REFLECTIVE DIARY
PLEASE NOTE: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are not written about due to other commitments on those days.
WEEK 1 BEGINNING 11/03/24
Wednesday marked the beginning of the final major project, however I had already planned one of my ideas before being handed the brief so that I could have a slight head start on generating ideas. This is due to the connections I have to a property services company called Bell Group, in which I can utilise to network with members of staff. I began the project by creating a PowerPoint slide on my primary potential client, Bell Group, where I researched baseline information about the company so that I could understand their business as quickly and as effectively as possible. This slide is displayed on the 'Research' section of this website. This task also helped me to feel less overwhelmed about this project, since I was feeling some pressure as a result of the high-profile nature of the company that I have decided to promote.
​
I then created a mood board that showcases my own inspirations and interests that influence me within my own personal projects as well as my college projects, a task that was very fun and self reflective.
​
The next day I dedicated to generating two more ideas that I could use if my first plan was to fall through. To get inspiration for this I opened Google Maps and searched the local area to find places that I visit regularly with businesses that I could potentially promote. This method of generating ideas was effective because it saved me some much needed time. I then thoroughly researched all three of my ideas, using the information that I found to support the thoughts I had on how to develop and produce each promo idea. I feel confident about these ideas and would be happy with using those as a backup plan in case I cannot promote my chosen company.
​
I decided to leave my primary idea to last when writing it up. This is because I wanted to focus more on this idea since it is my main plan. I found myself unsure as to what part of Bell Group I would like to advertise specifically, since it has a wide range of services. I found footage of recorded Zoom meetings featuring the Chief of Staff, Tracy Brecsia, discussing gender equality in the workplace and corporate social responsibility. This research hugely supported my ideas generation because it inspired me to focus on encouraging women to join the property services trade, in particular with painting and decorating due to it being one of their primary services.
​
So far I am feeling positive about the first steps that I have made to lay the foundations of this project, and I hope to further develop my ideas in the upcoming weeks.
WEEK 2 BEGINNING 18/03/24
Monday morning began with a lecture about existing promotional and social action videos. As a class we watched a few examples and discussed the common conventions that they include as well as other factors such as the form, style and tone. Sharing this understanding with my peers meant that we were able to contribute different ideas to come to clearer conclusions. It was also beneficial to have the support of a lecturer's input for a deeper understanding of the subject. This lecture helped me a lot when it came to analysing these types of videos independently. As part of our brief we were given the task of analysing four promos or social action videos, I decided that it would be more useful to me if I only analysed promotional videos. This is because it keeps my research focused and specific to the project that I am actually going to develop. While completing this task I investigated four very different promotional videos, one of which was produced for my chosen client. This was incredibly beneficial so that I could understand the techniques that I should use to keep the promo brand specific, such as the use of slow motion shots and varied interviews, keeping to the corporate theme that the company utilises to present themselves professionally.
​
After this task I decided to deeply analyse the plan I had for the promotional video for Bell Group. The primary idea was to focus on encouraging women to join the painting and decorating trade. This idea would keep the promotional video very topic specific, maintaining a very specific audience. However, after thinking it through I started to experiment with the idea of opening the theme to a wider topic of promoting the business to women who would like to join the property services trade in general, including painting and decorating as well as other services such as roofing or even office based roles. when I began my research into the company I decided that this was the best route to take because it flaunts the many different services that Bell Group provides while also remaining attractive to those who would like to participate in a specific trade. In terms of target audience, it would remain relatively the same, but slightly broadened to those with differing career aspirations. The first idea has been left in its original form on my ideas page, this is because it shows how the idea originally began and I would like to document how it has evolved throughout its production.
​
Between Monday and Tuesday I wrote the first email to a potential client, Tracy Brescia, Bell Groups Chief of Staff. I spent a very long time crafting this email, making sure that it was perfect so that I can make the best first impression possible. As mentioned last week, I am feeling more pressure with this project than I have with my previous work because of the high-profile nature of the company. Writing an email to the COS of one of the most successful businesses in its field was a little daunting, so I made multiple drafts on my notes app.
Here are my first drafts. This screenshot shows how it developed, I crossed out the first version so that I could focus on the second attempt.
I sent the above draft to my Dad so that he could critique it. He has experience with writing professional emails and has contacted Tracy a number of times. He gave me some valuable advice and I went back to my notes app to add some final touches. I included more detail of the promotional video and clarified a specific reason as to why I was contacting her. To the left is the final email, that was eventually sent on Thursday morning. This experience has helped me develop my professional communication and has boosted my overall confidence about this project.
On Wednesday, I planned my research topics into a few main categories so that I could organise my learning. I was inspired to do this after a lecture about producing interviews, when I realised that not only did I need to research the topic of my production but I would also need to study how I should produce it. During this lecture, the class was split into multiple groups and we all had the task of shooting our own interview. This gave us experience of how to frame and interview, and gave us useful insight into technical aspects such as the position of the camera and the interviewee. It was my first experience in conducting an interview and working together in a group was very beneficial for my understanding so that I could learn from those who have done one before.
This is the footage from that exercise after we experimented with how to frame our interviewee. What went well about this attempt is that we had our subject in a great position; he was facing the other person while still looking close to the camera, which was at his height. We made good use of the space in the class and featured the desks and computers which complimented the interview well. To improve, we could remove the shadow and fill the 'dead space' to the left, however I think that it helps to declutter the shot so that it is not overwhelming to look at.
