Unit 30: Task 4 - Reflection on my Advert

Reflection on work

The process of making my advert started at the start of the Christmas season, I underwent several idea changes when I formed the group before finally settling on the Christmas Magic campaign using a cover of the song Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. The idea came to me when listening to the song as opposed to another member of the group who had to find a song to go with their idea. The ideas are all linked by the same slogan/tagline and a red present. Once we had pitched our ideas we started developing them, I was going to be the first person filming as the children who would be featured in my advert were only available to me at that weekend.

To film my advert I used my own house and my grandparents’ house therefore I ensured I had location agreements as well as the appropriate artist release forms for adults and children. During the pre-production process I learnt about the restrictions that are put in place for filming with children and I ensured that I took note of this and used the restrictions when filming. The restrictions specify how much time a child can spend on set and the breaks they are required to have – this changes based on age. For the filming process I had to do a solo shoot, meaning that I was the director and camera operator which was not too challenging, but what did pose problems was when I was setting up scenes using lighting – it would have been easier if I had had an assistant director for this however I used my dad to help. Another point where I required the help of my whole family was the last scene of the day where all of the outdoor lights needed turning on at once – I operated the camera while my family operated the switches. A problem I encountered when filming was the children I used, at first I wanted to use the younger child as the main little girl however she could follow direction as much as the older one, this was the main issue that caused problems throughout the day – they are not actors and had not acted or performed before. A problem that I originally thought was worse than it has turned out to be was the magic wand that became a finger pointer; I managed to fix this into looking more like a magic wand during post-production.

My advert has gone through 3 edits, the first being very different to the second and third, as after receiving my first focus group feedback I made noticeable changes, this first being changes to the song – I used a different part of the song so that the chorus came in earlier and the lyrics could be heard more, this has caused some problems as now the editing does not go completely to the song and lyrics. I added a lens flash in Premiere Pro to emphasise the magic taking place – this was something that many people brought up during the focus group. Using the lens flare was particularly difficult; I started by watching a video on YouTube that explained how to use the effect and how to change the position of it on screen. I used the lens flare when the magic wand created magic and helped make the advert more smooth and fluent with the jumps from the magic looking less obvious. In the third and final edit I made the advert shorter and did the finalising such as making sure the flash comes on and lasts the appropriate time. I added a soft light filter to help take the sharpness off the scenes at the start.

I could not help out at Matty’s production however he had the help of Kane and Danniella, this was because it was being filmed in his house in Ingleby Barwick and I could not arrange transportation. For Danniella’s advert we were filming in Stockton high street and at Norton Christmas tree, her son Bradley was going to feature in the advert and my role on set was to keep him as happy and comfortable as possible – this did not work too well. He was quite uncooperative and got very upset meaning it was incredibly hard to get any useable footage. Kane’s advert was filmed on a weekend in Norton however I could not attend as I was working.

Overall, I am quite pleased with my finished advert – there are some shots that I do not like, however cannot be changed without a full reshoot being needed. I think the overall advert would seem better if the people I’d used were actors and were more comfortable in front of the camera.  The advert clearly shows the tagline and the logo of John Lewis at the end and looks very much like the original, but it isn’t because I made it myself, and the overall advert reflects the brand very well and fits in with the previous John Lewis adverts.