The project involved creating an augmented reality mobile game app with a Harry Potter theme called Wizard Adventure. Key aspects included researching Harry Potter tourism in York, designing app interfaces and characters, and producing promotional videos. While the videos provided an overview of the app concept and gameplay, the summarizer felt the app's features were not fully explained and certain planned design elements had to be left out due to time constraints. Overall, the project allowed them to learn new software skills like Adobe Aero and improve their research and design process, but could have benefited from more focus on comprehensively showcasing the app.

1. L3 Creative Media
Production & Technology
Year Two Evaluation Template
Hannah Wilkinson

2. Project Overview
In this section you will outline the aim of the project/task and give an
overview of the activates you undertook to complete it.

3. What was the theme of your project and
what attracted you to it?
For my project I chose to do a Harry Potter theme. This led me to the game choice that focused on
people attacking monsters from the Harry Potter films. I was attracted to this theme because I knew
Harry Potter had links to York especially because Diagon Alley was inspired from The Shambles in
York. This means that there are many shops in town that are related to Harry Potter. There are a
couple of merchandise shops in the Shambles and a Wizarding mini gold course in town. I thought
that there would be quite a few things I could do with this idea with there being so many Harry
Potter tourist attractions already in York, I thought that doing this game would fit nicely. Harry
Potter is also geared towards the right age market for the project which meant thatit fit the brief
nicely.

4. What research did you undertake and how
did it help develop your project?
I started my research by looking at tourist information from the visit York Websites that we had
access to. I looks at certain information regarding how long people stay in York and what activities
they like to do. This helped me come up with ideas for the App as I could see what things tourists
are interested in seeing when they come to York. It also helped me to see that there wasn’t a lot for
younger people, which is what led me to create a game in the first place. I realized that I needed
something unique and fun to help younger people enjoy York and to expand upon the Harry Potter
market that is already present in York.
I then researched into the Harry Potter films to look into the current popularity amongst young
people. I also looked into the popularity of mobile Harry Potter games and who their audience is.
This researched helped me solidify my idea and to see what the common characteristics are in
Harry Potter gaming. After this I knew I needed to include popular Harry Potter characters and to
give it the visual style from the films and books. I also needed to create something that was
different to the other Mobile Harry Potter games on the market.

5. What research did you undertake and how
did it help develop your project?
In order to make it unique I decided to create a Pokémon Go inspired augmented reality game. I
decided it was important to research the popularity of Pokémon go, especially amongst younger
people. I then looked into the games UI and learned about the importance of keeping the games
design user friendly. This helped me create my own apps design as I remembered to keep the
colours and design simple when creating my own app. I originally created a different design for the
title screen and I decided to make a different one that was simpler which I think looks better. This
research also helped me decide on necessary features to include in the game like a compass.

6. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
The first app design that I created was more complicated that the one I ended up using. It had more
colours and I thought it didn’t look effective as it was too busy and crowded. I ended up doing a
more simple design that took inspiration from the book covers. I thought that this design looked a
lot better whilst still being reminiscent of the Harry Potter franchise. I also thought it was good to
have connections to the books as well as the films to engage with a wider audience. I also made
improvements to the icons and symbols in the app like making the compass in the design of the
deathly hallows and the back arrow look like a magic spell. These were small features that made the
design look good without cluttering up the screen.
I also made changes to the AR feature and how it was presented in the video. At first I couldn’t get
Adobe Aero to work so I made overlays on photoshop so I could add it over the top of the video. I
felt like this wasn’t good enough so I decided to give adobe Aero another try. I figured out that I
need to download the images to my phone and then save them to my phone files. If you created the
photoshop creatures with a transparent background then it uploads well to Aero and looked a lot
better. This was a much better change as It made the post production process easier and looked
more effective in the video.

