What am I hoping to achieve in your skills development?

Below is a summary of what I am hoping to achieve in my A2 coursework in the 5 key areas I shall be assessed on. 

Digital Technology

Digital technology shall help me capture my ideas for my production in many ways. One of the most vital pieces of technology shall be camera work which I wish to develop from AS to show improvement. The use of camera equipment shall then help me capture my ideas for my television advert. Voice recording equipment will then aid me in recording my ideas for my radio advert along with any voiceovers I may want to use during my television advert or sponsorship sequence. Finally, editing software will also be integral in order to help me piece together my work making it flow and make sense. As well as help me combine any camera work with voice recordings or sound effects. Therefore, this shall help me achieve my goal at creating a more sophisticated and technical piece of coursework which provides evidence to show how I've become more confident with using digital technology individually and developed my individual skills in the area too. 

Creativity

I would like to achieve an original and unique advert that shall capture the audiences attention as this is a crucial conventions of this particular task. Therefore, I shall have to show creativity throughout the planning process in order to ensure my ideas and unique and not too similar to something that already exists. Moreover, I shall also have to show creativity in the production process to ensure I capture my ideas in the most effective way as well as the post-production process. This is because I shall have to ensure I piece together my work in an original and creative manor. Thus, in order to do this I shall seek the help of technology to help me capture my ideas imaginatively. Overall, I plan to show that my ability to think and produce creatively has developed as I have moved from AS to A2.

Research and Planning

Firstly, I shall have to research into the different types of advertisements as well as the codes and conventions. This shall aid my planning and make sure I create an advert that is unique but still corresponds with a number of typical conventions. After completing my research I shall start the planning process where I shall use a number of pre-production planning techniques. I have already completed a mind map of some ideas and pathways I could undertake for my advert as this has started to help me focus on more specific planning ideas. After this I shall also have to script my adverts to help gain a sense of narrative. Storyboarding was an extremely helpful process during my AS coursework therefore, I shall use this again because it gives me my first visual representation of how my adverts can may look. In addition, it also helps to play around with sequencing and narrative to see how small changes can affect the overall piece. Before, filming I shall also create  shot-list because I found this very useful in my AS coursework as it helped me organise and plan exactly which shots I needed to film on that day as well as which order they needed to be filmed in to create continuity. Hence, through my AS work I have learnt the importance of research and planning and I shall use this in my A2 coursework to improve the overall quality of my work. 

Post-Production

Most of my text shall be created during the production process such as the filming and recording of material however, the editing of it together and some of the effects of this shall be created during the post-production stages. Adobe Premiere Pro shall then help me edit my coursework including both my television adverts and my sponsorship sequence. After this I shall have to use a sound software such as Logic 9 for my radio advert. Thus, this is an example of how I shall use sound during my coursework. Moreover, I shall have to use sound through sound effects for my television adverts too to ensure the quality of sound is to a good standard. 

Using conventions from real media texts

In order to ensure my advert sticks to the correct codes and conventions I shall research how they are used in real media texts. For example, I have already noticed some similarities between adverts of different brands but similar products using conventions in a similar way. For instance, perfume and aftershave adverts are all very similar as they contain many close up shots and similar themes. Although I shall need to stick to many of the codes and conventions to provide the audience with familiarity, I may want to divert from some in order to create a sense of variance making my adverts unique. 

Codes and Conventions of Radio Advertising

Each medium has different codes and conventions therefore, I will need to understand the codes and conventions of each individual medium in order to create my own adverts effectively. This is because each has a different look, a different method of communication and a different purpose. 

• Approximate length of 30 - 40 seconds
• Voiceover narrating what the product is (outline only)
• Voiceover asks questions that can be answered in relation to the product
• Mention where the product is sold
• Slogan of the product
• Sometimes humour in the script
• Usually the volume of the voiceover gets louder in the middle and then fades out towards the end
• Majority of the time it's women who do the voiceovers however, this may depend on the product and target audience
• Poses rhetorical questions to the audience to make them think
• Occasionally a music bed will be used (music will be played in the background behind the voiceover. 

