Final Promotional Video - Client Review

This is a short video to promote Art Alert to people of all generation and let them know who they are, what they do, and the benefits of joining the incredible organisation that is Art Alert. Also there is a trailer for a DVD that Art Alert have produced, archiving the memories of those who had the pleasure of experiencing The Co-op Hall in Nuneaton. 

Final Promotional Video 

Evaluation Unit 32 and Unit 6

I met up with Mick Dabrowski, my client, who looked at and reviewed the promotional video that I edited for him. Mick made several positive and constructive points about my video. He was happy overall with the final video, commenting on the good quality of the editing "you really have a good eye for editing" is one of the comments he made that stood out to me. Also he said that he liked the music section the best, and that he liked the fast past of the editing; however the cuts could be sharper.

The Planning Process

Before I could start any work on a promotional video I needed to know what my client wanted from the production. To do this I met up with my client and asked him to fill out a questionnaire. As the questionnaire didn’t cover all the technical aspects of what the client wanted from the promotional video, we had a conversation to discuss these. I wrote down what he wanted from the video and also recorded the interview. I feel that by provided both a questionnaire for my client to fill out and discussing the production with him in more detail allowed me to create a rough idea and outline to the video, as well as obtaining more than enough information so that I would be able to create a video that my client will be happy with.

To begin with I started by reviewing all the footage that my client had provided. By doing this I would not only gain ideas and structure to my promotional video but I would also know what footage I wanted to use, cutting down the time it would take to edit. When watching the footage I wrote down the name of the clips I wanted to use, the time sequence of the sections from the clip and what was said during this section. I did this for all of the footage. From my first meeting with Mick I knew that he wanted the promotional video to be separated into sections; he didn’t specify what he wanted the different section to be so I decide to separated the video by common topics that I picked up on when watching the footage. These topics were: the beginning, where I would include comments about what the coop hall looked like, how people felt about the place, being there and the people there; the fashion, including comments about the male and female clothing, shoes and hair styles; the music; and finally the end. The end topic was split into two sections; the first talking about the accident on the stairs and the second, talking about their feelings about the closing and demolition of The Coop Hall.

I found that didn’t want to use all of the clips, so I created a new folder and dragged only the clips I was going to use into this folder, and then place this onto my desktop. By separating the footage that I wanted to use from the footage that I didn’t saved me time when editing as I didn’t need to troll through footage that I wouldn’t use.

To make the editing process even more efficient, before I started editing in Adobe Premiere Pro I opened a new project and named several sequence within this project to organise my work further (see Planning post for more detail). 

When reviewing my planning process I feel that if I were to have renamed every clip I used (for example “The Pinkertons – It’s a shame to see it go) I would have been able to save more time, due to me not having to keep listening to the clip, or trying to find what the clip said from my written log. Instead I would have known instantly what clip I was working on, and my editing process would have been more efficient and allowing me to receive my clients opinions in enough time to make any changes to the final promotional video.

The Editing Process

I feel that my planning before hand was at a good enough standard that I could start editing straight away. I knew what clips I wanted to follow another, I knew what interviews I wanted to use and had written specific times from these clips that I wanted to include. Also I had found all the photos/pictures that I wanted to use when researching The Coop Hall in more detail. By doing all of this before hand when it came to editing I was able to get through it quickly.

I feel that when it came to editing I needed everything to be organised and by adding sequences within my premier window I feel that I was able to work fast and efficiently to get the video finished in time for my client to view, review and tell me any changes that he would like done to it. By reviewing the clips provided before I had even begun editing and writing down the clips and sequences I wanted to include also help to organise my work and help me generate ideas.

Editing this piece together was different from any previous editing I had done as I was working to a client brief – although the client was flexible and not to worried if I didn’t stay to the brief, I wanted to stick to it as much as possible.

When editing the promotional video together I came across the following problems:

-       Trying to isolate a sentence, word or comment was difficult

-       Deleting sequences that I wanted to keep (didn’t go/make Vid to long)

-       Creating the boards

(All of the previous are explain in more detail below)

The Editing

The constructive comment that Mick made about the cuts needing to be sharper was a general comment that he made throughout the video. When I was editing the video together I found that a lot of the time people talked over one another or that peoples words seemed to merge together, so when trying to isolate one comment or sentence I found it hard, without managing to include the start of the next word. However I didn’t want to cut the interviewee short in what they were saying. When speaking to Mick about this he told me that he would rather they were cut short and the end of a word missed rather than the next word heard. He said that doing it this way sounded better as you could still get the gist of what was being said. So with this in mind I went through the whole promotional video and cut the clips down frame by frame to achieve the outcome that my client wanted. Listening back over it myself I found that by cutting each clip this way did make the video cleaner and have a more professional sound and feel to the final video. Once Mick came back in to review the video again he said that the cuts were a lot cleaner and he preferred the video this way.

