Simulated Client Project Evaluation Essay

The initial research of the project involved watching television adverts to gain a grasp of how television adverts advertised their products. Unfortunately despite researching on the internet, not many insect repellent adverts were found, however I watched similar adverts which helped get an insight into how different products were advertised.

I decided that the advert would be a comedic advert as it would be difficult to advertise an insect repellent in a serious advert with little resources and only in thirty seconds. I watched the old John Smiths adverts, these were parody adverts which were very short and unrelated to the product, however they received a cult following due to their humour, and the concept of the adverts which worked very well. I decided that the John Smiths adverts would be a good example of an advert to get ideas from. I also decided that the advert for the insect repellent will be a comedy, which will largely not be associated to the insect repellent.
Insect repellent products were researched in terms of the appearance of the product and the packaging. Whilst having a clean plastic silver spray bottle with no packaging, this was considered perfect to use as the insect repellent. A label was made specifically for the insect repellent, which was made on a white label and importantly contained the name of the repellent as well as a description of the repellent and the logo. It was important to make the text used on the label very clear to read especially on camera, and the idea of making a label for the repellent was felt a necessity for the advert due to this being a creative project.

I decided that securing a location where access would be unlimited and flexible would be in the best interest for producing the advert. This allowed easy and regular access into the filming location, during the pre-production stage of the project and during the planning stage of the project, which allows altercations to be made to the filming concept.

The one actor chosen was freely available, this allowed a filming schedule which even if subject to change would not alter the timeframe of filming the advert.
Filming of the first scene was very ambitious, by setting the scene as a hot and sunny location but without being able to get to the location was a big challenge. The decision was made to film a poster of a sunny beach, whilst slightly moving the handheld camera. Effects were added to the recorded footage, the main effect to be used was a ‘blur’. Hawaiian music was also added to the footage for the same reason as the visual effects, with the music aiming to resemble a hot and sunny location with it’s relaxed and exotic sound. The filming of the poster alone does not have the desired effect, however the addition of effects, and most notably the ‘blur’ effect does allow the footage to resemble a beach and the concept of sunshine and enjoyment. The addition of Hawaiian music did have the desired effect to the footage, without being overbearing.

The main section of the advert was the filming of the actor outside in ‘his’ back garden, in extremely diverse conditions to that of the previous scene. The diversity of this scene is a reality check from the previous scene which was an imaginary image of where the actor believed he was. The change from the two different scenes was very important, as from the happiness of the first scene it was essential to merge into the following scene in a dramatic change. This was done using sound effect of a car crash and a visual effect of the motion of the screen moving from left to right and back numerous times, before the new scene has emerged fully onto the screen. The addition of the car crash sound effect was used to add the drama of moving from one scene to another and this effect works well as the sound effect takes over directly from the Hawaiian music. The visual effect works in tandem with the sound effect, and the idea behind the visual effect was for the audio to dictate the violent screen movement and to appear as a drastic change to the advert, similar to a car crash. Originally the sound effect was the only effect used in the transition between the two scenes, however I thought that the visual effect would further dramatise the transition and it was added to the advert.

The main section of the advert was the scene from which the transition ended. The actor is sat in holiday clothes looking as though he was on holiday at a location similar to the first scene, but in reality he is sat in his back garden next to a large table which contains the insect repellent amongst holiday items. After initially filming the scene with the actor sat by the table from a mid-range distance, during the editing process I discovered that the actor and the other end of the table were not able to be seen fully on screen. This prompted a re-shoot of the scene in which the camera was placed a little further back and the actor was placed nearer the table. After the re-shoot, both the actor and table were more central to the shot making the scene appear better on screen. The scene contained cut shots from the first shot of the actor sat down next to the table, to a close up of the insect repellent being used. The next shot is of a hand pressing down on the insect repellent onto a fly on a cocktail, and as the spray is released, the fly disappears.

This was filmed with one crew member removing the fly after filming the use of the insect repellent, and editing out the in-between shots to allow a smooth transition for the effect to work. This was done to show the insect repellent in use, but was filmed and edited in a manor which kept its comical approach.
The final scene of the advert was the necessary three second pack shot of the insect repellent. The pack shot was filmed using an extreme close up shot of the label. I personally felt that the pack shot was not too important and could not be merged into the main content of the advert itself.


The main problem with this project was trying to get the message and concept of the project across in a short thirty second advert. With the advert being extremely short, it was difficult to get the style I wanted to impose of the advert to come across, and the concept of the advert. The way I attempted to overcome this problem was by rethinking how the advert was going to be filmed and edited. I decided that the length of the shots would be generally shorter to impose more images during the advert.


The most important realisation of this project was that to convey a concept across successfully in a very short time frame, a lot of planning of the timing of the shots had to be done. I learnt that even during the pre-production process, the initial timing of the shots would be subject to change upon seeing how the shots come across on camera.

I also learnt that for my development as a multimedia practitioner, I need to spend more time planning the length of shots during the pre-production process. Whilst the length of the shots could be altered during editing, it would allow for a greater understanding of what was exactly needed during the filming process.

I also discovered that by finishing full edits of the work earlier and gaining feedback from the tutor of this project, the work can be discussed in full and enhanced. The feedback from somebody who understands the project can give a different perspective of the project, which can embark on reasoned debate alternative ideas on the edited work.


The biggest improvement I would make on reflection would be by re-shooting the pack shot at the end of the advert. At the time I did not appreciate that much time should be spent on the pack shot, but looking back it is one of the most important shots within the advert, as it is a close-up of the product being sold. If the pack shot was to be re-shot, I would attempt to relate the pack shot to the rest of the advert by filming the shot outside on the table next to where the actor was sat.