shot as I needed objects and props of the background in my shot. I did not use a longshot or an extreme longshot as I still wanted to keep the audiences focus on the character and prop.

An extreme close-up is necessary here to emphasise what is being displayed on the newspaper. I wanted to put immediate focus on the title of the newspaper - which is why I chose the extreme close-up.

This low-angle close-up shot is very effective as it puts the character in a position of authority. Placing the character as towering over the camera shows them as most powerful which is the cadance I was going for. The close-up is also useful to emphasise the newspaper again.

The Newspaper Seemless Transition

In my final video, I am still unhappy with my seemless transition. I attempted to zoom into the newspaper and capture a common colour. I chose black as it was the easiest. When the first clip faded to black, I cut the second clip in and faded it using the opacity keyframes. I am unhappy because it is very obvious where the cut and opacity fades are. It does not give off the seemless intention. I also think the effect is too slow - the screen is black for too long. For next time, when recording, I would make sure the camera quickly finds that common colour, and I would make sure they match in the raw footage before trying to edit as it makes it much, much harder.

PEER REFLECTION

Katie

How effectively are they using Composition? Wich conventions are they using? How can this be improved?

Close up, Slow mo, made own newspaper for shot of zooming out to see a bigger picure.

How effectively are they using different shot types? How can this be improved? How does this tell the story?

Close up, zooming in helps tell story as you can see more surroundings when zoomed out.

How effectively are they using Compositing? Which effects are they using? How can this be improved?

Using effects on after effects, paint tool to emphasise a shot/writing.

This week (10/02/2020) I need to record the last news reporting scene, clean up the final edit, render the video out and finish putting everything onto my wix website in the right sub header. After this I will do a final evaluation.

News Report Scene - REMOVED

During the last week of creation, i decided to remove this scene. It was an idea that I quickly put together and I feel if I had more time on this project, I could correct it and make it effective. However, because I do not have unlimited time, I have decided to cut this idea from my final video and replace it with an easier, less time consuming shot using clips I already had and also going out and filming a few more. I removed this aspect because I felt it didnt bring anything to the video and wasnt suitable because I rushed it. Again, if i had more time to record and storyboard exactly what I wanted, I could make it work, however for the benefit of the project, I have cut it out.

Final Video

Final Evaluation

•How effectively did you use planning to support the project?

I believe I used my planning very effectively within the project. There was parts that due to complications were changed and improved, however for the most part, I stuck to my storyboard very well.

•How effectively did you use ongoing reflection to identify areas that require improvement?

When I came across a problem, I took a moment to write a quick reflection to state the issue and how I am planning to go about the process of fixing it. This was very useful as it encouraged me to stay on track.

•How effectively have you researched the audience’s media usage?

I have used my knowledge to decide that Instagram, YouTube and Reddit are the most popular forms of social media within the target audience. Posting the videos on here are sure to get viewership from the target audience.

•How did your research help you to target the audience?

My research gave me a vague idea of the type of effects I wanted to use and the cadance of the video I wanted to portray. I took influence from Cole Bennett who of course is popular in teenagers for his music videos with Lyrical Lemonade.

•What audience feedback did you receive? How did this help you develop the product?

I recieved a peer reflection which helped get a second opinion on my work as sometimes it is hard to determine what needs to be changed by yourself. By talking to a peer, I was able to stick to my storyboard and make sure I have made my video to the best of my ability.

•How have you been influenced by existing media products and promos?

Lyrical Lemonades transitions and effects influenced me in this promotional video and I aimed to use Cole Bennetts methods in my video using YouTube tutorials in After Effects.

•Which editing techniques and processes have you used? What was most successful? Which aspects can be improved? How?

My seemless transition was a process that I had never done before and it worked to a minimal degree. Now I have experience, next time I would record the clips differently so that the editing process is smoother and the transition will be all around better and more effective for the illusion.

I tried to use a pop-out method with the newspaper to exagurate the message it was saying. This effect did not last long and next time I would spend more time on easy-easing the keyframes so that it looks a lot smoother and flows better with the cadance of the video.

•How did you use compositional, structural and narrative conventions? How can this be improved?

I used a narrative convention throughout the newspapers, starting with "Homelessness is on a rise" and ending with "StonePillow is here to save the day". I used color correction in some scenes to change the temperature of the scene to set the mood. When the character throws the newspaper in the bin, I made it very cold as it portrays the character having a cold heart and not caring about the homeless.

•How has the project let you develop new professional skills for industry? (technical, aesthetic, working to a client’s brief, targeting an audience, meeting deadlines, professional communication).

This project has allowed me to learn new methods within After Effects. I am now more confident using the software and I am more confident performing transitions, effects and syncing audio. Using the software more and more is the only way to get better and this project gave me a basis to do exactly that. Working to a breif was very good as it kept me on track on a theme and meeting deadlines was interesting as sometimes it was hard to stay on track.