Art Alert Section/Interviews

This was the section I filmed by myself. I thought that it would be a good idea to promote not only the final DVD, but also Art Alert themselves, who they are and what they do. The arranging of where and when to conduct the interview was an easy process. I asked my clients when they were free as my schedule was very flexible. When they were happy with a date and time we then arranged a suitable location – Joanne’s home. I had been here often and knew that it would be a nice place to shoot the interview and would fit in nicely with the interviews Mick had given me (see previous post Art Alert).

The footage as a whole I was not pleased with. Trying to conduct this interview on my own was hard; having to control and monitor two cameras, asks questions and maintain visual and verbal contact with the interviewees. Because of this, my interview had a few mistakes. There were two major ones. One. The footage from the left camera is out of focus, an issue that I only noticed when going to edit the footage together. Two. The right camera was set on auto focus, and can be heard and seen focusing during the beginning of the clip, before I realised and turned it off. Another problem that occurred was that the left camera stopped after a few minutes, luckily the right camera continued to run, and when I noticed I simply pressed record again.

Audio problem. This was just a slight problem that has not hindered the interview footage outcome to any extent. I decided not to use the zoom microphone, as where I planned to film was very quite with not background noise. When looking over the footage, what was being said was audible however I noticed that it was quieter than the audio of the interviews conducted by mick. I feel that this is not a huge problem, as this footage is not being cut together with any clips with louder audio so it will not be noticeable.

Mick came in and reviewed the footage from my Art Alert interview. He picked up on the same technically problems that I had and offered some helpful advise. Mick said that the out of focus footage isn't too bad, however I shouldn’t use it if I could help it, although if I was to slip a few second into the promotional video he feels that it wouldn't be that noticeable. Also his comments on the footage from the other camera, regarding the auto focus, was that I can just cut those parts out; they don't really interfere with what is being said. When I showed my client this he said that it was find, not too much out of focus and the footage can be easily zoomed in on to cut out any unwanted background. Finally Mick picked up on a problem that I had not noticed. He said that the lighting is off, and the two interviewees are in different levels of light. However, Mick offered a simply solution. He told me to zoom in on Joanne and Corine separately so that the light contrast will not be seen.

If my client were not happy with the footage however, I would have arranged another interview with Joanne and Corine. This time I would have brought three cameras set up one with a close up of Corine, the second with a close up of Joanne and the third a two shot. Also I would have somebody along with me to help with the cameras, as this time I felt that it was too much for me to do by myself – watch both cameras, ask questions, maintain eye contact and encourage the interviewees with what they were saying.

Deleting Footage

Although I had selected all the footage I wanted to use I found that when editing the promotional video together not all of the sequences fitted in with the rest of the video. Sometimes they didn’t look right with the rest of the images. For example one of the clips I wanted to use mentioned several bands that played at The Coop Hall, however a student that my client had worked with filmed this particular clip and as they had little practice with a camera before hand the focus was not on the interviewee but rather on the background. When seeing the clip in isolation the out of focus interview looked useable, however when I edited this clip alongside the other clips it stood out, as all the other interviews were in focus. So in the end I decided not to use this interview.

Another reason why I ended up deleting footage that I had selected was because it disrupted the flow of the rest of the promotional video. This problem occurred mainly with the sequences I had selected for the beginning and the end topics. Some clips that I thought would add to the production, sometimes didn’t and slowed the pace down.

Extended edit 

First of all I ended up editing together a 15 minutes long video. The client had no problem with this video being this long, however when reviewing it with him we came to the conclusion that this is not a promotion video, and doesn't get to the point quick enough. So I edited together a short video which was the length of 8 minutes 41 seconds, which we were both happier with. When reviewing this with my client we decided that this was a more suitable promotional video and that the one I had edited together previously, he would use as a basis for the final overall DVD that I am creating the promotional video for, and that a lot of what I had edited together previously for him will be used in the final DVD. 

I am glad that the first promotional video I had edited together would not be wasted, as I did really like the outcome of this video. However I didn't like the length of the first video and found it to be too long and like I have said before didn't fit the brief of a video 5-8 minutes long. When I had finished the second shorter promotional video I was a lot happier with the outcome and length. 