This exercise has given me more knowledge and confidence about conducting interviews and has also given me insight as to what else I need to understand to create one. This includes getting a better understanding of lapel mics and learning about more conventions of interviews.
I dedicated Thursday to starting my research, and completed the first research topic which was all about the company Bell group. I split this research up into sections because of the complex and well-developed nature of the company. This approach made me feel less overwhelmed and helped me to timetable my day. I began with analysing the key values at Bell Group. These values are very important for me to understand since they are often a major selling point for their other promotional videos and so I would also like to include this as an important topic. I also made sure to find evidence of Bell putting their values into practice, which demonstrates their dedication and strengthens my understanding of how the company operates. Another topic that I covered was the career opportunities that Bell have to offer, because this is what I will be selling in the promo. I discovered that they have invested a lot into ensuring that apprentices have the best chance of success, for example they offer a mentor scheme and even have 'Bell Decorating Academies' in colleges across the UK.
​
I feel much more assured in my knowledge of Bell Group. As I complete more research I will gain a stronger idea of what I would like to include in this promotional video, and I aim to start storyboarding this as soon as possible. This week I have made valuable progress and will maintain my focus in the weeks approaching.
WEEK 3 BEGINNING 25/3/24
On Monday I began the second section of my research, which covered the topic of women and working within the trades. I knew that my knowledge on this subject was very limited and needed to broaden my awareness because it will be a key topic in the promotional video. I spent an hour that morning searching through websites and articles available online so that I could understand specific issues before writing about them. This included learning about the experiences of tradeswomen, the history behind the gender inequity in the sector and other related topics. When I had further built my bibliography of sources, I could dedicate the rest of the time to writing this section of research, which was swift as a result of this approach. I will be researching big topics in this way in the future, as I have learnt that it is much easier to understand everything I possibly can before I begin any writing to make sure I am putting my efforts to the areas that need it the most.
​
I spent that afternoon receiving a lecture with the class about research and how to conduct it. We briefly recapped to methods of research that we had learnt in the previous projects, such as the difference between quantitive and qualitative questions and understanding key language such as 'psychographic segmentation'. This aided me when it comes to reminding myself of what needs to be done for me to fully understand what I am selling and the audience that I am selling to, and also helped to keep this knowledge in my long term memory by recapping information we had learnt in previous projects.
We were also given a table with questions that asked us about our client. I have decided not to fill put these questions just yet so that I can prioritise my planned research. However, I do think that these questions will be helpful for me to answer so that I can support the development and planning of the promo. I may decide to fill in this grid during half term alongside the other parts of research that I am planning.
On Tuesday morning I finalised my research on the topic of tradeswomen. During this process I found some unexpected information; that there is a Women In Trade Day taking place on 15th of June every year, coincidentally not long after the deadline for this project. This gives me a great incentive to create this promotional video, and will help me greatly when planning a roll out strategy for the final product. That afternoon I made sure that my Academic project Plan was finalised so that I could move on to other areas of work the next day.
Wednesday morning marked the beginning of another significant research topic - my target audience. I explored statistics that support my decision for having a target audience as broad as 16 - 30 to make sure that this was the correct choice to make. I found that many apprentices are above the age of 25 and start later than those who have no career experience, meaning that they have different experiences and influences when it comes to working in the trades. This leads me to believe that my judgement in choosing my target audience will be effective.
During the afternoon I took part in another class lecture, this time covering two topics, the first was about conducting interviews. It explored a bunch of very useful aspects of developing interview questions many of which I found super helpful. I learnt that even by thinking about 'w' words (such as who, what, when, where, why') can be very helpful when it comes to brainstorming questions because they cover a variety of different potential topics that my interviewees could discuss.
During the discussion between me and the lecturer, I was explained an interview technique of a collegue that he had worked with on a project in the past. When conducting interviews, she would have a list of questions that would essentially ask the same thing, but each question would be worded slightly differently so that she could guide the interviewee into saying what she wanted if they didn't cover all topics the first time. This approach is memorable because it highlighted to me how I could shape my interviews effectively with enough thought into my questions.
We were set the task of watching a promotional video that included an interview and had to fill in a grid that required us to think about what the possible interview question was with every point that the interviewee made. This is what I came up with. After completing this task I had a discussion with my lecturer about my answers and reflected on the nature of what's being said. He gave me good advice that as the person that conducts an interview, you have a lot of power over what is being said and can guide the interviewee into saying what you want them to. For example, when the interviewee explains his previous work, the question may have been 'where have you worked before and why is Landmark different'. This allows the subject to go into deeper details on the subjects that the target audience may want to know about.
The other subject that we covered in the lecture that afternoon was about general views. We looked at an overview of the different types of crafted shots that we could potentially use to support what is being said by our interviewees, and I now have a better grasp as to how this can help to add context to a particular topic that is being discussed.
Here is a few of some of the most useful slides from the presentation. I find it very beneficial that all of the information we learn is available to access via Teams. This helps me to retain the knowledge in my long term memory as I am able to return to previous topics that we have studied.
