Evaluations

Process Evaluation

Throughout the planning process and client meetings there was no specific deadline that was introduced by the client or myself, I feel like this made the overall process difficult as client meetings and production dates were held off and neither myself or the client knew where we were in terms of the stage of the process. A lot of the time I was chasing my client to arrange meeting and production days without a reply, at the same time, trying not to bombard my client with emails. This worked to an extent as the client was still in contact but felt that not a lot of progress was achieved. In the end I went to the salon and spoke to my client in person to make sure they were still onboard and if they could arrange the production days in person. This worked out in the end and from arranging the production days the process was sped up. In the planning stage, I feel like I could have done a lot more in terms of storyboards, overall brainstorming and even look at a different prospective away from my original idea. Even though I didn’t plan much on paper, I did a lot of research into what was already out there on YouTube. This helped me develop my ideas further and finalise the style I wanted to follow as I already knew what I wanted the video to look like before I created the storyboards and briefed the client. I decided to create a basic storyboard incase I had to call in other crew members to help me and the show something visually in my thinking process. I also created a basic shot list, although this was due to change, as I knew from the start it would be difficult to get specific shots in an ever-changing working environment, unless I asked the client to stage certain shots. Due to the amount of time already wasted I wanted to get the project off the ground as soon as possible.

During the production process I asked for two filming days, one busy day and one quieter day. This was for two reasons; I wanted to make sure I captured the atmosphere of the salon on a busy day and get as many shots as I possibly could, but working on a quiet day would allow me to get more intricate shots without me being in the way. This worked well as I was able to get the shots I needed and the clients were happy with this idea.

The editing process and distribution was a quick turn over it took 2 weeks to edit the video altogether. I was faced with a few problems with the motion graphics however I was still determined to get the video to the client as soon a possible. The process of editing was particularly easy as I arranged the footage into days this made editing much efficient.

As a whole, the time of the process between the initial client email, to the distribution was a little too long. This was partly to do with the time of year which I first contacted the client as well as the fact there was no deadline introduced by the client or myself. Once the meetings were completed and the production days were introduced the project was completed in a space of 3 weeks; planning, production and editing. This made up for the lost time before getting the project off the ground. I have learned to keep in closer contact with my clients in the future as this speeds up the process a lot more.

Personal Evaluation

Throughout the whole process, I tried my best to be client friendly even at frustrating times, like when it was difficult to get a meeting time and date and the production dates arranged. During the planning process I was in constant contact with the client to ensure they were up to date with my plans and the project as a whole. After I finished my research and planning I devised a response brief to show the client what we discussed and what my plans were, this was useful as the client understood what I needed and what to expect as the end product. Although both my client and myself knew the plans I should have still created more planning documents to so that I could visualise my ideas as well if I needed to get people to help me during the production stage.

During the production dates I wanted to make sure customers in the salon were aware about what I was doing and to make sure they were comfortable whilst I was filming. I asked the customers for permission to film them before recording any footage as well as thinking ahead by asking stylists to explain what I was doing and arranging shots for me after telling them what I wanted to film. This was efficient as stylists already knew what I wanted to capture and took less time to shoot. As I knew before hand that some of the shot I planned to shoot, may not be possible on the day, I was quick on my feet to think what shots would work well and what I could use instead in the video.

In the editing process, I was eager in completing the video as soon as possible for the client. When editing the video I was still imagining ideas that would make the video stand out. After getting the basic edit together I experimented with cutting to the beat, I chose an interesting song which has a chill style but with an interesting drum beat, this became the foundation for my editing technique. As I continued to use this style the more it worked with the footage to give the overall look. For the motion graphics I decided I wanted to isolate the company logo, specifically the graphic swirl. I want to animate the swirl so I invested a lot of time into researching how to do it.

Throughout the whole project I have been hands on and enthusiast. I have shown commitment in completing the project for the client as soon as possible to a high standard. I’ve shown good client communication to the best of my ability as well as working well with customers at the salon, respecting their privacy by asking there permission first.

