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
Typically a corporate promotional video will consist of numerous clean edit
transitions from shot to shot, ensuring that the video is left with a
professional look. These transitions can depend on the quality on the video
being made, for example the South Australia tourism video involves
numerous amounts of fast hard cuts between shots that fit with the tempo
of music as well as the tone of the video as a whole. There is no over
commentary in the video, only the backing track, this is used to focus on
what the shots are showing us, as it is a promotional video for tourism
around South Australia the shots are all crammed together to quickly
presents as many enticing images as possible, for example succulent
meats and other foods, huge beautiful sceneries and people enjoying
themselves in the sun, all of which are used to engage and entice the
audience making them want to visit. Audio transitions can differ depending
on the type of promotional video, sometimes L-cuts and J-cuts are used
when a promotional video is shot using talking heads, the talking head may
have a shot with themselves describing their product which can then cut to
a shot of the the product while the speaker is still talking, this is so that
audiences can visually get a better understanding of the product while the
expert of said product describes it. As an example if we look at the
promotional video for the pub in york we see some of the workers sat down
talking to the camera describing their huge range of beers which then cuts
to a dolly shot of the beer range, this backs up what the speaker is saying
4. LANGUAGE/SCRIPT
The language and script used in corporate promotional videos will
depend on the type of video being made, for instance if the company
wishes to create a parody video to engage audiences with comedy
then the script will feature more comedic language instead of the use
of more professional sound language. For example in the video for
the Dollar Shave Club the tone of the video is shot to amuse the
audience, referencing jokes and other comedic language such a
swear words that engage the audiences funny side so that they take
interest in what the speaker is saying as well as the product their
trying to sell. Furthermore if the promotional video wants to seek a
different kind of tone, a more professional and serious video then
different language will be used, in the example for The Crown Hotel’s
promotional video we have the man using mass amounts of
adjectives to try entice the viewers into visiting, words like ‘fantastic,
wonderful and marvellous’ are all used to over sell the hotel, as an
attempt to try engage the viewers and also attract them into staying.
The main goal of these videos is to get viewers to take interest into
their product and throughout the entirety of the Crown Hotel video we
see the man constantly telling you that ‘this is the place to be’
meaning there is no where else you should stay when you come to
Kent, as a whole selling his product to the max.
5. SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
Different shooting techniques are used for different kinds of
promotional video, depending on the quality and use of these
techniques can be what separates the bad promotional videos from the
good ones. If proper techniques are used right it can change what
would be a potentially boring corporate promotional video into dynamic
energetic segment. In the behind the scenes video for the promotional
video for Pro-Face we see the director using engaging and interesting
techniques such as motion time-lapses as well as Steadicam shots and
camera sliders to create a more elegant and professional end product.
Thought should be put into the types of techniques and equipment used
in these promotional videos as if not done correctly you will be left with
a mess of shots that don’t play well together and as a whole you will
have wasted time and money. Again these types of shooting techniques
differ depending on the type of promotional video you are going for, as
an example the BlendTec video uses a small range of shot techniques,
mainly consisting of just mid shots of Tom with his blenders that often
cut to close ups of what's inside his blender, the video for this is simple
and doesn’t need the use of mass amounts of filming rigs and
equipment, however more thought gone into the type of shots would
make this video more appealing and less cheesy.
6. VOICE OVER
Voice overs are used in corporate promotional videos to help
guide the audience they are targeting through the narrative of
their product or what they are trying to sell. It will help to explain
to the audience what it is that is included in the video and help
them to gain a better understanding of what their product
reflects. Voice overs are not always used in promotional videos
as sometimes they are not needed and it is instead more
effective to sample a music track with footage of the companies
selling product. Uses of voice overs can differ depending on the
corporate company that uses them, for example the promotional
video for Sandy Balls holiday centre features narrative male
voice over describing the holiday centre, its surroundings and
where it is located. This voice over uses enticing language such
as “the perfect get away” as an attempt to sell their product,
with a soothing and peaceful voice used it reflects what calming
and tranquil scenes you would find when you visit the holiday
centre. The voice over in this video helps to inform audiences
on key details about the holiday centre while at the same time
uses language that attempts to intrigue the audience into taking
consideration in visiting.
