Analysing Promotional Video- Jasmine Lee Photography

The next promotional video I will be analysing is Jasmine Lee Photography's 2013 promotional advert, produced by Lorimerworks.

Jasmine Lee Photography is a small-time wedding and lifestyle photography company stationed in San Fransisco, California. I have chosen to analyse this business because it provides insight into a smaller organisation and how they deploy and mix various promotional techniques to create a successful promotional video as opposed to larger businesses such as Apple.
Because Jasmine Lee Photography targets less of a mass market than Apple's promotional advert; one of the requirements their promotional video would be expected to fulfil is catering to a more niche audience interested in photography with the California-styled theme the organisation operates their business around.
The video begins with visuals of the company's work being displayed, a voiceover describing the photographer's experiences whilst exploring the art of photography.
Around the 30th second mark, the narrator says "I'm Jasmine Lee and I'm a wedding photographer". At this point; a logo of her business appears over blurred footage, to pull the audience's focus. This is done this way to create a brand image. Now when a member of audience is presented with the logo or hear the name Jasmine Lee, they are more likely to associate it with her business, whilst creating a mellowed brand reputation. I believe that this technique is implemented early in the promotional video as the audience's attention wanders as time drags on by, and so this emphasises the importance of getting in the message through quickly.

Client Requirements & Specified Audiences

For my King Edward VI College promotional video, I was required to produce a film that realises client requirements in relation to pre-specified audiences. My target audience for this production was students in the local area wishing to further their education past GCSEs, and their parents/guardians.
In lease with the client, I was given had brief meetings, I took notes on the type of production they were looking for and I was given post-production feedback. An screenshot of the written feedback in correlation to the production can be found below:

To cater the promotional video to its target audience, I deliberately encoded various techniques. One of these was using a hip-hop soundtrack for non-diegetic sound, this is also the first thing the audience will take note on. The production was created in this way because I believe that it automatically, subconsciously soothes the audience by exposing them to sounds adolescent teenagers are familiar with.

Camera & Lighting Health & Safety

For Unit 30- Camera & Lighting Techniques, I was required to display an understanding of the Rembrandt, Butterfly and Rim/Edge lighting techniques; showing a instructions on how to achieve these and short demonstrations of each of these techniques.
Obviously health and safety precautions were respected to ensure the safety of all stakeholders of was maintained.
In the photography studio, various health and safety standards had to be abided. One of these ensuring that before moving the lights, that they were off and cool to avoid blinding and/or burning anyone affected by the production.
We also ensured that cables and leads either taped or out of the way to reduce the tripping hazard caused by them.
In addition to this we also made sure that even in a darkened photography studio room, that the exits were clearly visible. This allowed us to stay alert in the of case of a fire breaking out in the college.
The last health and safety precaution we took in the studio was making sure that the actors/actresses in front of the lights and cameras stayed adequately hydrated. Being in front of the lights exposes them to higher, more concentrated heat and thus could have lead to dehydration. To counter this, we had drinks and water readily available for anyone to drink in the studio.

Outside the studio, the public also becomes a stakeholder in the production, and thus their health and safety must also be taken into account. To ensure their safety precautions we took included having to be more aware of the public. For example when we recorded in public as a group, we would have one person who would be the designated 'lookout' for incoming pedestrians, alerting the rest of the group or kindly warning the people that filming is taken place at this location.
Lastly when capturing tracking or handheld shots, the camera-person's view becomes limited. This is not safe as the camera-person will not be able to see where they are going; potentially injuring others or themselves. To counter act this problem, we would delegate the task of being the hypothetical 'eyes' of the camera-person to someone else within the group.

Film Studies Production Evaluation

Now that I have completed Unit 11- Film Studies; looking back I believe that there were three areas that I should have worked on to improve the quality of my work for this unit.
One aspect I should have conducted differently is perhaps working as part of a team of three/four members. However, I decided to work on my production individually as this ensured I would have full creative control. The drawback of this method was that I had to handle the whole workload by myself. This slowed down the process of filming, editing, planning, etc. If I was given re-do this task, I would draft myself into a group, working on the editing aspect of the production as this is where I believe I was strongest.
Another aspect that would be conducted differently is spending more time on my production. Starting on my production late hindered the amount of time I was able to spend on it, and isolating myself by working individually did not help to rectify this shortcoming. The production feels a bit rushed because I was unable to spend as much time on it as I would have hoped.
The last aspect I would improve if given the chance to re-do this assignment is focusing on one  psychoanalysis theory to apply to my film production instead of trying to apply all three. Next time I would focus on Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory as I feel I had a better understanding of this theory than the Freudian and Lacanian Psychoanalysis Theories.

KEGS Promotional Video

Analysing Music Videos- Splash & Cash

The second music video I will be analysing is Splash & Cash; a collaboration by R6 and ST of 67, and Bis and MizorMac of Harlem Spartans. Splash & Cash follows a combination of the performance and concept music video styles in my opinion. I believe this because the music video does show conventions of performance, such as it correlates with the lyrics in some moments and it does contain lip syncing. However in other instances It only lingers around the gang theme, but does not contain visuals to back up the lyrics.

The music video starts off with a hooded man sitting on top of a basketball hoop on in an estate block park. This is a method of intimidation, a common theme shared in UK trap music; which centres around gang activities and road life.
The lyrics heard at the 18 second mark say 'Move to then splash them youts'. Which translates to stalk and kill their opponent. This is backed by the music video which presents the audience with a clip of a gang member standing alongside a bike. Push bikes have become prominent in gang related crime scenes as their speed and ability to easily manoeuvre around areas such as alleys has been incorporated into drive/ride by assaults. This is also links to the proverb 'No Face, No Case'. If they cannot be seen committing these crimes, they are not likely to face charges.