Knowing and understanding these typical codes and conventions of radio adverts will now help me to plan and construct ideas about what I can create for my radio advert. 

Codes and Conventions of TV Advertisements

When making my TV commercial I shall have to follow the technical codes and conventions hence, to ensure I do this I have researched some of the codes and conventions I may have to follow. 

TV commercials are divided into 4 basic categories:

1. Mini-Dramas: this is a 30-60 second length ad that introduces characters, presents a conflict and the resolution very quickly.

2. Spokesperson Presentation: in this type of ad a celebrity speaks in a convincing way about the product.

3. Pitch Presentation: in this type of ad, the product is more important than the person who is speaking, so the pitchman is just a man or woman that speaks about the product.

4. Voice-over: in voice over adverts, the person who is speaking is not seen in the ad, so you just hear his/her voice.

One important thing I must consider when creating my advert is it's length. Usually they are 30 seconds long, but recently there have been some that are 15 seconds long which make a big compression of the story line to grab the audience's attention.

Another purpose of adverts is to show the brand that is being advertised, and there are a lot of ways I could do this for example, a technique commonly used is showing the brand at the end as a surprise.

An advert must have good techno-effects because with a good special-effect you remember the ad, and with that, you remember the brand and the product. Therefore, I shall to attempt this during my advert to make a good impression on the audience/consumer. So good music and good camera shots are basic things I should include to create a good advert.

Many people consider ads like an art form, they are in essence, little films with a lot of work behind them. Thus, this is something I must consider during the planning process as it shall consist of a lot of work and time.

Nowadays, adverts are part of our current life and some ads become so famous that everyone remembers them. Therefore, something I must remember throughout the planning process is to attempt to create something that is simple but effective and shall catch an audience's attention. 

Types of Advertising

Virtually any medium can be used for advertising. However, the three main forms of advertising lie under TV commercials, Radio adverts and Online advertising. 

TV Commercial

TV commercials are generally considered to be the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial time during popular TV events. The annual Superbowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached US$3.5 million (as of 2012). Some television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners soon relate to the product.
Infomercials:
An infomercial is a long-format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer. The main objective is to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then immediately buys the product through the advertised phone number or website. Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their features.

Radio advertising

Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. While radio has the limitation of being restricted to sound, proponents of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage. Radio is an expanding medium that can be found not only on air, but also online. According to Arbitron, radio has approximately 241.6 million weekly listeners, or more than 93 percent of the U.S. population.

Online advertising

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and the World Wide Web for the purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Online ads are delivered by an ad server. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads that appear on search engine results pages, banner ads, in text ads, Social networking advertising and e-mail marketing.

In my coursework, I will have to create 2 TV commercials and one radio adverts thus, this research shall help me in my understanding of the basics of each form of advertising. Therefore, allowing me to now go on to focusing on the specific codes and conventions of these particular advertising techniques. 

What is Advertising?

Advertising is a form of communication for marketing which is used to encourage, persuade or manipulate an audience to take some new action. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media including:

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• TV commercials
• Radio Advertisement
• Billboards

or new media such as;

• Blogs
• Websites
• Text messages.

Commercial advertisers use 'branding' to aid their persuasion. This involves associating a product name or image with certain qualities in the consumers mind. Moreover, some advertisers state there is an advertising theory known as the Hierarchy effects model. The model suggests that there are 6 steps a consumer moves through when making a purchase. These are:

1. Awareness

2. Knowledge

3. Liking

4. Preference

5. Communication

6. Purchase

This means that the advert should contain a message that leads the consumer to a desired end state ie. wanting them to buy/use your product/service. 

Production Brief

My chosen production brief:

'An advertising package for a new product or service to include two TV adverts, a sponsorship sequence and a radio advert. '