UEA PDP Final video

Responses to questionnaire (UEA PDP video feedback)

UEA PDP video- research and paperwork

UEA PDP promotional video evaluation

 Evaluation

The task we were given was to create a promotional video for an underpromoted area of the college. The possible video topics were: T Levels, ENhance, ExtENd, the Futures team, the UEA Personal Development Programme, 'Why choose EN?' and curriculum offers. We were given this task by the marketing team, specifically the Admissions, Marketing and Engagement officer, Jon Dack. As there were 7 topics, we were split into 7 pairs and each given a different topic. We were first asked if there were any topics we'd prefer to do and the rest were randomly assigned using names drawn from a hat.

As we were a pair, we each had to take on multiple roles. We did all the pre-production work together, though I was responsible for scheduling most of the interviews and meetings. We took on different roles during the production process. Paige, my partner, mainly was in charge of the audio (e.g. holding the mic) whilst I did the majority of the filming, setting up shots and operating the camera. We then worked together again during the post-production process, taking it in turns to edit the audio and footage. 

One of the specifics that we had to adhere to for the video was the time limit. We were told to keep the videos around 90 seconds long with 2 minutes as the maximum limit. Another specific that we had to stick to was producing a video that reached near professional standards as it is going to be used on the EN website, at marketing events and as general promotional content. We also had to try not to include anybody wearing masks in our video so it can still be used in the future if masks are no longer necessary. Furthermore, as with all videos, we had to be careful to not include any copyrighted material, which is usually an issue when finding background music. For our video specifically, which was about the UEA PD Programme, we had to emphasise the strong connection between EN and the UEA by including footage of the Hive. This was because it was created collaboratively and contains UEA posters and logos all around the space. Rough cuts had to be completed by the 27th November and the final videos had to finished for the 16th December.

One of my favourite aspects of the task was filming the cutaway shots that were put over the top of the interviews to add more visually interesting elements. I loved experimenting with each shot, trying out different angles and shot types so we had a nice variety to choose from when editing our video. It was very satisfying when we captured a good shot, such as this shot of someone typing. The shot is perfectly focused on the hands and keyboard and the computers fade nicely into the background. I was very excited when we managed to get this shot, so we made sure to include it in our video. Another aspect of the task that I really enjoyed doing was editing the video once we'd collated our interview footage, cutaway shots and audio. I love working collaboratively, so greatly enjoyed working with Paige as we figured out the order we wanted the interviews to be in and deciding where we wanted to put the cutaways. It was also very rewarding to watch it all come together after all the hard work we'd put in with organising and carrying out the filming. I was also able to learn more about how to edit as I've only ever used the basics of Premiere Pro before and I've usually been in a large group, so I wasn't editing very often. For example, we used Adobe Audition to edit our audio during this task, which I had never used before.

One of the main challenges that we faced whilst creating our video was trying to schedule our interviews with the progress tutors. We initially wanted to interview 8 of them because there are 8 sections known as 'strands' involved in the PD Programme. We emailed all of them asking if they would be able to do it and most replied saying that they could. We let them know the dates we would be filming but a lot of them said they would be too busy. In the end, we interviewed 2 progress tutors and 2 progress managers and they each spoke about 2 of the strands. However, we still then had issues trying to organise dates when they'd be available and it took nearly 2 weeks to have all of them filmed (the first interview was on 13/11/20 and the last was on 25/11/20). We then only had a limited amount of time with some of the tutors because they had to leave for meetings. It was probably the most stressful aspect of the entire creation process, but they were key for making the video as effective as it is now and for delivering the information about the programme. 

Another challenge that we faced was editing the audio for the interviews. We filmed the interviews in the Hive, which was constantly filled with people. There was therefore a lot of background noise, though the tutors' voices could still be heard clearly. We tried to reduce it in Adobe Audition, but it was difficult to do that without affecting how the tutors sounded. It is therefore still audible throughout the video, though a combination of the voices and the background music makes it slightly less noticeable.