7. LOGO
In most if not all corporate promotional videos you will find the
companies logo presented either at the start or end of the video,
this is used so that audiences who have viewed the logo before
have a way of referring to the company as they may remember
the logo presented to them in the promotional video, it also is a
way of presenting the company in one sole image, as most
company logo’s will reflect themselves in said logo. The design of
a company logo will all depend on what said company does and is
made for, as an example in the corporate promotional video for
South Australia tourism the logo is placed at the end of the video
with no other promotion or information text used before hand, this
allows the audience to take in what they are seeing, with the
idyllic scenes and succulent foods presented throughout without
them knowing from where it is, till the end of the video comes and
they are then informed of the location with the implement to the
companies Logo “South Australia”. This keeps the audience
enticed, questioning constantly where these scenes are filmed,
further enticing them more to visit.
8. TITLES
Titles are a informative use of on screen text that can be used when someone
is on screen talking to the camera about their product, titles will be placed
over footage to give the viewer specific information such as the name of the
person talking and possibly what part of the business they are in. this helps to
give the promotion videos more of a personal touch to the audiences,
presenting the interviewees name and information about them so that the
audience can relate to them further, instead of just having a talking head with
no further information and leaving the audience not knowing if the person
talking even has any significance to the company. Titles can also be an
effective way of breaking up videos, placed in between shots as way of cleanly
transitioning from shot to shot while also presenting key information to the
audience. Titles will be used in most promotional corporate videos that feature
interviews with people related to the company or that are being interviewed,
for example in the Samsung promotional video it features segments of fake
interviews with customers of the product, titles are used in this video to
present the questions asked to interviewees, for instance “what are your
frequent computer-related problems”, this use of titles is used as a
replacement to the person filming asking them the questions, this could have
possibly been used to cut down the length of the video, saving time cutting
out the question being asked and instead placing the text over for the viewer
to read. This use of Q and A in their promotional video is helpful as it may help
answer common queries among viewers watching the video.
9. UNIQUE SELLING POINT
A companies unique selling point is what makes them stand out to the
rest, its what makes their product unique in the genre and market that
they are selling it, this can be the originality of their product, for
instance if they are they only company to produce a certain product
then they will have full range of a market as their will be no competition
from other companies selling the same product. In corporate
promotional video companies will try to sell you their product based
around how unique a selling point they have, for example the One
Dollar Shave Club expresses their USP through their idea of cutting out
the costs of by top market razor for too high prices, instead they look to
sell you a just as good razor for a fraction of the price. They express
this many times throughout the video, helping to intrigue audiences into
taking interest in their product by presenting a unique selling point to
them, this being the cheapness of their razors, the ease of obtaining the
razors and also the quality of said razor. Unique selling points for
companies will differ depending on the type of product they are
offering, for example in the Samsung promotional video the main
selling point is based on the idea of the ease of working their product,
to do so they present three different people with their product, one of
which being a woman, telling the audience that anyone can use their
product and showing the viewer just how useful their product is, as
sexist as it may be they focus on the stereotyping of females not being
as tech savvy as the male audience, however the look to express the
ease of use of their product, showing that even a woman can use their
product with ease.
10. CUTAWAYS
Cutaways are short shots which are related to the narrative, they will
feature a voice over playing over the top, they are used to further
illustrate what the speaker is explaining while they are doing so by
presenting a short segment of the product, this helps audiences get a
better understanding of the product while the expert of said product
explains features, designs or key information about it. Cutaways can
also be used an a form of editing transition, to break up footage and to
keep the footage interesting as audiences may find the video boring if
its just footage of a person talking at them about the product. Cutaways
are used in almost all corporate promotional videos, for example in the
video for the promotion of the York pub we are shown one of the
barmen describing their huge range of beers and as he does so the
camera cuts to a shot presenting a few of their selection of beers, this
helps to further the audiences understanding of the product while also
ensuring to keep the video interesting by breaking up shots of talking
heads with illustrative shots of the products the pub offers, this
happens again when the other worker is describing their range of fresh
foods, the camera again cuts to show the preparation of food at the pub,
helping to give the audience a look at what the pubs food will look like,
again further the audiences interest in visiting the pub.
