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Magic Matt's Milk Advert Evaluation
Note - The video on the right is the final version
Overview
To begin this evaluation, I will briefly explain the narrative of the advertisement. The opening scene begins with a point of view shot, taken from inside a fridge. This shot captures the action of Matt placing a glass of milk (implied to be the product) into the side compartment of the fridge. Upon closing the fridge, the scene goes dark. A time-stamp informs the viewer of the time, which has advanced by a few minutes. The fridge is opened again, this time another figure is seen removing the drink, while smiling in a manic way. Again, the scene goes dark, another time stamp informs the viewer that the time had advanced again by a few minutes. For the third and final time, the fridge is opened, this time Matt has returned, and he seemed shocked when he notices that his milk has been taken. In the second shot Matt is seen arriving outside. He asks Michael if he has seen his milk. Michael, in another shot, replies, claiming to not know where the milk is. He is clearly lying, as he is shown drinking the milk seconds before replying. Matt, looking confused, asks again. Michael is shown taking another sip, before saying "I have no idea where your milk is." This scene is meant to appeal to younger viewers, as the silly style of humor is easy to understand and is typical of children's programming. The aim is to entertain by being unpredictable. In the next sequence, Matt is shown entering the house and thinking to himself. His thoughts are displayed on screen, and shows that he is replaying the previous encounter in his head, in an attempt to work out the problem of the missing milk. After this sequence, the viewer is pulled out of Matt's head, as he comes to a realization. During this realization, Michael is seen in the background getting up and attempting to flee. In his attempt, he mis-judges his surrounding and clotheslines himself on the clothesline. Matt exits the house, en-route to confront Michael for a second time. Upon his exit, he notices Michael laying on the ground, so he rushes over to his aid. He asks Michael what happens, leaning in. Michael then ejects a mouthful of milk directly into Matt's face, then confesses to the theft. This shot fades into the final shot, which shows the product resting on a table, with a voice over narration saying "Magic Matt's Milk. Seriously Silly Stuff."
Analysis
At first glance, the advert may appear to be some kind of poorly acted, prime-time comedy skit, with slow, forced dialogue that seemed as if to have been thought up on the fly. You can imagine the viewers' response at the end when it is made out to be an advertisement, some claimed to be confused, while others thought it was hilarious. Although the advert is clearly not primarily aimed at my particular interests and demographic, I did at least find it somewhat entertaining and I felt that fit its purpose - capturing the slogan "Seriously Silly Stuff" quite well. Expanding more on what some viewers found it confusing; the narrative could have clearly benefited from more dialogue. In the scene where Matt leaves his flashback, there is no indication that he had come to a realization, simply saying Michael's name would have fixed this problem, or having a sequence where Michael confirms visually or verbally that he knows Matt is on to him. Because of this, the viewer is left confused as to why Matt leaves the house, and also why Michael runs away. Some viewers left feedback, regarding the narrative and actors. One actor mistake that has been commonly pointed out is that Michael looks directly into the camera in almost every shot he is in, instead of looking off to the side (i.e. looking at Matt). This is the director's fault for not giving the actor clear enough instructions on where to look. The advert also ends rather abruptly, with no real resolution taking place, it seems that the comedic aspects took priority over the narrative at this point. Due to poor/rushed planning, an appropriate ending was not correctly thought out, which caused the editor problems in saving the production. Like my last advert, this has been a learning experience that has taught me valuable lessons regarding time-keeping, and directing. The soundtrack used in the advert, did in fact suit it very well, giving off the kinds of messages I had originally planned to include.
Changes
After some much needed community and client feedback, the arrangement of clips, as well as some editing decisions were changed. This helped to reduce the ambiguity in the narrative. These changes include:
-Switching the position of the second and third to last clips around, so Michael ejects the milk BEFORE confessing
-Cutting down the duration of the clip where Michael runs into the clothesline.
-Changing the design of the milk product shown in the final shot
Comparison
As I've stated in 5.1, my reasons behind creating an advert was mainly due to my failure to secure an acceptable grade when creating one last year. I decided that it was something I needed to improve on, so I started brainstorming some ideas and this was the result. Now I can compare this advert to my previous attempt. The comparison will be between "Blue Essence" and "Magic Matt's Milk"
Note - The video on the right is the final version
Overview
To begin this evaluation, I will briefly explain the narrative of the advertisement. The opening scene begins with a point of view shot, taken from inside a fridge. This shot captures the action of Matt placing a glass of milk (implied to be the product) into the side compartment of the fridge. Upon closing the fridge, the scene goes dark. A time-stamp informs the viewer of the time, which has advanced by a few minutes. The fridge is opened again, this time another figure is seen removing the drink, while smiling in a manic way. Again, the scene goes dark, another time stamp informs the viewer that the time had advanced again by a few minutes. For the third and final time, the fridge is opened, this time Matt has returned, and he seemed shocked when he notices that his milk has been taken. In the second shot Matt is seen arriving outside. He asks Michael if he has seen his milk. Michael, in another shot, replies, claiming to not know where the milk is. He is clearly lying, as he is shown drinking the milk seconds before replying. Matt, looking confused, asks again. Michael is shown taking another sip, before saying "I have no idea where your milk is." This scene is meant to appeal to younger viewers, as the silly style of humor is easy to understand and is typical of children's programming. The aim is to entertain by being unpredictable. In the next sequence, Matt is shown entering the house and thinking to himself. His thoughts are displayed on screen, and shows that he is replaying the previous encounter in his head, in an attempt to work out the problem of the missing milk. After this sequence, the viewer is pulled out of Matt's head, as he comes to a realization. During this realization, Michael is seen in the background getting up and attempting to flee. In his attempt, he mis-judges his surrounding and clotheslines himself on the clothesline. Matt exits the house, en-route to confront Michael for a second time. Upon his exit, he notices Michael laying on the ground, so he rushes over to his aid. He asks Michael what happens, leaning in. Michael then ejects a mouthful of milk directly into Matt's face, then confesses to the theft. This shot fades into the final shot, which shows the product resting on a table, with a voice over narration saying "Magic Matt's Milk. Seriously Silly Stuff."
Analysis
At first glance, the advert may appear to be some kind of poorly acted, prime-time comedy skit, with slow, forced dialogue that seemed as if to have been thought up on the fly. You can imagine the viewers' response at the end when it is made out to be an advertisement, some claimed to be confused, while others thought it was hilarious. Although the advert is clearly not primarily aimed at my particular interests and demographic, I did at least find it somewhat entertaining and I felt that fit its purpose - capturing the slogan "Seriously Silly Stuff" quite well. Expanding more on what some viewers found it confusing; the narrative could have clearly benefited from more dialogue. In the scene where Matt leaves his flashback, there is no indication that he had come to a realization, simply saying Michael's name would have fixed this problem, or having a sequence where Michael confirms visually or verbally that he knows Matt is on to him. Because of this, the viewer is left confused as to why Matt leaves the house, and also why Michael runs away. Some viewers left feedback, regarding the narrative and actors. One actor mistake that has been commonly pointed out is that Michael looks directly into the camera in almost every shot he is in, instead of looking off to the side (i.e. looking at Matt). This is the director's fault for not giving the actor clear enough instructions on where to look. The advert also ends rather abruptly, with no real resolution taking place, it seems that the comedic aspects took priority over the narrative at this point. Due to poor/rushed planning, an appropriate ending was not correctly thought out, which caused the editor problems in saving the production. Like my last advert, this has been a learning experience that has taught me valuable lessons regarding time-keeping, and directing. The soundtrack used in the advert, did in fact suit it very well, giving off the kinds of messages I had originally planned to include.
Changes
After some much needed community and client feedback, the arrangement of clips, as well as some editing decisions were changed. This helped to reduce the ambiguity in the narrative. These changes include:
-Switching the position of the second and third to last clips around, so Michael ejects the milk BEFORE confessing
-Cutting down the duration of the clip where Michael runs into the clothesline.
-Changing the design of the milk product shown in the final shot
Comparison
As I've stated in 5.1, my reasons behind creating an advert was mainly due to my failure to secure an acceptable grade when creating one last year. I decided that it was something I needed to improve on, so I started brainstorming some ideas and this was the result. Now I can compare this advert to my previous attempt. The comparison will be between "Blue Essence" and "Magic Matt's Milk"
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Starting with Blue Essence, this advert featured a very shaky camera, clips that dragged out, a poorly written and acted narrative, and jumpy editing cuts. It is nothing short of an armature attempt. Surprisingly, the production of this product was split between 4 people, which meant the workload was light for each member, unlike Magic Matt's Milk, where everything was handled by a single person. In my more extensive evaluation I made at the time, I stated that "I
believe that this advertisement may have its strong points, but they are overshadowed by its many faults." Among it's strong points, I claimed that some of the editing decisions were creative, and the brand design stood out. The slogan "Don’t
let hydration dampen your spirit” was also very fitting.