The Boards

From watching and analysing pre-existing promotional video I noticed that all of them had information at both the beginning and the end of the video. I feel that I have done this successfully, providing information to the audience about the DVD exhibition and Art Alert. The client was very happy with the idea of including boards and liked how they looked. I spent longer on the boards than I would have liked to, as I felt that this was not the main part of the promotional video. However this did not set me back too much in developing the promotional video. I feel that the final boards created fit in with the rest of the promotional video and help to bring it all together. My client was present for the creation of the boards and this made the process much easier. Previous to Mick being there I found it hard to find a font, style and colour for the boards that fitted in with the feel and topic of the promotional video. By Mick being present he was able to tell me what he wanted the boards to look like and what font and colours he wanted, making the final outcome of the boards exactly how my client wanted.

What Makes It A Promotional Video

 Codes and conventions for a promotional video include aspects such as interviews, from either people who were a main part in the products creation or customers who have purchased the product, be between 3-5 minutes long and show the product being used.

Applying these conventions to my own promotional video I feel that my video does what it’s suppose to. My video include both interviews from the people at Art Alert (Joanne and Corine) and from those who experienced The Coop Hall; my video isn’t between 3-5 minutes long, however my client is happy with the length of my final promotion video. Also from analysing other promotional videos i noted that some of them were longer than 5 minutes so I don’t feel that this is too much of an issue. By including a ‘trailer’ of the final DVD I feel that I have shown what Art Alert (the product) do.

Also by including contact details and dates of the DVD launch I feel that I am promoting Art Alert to it’s fullest, giving the audience sufficient information for them to be able to get in contact with and become apart of Art Alert.

Working With A Client

As I had never worked with a client before or to a client brief I was nervous. However the client was very pleasant and helpful along the way. The client and I arrange several meeting during the production process, which I feel was a good thing. It allowed me to get to know the client, making me feel more comfortable as I had not worked with a client before. Also I feel this made the production process easier because the client could make criticisms along the way that I could change easily.

Client Satisfaction and Meeting the Client Brief

During our first meeting with Mick Dabrowski we gave him a questionnaire to fill out, allowing us to create the promotional video to how the client wanted. To ensure that the final promotional video met all the requirements from this questionnaire I asked my client to fill in a second questionnaire, asking questions about the client’s satisfaction. (See Client Satisfaction Post, for questionnaire). The client told me that he was very happy with the outcome of both promotional videos that I created for him. Mick has also informed me that some of my editing will be included in the final DVD, which I am very happy about. Finally Mick has said that he would be more than happy to work with me again, which I am also very happy about. 

What I Have Learnt 

From this experience I have learnt that more than one crew member should be present when conducting interviews. This will allow the camera(s) to be monitored continuously and technical problems to be resolved straight away; whilst another crew member is communicating with the interviewees and encouraging them to tell there story - especially with people who are not used to being in front of a camera.

Overall I feel that my final promotional video was a success. The final product fitted in with the codes and conventions of a promotional video, and provided information for the audience to get in contact with Art Alert. I also feel that my video was a success because my client was happy with the final outcome. He gave me feedback and I was able to make the changes to the video that he wanted.

I feel that because I was not used to interviewing people and had never done it before that my own interview footage didn’t come out at the best quality. When interviewing the clients I didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable so wanted to complete the interview as quickly as possible, (as they had also never been interviewed before). Because of this reason, I forgot the do the simplest of things, like focus the camera properly, causing my footage, like I mention before, to be at a low quality.

What I will take from this experience is that it is always best to have somebody helping with the filming or simply being on set with you. I know have some experience in interviewing people so I will be able to have a better idea for the future, however if I am asked to interview somebody again, I will have somebody there who has interviewing experience so that the interview runs more smoothly.

I will also in the future name the clips that I am editing together; so that when it comes to editing I will know exactly what clip I want where without having to keep watching the clips. This will help my editing process be more efficient and because I would have done a shot long and storyboarded before I will know exactly what clips I want where; once again speeding up the editing process.

Finally, by doing these units I have been able to gain experience and practice with dealing and communicating with a client(s). Although my client this time allowed me to edit the promotional video to how I wanted it, I know that future clients may/will want a promotional video to be exactly how they want it. When listening the Jim Hickey, I have come to understand that you can only advise a client, however if they do not want to take this advise, you still have to complete the project how they want it.

Extended Edition