11. INTERVIEWS
Interviews can play a vital role in helping sell a companies product
in a promotional video, they provide the audience with professional
opinions and key information on the product which helps to further
the audiences understanding of the product. Interviews are also
useful in maintaining the audiences interest in the video, when an
expert of the product is telling them what they need to know about
the product directly it gives the video a more personal touch by
involving direct communication with the audience, making sure
their attention is maintained while also furthering their interest in
said product. Interviews can be conducted within promotional video
in a number of different ways depending on the product their selling
as well as the type of promotional video they are intending on
making, For example the entirety of the Dollar Shave Club video is
shot in the perspective of an interview with the creator and head of
the company, he speaks to the camera throughout as if he holding a
conversation with the audience, the video uses a comedic style to
better sell their product and maintain the audiences interest, so the
interview is conducted differently to what you might find in a
promotional video like the York Pub or the Samsung product. These
companies produced more professional and serious promotional
videos, which includes the interviewees sat down talking to the
camera with serious and informative statements.
12. MUSIC
Music is very important in any promotional video as it sets the tone of the video
before the entirety of the video is played, it helps to inform the audience on the
type of video that has been produced and what they might expect from the rest of
the video. The music used will used be played quietly over the top of the video to
ensure that people can be heard clearly without interruptions. Music can also play
a big part in maintain audiences interest in the video, for instance if dull and
boring music with not much going on is played along side footage audiences will
not engage with the video as much as they would if the music was more catchy or
fit with the tone of the video better. An example of a good use of music for a
promotional video is the one for tourism round South Australia, no dialogue what
so ever is used in the entirety of the video, instead they opted to play the famous
theme to the TV series ‘Peaky Blinders”, the soundtrack correlates perfectly to the
tone of the footage presented, it engages with the audiences and effectively
maintains audience interest right till the end. Music used on promotional videos is
mainly not the main focus of the video and will mostly be played over footage to
ensure there is no silence throughout, an effective use of music over a
promotional video is when the music blends in along with the footage to the point
where you don’t even take in what you are hearing and instead focus on the
product that is being presented. This can be seen in the promotional video for the
York Pub, the music is clearly recognised at the start but them blends in and dulls
down when interview segments are used, making the perfect blend of music and
dialogue so neither one over powers the other.
13. GRAPHICS
Graphics can be used in promotional videos as a way of
presenting text on screen for the audience to read while
watching, this text can be placed in instead of using
dialogue, for example when asking questions to an
interviewee, the question can be displayed on screen while
said person is answering, this can save time when creating a
promotional video that has certain run time restrictions.
Graphics can also be implemented into promotional videos
to present key information to audience without the need of
dialogue, this can be anything that serves any importance in
relation to the company e.g. contact details. An example of
this can be seen in the promotional video for Samsung, the
video features interviews with clients of the product they are
promoting and instead of hiring someone to ask the client
questions they instead use graphic text that has been placed
over the footage displaying the question asked to the client,
this saves the company cost and run time.
