20. Storyboard

This is a rough idea/sketch of our video game adverts. We will use these 2 images as a guide to follow, especially with the camera shots and structure. We didn't go into much detail on the specific scenes we would include as we didn't exactly know what we were capable of doing with the green screen and camera shots. As we only have one camera available we have to record the same scene over and over again in different camera shots. But the problem is getting the members in the advert to say and act the exact same as all the other shots. We initially wanted to have a dragon as the background on the green screen but we would have to create it in Photoshop which we are too inexperienced to create a realistic one. Then we wanted a castle as the background we would have to create. We got the idea to take a picture of Ross Castle which is nearby where I live.  

19. Target Audience Profile

Main Task: Video Advert 1

Target Audience - People interested in the quality of a video game. Aged 7-21 due to the critical analysis of the game given by Michael.

Feasibility - Should be easy to record as long as we ensure that we book the equipment beforehand. Editing will be a bit more difficult due to complicated software.

Technology and skills required - Camera skills and editing skills required

Main Task: Video Advert 2

Target Audience - People interested in getting a reaction from a videogame. Aimed more at younger gamers as advert involves some comedic elements such as the over dramatized reaction from Michael.

Feasibility – It’s easy to record as long as we book out the appropriate equipment in advance. Editing can be difficult.

Technology and skills required - Camera skills and editing skills.

Ancillary Task: Magazine Page

Target Audience - People who read video game magazines and want to know how good the game is. More experienced gamers who care about the game’s production qualities.

Feasibility - Finding images should be easy and writing the text should also be fairly easy. Editing could be difficult.

Technology and skills required - Internet surfing skills will be required in order to find appropriate images. Editing skills will also be necessary in order to ensure it is as good as it possibly can be.

Ancillary Task: Game Cover

Target Audience - People who are interested in expressing emotion after playing a videogame. Age 7 - 21.

Feasibility - Internet surfing for pictures should be easy. Editing could be difficult but should not prohibit us from completing work.

Technology and skills required - Editing skills will also be necessary in order to ensure it is as good as it possibly can be.

Conventions of existing media products and Shot Ideas

We will try to include many forms and conventions from existing media products in both our main and ancillary tasks to ensure our final products looked authentic and real. For our video game advert we will look at several adverts that are similar to our game which is "Evil Clutches". The game is very simple to play which attracts all ages but our target audience will be ages 7 - 21. Examples of the video game adverts we have looked at so far a Clash of Clans advert and a Star Wars: The Arcade Game advert. The Clash of Clans advert helped us gain an insight on what conventions are used in modern television adverts and helped us decide on what we should include in ours. We also looked at this advert because the advert will have a similar structure to ours for example "acting out a role", not just using game play footage like standard adverts you see today. The Star Wars advert was made in 1983 and will use similar conventions to ours for example humour and close up camera shots of facial expressions.We will use a wide variety of different camera shots for our game advert. Video game adverts in general use a lot so we want to replicate similar conventions to these. 

We will also include graphics at the end of our adverts as an outro just to remind what the product is and important information about it for example the price, date available, reviews etc.

An example of a close up to show facial expression is below, we will also use it to transition from different scenes so it ends up running smoothly.

We will use mid shots to capture both members when filming so the audience can see their reactions. An example is shown below.

Clash of Clans Advert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC2qk2X3fKA

Star Wars Advert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPMbYFThBxo

Brief Summary on Evil Clutches Adverts

In the first advert, we opted for a humorous approach. We opted for this approach because we felt that a key part of advertising is satisfying the viewer. We believed that the eccentricity of our advert would be found by many as entertaining. This would ensure that the advert stays in the mind of and may sway them to buy the product.

For our second advert we decided to take an ordinary approach and advertise the game as an incredible experience. While the characters within the advert may have been slightly exaggerating in regards to the game's quality, this would be necessary in an advert because the purpose of an advert is to try and sell copies of the product. So in order to sell as many copies of the product as possible, we tried to present the game as a great purchase.

18. Audience Research

BBC News

Money spent on UK television adverts fell last year for the first time since 2001, according to new research

TV advertising spends declined 4.7% from 2005 levels to £4.59bn - but still accounted for the second largest advertising medium after the press.

The printed press sector also suffered a 2.7% drop in spend, according to the Advertising Association (AA), although directories bucked the trend.

UK spending on internet adverts topped 10% of the total for the first time.

"I believe online spend could overtake TV within the next three to four years," said Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, the trade association for the internet marketing industry.

