Creating my five image and test shots I knew that I would be difficult to plan and shoot due to Covid restrictions. Although this problem arose I had the chance to do a shoot with my dogs. Because of restrictions I could not go back home to do my shooting, however there was a brief period when were allowed to go back in which I took my chance and tried to produce a photo shoot and hopefully more.
My idea for my five image’s were to photograph my dogs In a happy or good environment, this was to help put my message across that you should adopt rescue dogs rather ran breeders.
Another idea I had was to use the images I get and create a poster like image where I will include my DDM message, this is to help create my perspective on how a happy dog should look. Compared to my main video idea this would take on the happier side of the message, in which I want to present what changes you can make to a dogs life.
Dog Shots – Sam And Brodie
When photographing Brodie the challenge was being able to shoot him with full detail and focus, as the colour of his fur was black. Along with his colour I was lucky enough to get a sunny day but this was also problem as sunlight at times made him out to me more fluffier and bigger than normal. Also trying to keep his eyes in shot and not covered by any of his hair was a task.
Improved images
Out of all the shots I took these two were my favourite because I was able to capture his face clearly along with getting the right frame of focus. The part hat was an addition as it was soon his birthday but I also thought it could add a comedic element and engage the viewer more.
In the end these two came on top and I am pleased to go ahead and use one or both to use in my final images.
Sam –
Similar to Brodie, Sam was difficult to shoot but this time he would not stay sill. I had to bribe him with treats and even then it was hard to capture him in the best way. With the sunlight, It had helped a little bit as it brought out the white in his fur and also gave more contrast between him and the background. Not as much as brodie but Sam is still visible in most of the photos.
Although the moving about and not staying still was a pain, it had worked in my favour because it allowed me to shoot natural shots that are not as positioned or planned, it was more realistic and gave me the look I was going for.
What I liked most about my shots was the facial expression of them both, they both look that they are enjoying their life and having a good time. Compared to maybe shooting them at a different time such as when they are not so happy would produce a different narrative. As for my five images I did not want to go down this path as I was already doing that for my main promotional Image. With these images the narrative is more on the happier side and is what I was aiming for.
Field Shot
As for these shots my plan was not to shoot on that day as in I was only shooting the dogs but the more I thought about looking back at these shot were that I could be a good use for the poster style image. I wanted to include my DDM – Dog Deserve More title and to include some other text to go along with it. I thought to add a image of my dogs somewhere on their but using the photos I took I did not think that It would work well as another mean of imagery.
Image development
For the development of my images I started off with the image of the field. As I stated before I wanted to include my message and add some meaning to my image.
Creating this I used my second field image because to me is was the best presented and had a clear and easy look to it.
I only used one Image found from the web at it was a free outlining of a dog, this was a good suit for my image poster as I wanted to keep it simple and clear. To do this I changed the outlining of the dog to white, this was to make the writing stand out more as the black would not have been that clear or bold.
I did not want too much on it as my thought process was that if there are to many vectors or other sorts of imagery then you would get lost on the point / message I am trying to put across.
Brodie Image
With this image similar to my previous edit, I cropped and added the same title as I wanted to be consistent with what I was producing.
The addition of extra text was to see how much it had made a difference than using minimal text. What stands out to me is that the bottom text does not look clear as it could be, although changing it back to black font colour would be worse next time I could look into how the effect of font colour over an background has an impact.
To me the text and imagery at the top works well, it is clear and easy to read. Although I do feel that it still feels it has clutter and un needed spacing. But if I were to remove things such as the outline dog it could have a lot of negative space.
Still Images
As for these three images I wanted to keep them the same so I can express the naturality of their expressions. Because I had created two poster imitations I thought this would be a good addition due to allowing the viewer to clearly see their emotions and feelings.
Having done research and my ideas, the next step was to create a story board so that I can visualise how I want my video to go. This includes what kind of perspective/angles I want to implement and how the scene will be set up. This will not be the final edit but will help me along the way by giving me a better understanding of what I’m doing while shooting.
