Evaluation: Corporate Video Production

Evaluation: Corporate Video Production

• What brief did you respond to (what was the type / structure) and what were you tasked with completing? Who were you completing it for?

The client brief was to complete and make a video displaying the NHS portraits provided to us by members of the public who had gone and painted portraits of working members of the NHS. These people being friends family and much loved members of the NHS dedicating all their time to help those in need of urgent care and assisting the public in the fight against Covid-19. The task was set by the client Sara, who is the curator and manager of the Yare Gallery, and through the brief we had to keep constant contact with the client in order to keep the correct structure which she desired.

Portrait by David Gillingwater

• What was specified in the guidance from the client that you had to include / meet, and what was more flexible?

Our client was brief with what the criteria included. This started with a basic outline of what she wanted the video to include which was pictures, clear names and presentable format. This then progressed into needing to add audio and softer transitions. The whole video was sent but given back to us due to the small alterations needed which was then specified to us. This included, names taken off the pictures and presented in the end slide, then to make the background fit the theme, which we decided was white. The audio was made softer and more spread across to match each picture and their given statement. We tried to be flexible with the work but ended up sticking to a clear cut structure which gave us an overall result we were proud of.

Portrait by David Gillingwater

• How did you go about responding to the brief? Outline all key tasks completed (research, planning, development, review and revision) and include evidence of these stages.

In our research we went to meet Sara at the Yare Gallery to see the layout of what we were creating this video for and the space available. We took notes and got to see the other exhibition currently taking place which gave us a clear understanding of the type of work they display as well as the style they go for. We took a look in the video room where it will be displayed and gathered the genre and mood we will need to fulfil. From this we then came back to class and noted down the key features needed in the video to fit the requirement of the Yare Gallery.

 Website: https://www.yare.org.uk/

• What was your specific, allocated, role?

My specific allocated role was to transition the video for it all to match pace and speed throughout the specific role I was given. I was able to add a white transition to each other the picture gaps in order to give subtle and fading transitions instead of a harsh cut to black. This adds continuity and softness through the video making it pleasing and presentable to watch.

• What was your favourite aspect of the task? Include more than one thing, if appropriate

I really enjoyed putting the whole thing together. Even if the whole project took a long and stressful time, adding effects and being in charge of making sure transitions were the same speed and pictures lined up gave great satisfaction to me which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed seeing the final product of what we had created, it was rewarding that all the hard work had paid off for good and that the client was very happy with what we had worked so hard on in order to make it perfect.

• What was the most challenging aspect of the task? Include more than one thing, if appropriate

It was challenging to continue the work when the client kept on adding extra details not specified. Many times it was easy to want to give up due to the stressful and challenging nature of having to constantly keep changing our ideas and whole piece of work. It was challenging to keep feeling motivated when what you were creating wasn’t going to plan or not to the level of acceptance for the client. 

• What do you feel you took from the project? e.g., what will you reflect on as being particularly useful / developmental?

I realised how important it is to stick to a schedule. Because of the initial long period of time we had to begin with, it was easy to sit back and not take it as seriously. But when it came down to the final week, we were all very far behind because of how laid back we were about the whole situation. Next time, time management is key and being able to plan when to do certain things in a time limit.

• What would you change if you were to undertake the task again?

Time management. The whole task took us a very long time to complete due to the constant changing of what was expected from us from the presentation. Because of our lack of knowledge of what our client wanted, it made it very tiring for us to continue with the work due to our un-motivation.

Extension 

• In what ways can you choose to present feedback / a review of your work and which have you used / experienced during this unit?

For our overall feedback, we chose to ask questions through a questionnaire survey based from. This was then sent out to 10 or more individuals who answered the questions and replied to what was asked. From this questionnaire we then wrote up the responses to each question and analysed each response in order to gather correct understanding of what was liked and disliked about the project which could then be altered if a next time were to occur. This was then put onto a flipbook format and posted onto my blog for the analysis to be displayed and my findings and the public's view to be taken into account.

An example of the questionnaire questions we asked and their responses

• What constraints did you experience when researching, planning, filming and editing your corporate video? Please comment upon; Legal, Regulatory, Financial, Organisational.

Overall the constraints I faced came down to the limitation of what we had to work with. Because of money and overall production schedule, it was difficult to gain a full understanding of what the client wanted due to our only one trip to the gallery and our age being still at an awkward age to be able to create a video with our limited knowledge. Many of us created the video from stuff we already knew without knowing anything, so the video was basic in style due to our little understanding. It was overall to edit due to many of us not understanding the client and making it to our own desire instead which is why it didn't sit right when we submitted it. It was very messy to organise and without our teacher, the project would have gone to shambles.

• How well did you and your partner manage the task? Please comment upon; time management and working to agreed timescales, leadership skills, communication and communications, meeting the requirements of the brief and achieving agreed outcomes, recommendations for future tasks (areas for improvement and areas of strength)

My partner would be classed as the whole group in my project as we all ended up working together in the end. We started off the project working individually as it was supposed to be an individual project. As the time went on and we in the end had to join all our videos together, we all took charge in allocating each other rolls, mine was the transitions and perfection of the video to make it presentable to display in front of people. Everyone in the end worked to their standard and managed to get all their tasks done in time as splitting up the roles made it easier for us all to manage. The communication was fluid and efficient and we were able to create a joint video which met all of the clients criteria. 

• Feedback - please comment upon feedback, both from peers, teachers and the clients and based on self-reflection; Peers, Client, Teacher, Partner, your own reflection, including an assessment of your suitability for a position in corporate video production.

The overall feedback I gathered from peers was that the whole project was stressful and time consuming and after the many trials and errors we all lost hope in what we were creating. It became a chore for us and speaking on behalf of me and my peers, it was a very tedious project which many of us were pleased to finally be over due to the stress and frustration which came down to the constant changes and clients needs. The client was genuine to work with and gave us a rough outline of what we needed to complete but it only created challenges for us when more things started to be added at later dates and closer to the deadline. With little time, we all faced the pressure. Our teacher was extremely helpful throughout the whole thing and tried to keep our spirits high and allowed us to vent our frustration to then get back on task after. She was very understanding and dedicated to getting this project complete and was the glue that kept us all going. 

Client feedback:

Hi,

I watched the four films last night. My favourite at this point is Toby. But I'll give you feedback on all of them. My initial brief was to use the images of the NHS staff, with an audio/text of their feelings things like: I didn't see my family for 6 weeks, the mask cut into my face kind of thing. With a rolling text reel at end with artists and workers listed on it. Jacob: big block of Wendy images and names (I think it was Wendy's name from recollection) to a viewer this wouldn't make sense as the images can't be all of her - so maybe 'artist: Wendy' - though I'd prefer the images to be mixed up and list at end. Andrew Dibbon is Dibben Mia P: too quick can't read phrases. Again artist but not NHS name Milly: artist name too big and doesn't connect with picture Toby: slow & artists not mixed up - which I think would be better as two artists have lots, others only a few - would look less one sided. Great to see titles at end but they're a bit quick Voice overs? Did you get to talk to any of the NHS workers? Or you could use the students voicing the phrases some of which were already quoted in the original emails It might be fun to note that both Kate and Wendy are also NHS workers This show opens Friday 11th and I'll be busy with hang next week so ideally like to get this sorted this week if possible. 

All best,

Sarah 

Example of how we changed the layout from names on each slide to just at the end:

Yare Gallery responses: