My Evaluation.

My advert was there to display and show clearly the Ibanez RG421. In this advert the main focus is the guitar throughout every shot, it opens with an extreme close up of the guitars body as a teenage boy plays the opening riff to ‘Gloryhole’ by ‘Steel Panther’ and then cuts to black. It then opens again on a mid-shot of the guitar being played as the riff continues showing the full body and beauty of the guitar, It then moves on to a close up of the headstock with the teenagers fingers playing down the neck in the background out of focus, it then changes focus and shows the RG Series Logo along with the Ibanez logo, then changes to a close up of the teenagers fingers playing the riff and then cuts to black with the logo; ‘Play Hard, Rock Harder’ followed by the Ibanez logo. The advert then ends after 20.01 seconds and is therefore brief and concise. Showing the audience exactly what is being advertised and nothing else could be confused within the audience. No other logos are featured in the advert and therefore no confusion will be raised to the audience as to what is the main focus and intention of the advert. This advert is for music listeners not for those that already play guitar as they would know to look for guitar adverts in a guitar shop where they are often found. This advert is designed to capture the metal fan that wouldn’t be found in a guitar shop. By reaching this target audience it shows that this guitar can be played by anybody, especially the average teenage metal listener.

Storyboards.

My storyboard wasn’t very successful in my final production; I didn’t follow my storyboard due to lack of actors and time, I couldn’t get certain roles to be filled as I didn’t have any actors willing to be in the advert. Instead of following my storyboard I decided to write-in-role and act as my character before filming in order to better understand him and the things he takes interest in. luckily I based my character largely off of myself and so this was easy and quick. Had I stuck to my original storyboard I would have made a better, more effective and successful advert however I didn’t have the time or the actors to do so. Had I stuck to my original storyboard in this shot I would have better represented the guitar and the target audience.

My mind maps weren’t very helpful in directing my final piece as I didn’t follow them when filming my production. However they were good in helping to develop my ideas and help create the character used in my final piece. I couldn’t get actors to be in my advertisement and so therefore had to create a new advert and the reason I choose this advert and directed it this way is because it is simplistic and relatable to the audience. People watching this advert will relate to its nature and therefore will be enticed and interested.

In this scene instead of having an extreme close up on my guitarists hand I would have had a wide angle of the players room to show his personality followed by a shot that would start at the top of the neck and stare down neck much like the Angus Young shot in the ‘Thunderstruck’ video; ‘AC/DC’. This would have better connected with the target audience as they would have more than likely seen this iconic shot and related it to this product and the talent of Angus Young.

My comments.

Along with my discussion notes my comments showed me that I dint use enough various different shot types and therefore my advert may appear as very bland and boring, looking back on it I would have used different shot types in very small clips only a few seconds long perhaps and filmed more so during the editing process I could have had more variation. This would have attracted the audience more and kept them interested which would have made my advert more successful in connecting with its target audience that don’t have the time or the patience for long, boring shots that do not offer much variety.

My Production Once Made:

Visual style.

My visual style was very realistic in the sense that nothing was exploding and no special effects were added to give the guitar a better and more exciting look, this advert was directed with the intention of creating a very realistic, simplistic environment to simulate to the audience the type of professional looking atmosphere that they would be playing in to make the guitar seem affordable and easy to use. Minimal shot changes which in hindsight isn’t a good thing as it doesn’t allow much of an array of shots showing off the guitars beauty and making the audience lose interest in the product.

Soundscape.

In my advert the sounds used are very minimal and straight forward, the only sound in the entire advert is the song being played from start to finish. ‘Gloryhole’ by ‘Steel Panther’ and this is the only sound throughout the advert. This is very effective and powerful as the songs main riff is very strong and well known amongst heavy metal fans which is my target audience however in hindsight if I could change my advert I would have added in some sound effects such as the sound of the jack cable being inserted into the input on the amp and the guitar, the sound of the amp switch being turned on and a beeping sound much like the one at the beginning of the video to ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ by ‘Guns N’ Roses’.