Where this advert fails, Magic Matt's Milk succeeds. Having little to no camera wobble, well paced clips and smooth editing, the only thing these adverts have in common is the shared sense of rushed writing. Although the dialogue in the more recent attempt is a vast improvement over Blue Essence, it is still far from being professional - the same also applies to the acting. Regarding diagetics, the non-diagetic audio used in Magic Matt's Milk did a much better job of setting the mood, with its silly sounding structure that with sneaky undertones, while the track used in Blue Essence seemed to appear from nowhere, albeit still relevant to the narrative.
Management
At the beginning of this project, I created the production schedule to aid me in managing the project from start to finish. This included each step of the production, from planning to filming, to the overall evaluation of the project. Time was managed effectively during this process, although this did not mean time wasn't tight. In hindsight, I gave myself too little time to film, while giving myself too much time to plan. With the excess of planning time, I took the chance to work on other projects. I did not stick to the production schedule, which cost me valuable planning time. Despite this, I managed to finish all the paperwork on time. The time constraints did impact the filming negatively, but I'm somewhat satisfied with the outcome. In terms of leadership skills, I directed the actions of the cameraman, while acting as the cameraman in shot I wasn't in. I briefed Michael and the secondary cameraman of the project, what shots were needed, and how to portray themselves in the scene. During the planning process, I managed my own work, making it easy to translate when filming with others. I communicated with all members of the filming crew via social media, for example, I arranged a meeting with one of the actors at the local pub. It is there where I briefed him on the details of the production and assessed his capability acting wise. From then on, we I organized future meetings and the eventual filming information on Facebook and via Email. As of the initial unit hand in date, the work was not finished, this was due to me deciding to leave the entire project to the second hand in, thus giving myself more time to work on all other projects. Because of this, I had to rush to make sure this unit passed the distinction criteria, which I believe I have done. I have met the requirements detailed in the brief for this unit. Regarding the client brief in 5.2, my advertisement features all of the required additions, as well as adding a creative twist. The brief was negotiated and slightly changed. Some of these changes include updating the mascot and package design to better suit the demographic - the inclusion of Magic Matt as a mascot. The outcome of the final product was an acceptable response to the brief, leaving nothing out, while not adding anything that would compromise the project by going against the brief. The required deadline for the project was set for May 1st 2015, a date that was reached, with all work completed for the client on time.
My specific role within this project had me working on every aspect of the production, as the director, cinematographer, researcher, actor, cameraman, equipment manager, production manager and editor. All of these skills I had gained from working on previous projects, therefore I never felt uncomfortable with my position. Putting all of these aspect to work at once has greatly helped me develop my directing skills, as well as give me more experience with all the role stated above. It is during the editing where I tried out new types of transitions, in an attempt to move the narrative into Matt's thoughts. After trying many different techniques, I decided to zoom in and cross fade at the same time, creating an interesting effect, which I will definitely recommend myself and other to again in the future.
Constraints
As far as constraints, the project didn't experience any massive faults. Time was an issue, but an increased work pace, as well as more hours put into the project solved the problem with ease. Legally, the only constrains I experienced was the fact that Michael couldn't legally drive, therefore he had to walk. Because of this, the equipment had to be manually carried across a short distance. Financially, the project was low budge from the start, with the only transaction coming from me paying for the milk used in the filming of the advert.
Feedback
The verbal feedback I have received from my peers and friends was largely positive, with many enjoying it enough for multiple views. It did suffer from very common complaints, may being focused on the narrative direction, as well as the quality of acting. An example of the latter was particularly aimed at Michael, who in almost every shot look directly into the camera. This made the viewers feel uncomfortable, as some claimed. Another claimed that "Although it is quite funny, I didn't really see the point of it all". I agree that the whole being silly idea may come off as quite hard to grasp when it comes to understanding why certain things happened, more effort put into writing would have fixed this problem. The general consensus among my peers was negative, when asked if the advert looked professional, but those whom I had asked all fell within the secondary demographic. Because of this, I showed my project to 5 children, in the age rage of 7 - 11, which suits the primary audience. Thought they may not fully understand what makes an advert professional, their opinion of the production was largely positive, as they found it "silly and fun", something I had aimed for since the start of the project. This was my official test audience, of who I questioned after showing them the video. I asked 3 questions:
- Does the product in this advert appeal to you?