7. What was the outcome of the project/task?
By the end of the project I had two videos for the Wizard Adventure app. The first video is a
standard tv advert that advertises the apps features and story. It has a voiceover that gives
information about the basic concept of the game however it doesn’t show off the mechanics. That
is why I created a second video to go alongside this one which displays the app from an in game
perspective. It shows what the players screen would look like in different scenarios. I shows what
the menus would look like and how they would take you to the game. I also shows a simple
demonstration of the fighting mechanics to give an idea of what playing would look like. At the end
of the video I showed what the QR features would look like and what options with be available on
screen for the players.

8. Personal Response
This section will explore your thoughts and feelings about the
experience. This will help gain a understand of how your personal
feelings may have impacted the final outcome.

9. How did you feel about the project before
you started?
Before starting the project I felt unsure and nervous about what to do as I couldn’t come up with
ideas. I struggled to think of something that would appeal to the target market as York doesn’t have
a lot for younger people. I was looking at things to do in York and that’s when I realized that there
are a lot of Harry Potter things in York. I thought that this would be a good way to take the project
as there is a lot I could do with it. I started feeling confident with this idea once I had began working
on the research as it helped me come up with ideas for the app concept. This is when I started
feeling confident wIth the task and I felt I had enough to create a good project.

10. What do you think about your project development and
how did it help you to refine your idea?
At the beginning of the project I felt unsure about how to execute the ideas that I had. I didn’t know
if I was going to be able to complete the AR features successfully. I also had issues with adobe XD
that we were unable to resolve. I wanted to make sure that I had a concept for the apps design and
was nervous that I wasn’t going to carry out all of my plans for the project successfully. These issues
did however get fixed as I found new software called Figma and Adobe Aero that would enable me
to do these.
This was difficult though because learning to use new software can be a challenge and you don’t
always know what the outcome is going to be. I struggled with Aero at first and wasn’t sure how to
get my designs onto my phone to use for the video. This helped me figure out how I wanted the
second video to look as I was able to record the monsters straight from the Adobe Aero App. This is
when I realized I could make an overlay to put the app features over the top of the videos of the
monsters.

11. How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
I was happy with the way that my completed product looked and I think that the Adobe Aero
features worked really well in the final product. I also likes the improved app designs as I thought
that they were effective and it helped me create a constant colour scheme for the other app pages.
I did however feel like the final product didn’t show the app off fully. I felt concerned that the advert
didn’t fully explain all of the apps features and I would have liked to go into more detail about all of
the in game features. I wasn’t able to get footage to do this because I ended up spending a lot of
production time making the app designs on Figma and the creature designs on photoshop. I was
happy to spend time creating the creature designs because they are an important part of the game
and I think that their designs looked quite good for the time that I had. They are fairly simple and
flat but I think that they are recognizable as their Harry Potter characters.
I also would have liked to show all of the features on the App design video. I had created another
screen to show the players points and progress. I wasn’t happy with the pages design and I could
get the colour scheme correct. I also wanted to animate this but I didn’t have enough time. Because
of this I left it out of the final video as I wasn’t happy with the product. I would have liked to show
this screen as It wasn’t mentioned if the first advert so there is only brief mention of this feature.

12. Evaluating the project
In the previous sections, you have been commenting upon the project development. The
evaluation may include some similar information but it will also include critical comment.
An evaluation must include information about the good and bad points of the project and it
is important to be honest. Finally, you should make a judgment about the effectiveness of
the success of the project

13. What were the good points about the project/task and what did you
learn from them? [try and think of at least 3, more if possible]
• I was able to use learn to use Adobe Aero to create the AR monsters and animate them. This
made them look good in the video and I think that this was the most effective way of showcasing
how the app functions in game. This means that, after this project, I am now able to use more
software which could be helpful for future projects. It means that I will have more options in the
future as I will be less limited.
• I managed to do really strong research which helped me a lot with the idea generation. I now
have better practice in researching projects which will help me in the future projects. I learned
how to find good sources for information and improved at analysing them.
• The app designs I made on Figma looked good and I this that the colour scheme was nice. I
thought tat the final app design was quite simple but still had the effect. I took inspiration from
the book covers which I think was the best choice for app design.
• I am also happy that I managed to create two videos to go along side each other. I think tat having
both videos means that the concept is described better and it gave me the opportunity to display
my idea in more detail.