This slideshow will particularly be very helpful when preparing to film my own general views. It has aided me to understand what I should be filming, and I will take inspiration from many of the points that were mentioned.
We were then set the task to analyse general views in a promotional video that will influence our own shoot. I decided to use an existing promotional video from Bell that closely resembles that of which I will be producing myself. To summarise this exercise, I found that some of the common conventions of general views that were used include slow motion and a slight slide on short shots. This video also implements the smiling faces of people too, including the interviewees. After analysing these features I can see how they can create a positive feeling for the audience, and I now have a stronger idea of the types of shots that I would like to film.
On Thursday, I used the research about my target audience to plan and create a survey. I reflected on some of the feedback that I have received in my past surveys for previous projects to make sure that I am fulfilling all of my research needs. To get inspiration for questions, I looked at the surveys made by other students and read articles that went into detail about survey production such as this one. Ultimately I feel very confident in the final survey and believe that it will provide me with enough information to create an insightful audience profile and consumer mood board.
​
On the left is what this survey looked like. As I researched about how to create a successful survey, I found that people are more likely to involve themselves if it looks visually appealing. I had never previously made any effort to alter the way that my surveys look because at the time I did not see this as valuable, but this time I decided to have play around with the display settings available on Google Forms. In my opinion, I think that the design choices I made such as the font and background colour makes the survey more professional and engaging and will contribute to its success.
I then decided to vaguely plan the promotional video using a storyboard format. It is currently very rough and unfinished (for example, I haven't added any images yet), but it includes notes of many of the elements that I am planning to incorporate.
I aim to see this storyboard develop next week and in the upcoming weeks before production. To reflect on my week, I believe that I have improved with my research skills when it comes to analysing secondary research sources and creating my own thorough methods of primary research. Now that the majority of my research is complete, I can focus on bringing my ideas together during the next two weeks of half term so that I have a clear idea ready for the pitch.
WEEK 4 BEGINNING 1/4/24 - HALF TERM
Work this week began slow after Easter weekend on bank holiday Monday. I decided to complete the research document mentioned in the week before. Just as I speculated, this table has been very useful when it comes to further developing my ideas. The most useful questions were the last two, that asked me about the key message that I want the film to communicate and how I want people to feel after they have seen it. After taking a while to reflect, I came to the conclusion that I would like to evoke motivation and inspiration to the audience. Letting young women know that they are welcomed in an industry that has notoriously singled them out is extremely important in persuading them to join apprenticeships at Bell. After completing this task, I felt more confident in my idea of the project and decided to begin developing my pitch and proposal.
I decided to use Canva for the first time when developing this proposal. I have observed my peers as they use this software and I have seen how much more professional and visually striking their results were compared to my previous proposals that were made using PowerPoint. I found a couple of templates, one with a very corporate appearance that I shall use for the proposal, and another template with a more simple look that I will use for the pitch. The templates were useful in saving me time by allowing me to simply write in the available text boxes and customise some of the appearance settings.
This is what my pitch currently looks like. As of present, I have fully edited the first two slides, started the third, and the rest have been left has they were preset. I have made the pitch visually interesting not just by using the template, but by adding my own illustrations and symbols. this can be seen through the images that I have placed and the symbols that relate to the promo such as the brand logo and depictions of women and equality.
This is what I have developed so far of the proposal. Along with this I have also developed a mood board for the promotional video, to provide the readers with a deeper understanding of what I am trying to achieve. I have kept to a theme that is on brand for Bell, using the colour Blue with circular symbols and imagery, similar to that of which they use on their website and social media. Based on this experience, I have grown to like Canva and I will be using the software to develop my pitches, proposals, and other presentations that will arise in the future.
The next day, I drafted another email to Tracy Brescia, who I plan to interview. I sent this the same day, to ensure that I was on top of communication. In addition, I also drafted an email to a female employee at Bell Group, Sophie, who has participated in one of their available apprenticeships for painting and decorating, and currently works as a professional in her field within the company. I sent this draft to my Dad so that he could proofread my writing before it is sent. as much as I still find professional emails slightly pressuring, I can feel that I am getting better with experience, and with the advice of my Dad who is experienced at this method of communication, I am learning a lot.
On Tuesday afternoon, I began listing interview questions for both Tracy and Sophie. To find inspiration, I looked over Bells previous promotional videos to get an idea of what topics they have previously covered and to understand how the interviewees would typically begin and describe the subject that they are promoting. I found that the staff members often introduce themselves at the same time as infographic text on the bottom of the screen describes their name and employment role.
I shall be ensuring that I introduce my subjects in the same way, as I believe that it makes it very easy for the audience to quickly understand who they are watching. As visible on these screenshots, my interview questions are not finished and are simply drafted. as much as these questions are just a rough idea of what I will be using, I am feeling very confident with the different topics that these questions cover and will certainly use many in the actual interviews.
On Tuesday I also sent out my survey to my social media group chats, after finding that I had little to no responses when submitting it to the teams chat for this course. So far I have amassed 12 responses, and as much as I would like to get more, I am not sure how I would do so.