What I feel that I've taken away from this project is a larger sense of responsibility. With the majority of the units we did in media last year, I was working in larger groups with some people who had much more experience than I did. As there were only 2 of us working on this video, I had to take on a lot more roles and complete many more tasks. This has improved my confidence in regards to working with filming equipment and editing software, which will help for future projects if I work in such a small group again or produce an individual project. My editing skills have certainly improved and these skills will be very useful and highly applicable for future projects. I have also learnt how to work to a brief, something I had never done before. I constantly had to be conscious of the specific requirements we had been told and always had to consider the client's view and feedback. I was so used to always creating what my other classmates and I wanted to create, so having a specific brief was much more restrictive and a new experience. I have improved many of skills because of this such as time management, as we had to meet every deadline. 

If I were to do this again, I would've selected a different location to film the interviews in as this would've reduced the likelihood of having disruptive background noise. I would also be far more persistent with the interviews as I often left a couple of days after sending an email to allow the tutors to reply. Their infrequent availability caused a lot of delays with filming dates so I would properly chase them and get solid filming dates. Most of the tutors were very uncertain whilst being filmed as they weren't sure what to say and felt slightly conscious about being filmed in a public area. I would therefore make sure that they're prepared and know what they're going to speaking about exactly, which could be accomplished by sending them an outline of a script. I would also be better at giving them direction as they often wouldn't look at the camera and would forget to clap at the beginning of the shots, and we didn't have enough time to reshoot them. 

EN- Initial research

 EN- Initial Research 

East Norfolk Sixth Form 

Mission 

“Excellence and Care: the College is working for its Community” 

The college strives to give their students the best opportunities that they can offer so they can fulfil their potential through high quality teaching. They provide a supportive environment, catering to individual needs, and serve the local and national community by adapting to their students’ and stakeholders’ needs.  

Core Values 

• Excellence: This is promoted in order to provide students with the best opportunities, encouraging them to have high aspirations, high standards and high achievement 
• Care: They value their students, staff and governors and their talent, supporting each student so they can achieve their personal potential  
• Diversity: This is embraced, and equal opportunities are promoted for all within a framework of mutual respect 
• Integrity: They adhere to ethical and professional standards in all aspects of their work, committed to working hard and promoting equality and fairness 

Impressive facts 

• 25 subjects of the 37 A levels offered achieved 100% pass rate 
• 56% of students that progress to Russell Group universities achieve a First-Class degree, over 20% higher than the national average for State and Independent sectors 
• 9 students secured their places at Oxford and Cambridge in 2020, a record-breaking number for EN 

Number of courses 

There are 87 different courses currently running at East Norfolk, including A levels, BTECs and T-levels. 

Futures Team 

The Futures Team is committed to supporting students in making informed decisions about their future career pathways and encourage all students to be aspirational with their choices, whether they plan to apply for an apprenticeship, job or university place. They ensure that our students have a wide range of work placements to choose from and organise a programme of guest speakers from a variety of different industries to engage students in thinking about their future career paths.  

ExtENd 

The Extend Programme is for students who are aiming to get into a highly competitive university and typically where the application process includes some form of admissions process. The programme challenges students to think ambitiously about where they see themselves progressing onto after Sixth Form studies. They provide extra support for those intending to go to Oxbridge or Russell Group Universities as they’re typically more demanding than other universities and applications are much more competitive.  

 

Competitor- Lowestoft Sixth Form College 

Mission 

Lowestoft’s mission is to ‘enable our students to excel and progress beyond expectation in an outstanding learning environment in the heart of Lowestoft’. 

Core Values 

• Aspirational – Being supportive, exploring potential and challenging ourselves daily.
• Respectful – Acting with compassion, being inclusive, and welcoming others in our learning community and to our environment.
• Professional – Putting team first, acting with integrity, developing our expertise and having a focused work ethic.
• Successful – Determining our ambition, achieving excellence and continually raising standards.

Impressive facts 

• In 2020, 100% of their A-Level students passed their exams, with 96.1% achieving A*- C grades. The BTEC students did equally well with 100% passing their Diploma course 
• Lowestoft Sixth Form College is a £25 million purpose-built college 
• They have full WIFI coverage 

Number of courses 

There are 37 courses currently available, including A levels, BTECs, CTECs and Level 2 courses (BTEC and GCSEs). 