Appropriateness to Audience.

My adverts style and visual attributes are relatable to my target audience that don’t live a charmed life and are on the whole very simplistic and realistic in their day to day lives with the exception of listening to high voltage heavy metal and wanting to be a rock God. To do this they need talent and no talent is more desired than to play guitar, especially to a metal fan. Therefore my advert is very appropriate and connotes a possibility into the world of metal for the target audience. Given more varied shot types and added sound effects and clips such as the amp being plugged in to the guitar I feel that this advert would have been more successful however given its current standards I still feel that this advert is effective and powerful in the impression that it makes on the target audience. This advert meets my target audience by finding something they can relate to and that is the ambition to play heavy rock music and the love of metal. Therefore the advert is very successful in reaching its target audience.

Comparison between my original intentions and my final advert.

My original intention was very different from my final product. In my original idea I had three different characters; a mother, a teenage girl and a younger boy around the age of five or six. They would have each played the guitar and each done something of their age related skill range, the boy

would have played ‘Sunshine of Your Love’, the teenager would have played ‘Sweet Child ‘O’ Mine’ and the mother would have played ‘Eruption’ to seem the best however the fact that the mother is a women shows that this guitar can be played by anyone and any gender or sex. However as I couldn’t get my actors I had to settle for the final product that is one actor playing on powerful song to grab the audience and get their attention. Had I ran with my original intention and followed my original advert I think I would have created a better advert that would have better reached the target audience.

Effectiveness.

My advert was incredibly effect in terms of clearly stating what the advert was about and the unique selling point is that no other guitar company uses television as a medium for advertising therefore the advert will have no competition. The advert is short and punchy, much like ‘pop-Eye’ its message is clear; it likes to be known for what it is; a powerful, small guitar and its incredibly simple to use. However the advert isn’t very informative due to its length and has minimal shot types that don’t show the specifics of the guitar clearly, for example in my advert; during a close up I would have showed the bridge and pick up configuration and perhaps given specifications about the guitar itself throughout the advert.

Technical and aesthetic qualities.

My advert was very easy and simple to film, although this may have been its downfall as not enough shots were included and it is incredibly short, the footage that exists and was used is very good and clearly represents the guitar for what it is; a Black Ibanez RG421 clearly shown by the headstock in this shot here.

This shot is a clear example of the shots used in this advert that present the guitar well and show its design and some specifications clearly. The camera changes focus and shows different things in the shot; it starts with the guitar players fingers moving on the neck and then changes to the guitar’s company logo; Ibanez and the series of guitar it is to show product placement. This was very successful in reaching the audience as subtle advertising and makes the audience more aware and familiar of the company. The wood finish of the guitar itself means that light doesn’t reflect off of it very well and therefore we could shoot in any light providing it was day time. This was good because we were able to create a bright, well lit room and make the atmosphere seem as real and simple as possible. This was successful because it made the audience feel more relatable to the teenager in the advert, however as the teenagers face is never focused on speculation could be given to if he were adult or teen, this is good because it ranges the guitar to further sub genres of the target audience such as people that have just moved out for the first time and teenage girls.

To end my evaluation. I feel that in this essay I have looked at good points and bad points about my advert and the process and pre-production stages I went through to get the final product, although it may not have been the product I was aiming to create I feel that it still reaches the target audience and allows them to feel like the bridge into the guitar world is shorter and more stable than they previously thought. I didn’t stick to my storyboard or my original script and for those reasons my advert is not as informative or interesting to watch however the message is still strong and the song is a perfect choice in attracting the audience’s attention. Although my advert diverted from my original ideas I feel that the advert started to re-write itself whilst filming and therefore has a much more natural atmosphere. If I were to do this again I would have done a great many things differently including following my storyboard to ensure I have a safe and successful advert.