I first met with my client in person at the studio before classes and asked her in person whether she would be okay with me making a promotional video for the dance school and filming the classes. I felt it was the right time for the project with her as she had recently opened the studio in her own building after hiring facilities for so long. She agreed to me creating the video so I contacted her through Facebook messenger because is a quick and easy way to contact people, especially as I know my client personally I knew she was more likely to respond on Facebook faster than by text or phone call.
After her replying I spoke to her after class just to briefly discuss ideas and what sort of things she wanted to involve. From this we decided to get footage from each class she provides ranging from age 3+ and I offered to do interviews with some dancers and their parents to give a personal touch and what those who are involved with the school feel about what Kelly does.
A Promotional video is 'a video or short film that promotes or advertises something." They are appointed by a company/business whether it be to gain custom, inform on a product or put across an idea.
Like any genre of moving image promotional videos have codes and conventions that they follow that separate them into their own category, such as; voice overs, brand identity, interviews, vox pops (voice of people), cutaways, and more.
This promotional video is by Amazon for the launch of its product Echo, it has a professional yet slightly informal mode of address, this makes it more relatable to it's audience. The target audience for the video seems to be a range of people, primarily focusing on families. The use of Vox Pops used in this promotional video is the main feature because it gives the audience the idea that its the right product for them. The camerawork is clean which makes it nice and easy to watch, engaging the audience. They use a close up of a customer stating one of the features to a wide shot showing the feature in action of turning the lights on.
This promotional video covers an event by the clothing company Revolve. The professional tone to the video engages its target audience of more middle class people who would shop at Revolve. When it comes to conventions of promotional videos this video uses customer testimonials of those attending the event and celebrity Emily Ratajkowski who was the face of the campaign. The video conveys the brand well by showing the brands name throughout but without it being too obviously thrown the viewers face.
A showreel is a sort of promotional videos that companies use in order to show a full range of what the company has to offer all within a couple of minutes. This showreel is aimed towards those who would use the products that The Foundry provide, which their website says 'covers everything from storyboarding to finish', which are used in design, film/ television, gaming, etc. The tone to this showreel is very professional which shows that their products are targeted towards professional and big companies. Although the brand/company isn't made known until the end of the video, they are well represented throughout due to how The Foundry's products are shown in use.
This video for Woodlands School has a specific target audience, children of secondary school age and their parents looking at which school to enrol their children at. The mode of address in this video is majority formal, in that the lexis and tones used by the speakers is formal and comes across in formal yet engaging way. The way the video is edited manages to show the school in away that a website or prospectus wouldn't be able to.
This post shows different videos of dances by different choreographers from different studios; but all use the same framing of the dancers. keeping the shot focused on the middle person of the triangle is popular choice throughout but the movement of the shot follows the fluidity of the dance moves and adds to the overall production of the video.
This is the timing I aim to work by during the making of my promotional video, I know I won't fully keep the schedule but knowing I have a basic timescale to get things done. For my promotional video I want to create a professional looking final product that isn't too formal as that would read true to the business I am making it for, and I am making this video to try and attract people to join the dance school. As the dance school is a fun and welcoming environment I want to capture this in the footage. I think that having students of the school give a testimonial of the school will help show that the dance school is a friendly place to be. I want the way I edit the video to show the excitement and happiness present in the dance school. When I'm editing the separate classes I hope to mix and crossfade to show a link between them and that the students who take part in several classes enjoy them all equal. I want to display each dance style individually, but also show people that the feel of welcomeness runs through all dance styles.
I used Facebook messenger to privately message two parents of younger pupils to ask whether they minded talking to the camera to give their thoughts on the dance school as well as their daughters saying what they liked about being a part of Kelly's School of Dance.
The first mum (Cindy) I messaged said she didn't mind her daughter taking part and speaking to the camera however she said she'd rather not herself as she doesn't like being infant of the camera, although I thought she would have been a perfectly good parent to ask to do this I have worked around this by asking other parents to do it instead, so it is no longer a problem.
The second mum (Tracy) was more than willing to help out with giving a testimonial for the school as well as saying her daughter would be happy to help. As Cindy's daughter is good friends with Tracy's daughter I plan to have the two daughters say what they like about the school together and with Tracy rather than Cindy's daughter have to stand and talk on her own with her still being quite young and possibly nervous to do it on her own.
With the mums I am closer with I used texting task for their help. I also asked them if their children would help out in a group, as they are a close trio anyway I feel it would put across the feeling of comradery that is present in the school.
Both of the mums were willing to help out as well as letting their children help out too.
I found promotional videos for different dance schools to see what seems to be popular for when I make my promotional video for Kelly's School of Dance.