Additional support 

At LSFC, they support for those with special education needs and disabilities. The support includes assistive technology, wellbeing and counselling, exam access arrangements, and independent careers advice and guidance.  

They also have the Happy Balance wellbeing programme which helps students to achieve their ideal mental, social and physical state. The student wellbeing team run a host of talks and workshops throughout the year to protect and advise those who need help. 

 

Why you picked EN 

I picked EN because of the enormous range of courses that are on offer, many of which I was intrigued by. I had never heard of so many of them and I wanted to try out new experiences. My intrigue was further extended when I found out you could select 4 courses to do as it appealed to my indecisive nature. Furthermore, I liked the sound of the various ENhance activities available, such as the DofE award. I greatly enjoy doing as many extracurricular activities as I can, so found interest in how many activities I could pick from. EN is also only a 10-to-15-minute drive from my house, which was an advantage when I was considering my options. Though East Coast college is closer, I found EN to be the better choice for me because I wanted to be able to do multiple courses.  

What subjects are you interested in? 

Aside from the courses I am already doing (performing arts (acting), creative media (TV and film), psychology and fine art), the subjects which interest me, and I would like to find out more about are:  

• Criminology 
• Dance 
• Photography 
• Fashion & textiles 

Corporate video analysis chart

Current practices task

 Current practices tasks 

1) The equipment required to produce a corporate/promotional video consists of a digital video camera or camcorder, tripod, external microphone, extra batteries and recording media, video lights and light reflectors, computer and video editing software. These are all important pieces of equipment which can ensure you capture the best quality video and audio footage. However, these are only the basics and extra equipment can be acquired to help increase the quality of the production. For example, a dolly, jib arm or crane can be used to steady a camera and prevent movement whilst being held. The equipment required also depends on the weather and location (e.g. lots of artificial lighting won’t be needed if filming outside in summer).  

2) The distribution methods required to reach the intended audiences would likely be through conferences, in presentations (e.g. training videos) or online (usually on a website or on social media). 

3) One common shooting method/convention you would expect to see in a corporate/promotional video is the use of the rule of thirds, especially during shots of interviews. The interviewee will often be positioned on either of the intersecting vertical lines whilst facing towards the larger space next to them, which is long-sided composition. Close up and mid shots are often used when there’s an interviewee in the shot or to show the work the company does, whilst wide shots are frequently used to showcase locations.  

4) Regarding pre-production, all corporate/promotional videos should begin with the client brief. This contains the initial ideas the client wants to include in their corporate/promotional video.  

5) Client liaison is important because the filming company can then understand exactly what kind of content their client wants and any potential issues with their ideas can be brought up so a solution can be negotiated. The video that’s produced will then be satisfactory for the client and will promote the image that they want.  

6) The documentation that should/could be completed before production starts consists of talent/location releases, location recces, a shot list, risk assessments and a production schedule. Talent and location releases are needed so the filming company has permission to film a specific person/place. Location recces provide an assessment of the locations the crew want to film at, containing information such as the address, availability and contacts. Shot lists and production schedules provide a plan for what is going to happen in every shot and when each one is going to be filmed. Risk assessments allow the crew to consider any complications that could happen during filming and come up with solutions to prevent any injuries that could happen to themselves or others.  

7) The difference between a script and a shooting script is that the shooting script is more elaborate, precise, overwritten version of the screenplay. Unlike what common sense may suggest, the shooting script is not written by the screenwriter. It is written by the director alongside the cinematographer, while both discuss their ideas and shot plan desired for the movie. [1] 

[1] What is the shooting script? | Movie Directing (elementsofcinema.com)

 

Legal and ethical issues

Legal and ethical issues task 

Legal issues 

1) Libel: a form of defamation in which a false statement is published that damages somebody’s reputation. It can be in written form or on film, whilst slander is the verbal version. 