Moodboard
Creating Moodboard I aimed at looking into the areas in what a video or story would include such as the type of tune and emotions I want to provoke within my video.
As I was going to focus on more of the emotional side of my video, I wrote down the different types of ads or videos that captured my interest while I researching on how to procced with my video. These included storylines using seriousness, being comedic or using a serious tone within their video.
I am going to share on how these different areas can affect you piece of work.
Creative:
Gillete -” We believe: the best men can be” This ad conceived backlash as it goes on to talk about the behaviours of men/boys. They go onto use the terms “boys will be boys”. although the advert was put together well the contents of the ad did not go over well with everybody. They present the idea of bring the best a man can be is derogatory and creates a precedent on how men should act.
Sandy Hook Promise – A gun violence campaign aimed at tackling the problems of shoot shootings within the U.S. The campaign in question was one that was definitely different as it started of normal as it if was a ordinary school advert. Although as it progresses a school shooter is active while they talk about how their school supplies, this is a way different approach compared to the other ones it combines a sense of creative with a serious tone and take a more dark turn than you would usually see in an advert.
Cadbury – “Donate your words” – This campaign was focused on battling loneliness, the idea and the impact they want to make was to help people realise that this is a big problem and one that can be changed. The main objective was to get people to engage in conversations with the older generation. This was indented to create relationships and making another persons day by just giving them a conversation.
Comedic:
SirMixaLot – Baby got Cats – A comedic take on the 1992 Baby got back by SirMixaLot consisted of using the already comedic view that the song is known for they have crated it so that they are able to present their message of adoption.
Eddie the Terrible – A different kind of approach to the comedic sense was an organization wrote a blog and titled it ” A Full Disclosure Blog: Three Reasons You Don’t Want To Adopt Eddie The Terrible”. This is a unique way of trying to create a reaction as it is telling you that you should not adopt this cat, although as the blog goes on it tells you that he is not as bad as he seems but still has problems to work out. This almost makes me want to adopt him as it presents character.
Downton Tabby – A cats rescue hosted a “Downton Abbey” style themed adoption event. Where they created a poster using a comedic path, recreating the show into a cat themed poster. They even created posters for each car they had. This type of advertisement to me really can connect with the viewer as it gives a sense of joy and kind of peaks your interest when you glace at the image.
Serious:
UNICEF “Maybe this way, you care” – This campaign present the troubles and problems going on in Syria. It gives off a strong serious tone as the images include children in dire conditions with almost school pictures placed above their actual faces. This it to try and connect with the viewer as because they have put children’s faces of supposedly ones from another country that It might make you care more.
Animals are not clowns – A production from a Portuguese animal rights organization created a way to use a serious tone along with the addition of the animals which have been edited to look like clowns so that they can instantly grab you attention. Which it did for me as the images are cruel looking not that nice to look at.
Its been screaming for years, we’ve just turned up the volume – I could not find much on the advert that explains its full intentions but however what I can gather from it was that it presents the message of global warming and deforestation. You can tell this by the title quote and the addition of the face within the trees screaming tells us all we need to know without any other vital information.
UNICEF
Story Boards
This was my first story board and was done just after the lecture, I have done this quickly so I could map it out before I try to finalise what I want the shots to consist of. I want to start off with a message or start with a video of the rescue dogs so that the audience already know what the video will be about.
Although as we progress though the video I want to fade into the dogs being looked at or starting to be adopted and by the end I want to express the dogs reactions or feeling for being adopted. This story flow allows me to connect to the viewer by giving them the sense of hopelessness and sadness but as it goes on the viewer will connect with it and hopefully be joyful that the dogs can be rescued.
After having feedback I realised that I forgot to produce nine image slots in my story board, however although I have already created the boards producing this has helped me understand what direction I am going to take this in and the shots could consist of.
Updated Story Board
After realising that I had done six and not nine image slots I thought more into what I wanted to the shots and frames to look like, or at least how the story of my video will be.
