Unit 28 Corporate and Promotional Programming Production.
A corporate film is a video enabling you to
communicate and advertise a business to potential customers; the purpose a
corporate film is that it is supposed to be precise and direct so it should range
from about 5-15 minutes. The more precise the video is the longer you that the
audience will stay engaged. By doing this it will keep the audience’s attention
and that is exactly what you try to aim for when creating a corporate film.
In this essay I will be discussing the codes and conventions, current
practices, legal issues and the ethical issues of a corporate film.
The corporate film I decided to analyse is a video
that is promoting a new online book service ‘Bookimbo”. The video
promotes a service that you cannot buy on the shop floor; the purpose of
bookimbo is so it can help people write and publish a book with all
illustrations at an option. The video itself is very informative, and
advertises it to potential customers who are passionate about creating stories
to publish. As no one has really heard or seen Bookimbo advertised before, this
is a promotional advertisement as well as instructional. The advertisement
shows and informs the viewer what Bookimbo is and how to use it. It shows
illustrations and sketches, which fits the film as a whole; this is because the
video tells the viewer how creative you can be when creating your book using
Bookimbo, and also with it being filmed by hand it shows how creative you can
be when creating a book when using Bookimbo. The target audience for this
online book service I would say is for creative writers and illustrators; In my
opinion I don’t think that there is a specific age range on this promotional
video, only those who are interested in writing a book. From the film I can see
the website is easy to navigate so although there is no specific age group for
this service, I would say it would be unsuitable for anyone under the age of 12
years old. When showcasing Bookimbo, the advertisement used simple drawn
animation; simple illustrations are created whilst the narrator is informing
the viewer what Bookimbo is all about. Whatever the narrator says, the sketches
on screen match what he is saying. For example, at the beginning of the video
the narrator’s first sentence is “We all love to share stories”, the
illustration drawn on screen is a group of stickman talking round a fire. We
know the stickmen are hypothetically speaking with the words drawn around them
saying “Blah, Blah, Blah.” This is how we know as the viewer that they were
“sharing stories”. The whole advertisement for Bookimbo goes from being an
introduction to the website advertisement to then go further into detail. The
promotional video explains more how to use it and is more instructive; as all
this information is told in one minute and 40 seconds; I feel this promotional
video for Bookimbo is very successful with an effective slogan to match it:
‘Tell your story, today.”
Codes and conventions
When creating a corporate film It is essential to know
the basic codes and conventions. There are different types of codes and
conventions and the most important subjects to reflect about are: the style of
the video, the content, layout and format, the representation of social groups
and the message that the film is giving off to the client/s. The style of the
film is very important and plays an important part in the film you are making.
Every corporate film made goes through a lot planning; when planning such a big
project, you need to know how to style and layout your film. There are many
types of corporate films so researching the different styles would be crucial
as you want your video to match your criteria and brief. For example if the
client brief stated that thy wanted to promote, educate and inform parents of a
school and what their school has to offer, it is up to the production team to
make sure that everything is met to the client brief. The content the layout,
and the format of a corporate film also needs to be thought thoroughly before
starting a corporate film. As a production team, there should be a client brief
from the customer requesting what they want in the film; this will include the
content and a summary of what they want to be included in the video, timings,
types of shots and the length are usually mentioned in the client brief.
Layout is important as if the client doesn’t like it then the end product
won’t be satisfying to the customer. However if on an odd occasion that some of
the most important parts are not stated or asked for then it is up to the
production manager or member of the team to ask questions to whoever is in
charge about what that they actually want. The reason for this is because after
film is complete with all edits cut in and there is something missing from it,
the client will not be to happy about it and is likely not to recommend you to
other people; it is crucial to know all the information you can possibly get
before making a corporate film. This is why codes and conventions are important
to know as when creating a film for a client, the project has to be finished ideally
before the deadline, and to make sure that the overall message has come across
clearly throughout the whole video. If the client is happy and feels that you
have done this professionally then this would have been a success.
Current Practices
Techniques used to promote a corporate film can be
showcased in many different ways. The most popular software used is the current
webpage YouTube. This format allows you to upload any video onto the website
and anyone can view it depending on the privacy setting set, however if the
video is created for promotional purposes, it is very unlikely that the video
won’t be available. The advantages with this is that anyone can access it, this
means more viewers which means more clients. Whereas with using other
techniques you may not get as many people as you would of liked. Other
techniques used to transfer a film is either a hard drive, data stick or a dvd
format. The advantages of using any of these is that it stays confidential and
you can showcase it to customers that you want, so it isn’t as wider audience
but you can advertise to how bigger audience you want; whether that being in a
classroom, conference room or assembly hall, the advantage of this is that you
get too choose who the film is being shown too, Youtube doesn’t give that
option.
In order to make a successful film the video needs to
run smooth; this all comes down to the way you edit it. A number of interviews
should be used throughout the duration of a corporate video; cut away’s are
used to break this up. For example, whilst interviewing an individual, when it
comes to editing you can use the sound footage from this and use on top of
another video, usually a cut away or a still. The most important thing to
remember when creating a corporate film and when editing and filming is if the
message is getting across? If this is shown clearly and the audience recognizes
the reason behind the whole purpose of the video, then the video has been
successful.
Legal issues
When producing a corporate film you have to take an
account of the legal issues you have to face. Laws and regulations are there for
protection; it is crucial that all legal issues are followed when creating any
film. An example of this would be that when hiring actors, extras or even if
your interviewing a person, it is crucial that they sign actor release forms.
The purpose of this is so that the company has a copy of their signature
stating they agree with being showcased on TV; once they have signed an
agreement the company then have permission to showcase them on television. If
for some reason an actor release form isn’t signed, the company could be sewed
for exposing an individual without their permission and could cause the whole
production a lot of problems or even cause it to shut down. The privacy of an
individual is taken as a precaution in every production.
In every production there is always something to worry
about, whether that being anyone being unreliable to a bunch of paperwork going missing. One important thing that has to be thought about in every production
is to avoid copyright. Copyright is a legal write created by the law that
enables a creator of an original work, rights to its use of distribution for a
certain amount of time, to film, print and publish etc. If you were going to
make a corporate film and you use music from a particular artist, you would have
to state this in the end credits along with the logo (Small c). This is
to show that you have had a legal right to use this particular song with the
owner’s permission.
Newspapers, magazines and online articles always find
stories about citizens or celebrities and make false accusations. This is
called a Libel statement, Libel is a published false statement created to
destroy or ruin a persons reputation, these are usually found in any newspaper
in the country or magazine and designed in a way that if it is read, respect
for a certain individual goes, depending on the story or accusation that has
been made.
Ethical Issues
No company or production
ever discriminates someone on his or her gender, religion or race. Ethical
issues are just as important as the legal issues and every company has to
ensure that nothing offensive will be on camera. If anyone is discriminated on
camera then the film could be corrupted; this is why scriptwriters and
production managers have to be careful about what is shown.
Megan Duffield