If applied to a corporate/promotional video context, libel could happen if a company were to make false statements in their video about another company to make theirs look better in comparison. Unless these accusations could be backed up with evidence, it would be classified as slander. Alternately, this would be applicable if the company used a positive review in their video given by someone else but with incorrect information in it that can’t be supported.  

Copyright: the legal right to control the production and selling of a piece of media. It’s given to the content creator for a certain number of years.  

If applied to a corporate/promotional video context, copyright would be in place when it comes to music. The majority of songs out there are copyrighted, which would require a company to pay to use a specific song. This is why the background music in corporate videos is instrumental and generic which they likely either hired someone to create or found online with no copyright/royalties.  

2) The Equality Act 2010 is the current legislation relating to race relations, disability and discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics. The act legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and a wider society. These protected characteristics include: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

This means that media companies couldn’t refuse to hire somebody (e.g. writer, director, designer) because of any of the protected characteristics. When casting a media production, the casting director couldn’t discriminate against certain actors because of any of the detailed characteristics. The only exception would be if there were specifications for a character such as race, age, gender etc. but only if they’re necessary for the storyline. However, factors such as sexual orientation or whether they’re transgender wouldn’t have an effect on this (e.g. gay actor could play a straight character, trans actor could play a cisgender character).  

3) The Obscene Publications Act 1959 is the law that relates to obscenity. Content is considered obscene if it will ‘deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it’. However, this can be variable in the media depending on factors such as context and target audience. More graphic and obscene content would be allowed in media rated for adults (18+), though some mildly ‘obscene’ material can still be included in content for younger viewers (e.g. specific swear words are allowed in films rated 12A). Nudity allowed in media also is often dependent on context. For example, nudity portrayed in a sexual manner would receive a high age rating whilst nudity in relation to culture and living conditions (e.g. low development countries) is usually allowed with more leniency.  

4) Ofcom and the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) are the bodies responsible for television and film regulation to ensure content is appropriate for viewers. Ofcom is the regulator for communications services such as broadband, home phone and mobile services, TV and radio. The BBFC is responsible for the classification and censorship of films and videos released in cinemas and video works (e.g. TV programmes, trailers, adverts, public information/campaigning films, etc.). They apply an age rating to these videos, which ranges from a U (suitable for all) to an 18 (suitable for those aged 18+).  

This can be related to this unit because even corporate videos need to be regulated and rated to ensure all the content is appropriate for viewing and doesn’t contain anything that could be interpreted as offensive or harmful.  

Ethical issues 

1) As media students we need to consider representation regarding the portrayal of people, places and events so any content that we create cannot be interpreted as offensive/discriminatory towards anybody or anywhere. We also need to be considerate because we could defame a person/organisation/place/etc. if we were to incorrectly represent them as it would be a false statement. 

2) In 2017, Netflix released a live action film of the popular anime and manga ‘Death Note’. Despite its Asian origins, none of the major characters were played by actors of Asian descent. The main character’s name was even changed from Light Yagami to Light Turner. This extended into a change of location from Japan to Seattle in America. Many complaints were made about the whitewashing within the film and they felt that the director, Adam Wingard, and his team completely ignored the significance of Japanese culture within the story. Asian people are frequently misrepresented in major media and the characters are often side characters and/or are based off of cruel stereotypes. Whitewashing ‘Death Note’ erased all its Japanese origins to become a basic Hollywood film. [1] 

In July 2020, Halle Berry shared that she was preparing to play a transgender man in an upcoming film, though hadn’t been officially cast. In an interview she expressed her interest in the character and constantly referred to the character as ‘she’ and a ‘woman’, despite him being a transgender male. Berry received significant backlash for both misgendering the character and for accepting the role. As a cisgender woman, she wouldn’t be able to understand the struggles of being transgender, so the role should go to a trans actor. The trans community has been severely misrepresented for years so they should be positively represented by an actual trans actor. Berry pulled out of the role and apologised for her actions, saying that ‘the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories’, and thanked everyone for pointing out her mistake. [2] 

[1] Why ‘Death Note’ Is Guilty of Whitewashing | IndieWire

[2] Halle Berry Pulls Out of Transgender Film Role After Backlash - Variety