14. What challenges did you face and how did you
respond to them? Try and think of at least 3...
• At the beginning of the project, my computer wouldn’t allow me to open Adobe XD. This meant
that I had to find different software and learn how to use it. I ended up using a mix of Figma and
photoshop to complete the app designs. I made simple designs on Figma and then put them into
photoshop to animate them for the video.
• My initial idea for filming the creatures for the advert ended up not working well. The first time I
filmed, I had the actor hold her phone in front of the camera with her camera app open. I was
then going to edit my creature designs on top. I wanted to make it better so I learned how to use
Adobe Aero. This allowed me to animate my designs in the app so that when you tap the screen
they move around. I then filmed this which looked a lot better on camera.
• Learning to use new software in the time given. To create the AR video feature I had to learn to
use Adobe Aero. This was a challenge because I decided to use this software quite last minute.
This meant that I didn’t have a lot of time to test it before filming. I found that the first time I used
the AR images in the real settings that the proportions were off and the animations weren't as
effective.

15. What challenges did you face and how did you
respond to them? Try and think of at least 3...
• I had to use Photoshop to make the monsters designs. This was quite challenging and I had to use
a lot of trail and error to figure out the best way to create their designs. I found that drawing with
the mouse was a difficult process and takes a lot of time to create images this way.
• I also struggled filming in some of the locations. The Shambles in particular was always very
crowded and a lot of the shots were ruined by this. It took a long time to wait for moments when
the path was clear for me to film.

16. What were the negative points about the
experience, and what could you have done to
improve them?
• I think that the main video didn’t have enough detail about the features in the game. I could have
improved this by recording more footage and making the video longer. This would have given me
more time to include a longer voiceover that explains the features alongside the visuals.
• I wanted to animate the title screen to have the letters floating. This ended up looking bad as it
didn’t move smoothly. To make this better I could have tried to use different software to Animate
it or looked into better ways of doing it.

17. How would you rate the final piece? [think along the lines of
poor, satisfactory, good or excellent...justify your rating]
I think that I would rate my final piece as good. I think that the work I did on Adobe audition looks
good and shows my idea well in the video. I also like the final decision I made for the apps design. I
thought that the colours work really well together and I think it is simple but effective. I think that to
improve the project I could make my video a bit better. I could have put more time into the
voiceover and made it better quality by booking out a microphone and spending more time in
Adobe Audition. I also think that some of the visuals could be better improved and I could have
made the main video a bit longer to really show what the app is supposed to be like. I think that the
details that I have put in the advert that show the locations is a good way to show what the app
would be like but I think that I could have executed it better. The visuals were shaky and could have
been improved with more time.

18. How well did your project apply the characteristics
and conventions of the medium you worked in?
Some of the characteristics of television adverts that I followed were having a title screen at the
end, a slogan, voiceover and music. These features show that the video is an advert. I could have
added a couple more conventions to improve it such as including prices and giving more
information for players. I could have also shows more in game footage as this is what would compel
somebody to buy the game. The music that I got from garage band sounded like it could be related
to the Harry Potter films without actually using any of the official Harry Potter music. I think that
was important for a video that is advertising a game about Harry Potter as the music is an important
and recognizable feature of the films. The voice over also helps to describe the game in more detail
and offers context to go alongside the visuals. This is important in adverts as it is crucial to selling a
product.

19. How did you design appeal to your target
audience?
Harry Potter is a franchise that it popular amongst younger people so it is a good way to engage
with the target audience of 18-24 year olds. I made sure that the design of the app and video were
inspired by the Harry Potter films and books. This means that it would appeal to this target
audience. I made sure to include monsters from the series in the game like Aragon, Dementors and
the pixies. I also created the app design to look like the book covers which would appeal to the book
fans. I also added features that would appeal like spell casting.
Another way that I appealed to the age audience was creating a rewards system from playing them
game. In general, younger people won't have as much money especially because the majority of the
18-24 year age group will be students. Giving discounts for shops and restaurants will attract people
to the game and will encourage them to keep playing to improve their progress. It would also make
a visit to York more appealing because travel is expensive which will be why young people don’t visit
often.