Result - 3/5 Yes
- 2/5 No
- How would you rate this advert (1 - 10)?
Result - Average of 6/10
- How would you improve the advert to make it appeal more to you?
Many members of the test audience said that they didn't quite understand why the man runs away, and that they would make his reasoning more apparent. Others said that the product shown at the end should have been in it from the start, because they got confused and thought it was a different product.
The feedback I've obtained from these test groups have enabled me to create a better, second cut of the advert, which addresses most of the problems that had been brought up. Both versions can be found as at the top of this evaluation.
Finished product
When creating the product, I had some particular editing techniques in mind, specifically the use of a flashback, among other things like the point of view fridge shots. The characters were meant to be down to earth, living in a typical sub-urban household, with access to modern facilities, like a fridge. This helped us connect to our social economic audience, which is placed at around E1+ (as our primary audience are mainly children living at home). In terms of techniques, I opted for the use of a single camera, which meant that each shot had to be taken one at a time, in a (in this case) linear fashion. The production wouldn't have benefited from the use of multiple cameras, as the action is underwhelming, and the location is isolated. The narrative was brief, linear and was left open ended, implying possible continuation. This was done in case the client approached us for more, though the brief did state that the narrative must be able to stand by itself. As far as filming quality, I found the final product to be aesthetically pleasing, as it did not stuffer from poor resolution, shaky or disorientating camerawork. The way the product was presented at the end was visually pleasing, with it's eye-catching design. The character I had created were designed to appeal to the silly, grown up nature that children find appealing and humorous. I took inspiration from children's television shows, like Dora the Explorer, where kids are prompted to point things out to the character on screen that she cannot find. Things that are clearly visible. This links in with Michael drinking Matt's Milk, while Matt is looking for it. The plan was to have children point out to the screen and say "Look, Michael has the milk!"
Where this advert fails, Magic Matt's Milk succeeds. Having little to no camera wobble, well paced clips and smooth editing, the only thing these adverts have in common is the shared sense of rushed writing. Although the dialogue in the more recent attempt is a vast improvement over Blue Essence, it is still far from being professional - the same also applies to the acting. Regarding diagetics, the non-diagetic audio used in Magic Matt's Milk did a much better job of setting the mood, with its silly sounding structure that with sneaky undertones, while the track used in Blue Essence seemed to appear from nowhere, albeit still relevant to the narrative.
Management
At the beginning of this project, I created the production schedule to aid me in managing the project from start to finish. This included each step of the production, from planning to filming, to the overall evaluation of the project. Time was managed effectively during this process, although this did not mean time wasn't tight. In hindsight, I gave myself too little time to film, while giving myself too much time to plan. With the excess of planning time, I took the chance to work on other projects. I did not stick to the production schedule, which cost me valuable planning time. Despite this, I managed to finish all the paperwork on time. The time constraints did impact the filming negatively, but I'm somewhat satisfied with the outcome. In terms of leadership skills, I directed the actions of the cameraman, while acting as the cameraman in shot I wasn't in. I briefed Michael and the secondary cameraman of the project, what shots were needed, and how to portray themselves in the scene. During the planning process, I managed my own work, making it easy to translate when filming with others. I communicated with all members of the filming crew via social media, for example, I arranged a meeting with one of the actors at the local pub. It is there where I briefed him on the details of the production and assessed his capability acting wise. From then on, we I organized future meetings and the eventual filming information on Facebook and via Email. As of the initial unit hand in date, the work was not finished, this was due to me deciding to leave the entire project to the second hand in, thus giving myself more time to work on all other projects. Because of this, I had to rush to make sure this unit passed the distinction criteria, which I believe I have done. I have met the requirements detailed in the brief for this unit. Regarding the client brief in 5.2, my advertisement features all of the required additions, as well as adding a creative twist. The brief was negotiated and slightly changed. Some of these changes include updating the mascot and package design to better suit the demographic - the inclusion of Magic Matt as a mascot. The outcome of the final product was an acceptable response to the brief, leaving nothing out, while not adding anything that would compromise the project by going against the brief. The required deadline for the project was set for May 1st 2015, a date that was reached, with all work completed for the client on time.