With Wednesday came a big change of plan with the Bell employee interview arrangement. I had a phone call with my Dad in which he explained that Sophie would not be available to participate in an interview or any other filming. However, he suggested another colleague who is up for the job. She is a quantity surveyor by the name of Mia and works in an office based role. This change of plan had thrown me very off-track because this now means that I have to tweak the basis of my promotional video, and shift the main focus from working in a hands-on trade to working in a corporate field. To make the most use of my completed research, I will cover both topics - working as a woman in a trade-based job as well as in an office-based role - in this promotional video. In addition, I now have to cover more research topics and edit some of my plans such as my interview questions and draft emails. This will be a challenge, but with the right time management I should be able to complete these tasks within the time that I have.
That afternoon I replanned my rough storyboard, implementing these new changes.
I have not yet added imagery and will do this when I am developing my finished storyboard, since I have not felt this to be important to do at this time.
I feel more confident in my plans after completing this small task. I experimented with placing different topics in different places, and I have placed each part where I think it is most appropriate.
This project has already seen so many changes in its development, but I believe I have remained organised on each aspect of its growth by managing my time well and completing tasks like this.
On Thursday, I decided to start developing a consumer mood board and a target audience profile, using the responses that I had received from my survey. Luckily, I am still able to have an accurate idea of my target audience despite the changes that I have faced as a result of the questions that I placed in the survey. it is currently unfinished but some aspects such as the moodboard are now complete. I learnt some insightful information about my audience that I would not have known just by secondary research alone however it would be an improvement if I was able to obtain more responses.
​
So far I am feeling more confident about the development of this project, and I am remaining positive despite the setbacks that I have faced.
WEEK 5 BEGINNING 8/4/24 - HALF TERM
This week tested my ability to work efficiently within short time, because I was only able to work on developing this project for two days this week, Monday and Tuesday. To make sure that I was still ensuring that I was still maintaining high standards of work within the little amount of time that I had, I scheduled my time well and focused on these two days. On Monday, I woke up at six to begin working at seven, and completed hours of concentrated work between breaks until the evening. I achieved a lot this day, beginning with analysing my survey results and writing analysis notes on my research page.
I feel very pleased with the results of my survey and after analysing it I was able to come to several conclusions. One of the most crucial included an observation on what my target audience thinks about working in a male-dominated sector. I have been able to identify what my key theme will be through the response of this question.
This has been my most successful survey yet, and my analysis has confirmed this. The ways in which my survey responses have provided me with very useful information has given me more guidance with the ways that I should convey Bell group as a business. In turn, this is boosting my confidence in the project. despite this, I would improve on my survey by including questions that relate to young women's views on working in an office role, since I will also be getting shots of this type of work. Unfortunately it was too late by that time to incorporate these questions, but regardless I still feel as if this survey has provided me with enough insight.
​
When this analysis was complete, I swiftly moved on to researching about women's struggles within the workplace generally, because the change in plan for my interviewee meant that I am now broadening the topic of this promotional video for women looking to work in the trades as well as office based roles. I found that the issues that women face in the office are also issues that women face in most workplaces generally, which helped when it came to covering both topics. I found some interesting information that I wasn't even aware of, including the fact that the UK saw the largest fall from 13th to 17th place in the PwC Women in Work Index. This makes the UK an outlier when it comes to its gender equality globally, a fact that I was not aware of.
​
After analysing this, I then moved on to completing my audience profile, in which I had partially completed the week before. My audience profile covers topics such as the buying habits and lifestyles of my audience. This allowed me to understand what influences their life and their regular habits.
When this was completed, I moved on to starting my interview research. This is a crucial part of my learning as I am now approaching the dates for my arranged interviews; and so understanding how to successfully produce one is essential. I began with reflecting on the lecture presentation that is available to view on teams. I had remembered some of the presentations key information, such as to never film with a window in the background and remembering the rule of thirds. Being able to reflect on this presentation has allowed me to understand its information more detailed and efficiently. To build on these core skills I will do some more research on interview production next week, as this week I mainly wanted to focus more on analysing the previous interviews for Bell Group to obtain more specific knowledge to the topic of the promotional video. Within this research I was able to identify the strengths in the video along with its conventions that I would like to reflect and replicate in my own promotional video. In addition, I also found some small errors that I have now brought to my attention so that I don't include these flaws, such as wonky shots and interviews in which the rule of thirds were not applied. After undertaking this research I do not feel as in-equipped as I did at the beginning of this project since I am now understanding the ways in which I can film an interview to be of a professional standard.
With Tuesday came the second half of my rapid work on this project. To make the most out of the time I had available, I woke up extra early to begin working at 6am, and finishing late afternoon. This was a little intense and I would only do this again if I felt that it was necessary, despite this I completed a lot of work and I am pleased with the amount that I was able to achieve. I began my morning by finishing my pitch, putting the final touches on the Canva presentation and writing up the notes that I will be using on the day of the pitch.
This is a brief look of what I developed as my pitch and proposal. I believe these to be my most successful presentations yet, because they are incredibly detailed while sticking to the visual theme of the brand. Canva has been easy to use and during the process of creating these presentations I have learnt how to use it and have experimented with its many functions such as templates and visual imagery. I am very proud of these presentations and I am confident that my pitch will go well. ​
that afternoon I continued my interview research by reviewing the responses I had from my survey about one of Bell Group's previous promos. I asked my target audience what they think was positive about the video and how it could be made better. I also questioned them on what they think makes a good promotional video, since I will need to cater towards their opinions and tastes. From the results I was able to conclude that my target audience respond well to promotional videos that are 'professional', 'simple' and 'informative'. I can infer from this that it is a good idea to stay within Bells professional stylistic ambience while also experimenting with my own techniques.
