The brief we were set was to create a campaign where we would come up with an idea along the lines of the topics/subjects that were given to us such as:
- Local Business
- Sports Team / Club
- A good cause
- an issue close to your heart
- Covid-19
As for this brief I thought it would be best to attempt this by my self as due to Covid related problems I believe it might make it harder for me to complete it. Although I will have to produce all of the work I still think that I will be able to create a promotion cause.
Mind Map
Coming up with an idea for this campaign, at first I struggled with deciding what I wanted to do. However to help get my thoughts in order I started with a mind map where I have put down the areas and some brief ideas.
Looking at my mind map and the ideas I have thought of the areas in which I find could have more impact or being able to realistically do due to Covid -19 restrictions are:
- A Lockdown – A idea where I would focus on the problems of lockdown and how it has affected everyone. This could be showing how people have lost their jobs and the effect on the economy it has had. Not only that I could focus on the mental health aspects as a lot of people have experienced problems and other health problems.
- A Sports Team – For this idea I could choose a American football team or a sport that I could present. As for either on I would focus on the parts where coming together as a team helps with not only in the sport but also outside the sport. This could also tie with the lockdown idea and how sports have made an impact on mental health and physical health.
- A Issue close to my heart (Rescue Dogs) – Now compared to the other two ideas this idea is going to focus on the problems of rescue dogs and how most are just left to be abandoned. For this one I will focus on the idea of adopting a rescue dog but also to help the viewer to think more about this issue. Another thing I could add to this idea is that I could also link to lockdown and how having a pet can significantly improve mental health. Not only for the person but it will have a improvement on the dogs life as well.
Final Idea Choice
For my final choice on what I am going to go ahead on for my campaign video is going to be my rescue dogs idea. I have chosen this because I is something that is close to my heart as my self I have grown up with dogs, rescue dogs as included so this issue to me is a good idea to go ahead with. As it is lockdown I can see I will have troubles creating this but I will try my best so that I can help widen the idea of adopting a rescue rather than buying a pedigree.
With this information I decided to choose a good cause, I plan to create a promotional video on a dogs home or more the idea of adopting a dog wherever you live. This is also close to my heart as I have currently got two dogs my self and had two previously. Three out of the four dogs were rescues so I know what it is like to adopt a abandoned or unwanted pet and know I or anyone could give them a better home.
when given this brief I was at first confused on what I wanted to do, I started looking at how lockdown has effected everyone due to financial or mental struggles. But as I thought about the struggles and problems I had an idea where I could use what’s close to me and gravitate towards a homeless dogs campaign. I could implement the idea of people having a hard time during lockdown and use this video to encourage them to adopt a dog as it can be a good way to lift moral and overall mental state. Using my dogs and the similar ideas to the promotional videos you see about dog shelters and adverts such as Dogs Trust. It also made me think about how the dogs were rescued and how overtime their trust and happiness evolved.
Adverts / Inspiration
Special Someone – As I was searching around the internet while searching for inspiration I came across this Dogs Trust advert. This advert stood out to me not only was it because I am searching for videos linked to dogs and giving them homes, this advert presents the life that a dog could experience. In the video you can see that the the main two subjects are the dog and the doll, this symbolises that its not only a person who can miss their companion but also dogs. To me this advert describes what it can really mean to life, usually adverts such as these focus on the the kennels or how they are with other dogs but whereas this shows the relationship between a human and a dog.
I Will Always Love You – Compared to the Dogs Trust video there are some similarity’s and differences, a similarity is the way they have focused on the animal and the connection between them and the owners. But the focus with this video is a bit different as it is a advert for Airbnb who is not a dogs kennel or a dogs charity, although they have used the connection between humans and dogs to show that love can be present when you look after one another. Another thing I have noticed is that the video seems to have a similarity of a family and the dog is a child to them, showing that dogs can be a family member and can always be loved.
Give a dog a safe little place – Now this this advert for the RSPCA it is a bit different compared to the last other two, this video starts of with a dog out in the cold all alone. This is trying to symbolise that abandoned or abused dogs have no home to go back to. The video then goes on to show bubble wrap starting to move and build a makeshift dog house. This helps the viewer connect with the animal and sympathize with what is going on. Also compared to the other two this advert has a voice over and a voice audio from a RSPCA worker telling you to come down and see if you can help out.
This approach is different from the other two because its giving you more information and a sense to come in to help than creating a story throughout the whole advert. From what I can get from these adverts is that a story such as the dogs trust can help connect to the viewer a bit more than the voice over as you are more captured by what’s going to happen next and such keeps the viewer intrigued. Where as a voice over can be a bit boring due to how may adverts are out there that are quite similar.
Pinterest Research
From looking at Pinterest i wanted to find photos of rescue dogs which would be able get my point across but also to gather more information on how to adopt. I chose to include before and after photos as it really shows the change you can make in a dogs life. An Idea of my was to include some of these before and after to show the troubles these dogs have gone through, this will give the viewer a sense or perspective by making them feel for the dogs and also make them wait and think about adopting. Even if it for a brief moment, that moment could help change their outlook and even think of adopting in the future.
My initial vision of my Video is to have video and photos at first of dogs in kennels/out in the streets to present the view of homeless dogs. i would achieve this though imagery or royalty free videos so that I am able to create my vision while still being in lockdown as it has made things harder to shoot. after I present the rescue side i will then transfer into where dogs are being adopted or being looked at to be adopted. Then followed by the video of happy dogs/ rescued dogs showing how adoption can change their lives.
Because of the pandemic it has become increasingly harder to get out and about to complete work due to the lockdown restrictions. As it would be harder to find dogs or visit a dogs home it wouldn’t be as practical due to the limitations I have with face to face interactions and being able to freely do what I want to. Although due to these restrictions I still have access to some means of shooting as I could use my own dogs in certain scenes to put my point across. This also means I will not have to use everything I can find online.
Now that I have researched some other cases on dog adverts and ideas such as that I will now go onto creating my story board so that I can get an idea on what I am going to proceed to do.
Audio
My ideas for the audio I am going use with either consist of a mellow sad type music or a more up beat music. The difference between the two and I will experiment with what will work better, is that one provokes sympathy, sadness and other forms of emotion that you typically get from a down to heart experience. With a more up beat tune you would get a completely opposite reaction as this presents the idea of joy and happiness, making you want to be their or jump up and dance to the beat.
After looking into the effects that audio can have I came across this article by Taruffi, L., Pehrs, C., Skouras, S. and Koelsch, published in 2017. This article quoted “The ubiquity of music in human culture owes to its capability to evoke and enhance a wide range of emotions. Sadness and happiness are among the most frequent emotions evoked by music cross-culturally.” which to me perfectly describes the relationship between the person and the given content.
Comparatively out of the two I will try to include both happy and sad music types so that I can experiment and understand how the effects of the audio can change the dynamic of the video.
Research and Ideas Conclusion
Overall what I have gathered and learnt from researching into my chosen choice is that the content and the use of combing different aspects such as sound, video and context can significantly improve or change the outcome.
While looking at ideas and kind of putting things into place with my idea, it is time to carry on a procced to creating my story board and so on.
Bibliography:
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-care/dog-advice-during-coronavirus-lockdown
Benjamin Howse Journal 