My specific role within this project had me working on every aspect of the production, as the director, cinematographer, researcher, actor, cameraman, equipment manager, production manager and editor. All of these skills I had gained from working on previous projects, therefore I never felt uncomfortable with my position. Putting all of these aspect to work at once has greatly helped me develop my directing skills, as well as give me more experience with all the role stated above. It is during the editing where I tried out new types of transitions, in an attempt to move the narrative into Matt's thoughts. After trying many different techniques, I decided to zoom in and cross fade at the same time, creating an interesting effect, which I will definitely recommend myself and other to again in the future.
Constraints
As far as constraints, the project didn't experience any massive faults. Time was an issue, but an increased work pace, as well as more hours put into the project solved the problem with ease. Legally, the only constrains I experienced was the fact that Michael couldn't legally drive, therefore he had to walk. Because of this, the equipment had to be manually carried across a short distance. Financially, the project was low budge from the start, with the only transaction coming from me paying for the milk used in the filming of the advert.
Feedback
The verbal feedback I have received from my peers and friends was largely positive, with many enjoying it enough for multiple views. It did suffer from very common complaints, may being focused on the narrative direction, as well as the quality of acting. An example of the latter was particularly aimed at Michael, who in almost every shot look directly into the camera. This made the viewers feel uncomfortable, as some claimed. Another claimed that "Although it is quite funny, I didn't really see the point of it all". I agree that the whole being silly idea may come off as quite hard to grasp when it comes to understanding why certain things happened, more effort put into writing would have fixed this problem. The general consensus among my peers was negative, when asked if the advert looked professional, but those whom I had asked all fell within the secondary demographic. Because of this, I showed my project to 5 children, in the age rage of 7 - 11, which suits the primary audience. Thought they may not fully understand what makes an advert professional, their opinion of the production was largely positive, as they found it "silly and fun", something I had aimed for since the start of the project. This was my official test audience, of who I questioned after showing them the video. I asked 3 questions:
- Does the product in this advert appeal to you?
Result - 3/5 Yes
- 2/5 No
- How would you rate this advert (1 - 10)?
Result - Average of 6/10
- How would you improve the advert to make it appeal more to you?
Many members of the test audience said that they didn't quite understand why the man runs away, and that they would make his reasoning more apparent. Others said that the product shown at the end should have been in it from the start, because they got confused and thought it was a different product.
The feedback I've obtained from these test groups have enabled me to create a better, second cut of the advert, which addresses most of the problems that had been brought up. Both versions can be found as at the top of this evaluation.
Finished product
When creating the product, I had some particular editing techniques in mind, specifically the use of a flashback, among other things like the point of view fridge shots. The characters were meant to be down to earth, living in a typical sub-urban household, with access to modern facilities, like a fridge. This helped us connect to our social economic audience, which is placed at around E1+ (as our primary audience are mainly children living at home). In terms of techniques, I opted for the use of a single camera, which meant that each shot had to be taken one at a time, in a (in this case) linear fashion. The production wouldn't have benefited from the use of multiple cameras, as the action is underwhelming, and the location is isolated. The narrative was brief, linear and was left open ended, implying possible continuation. This was done in case the client approached us for more, though the brief did state that the narrative must be able to stand by itself. As far as filming quality, I found the final product to be aesthetically pleasing, as it did not stuffer from poor resolution, shaky or disorientating camerawork. The way the product was presented at the end was visually pleasing, with it's eye-catching design. The character I had created were designed to appeal to the silly, grown up nature that children find appealing and humorous. I took inspiration from children's television shows, like Dora the Explorer, where kids are prompted to point things out to the character on screen that she cannot find. Things that are clearly visible. This links in with Michael drinking Matt's Milk, while Matt is looking for it. The plan was to have children point out to the screen and say "Look, Michael has the milk!"
For a more in depth evaluation of Blue Essence, download the files below
blue_essence_advert_evaluation.docx | |
File Size: | 155 kb |
File Type: | docx |
advert_frame_explanation.docx | |
File Size: | 1896 kb |
File Type: | docx |