​
Other smaller tasks that I completed this day include finalising my interview questions, arranging to film Tracy Brescia's interview via email, writing up the equipment that I plan to use, and beginning my production documents. In terms of these forms, I found that the risks assessments have so far been much easier compared to those of different projects because there are minimal risks while filming in an office building. The area is very safe and is very predictable, so it is generally safer than filming in other locations.
​
Unfortunately my progress this week was slightly limited as a result of external factors that meant that I was not able to work on its development for the rest of the week. Despite this, with the correct time management and focus, I was able to maximise my time and still make good developments. The pitch is next week and I am feeling positive in its anticipation. My presentations tick all of the required boxes while having their own added elements to provide the lecturers with as much information as possible about what I'm planning within the five minutes that are allocated for my pitch. I am also aware that my first shoots are arranged for next week, including the interview with Bell Group's Chief of Staff and general views within one of Bells larger offices. If everything goes to plan, these will be very successful shoots as a result of the amount of research that has gone into its development.
WEEK 6 BEGINNING 15/4/24
The beginning of this week started with my preparations for my first round of filming, which was to take place on the Wednesday. Similarly to the week before, I was working with very limited time as a result of a college trip on the Tuesday and other commitments on the Thursday and Friday. This was an extra challenge and luckily for the rest of this project I will be able to focus solely on its production without any more other factors that prolong its progression.
​
On Monday, I delivered my pitch and proposal to two of my lecturers. The pitch went to plan and I felt that I was able to communicate all of my points clearly and outlined my project plans in a way that is concise and accurate. Here is some of the feedback that I received and my responses.
One lecturer had the idea that I could present Mias transition as a former apprentice to an industry professional surveyor by presenting images from her past as an apprentice. This would be a great way to present her growth and progression in the role. I am taking this idea on board and may be contacting Mia about whether this would be possible.
I like the advice of using hero shots however I'm not too certain how this will come across in the promo. I may experiment with this while filming Mia but I'm currently not planning to incorporate it.
In terms of mocking up situations for extra context in general views, I have arranged with Mia to join her while she is measuring as part of her job, allowing me to get B roll that provides extra context for the viewer.
In terms of providing more detail with shot ideas, here is what I currently have planned:
- General views in the Royston office where they have impressive workspaces that reflect Bell Groups philosophy. This includes an establishing shot of the building, slider shots of wall art with inspirational slogans and mottos, shots of their office rooms with varying shot sizes.
- B roll footage with Mia while she is working, including the types of jobs that she carries out, showing how her role varies on a day to day basis; such as measuring and recording values.
- General views in the Norwich office, including office spaces, equipment and vans.
For the rest of the day I worked on my pre production documents such as the call sheet and risk assessments and printing out everything I would need on the Wednesday. I felt that this took priority over my feedback from the pitch as a result of the lack of time I had before filming. Tuesday quickly passed as I participated in a college trip, and this only left Wednesday, the day of filming my first interview with Tracy Brescia. On Wednesday morning I made sure that I was prepared by collecting the equipment that I needed that morning and testing it all out before I left at 11am that morning. During these couple of hours I experimented with the equipment, particularly with setting up the slider because I have no previous experience with this. Taking this time was particularly helpful because I was nearby the lecturers who could answer any questions that I had about the equipment.
​
After a long drive to the Royston office, I followed my Dad into the building and he introduced me to some of the members of staff. I then had a short tour of the office, in which I found three rooms that I could choose between to film. This room appealed the most to me because of the wall art. I wanted to feature either a poster or a logo in the background so that I could have depth in the shot for my interview. This setting was ideal.
I made use of the available space and began setting up the scene. I used the monitor to help me to frame appropriately, placing myself in the interviewees position before she arrived so that I didn't have to waste any of her time before filming. This was an effective technique of framing an interview when you need to save as much time as possible for the interviewee, a great example of how my experimentation within this project is coming to good use.
I set up the camera in the corner of the room, making sure to capture the quote in the background. On the table I placed the rest of my equipment, keeping everything organised so that I knew where everything was. I then met with Tracy and she was very friendly and willing to film. as we were setting up, she placed her lapel mic on her blazer out of frame, which was incredibly useful because it removes the unsightly appearance of the mic in the video.
As we discussed multiple topics in the interview, she revealed so much information that the interview took just under an hour when I had planned for it to take 15 minutes. For my first interview, this was an unexpected surprise but I was glad that this was the outcome, as I would rather have too much footage than not enough. However, this did mean that I could not get any B-roll in the office that day because I ran out of time to do so.
When I got home that day I immediately checked all of my recorded material. Unfortunately, I had mistakenly not recorded any audio from the lapel microphone. I was incredibly disappointed in discovering this, especially with the knowledge that I would not be able to organise for another interview with Tracy because of her working schedule. Luckily, I had placed a Rode mic on top of the camera before the interview began, meaning that I at least had that to work with as a backup. This led me to further plan my editing process, factoring in experimenting with Adobe Audition to clean up the audio as much as possible. I decided that I would cut down my footage first into one smaller video, including all of the edited footage that I would like to include. From here I will take the video to Audition and see what I can do with the audio, researching the best way to clean up audio while doing so.