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. VIDEO 1- PLAYSTATION EGX 2015
This promotional video focuses its content mainly towards the gaming community, especially PlayStation
gamers. The videos message is to express the enjoyment factor that can be found by attending this
event. The video promotes the PlayStation console as well as other products related to the console such
as PlayStation VR. The video aims to promote the event by presenting activities involved in the event,
what the event consists of, what you could hope to find while attending the event and the better
understanding you will gain about the companies products by attending. The promotional video
incorporates a number of different styles and techniques, using equipment like Steadicam’s and tripod to
ensure the best results of footage and giving clear looks at the event and its surroundings as well as the
people and staff who are attending. The pace of the editing matches to the fast paced electronic music
used over the top of the video. Most of the clips used in the video feature close ups and and mid shots of
people attending, presenting them having fun and enjoying themselves while testing out the products
Sony have to offer. Interviews with staff members and the public are also used to help further the
audiences understanding of the event by giving them key information that they’ll need to know about the
event while also helping to further entice them by presenting peoples reactions to the equipment and
products they used, portraying great feedback that helps to interest the audience into attending the
event. The video is shot in HD and uses basic filming equipment, mainly light equipment due to the event
and surroundings making filming more accessible and portable while still having an end product that
looks professional and entertaining. For the interviews with the public and staff members, legal release
forms would have had to be signed to give them rights to use footage of them on their video. The
producers of the video would have had to consider the Ofcom broadcasting code, concentrating on
section 8 of privacy terms. The producers would also have had to take copyright issues into
consideration, filming at a gaming event like this will feature content presenting hundreds of different
game titles and companies so they would have had to be careful not to infringe on any copyright laws
and making sure that they have the right and access to film them. Health and safety is also an issue that
would need to be considers, segments of the video feature Steadicam shots on stages filming audiences
which can bring health and safety hazards such as tripping and falling hazards while filming. The
cameraman would have had to have a person designated to watching out for them while filming, this is
called a “Back watcher” and their job is to ensure the health and safety of the the cameraman. The
schedule and production of the video was undertaken in 3 days as that is how long the convention lasts,
the crew would have only needed to be 3 man max, 2 possible cameramen and then an assistant to help
with the filming process.
URL: HTTP://WWW.DIGIFISH.TV/FILM/EGX
16. VIDEO 2 – HYUNDAI
The corporate video is designed to appeal towards driving fanatics, people interested in
Hyundai products and those who can appreciate nice sceneries and love the outdoors.
The purpose of the video is to display what they found to be the best road to drive in
the UK, they present the car tasked to them by Hyundai as it takes on the roads and
shows why these roads are the best to drive. The mainly promotes the Hyundai car, as
well as the company itself, it is also a way to promote the location for driving fans, so
that they too can experience ‘the best road in the UK’. The promotional video
incorporates a number of different camera techniques, some being shot from the air
using a drone and then others stationary on the ground capturing the car as it drives
past. Equipment such as tripods and drones will have been used in this video to best
capture the car as it tackles these roads, aerial shots are effectively used to display the
car and the roads to its full potential, giving the viewer a good look at the car as it takes
on each and every bend and turn along the way. Graphic text are also implemented at
the start of the video explaining the content of the video, why it has been made and
where/how it was filmed. Most of the shots used in the video consist of birds eye view
long shots, close ups of the car as it drives as well as long shots from the ground
capturing the car as it drives past, this helps to give the audience a better picture from
a number of different angles, ensuring entertaining footage throughout. The soundtrack
used matches to the pace of the editing in the video, the track features an electronic
drum beat along side a synth melody with no vocals. When creating this promotional
video the creator would have had to take in to consideration the legal and ethical issues
that could arise, for example the track they have used will have had to be non
copyrighted or they were have had the rights to use it. They would have had to get
permission to film in some of the locations in case they were privately owned by
someone, to ensure they did not infringe on any legal issues. Health and safety would
also have had to be considered, filming next to a road can be dangerous for crew if not
done with care, Hi-Vis equipment will have been used to ensure other drives can notice
the crew. The filming would have needed a crew of around 3-4 people, one to operate
the camera, another to direct the footage, one to possibly operate if the camera man is
not qualified. Others crew members or people involved in the video will have been the
driver of the car and maybe another member to ensure the safety of the other crew
members when filming next to a road. URL: HTTP://WWW.DIGIFISH.TV/FILM/HYUNDAI