Apart from the internet, the largest gainer was outdoor advertising.

The figures to be published next month in the AA's Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2007 show advertising spends in the UK exceeded £19bn, up 0.7% from the year before.

The Guardian

Nearly 90% of television viewers always skip through the adverts on their digital video recorder but TV still remains the most memorable form of advertising, according to new research published today.

More than half (52%) of respondents said television was more memorable than any other form of advertising medium, followed by 10% who said newspapers and just 2% for online video adverts and 1% for online banner ads and on iPhones and iPads.
While digital or personal video recorders have increased the amount of television people watch, the research suggested that 86% of people always fast-forward through adverts while watching time shifted shows.
Respondents said shorter ad breaks (highlighted by 48% of people), more memorable campaigns (32%) and shorter ads (17%) would encourage people to watch more advertising.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/01/07/survey-reveals-uk-consumers-believe-adverts-statistics-and-evidence-more-those

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6675061.stm

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/aug/24/tv-advertising

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032615/how-youtube-ad-revenue-works.asp

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/17/women-video-games-iab
https://www.thinkbox.tv/?q=advertising&x=0&y=0

Secondary Research 

The research we have collected from the sources above have given Ross and I a better understanding on what we need to include in our final production. For example the global video games advertising from 2007 and 2016 has given us the knowledge that the demand to play video games and watch video game trailers is constantly increasing each year. This clearly shows we have a good chance of creating a popular video game advert as the demand is there. With our target audience being ages 7 - 21, we reach a wide age range. The information gathered from think-box tells us that 16 - 24s watch 37 TV ads per day. This information is crucial as it tells us that our target audience are very likely to watch our advert. Also 15 - 24s are twice more likely to talk about ads than the average person, this information shows we are more likely to be successful than other games as they target people either older or younger. Our video game genre is an arcade, medieval, action game. The demand for action type games is very high and popular which suggests people will like our game. In America the action genre is the most popular being 28% and worldwide its second most popular being 18%. It would be ideal to target our advert in America as they are most likely to be interested however we want to make it accessible to everyone by posting our advert on YouTube and other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This form of advertising is free unless you pay to promote it to people.

Primary Research 

This a video which I created using Sony Vegas Pro 11, the audio was recorded using a Dictaphone, Ross and I asked the public some general questions that will benefit us when creating the video game advert. We asked questions like "Do you think arcade games can make a comeback in the video game industry?". Doing this has improved our knowledge on what our target audience want, so we need to make sure we adapt and include there points they suggested. We asked people who are in our target audience which is ages 7-21, we found out that most people like playing video games and some enjoy watching video game adverts. Also a lot of people still play arcade games which is good for our product because it gives us reassurance that our product can definitely be successful. Our audience is around 90% males which is why we asked them as they are the majority. We found out that people like playing video games to escape real life as you have the freedom and creativity to do what you want. Also people watch video game adverts of titles they like the sound of which is good because our title "Evil Clutches" which a has mysterious vibe to interest the audience. Game play footage and extra information is the main reason why people watch adverts though so we need to make sure we include this in ours. 

The information gathered has helped with our production as we now know what to include because we asked people in our target audience. We could ask a wider range of people from different areas/backgrounds however we feel we have gathered enough sufficient evidence to be successful. Also it would costly and time consuming traveling. We need to look at a wider range of existing media products and there adverts because we want to make ours look authentic and real. To do this we need to include similar codes and conventions like showing actual gameplay footage, cinematic footage and over exaggerated responses to either entertain the viewer or keep them interested.

Primary Research Questions

1. Do you play video games?
2. What draws you towards video games?
3. What genre of video games do you like? Do you watch video game adverts?
4. What do video game adverts do to draw in the audience?
5. Do you think Arcade games could make a big comeback in the video game industry?

17. Ancillary Task 2 Existing Media Analysis 2

16. Ancillary Task 2 Existing Media Analysis 1

15. Ancillary Task 1 Existing Media Analysis 2

Ross did a voice over on video game packaging and the game we chose was EA Sports UFC which is very popular and we thought it would have a similar target audience to our game.

What codes and conventions are evident within the text?

Highlighted title to catch eye

Platform of play on top

Simple but effective

Age rating

Case features characters within the game

How is the text appealing/attracting its target audience?

Featuring stars within the company on the cover

Age rating suggests maturity

Producer logo

Simplicity of cover suggests game could be simple or the game could solely focus on UFC (the act committed by both men on the case).