That Friday, Tracy had sent me an email to tell me that she had been in contact with other members of staff and Helena Smith, Bell Group's business psychologist, was willing to participate in an interview. This is ideal because without another interview, I wouldn't have been able to go back to the Royston office to get general views and b-roll footage, a location that I believe is too impressive to not film and include in this promotional video.
​
To conclude this week, I believe that I have made good progress in this project and I have planned to overcome my challenges in an appropriate and organised way.
WEEK 7 BEGINNING 22/4/24
On Monday I had a discussion with my project mentor about my progress with the production of this promotional video and the quality of my documentation on this website. We spoke about how I was feeling about my progression so far to which I expressed that I am comfortable with the position that I am currently in and that I am pleased with my progression so far. My mentor then showed me this table in which I could see what I had done well and where I needed to improve. Discussions like this are really useful for me to see whether I am working to standard. It is also nice to get input from a tutor who has real industry experience.
All of the text highlighted in yellow is what I have done. One of the most insightful pieces of feedback regarding what I have done is the description of my weekly diaries being 'incredibly detailed'. I found this particularly useful because I struggled to tell whether I have been writing at an adequate amount of information and at a decent length.
​
Besides this, it was very important to learn what I needed to improve on to give myself the extra push into being able to achieve the highest marks. This mostly included adding a few extra tweaks to my Academic Project Plan and doing a little bit more research into my contingency plan and stylistic elements of this promo.
Ultimately, I am pleased with the feedback that I received. The positive comments have given me an extra confidence boost, motivating me to continue working to the standard that I have maintained. The additional criticism has also given me further insight into the small areas of writing that I may have missed so that I could check my work so far. This lead me to reread some of my writing and view it from a third person viewpoint to look at my own work with the same criticism so that I can self-assess my own progress.
​
After this, I took to writing up my contingency plan. I was not aware before this check-up with my mentor that the official contingency plan could be one of my two other ideas. I had presumed that my contingency plan would still be this idea, just tweaked to fit any issues that have appeared. For example, if I was not able to organise an interview with Tracy Brescia, I would have organised another interview with a different senior member of staff, such as Craig Bell. I had not written this up before because I was not too confident as to what a contingency plan actually looked like, but after this conversation I felt a lot more informed.
On Tuesday, I reflected on all of the research that I have done because it is steadily coming to an end and I have already completed most of it. Writing this summary and evaluation led me to examine the methods I used to research and whether they were effective or not. My most valuable reflection was looking back on my target audience survey, in which in the process of developing I believe that I made leaps in my own standards and judgement when it comes to making survey. I compared the information I was able to obtain through the survey for this project to that of my first project, and found many improvements. This shows to me how much more developed my skills are becoming as I complete more tasks, and with this project specifically, I am making vast improvements to my own working standards.
​
That afternoon I opened up my raw footage from my interviews and imported them to Premiere Pro so that I could begin going through the video and cutting it down. When filming, the camera cut an hour of recording into four 20 minute separate videos. At first I felt that this was a small drawback but when I began to edit this helped me to divide my time and see my progress. That afternoon I was able to work through the first 20 minute section, getting a quarter through the full video. I have Premiere Pro at home and have had issues when trying to edit the same project from college if I began it at home. This meant that for this project I had to make the choice as to whether I would edit in college or at home, covering the event that I would not be able to do both. I decided that I am most comfortable with editing at home because it is more private and only I will see it until more progress has been made. It is also useful that I am able to access my edits and any time while I'm at home, giving me more flexibility with the times that I can edit.
On Wednesday, I took to updating my bibliography, since I had fallen behind with documenting some of the resources I used to back up my research. When this project began, I was feeling doubtful about the benefit of having this on my page. I felt that it took more effort than it was worth and didn't serve a huge amount of purpose. However, now that I am further in the project and complete with most of my research, my bibliography has been useful with displaying to me how much exploration I have completed to understand my topics as well as possible. It presents my progress while also providing me with a way of tracing back my previous sources.
​
When Thursday came I worked on my remaining production documents in preparation for the filming that I have planned for the upcoming week. This helped me to stay focused and organised with my arrangements for next week.
So far I am feeling decent about where I am currently in the project but feel slightly uneasy about the time that I have in which to complete the rest of this project. Ideally, I would have preferred to have finished all of my filming by the end of this week so that I could focus on all of my editing. Instead, I have filming with Mia, a former Bell apprentice and current lead surveyor, next Thursday, and filming in Royston for a third interview and general views the following week. It is slightly frustrating how spread out all of my filming dates are, but this is unavoidable because I am working around other peoples schedules. On the positive side, it breaks down the editing and makes it a little less overwhelming by completing it one step at a time.
WEEK 8 BEGINNING 29/04/24
This week, with the exception of Thursday which was dedicated to filming, I focused on editing my interview with Tracy Brescia. A lecturer had informed me and other members of the class that we were able to install the latest version of premiere pro to the college computers, meaning that after the installation I am now able to edit from home and in college.