As I was working on the project on my own throughout, I feel I have done well to create a video for my client in a reasonable time frame and too a good standard. I was quick on my feet to sort out problems on the production days in terms of shots without any help and put a lot of time an effort into motion graphics and other finishing touches in the editing process.

Product Evaluation

The expectations for the video were a 60″ – 90″ video for a website and social media page. The video itself is exactly 60 seconds long which fits the desired length. The video needed to reflect that the salon is a high end, stylish and classy business which has a close relationship with brands such as GHD, Wella and System Professional. Before making the video I researched other salon promotional videos to see what was already out there. I decided to use similar techniques which salons the same hierarchy used in their video such as slow motion to give the high end look to video. I also went for the washed out colour grade look to lighten the video, this was an attempt to reflect a positive mood to the salon. I put my own spin on the video by cutting to the beat, I think this made the video more contemporary and gave a little contrast away from all the slow motion shots. I also included a couple of shots of the products which the salon sold and use, this was to demonstrate the relationship with the big brands. Looking back now I could have incorporated the company logos or asked the client for an idea how to represent the brands within the video, at the time however this felt the easiest and the best way as I didn’t want to heavily include the products as both myself and client felt it wasn’t as important. The target audience was very broad, the client suggested it being between 25 and 55 years old both male and female consumers. This made is particularly easy to hit the desired target audience. Aspects which stand out in fulfilling the outreach to this demographic are the music and the pacing which comes with the editing style. The music in particular is well chosen I feel, as it is a mixture between easy to listen to and carries an interesting beat. This worked well for the pacing and editing as I was able to cut to the beat which contrasts the slow motion throughout the video. The way I edited the video makes it user friendly as it doesn’t last a long time, as well as being visually interesting as the cutting to the beat catches the viewer by surprise. If I was going to plan to cut to the beat again, I would have used a more interesting shot to move into and also the camera movements weren’t particularly smooth either.

The motion graphics in this video at the start and end make also give the video a professional look. Having the motto on the end speaks directly to the audience and finishes the video off nicely. One minor issue with the motion graphics would be the quality of the animation of the swirl reveal as it isn’t symmetrical exactly nor does it have the same thickness curves which ruins the overall look. However the idea is there but could have been executed properly if I’d have given myself enough time.

The video as a whole does the job it intended, it is the correct length for audience engagement and reflects the business as a high end, modern salon. With more planning I could have filmed and used better shots for particular aspects of the video e.g. cutting to the beat. The colour grading is particularly well done as it gives a positive feel to the video. Most of the shots are chosen well and reflect the salon at its best. The shots throughout flow into one another which works well when using a lot of slow motion. If I was to create this video from scratch I would have adopted a left to right movement to all of my shots to make them link better. Also I would have tried to use normal speed shots or even speed ramps instead of it all being slow motion as at times it does feel to drag, it would do more so if the fast cuts weren’t in there.

Peer Group Comments

When I first showed my peers the video, one comment which they said to me was that “the video looks very professional…it looks like it’s been made by a production company”. This comment reflects my intentions of the video looking like it has a high production value as well as showing the salon as a classy and high end business.

Another comment I got was “the music works well for the video as it’s not too ‘in your face’ “. This was also a positive comment which I took onboard and respected as I spent a lot of time finding the right music for this particular project. I also had pressure from my client as an example video which I sent to her came back with the comment “the visuals were good, just the music sounds like porn”. This meant I had to get the music spot on.

Client Comments

In terms of client feedback, I showed the clients both in person and via email. Upon viewing the video for the first time the feedback I got back was very vague. I had a comment from one of my clients “It’s really good I love it” and from my other client “I really love” which was very positive. However, to measure the success of my video, in my client outreach email, I pointed out that a promotional video posted on social media had the potential to boost views and gain more people viewing their page. Before I made the video I looked to see what the viewing figures for their videos were. On average they were hitting between 300-400 views per video. After I distributed the video, they posted it within a couple of hours which was also a positive reaction. Within a week the video has gained 1.9K views 79 likes and 21 shares on Facebook. Compared to what the salon was getting beforehand this was a huge achievement, and which I am very proud of too.