20. How did you design appeal to your target
audience?
This app will also appeal to the target audience as the tour is completely digital. I built the tour into
the game meaning that it is geared towards younger people who will prefer to use their phones for
convenience. People of this age won’t get their information from brochures and will prefer to have
all their information in one place on their phone. It is also a tour that is built into the game features
meaning that it would be more attractive to younger people who might not be as interested in the
historical side of York. It means they can see the sights in York whilst being entertained by a game.
I also took a lot of inspiration from the books and films to make the design of the advert and App.
This was to make sure that it would appeal to the Harry Potter fans who are also the target
audience for this project. I made sure that the colour scheme felt related to a Harry Potter and
made the app design look like the book covers. I also made the colours in the advert look darker
which suits the colour tone of the films.

21. Analysis
In this section, you will focus on the details of the project and make
sense of what happened in the project. You should demonstrate how
your decisions informed the project development and the success of the
outcome.

22. In what ways was the overall project a
success?
I think that the production showed what the app is and how it is played successfully. I also think that
the links to York have been clearly established and the AR features of the game are well presented. I
think that the designs for the monsters clearly show what they are and I like the way I animated
them on adobe Aero. I think that the overall concept of the game was strong and well thought out
meaning that I had a lot that I could include in the production. I didn’t feel like there wasn't enough
to do and there was always more ways that I could improve or make things better. This was helped
by my thorough research from the beginning which helped me come up with lots of ideas and
assisted me with the project.

23. What elements did not go well and why?
• I wanted to make the video advert look like the character was walking inside of the in game map. I
tried to create lines on the ground that look like map features and also wanted to have the names
of shops appear around her as she walked. I feel like both of these features ended up looking
strange in the video and weren’t as effective as I had hoped. The letters were quite shaky and the
lines weren’t very noticeable. There was also a scene where I didn’t manage to create the lines
successfully so I had to leave them out. It was difficult using photoshop to create this design as
they had to be very specific to the proportions in the video.
• I also tried to do an animated progress section for the app design video. This ended up looked
very bad as I couldn’t decide on the colour scheme and the animation didn’t work. I decided to
leave it out the video because I feel like it would have ruined it.
• I could have made sure to give myself more time to include more features in the final advert. I
feel as though I had lots of strong ideas from the beginning but ended up not having enough time
to show everything.
• I think that the voiceover could be improved. I could have recorded it on a better microphone
and taken a bit more time to edit it on Adobe Audition.

24. How did your skills develop during the portfolio? [remember,
skills aren't just technical, remember things like organisation,
time management, communication, etc as well]
• I think that my research skills have improved during this project. I did more detailed planning that
assisted with my project and helped me know what features to include in the game.
• My planning skills also improved during this topic as I carried out more detailed scheduling and
made sure to stick to my plan. This meant that I could stay on top of the project and gave me
enables me to finish the project in the time given.
• I also learned new skills using Adobe Aero. I learned how to upload and animate my own images
that I had created in photoshop.
• This project also gave me a few opportunities to practice problem solving skills as I had
unexpected technical difficulties that I had to work around. This meant using new software to
create app designs.
• I Expanded my photoshop skills as I made a lot of the assets on photoshop and also had to use
the paintbrush and smudge tool to create monster designs. This was quite challenging at first and
I had to have a lot of confidence to trust the process. I also used photoshop to do some
animations for the app design which helped me get more practice.

25. What feedback did you get from your peers
and viewings?
Maria: I like that the Harry Potter theme works well with the city as It
relates with York. I thought you used good locations to show this
connection like in The Shambles. I like that you have also filmed in the
known places in York like the York Mister because it shows in the advert
that this is a tour of York and not just a Harry Potter game. I also liked
the way you edited the location points onto the video.
My main point for improvement would be the Audio. I thought that the
voiceover quality wasn’t good enough and it sounded off in some parts.
Having a good voiceover is important as it helps to dsecribe the
product.

