When we were first thinking up the idea/s of our advertisement, we created a spider diagram to brainstorm all ideas we had. We expanded on all points put down on the spider diagram and we finally had three ideas, one of which would be chosen for our advertisement. We then decided to sketch the three ideas so that we could visualise what the advertisement would look like. This was very useful as it allowed us to rule out any ideas we thought we could not take out in real life or may have been difficult to do. Looking at all three sketches, we weighed up the negatives/positives and finally chose one idea.
We then decided to create a storyboard for the idea we were going to use so that we could visualise the advert for the first time. We brought this document with us when we were filming the advertisement so that we could refer back to it before each shot. This enabled us to stick to the plan and not go off track with the filming. If we did not take this document with us we would have forgot which part come next within the advertisement; as we had it with us we could look which part come next, the duration of the shot, the movement of the character/s, and the shot type. If we were to do this again, I feel we could have used more detail within the storyboard as it was very basic. With that said, it was still very useful to have and helped us film.
A shooting schedule was designed so that we could complete sections of the advertisement meeting certain deadlines. It enabled us to organise our time wisely and effectively complete the task. Upon creating the shooting schedule, we realised we would soon run into problems. First of all, we decided that there were several days which we could not film for certain reasons; the first reason was because of the weather. We were filming at a time when the weather was poor and it would rain on some days but we dry the next. We did not want to go to record in the rain as the equipment would become damaged and there would be risks regarding health and safety. Adding to this, the weather may have been good on some days although the cast/crew were unavailable due to plans already arranged. This means that filming was postponed to a later date to which all cast/crew were available to come.
We then, as we had our advertisement fully in mind, thought about the props/equipment needed. We did not want to spend too much money so we decided to create a budget. We thought about this document carefully as we did not want to spend over the budget, although we did not want to purchase cheap equipment that would not work either. As we thought about it, we realised we already had most equipment so did not need to spend a lot of money. We had a camera (Nikon p500), tripod, a costume, bow and arrow. We did, however, have to purchase 2 more costumes from an online store which were rather pricey (around £25 each), and a packet of Polos. We stuck to the budget we originally planned and this document was helpful in doing so.
We were finally ready to go film, although we decided to visit the location prior to filming to assess health and safety issues. This risk assessment document was helpful as it allowed our cast/crew to stay safe throughout filming. We decided to go when the weather was clear/dry as we were going to film in this same weather. As we could tell from the first look at the setting, there were branches on the floor which could have caused harm to the cast/crew. These branches were easy to move though and we cleared the floor very quickly. We took down other health and safety notes from the setting and we kept them in mind for when we would start filming. When we arrived at the setting on the day of recording, we again cleared the path in which we would record and made sure branches high above were also safe. This task was helpful as it allowed us to know wether we could use this setting or not use it if it was unsafe; if we did not check, we would have wasted a day as we would not have filmed in an unsafe environment.
As a group, we decided to create a call sheet to allow all cast/crew know what their role is within the creation of the advertisement. It also allowed all cast/crew to know what equipment they were responsible for and what the arrangement was in regards to meeting up. I feel that this document was useful as all cast/crew remembered what they were in charge of and all equipment/props were present at filming. This document was mainly used, though, to let the cast/crew know when and where they were meant to be on the day of filming. All people turned up on time and we could stick to the schedule and complete the advertisement in time. If people were late, it would mean that we would have to stay out longer and it would become darker; this would be a continuity error within the advertisement.
I feel that throughout the pre-production stage, the most useful documents we created were the sketches. I feel this way as they allowed us to visualise the advertisement and it enabled the actors to know what they were doing. If I was to just tell the actors what the advertisement was about, I feel that they would not have acted as well. We were able to refer back to this document throughout the planning/filming of the advertisement and it was very useful. As previously mentioned, I feel that we could have spent more time on these documents including more detail into them so that there were more frames to go by when filming. This would have enabled us to stick directly to a plan without having the improvise. We, also, could have had the dialogue written down so that the actors could have rehearsed the lines. With that said, it was a very useful document and was a big help throughout all parts of the planning/filming.
We were finally ready to go film, although we decided to visit the location prior to filming to assess health and safety issues. This risk assessment document was helpful as it allowed our cast/crew to stay safe throughout filming. We decided to go when the weather was clear/dry as we were going to film in this same weather. As we could tell from the first look at the setting, there were branches on the floor which could have caused harm to the cast/crew. These branches were easy to move though and we cleared the floor very quickly. We took down other health and safety notes from the setting and we kept them in mind for when we would start filming. When we arrived at the setting on the day of recording, we again cleared the path in which we would record and made sure branches high above were also safe. This task was helpful as it allowed us to know wether we could use this setting or not use it if it was unsafe; if we did not check, we would have wasted a day as we would not have filmed in an unsafe environment.
As a group, we decided to create a call sheet to allow all cast/crew know what their role is within the creation of the advertisement. It also allowed all cast/crew to know what equipment they were responsible for and what the arrangement was in regards to meeting up. I feel that this document was useful as all cast/crew remembered what they were in charge of and all equipment/props were present at filming. This document was mainly used, though, to let the cast/crew know when and where they were meant to be on the day of filming. All people turned up on time and we could stick to the schedule and complete the advertisement in time. If people were late, it would mean that we would have to stay out longer and it would become darker; this would be a continuity error within the advertisement.
I feel that throughout the pre-production stage, the most useful documents we created were the sketches. I feel this way as they allowed us to visualise the advertisement and it enabled the actors to know what they were doing. If I was to just tell the actors what the advertisement was about, I feel that they would not have acted as well. We were able to refer back to this document throughout the planning/filming of the advertisement and it was very useful. As previously mentioned, I feel that we could have spent more time on these documents including more detail into them so that there were more frames to go by when filming. This would have enabled us to stick directly to a plan without having the improvise. We, also, could have had the dialogue written down so that the actors could have rehearsed the lines. With that said, it was a very useful document and was a big help throughout all parts of the planning/filming.
I feel that the least useful document, although still quite useful within planning this advertisement, was the call sheet. I feel this way as we did not really follow this document when going to film. We had it in mind, although some cast/crew did not have any props/equipment to bring where others had to bring a lot. This was due to some cast/crew already owning props/equipment so they brought their own items. We tried to stick to times on this document although it was altered to make sure everyone met up at the same time. I feel though that this document was still helpful, it was just not as important as other documents. I feel that we still would have had all equipment/props and met up at the same time without completing this document as there were only 3 of us.
To conclude, if I was to take out this project again I would spend more time on the pre-production process; I would include more detail into the overall documents so that each aspect of the filming was defined more clearly. This would mean no confusion at all, whereas we did have some with certain shots and meeting times. I feel that if I had spent more time on these documents, the overall quality of the advert would be increased as we could constantly refer to the documents which would have been thought about carefully. I am pleased, however, with the advertisement and I strongly feel that these pre-production documents helped throughout the task.
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