It was frustratingly time consuming considering that I managed to get an hours worth of interview footage when I had only planned on filming about 10 minutes. As much as this was tedious to edit, I am grateful that I was able to get so much information from the opportunity to interview Tracy Brescia because I believe that it will allow me to get a better quality interview into my finished promotional video after it has been cut down to an appropriate length. I would always prefer too much footage than not enough, because I can always emit clips from the edit if I need to.
​
I tackled this time consuming task by watching the video and cutting out pieces of irrelevant information as I went. When I reached the end of the footage, I returned to the beginning and started the process over again. This was effective and was a good method of editing considering that I had never had to cut an interview before. I cut the footage down to 20 minutes, and then 15 minutes, to 10 and eventually to 4.
This is the timeline that I built; this screenshot presents the way that I divided the interview clips that I wanted to keep. Sticking to the structure of my storyboard, I re-arranged some of the footage to communicate the message that I wanted to give to the audience. I tried to keep this in order of which I would feature it in the final video, maintaining organisation with my edits. For example, the first small section is Tracy's introduction, where she says her name and reveals her role within Bell Group. Up until around the four minute mark is all of the footage that I would primarily like to include in the promo, however I am aware that with the time limit provided by the brief, I will have to cut some of that out. The smaller clips of footage towards the end were segments that I was planning to scrap - if there was any unnecessary information in any of the clips I would drag them to the end until I decided to definitely cut them or not.
​
The majority of this editing process was an experimentation within my own skills and editing abilities. As a result of the fact that I have had no prior experience to editing an interview, it was a learning experience and I believe that the way that I approached this bulky editing task was effective and successful.
When I booked out kit that Wednesday, I was unable to get some of the gear that I would have wanted as a result of high demand while other students are filming at the same time. This has lead to me making some adjustments to filming in which I have never had to make before. For example, I wanted to record the audio for this interview with a lapel mic or a radio mic, however all of the zooms were booked out. To work around this, I borrowed a tascam and a rode mic instead, so that I had at least one microphone close to Mia and a back-up if needed. The bigger sacrifice that I had to make was in terms of the camera that I used. I would usually book out a Canon R10, because I am most confident with using this camera. However, these were all booked out. The only option I had for a camera was the Canon 5d, which I accepted and planned to record my interview with. However, I quickly realised that I had little knowledge on how to operate it. I did not understand why the screen wouldn't show the footage, and it was also very heavy and bulky, which was not ideal for when I was filming b roll and general views. I was not comfortable using this as a result of my limited experience with it and I knew that with the limited amount of time that I had, I would not be able to learn how to use this camera in time for my upcoming shoots. To work around this, I used my own camera, a Canon M50, to film on Thursday, and I will be doing the same on my last day of filming on Tuesday next week. I believe this was the best decision, however I am aware of the limitations of this camera (such as its constraints in low lighting) and would have preferred to use an R10 from college, but I have worked around the issue appropriately.
I spent the rest of the week in preparation for my second day of filming, which took place on Thursday. I arrived at Bell Group's Norwich office at 8am that morning, and found a suitable room to base myself and film the interview. As I was waiting to meet with Mia, I set out my equipment ready for the interview later. First, I filmed her measuring parts of a building, such as the walls and windows. I decided to film these shots by hand, which worked surprisingly effectively.
We then returned back to the Norwich office to film the interview. This is the room that I decided to use. The background was perfect - it incorporated the brand colours for Bell Group and looked professional. Again like before, I used the monitor to test whether my framing was suitable before the interviewee was ready, to save her time as I did not want to take up too much of her working day.
I also used an LED light as a key light to give the scene a little more depth. I positioned it against the wall so that it gave a soft light instead of being too strong. This was pure experimentation and it worked really well - I will definitely be positioning my lights in the same way if a similar situation occurs in the future.
​
Filming was a success and I am feeling happy with what I have achieved so far. I am ready for my last round of filming on Tuesday, and I am confident that I will complete all of my upcoming tasks - including editing and my evaluation - in the time that I have before the deadline.
WEEK 9 BEGINNING 06/05/24
On Monday this week I heavily focused on editing the footage that I recorded last week. It was essential that I sort through my b-roll footage as soon as possible to keep on top of what I would like to include in the final video. This was I can ensure that my editing process is as organised as possible, saving time for myself when it comes to putting the video together. I tackled the task of cutting down the interview footage the same way that I approached editing Tracy's interview, because to my experience this method works best for me. However, when I was putting cut clips together in the timeline, I was unsure of what specific moments to include. This was because I wasn't feeling entirely sure of what my next interviewee, the business psychologist Helena Smith, would say when I interviewed her that Tuesday. To work around this, I cut the interview down as much as I could and then finalised it later that week. The editing process spanned over the course of this week and feels slow and tedious, but I am aware that it will be worth it when the final video is complete.
On Tuesday, I travelled back to the Royston office for a final time. On this day I was there for a full day, meaning I could optimise the building and its many filming opportunities to gather as much footage as possible. On my arrival I began with setting up my interview with the business psychologist, and when she came in, I was ready for the interview and we spent 20 minutes filming.
This was the room I used to film. This wallpaper was an impressive background for the interview and looks great in the video. After looking through my footage, I have come to the conclusion that this interview was the strongest in terms of its visual composition, because this backdrop is visually interesting, includes the Bell slogan and it showcases some of their work.