26. What would you do differently in the future
and why?
• I would experiment with all of the software that I might use before starting production. This
would give me the chance to familiarize myself with new software so that I can use it for
production. It would also give me time to plan ahead incase it requires certain footage. I would
also be able to find alternative software incase there is an issue with something.
• I would also try and film at earlier time when town is quieter to avoid the busy streets. I found
that a lot of my shots got ruined because of this and required me to refilm footage at later times. I
would make sure to think of these things in advance and take it into consideration so that there
are no issues, and I can use my time more efficiently.
• I would take some more time to animate the app to show how the game looks when someone is
actually playing. This would show off my concept a lot better as I feel that I had a lot of ideas for
the game that didn’t get shown in the final concepts.

27. What knowledge have you gained that would help you in the
future to improve your project? Also, what knowledge from
academic literature and professionals has helped and why?
In this project I complete thorough research that was a lot more detailed than previous projects.
This helped me a lot with plannings as the information I found out during the research helped a lot
with my project. It gave me lots of ideas meaning that I could complete good plannings as I had a lot
to include. This has helped me learn how to research properly which will be helpful for future work.
I have also learned how to use a couple of new programs like Figma and Adobe Aero along with
additional practice using Adobe Audition. This will broaden my opportunities in future projects as I
will have less restrictions with more possibilities. A lot of projects will require new software in order
to keep options open. I think that Adobe Aero will be useful as I will possibly use it for my FMP.

28. Action Plan
This section will identify what you would do differently in the future and
identify ways you could develop.

29. If you were making a similar project in the
future, what would you do differently?
• I would make the video longer to show off the features in a bit more detail. I had a lot more ideas
for the app that I wanted to show but didn’t make it into the final concept
• I would plan what software I will be using in advance with backups for if it doesn’t go right. This
will give me the opportunity to practice before hand and make sure everything is working.
• I would go to filming locations before production days to assess the best times and places to film
in. This would make production a lot easier and would help things to run smoother.
• I would do more video experiments to get practice with software before starting production. This
can help reduce stress when production starts as I would already be confident with how I can
complete the project.
• I would spend some more time on the audio, specifically the voiceover to make sure it's better
quality.

30. How could you develop your skills for future projects? Please
identify the appropriate resources and courses. For example,
webpages, tutorials, books, short courses and qualifications.
For the future I could spend more time working with adobe Aero. I thought that was a good app and
would like to go into more detail about how I can make better projects with it. I think it can give a
lot of potential to create some really interesting work as there is a lot you can do. It would allow me
to have a similar concept for future projects . I could start by watching some more advanced
tutorials and get more practice in my spare time. I could see if I can create some things with more
detail and create some more complicated animations. I know that there were a lot of other features
available on the app that I didn’t use for this project so I would like to see how else I can use this
App.
I could also look at some books that could help me develop better filming skills. This could help me
learn a lot of information about video making that I would otherwise not know. Reading can be a
good way to help improve skills and would help me in the future.

31. What personal attributes could you develop to
ensure you are working at a professional level?
I would make sure to work on time management to ensure that all my projects are completed to its
fullest potential. I need to make a detailed plan and make sure to stick to it throughout the whole
project. I find that I often start to go off the schedule and towards the end of the project I work at
my own pace. This means that certain parts may get rushed at the end so planning is important to
avoid this.
I would also like to give myself more time to familiarize myself with new software so that I can
create high quality products in production. If I had more time to practice with adobe Aero I might
have been able to create the monsters with more detail and interesting animations. Before future
tasks I should plan out all the software I will need to use and experiment with new ones before
starting production.
I could also carry out more audience research by creating questionaries and surveys to give to the
target audience. This would allow me to collect more specific data for my project and could have
given me an indicator as to what people from the target market are looking for.