Starting off I first started a quick sketch on what I am going to do and how I plan to make my video to look like. At the beginning I want to start it with a heading because I feel I need to try and capture the audiences attention, the heading wont last too long but will be there long enough to get a quick sense of what is to come.
On the second box I have drawn a dog behind a cage or bars to represent where they are usually living while in a kennel or as such. I wanted to show this near the start because i want the viewer to understand that they do not live in the best conditions and also that i want them to understand that adopting a rescue dog is better than getting a pedigree.
Same as the last box this will hopefully be a video where its more showing the dogs emotions and how they look while in a kennel, this could be up against the bars or in a way that could connect the viewer to the dogs.
For the next two slides I want to have a before and after static photos shown so that they can understand that the difference they can have on them.
towards the end It will be gradually become more of the happier side of adoption and such so they see what outcomes happen when you rescue.
Storyboard final
Unfortunately my drawing skill are not the best, either on or off my computer so I have used Images gained from the web. However I looked for ones that are free so it does not affect any copyright laws. This my final story board, I believe I have been able to visualize what the contents of the video will hold and how to set it up.
Story Board Reasoning
I have chosen to include a message/heading saying something meaningful or a piece of text that can connect with them before they see the rest.
As I stated before I will include the dogs that are in the shelter followed by a series of before and after photos of some of the dogs that have made it out by being chosen. Including these will add to the effect of how much of a difference you can see when the dogs are shown love and care. I think this will connect with the audience more than others because of the effect change can have.
lastly I want to end the video with two scenes where there is clip of dogs being in a more friendly environment, giving the indication that everything is starting to get better when they are adopted. This will then be followed by dogs running through fields during a sunny day and possibly add a scene where they are enjoying their new house/home.
Animatic – Sounds / Audio& Final
Looking for audio that would suit my video has been difficult but I have been able to narrow it down to a few audios that could help put my narrative into better use. I am aiming to use a sad chime or music at first to represent the troubles and hardships that the pets are going through but after that once it progresses onto how they are when adopted and such I will transition into a happier music piece.
Using royalty free music I found two that could work for my video.
Music Audio 1 –
Creating the animatic I wanted to see which out of the audios I have found worked better, The first one to me gives off a more empathy feeling because of the slow beat and guitar. I thought this audio worked well with the start of my video as it shows a sad envrioment.
Music Audio 2 – Compared to the last audio this one gives of more of a brighter vibe rather than a sad one, this does not really suit the setting of my video but it does have an effect towards the end where things are getting better for the dogs such as being adopted.
Music Audio Mixed – Finally I thought I would try and mix the two audios tighter to see what I could produce. The outcome turned out quite well I would say as it hit my expectations of using a sadder audio to describe the feeling they would be feeling but also transitioning into the happier audio when things are starting to get better. With the audios mixed I think I got what I was looking for.
Final Animatic
Creating this animatic now shows the baseline on how my video will proceed. I quite like how it is set out and I believe that I will turn out well when i have completed it fully. I have not added sound yet as I am still trying to find which kind of sound or genre of sound works best for a dogs advert.
Shot List
For my shot list as I am going to be unable to shoot all my ideas and locations, I plan to use stock / royalty free videos to help put my message across. Within this shot list I have included shots that if restrictions were not in place I would have proceeded with.
In this list I have tried to follow my story board concept and layout, because this will include free videos I will try and find the best ones that are able to suit my needs and the contents that present the idea of what I want the scene to consist of.
“Dogs suffer from vagrancy just as much as humans do. In fact, according to volunteer website DoSomething.org, there are five homeless animals on the street for every one homeless human.”
“One common misconception that deters people from adopting is that all shelter animals are on their last legs. However, research published in the Macedonian Veterinary Review found that, in 2013, the average age of a shelter dog was under two years old, proving that there are dogs of all ages available for adoption.”
Of the 6.5 million animals that enter animal shelters nationwide every year, 3.3 million of those are dogs.
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.
AIssue 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.
Benjamin Howse Journal 