Just like before, I tested my camera position using my monitor as a mirror before the interviewee arrived to save her time, allowing her to simply sit down and begin the interview as soon as possible. this is a great example of how experimentation within my work has improved my filming process.
After this interview, I made my way around the building and kept a note of all of the general views I wanted to record. I am grateful to have had the chance to go back to Royston because I would not have been able to get the B-roll that I wanted without this opportunity.
Once again, I utilised the monitor by checking my shots with it. I needed to guarantee that my footage was in focus because I am aware that my camera has limitations when it comes to its focus and I would not have been able to see this accurately through the small viewfinder on the camera itself. Despite the fact that the monitor is bulky and difficult to move around with, it was very useful while I was filming. I did not plan to use it for recording B-roll and only thought I was going to use it for my interviews, but discovering that it also works well for gathering B-roll is something that I will definitely consider for future projects.
I really wanted to push myself in terms of my creative productivity to expand my skills in the development of this project. For this reason, I decided to use a slider to get some sliding shots, a piece of equipment that I haven never used before. This was also taking inspiration from some of Bell Group's previous promotional videos, where they have implemented this technique and it creates a visually interesting and unique shot while staying professionally creative. Here I have decided to further showcase this poster wallpaper, by bringing attention to its location that is written in the far corner. As seen in the photo, I did not use any additonal support with the slider such as any stands, this is because I did not want to add height to my shot as this would not frame the writing in the way in which I wanted.
To conclude my experience with the slider, I am happy with the way that my shots turned out and I am glad that I made this decision within my creativity. It is slightly tedious to set up and pack down, however this was worth the time and effort for the shots that I recorded. For these reasons, I believe that it has elevated my B-roll in this project and has helped me develop further camera skills, and I may choose to use this again in a future project.
​
This was the final session of filming that I did for this project. To evaluate my production experience, I was pleased with the footage that I recorded and believe it to be of a high quality. I managed to record everything that I wanted to, other than one small shot which was going to be of the front of one of Bell Group's vans. I wanted to recreate a shot that was in one of their previous promotional videos because it would have been a nice reference, however I did not get the time to do this. Regardless, I am still pleased with my filming experience.
When returning back to college, I took my edited interview with Tracy to Audition and made amendments to the audio to make it sound clearer and more professional. In this experience I found useful effects such as noise reduction and voice enhancer. These effects worked well to improve the sound, and I am satisfied with what I have developed.
I spent the rest of the week sorting through my recorded footage and cutting down the interviews. I worked on getting each interview down to around 5 minutes and then placed them all on one timeline. From here, I continued to cut them up and combine them together, developing a video that lasts about 5 minutes in total. I am aware that I will still have to cut this down by at least a minute to fit the requirements of the brief, but I am still deciding what to cut out as I continue this process.
Currently, I am feeling slightly anxious about completing the work I have left as the deadline is getting closer and closer, but I believe that if I continue to focus I will be able to get the work done in a way that is time efficient and up to a great standard.
WEEK 10 BEGINNING 13/05/24
I made sure that by the beginning of the final week, I had already completed everything else other than the last half of the evaluation and the editing. This meant that I could focus on the editing that I had left to complete, prioritising what needs to be done before the deadline. On Monday, I made the first steps to piecing together my final video. I created a great foundation for the structure of the video, placing B - Roll in places where it fits best, adding extra context for the viewers to provide them with a better understanding of employment at Bell. I then added music that reinforces the light, motivational atmosphere that I wanted to create. I made a great amount of progress, and I feel that with the pressure of the upcoming due date rapidly approaching, it encouraged me to work harder to get the project completed. The next day of editing, I added the finer details such as adding transitions, infographic text and created an appropriate intro/outro. There were a lot of creative decisions that I have made in the process of editing together this video, each of which there was a reason behind. This is because I have made my creative choices with intention after taking inspiration from Bell Groups previous promos as well as promotional videos of a similar nature.
For example, I have decided to implement the use of cross dissolve transitions as well as jump cuts because I have seen these conventions used in other promos that are very much alike.
Despite the fact that I had edited the audio for Tracy's interview as much as possible, I still was not entirely satisfied with the way that it contrasts with the quality of the other interviews. For this reason, I decided to create two versions of my first draft, one in which I have taken out the interview entirely, and another where I left it in. This meant that when I was getting feedback from a lecturer, I could discuss what decision would be best. It was after this discussion in which I decided that it would be best to leave out the interview with Tracy because I felt that the audio quality was bringing down the overall quality of the video. I also got feedback from my peers and my client, which was valuable and beneficial to the development of the video while editing. This is because it enabled me to see how both my target audience and client perceive the video, providing me with a more comprehensive view of the video from various viewpoints.
On Monday, the date for the deadline of this project, I will upload the final video to this website after getting feedback on it. I have been able to successfully keep up to date with the work ahead of the deadline, which has meant that I have finished the project in the perfect time to hand in. To summarise the work that I have produced in the past ten weeks, I have made dedicated and focused efforts to ensure that this project is developed to the highest standard that it could possibly be. I have learnt the importance of research into my topic as well as into my practical skills to provide myself with the best chance of success. This diary has enabled me to keep track of my progress and has made the ways that I have experimented and developed this project evident.