How Did the Meeting Go?
As mentioned in my previous posts, I spoke about arranging a meeting with my employers so I can go over my treatment and plans for this commission video. As my employer is extremely busy, we finally got together on Wednesday the 18th of February to discuss my ideas.
To plan for this meeting, I put together a document regarding which dates I aim to film plus some of my aims regarding what content to have for the video. This can be seen below:
All in all, my employer (and one of the managers of the Dockyard who was also present at the meeting) seem very pleased with my ideas, and even mentioned that if it goes well that I could seek employment for future promotional videos and any other filming, which is always good to hear! Nonetheless, I took down some notes throughout the meeting, which were:
As well as the main promotional video, smaller videos targeting certain areas of the tourist site could be made.
My employers mentioned how smaller videos targeting specific areas of the Dockyard too could be created and featured on their website. For example, one of the videos could be about the smithery, another part about the warships. This wouldn't require much extra work as I will already be filming the content for these small videos - all which would need doing would be some extra filming in regards to intros/outros of the videos and then editing them together.
As well as this, my employers mentioned that a video which focuses on the trust fund of the Dockyard and elements of the Dockyard which aren't focused on tourists could also be included. This is because the Dockyard is also home to over 100 small businesses and has residents on site. Sp, for the main promotional video, there should be a 70 to 30% balance of tourists and the 'trust' - to give the video a wider variety. Therefore, a video which focuses on the other side of the tourists too is promotional in a way for say businesses plus tourists themselves, as it gives a good impression that there is more than the tourist aspects of the Dockyard and hinting that it has it's own community.
Furthermore, they are also planning on creating a scheme to attract younger volunteers, meaning a video for this too would be useful for the Dockyard. This minor video could focus on those who are already volunteers and include 'promotional' footage (which I'm likely to already have) to attract these younger volunteers. Meaning for this video, all I may need is just interviews regarding the young volunteer scheme, as I could have cutaways from the footage I'll already have to give the small video more coverage and to promote the idea.
Shooting Dates
After I gave my proposed shooting dates and ideas, Gail (my employer) mentioned that there is a trend in terms of filming which can be beneficial. As I need footage of the tourists and then footage without them, Gail suggested to film a week before the Steam & Transport festival, the weekend of the festival, and the week after the festival. This is because the week before is likely to be quiet as it isn't half term, and the week after the festival will be steadily busy as it is half term (the festival itself will be very busy). This to me seems like a good idea incase I face the problem of it being too busy to film the festival itself, meaning it could be hard to get some footage because of the tourists e.g. the warships could be filled and I may not be able to get clear shots of the ships. Therefore, I will be changing one of my set dates to a date during the Easter half term (after the festival).
Change in Footage Content
After saying what I wanted to film, Gail picked out a couple of changes. She said that I shouldn't focus on the Commissioners House purely because tourists are not allowed inside the house unless they have arranged a private tour, meaning if I promote this then it could cause some confusion. She also mentioned not to focus on the current restaurant due to the new project beginning next year (which includes a new restaurant).
Therefore instead of these attractions, she mentioned to focus more on the smithery and the life boat museum, as these too are main attractions of the dockyard. She did mention to suggest about the upcoming project (called 'Command of the Oceans) however only to 'tease' the audience - this is because if I begin to talk about what it is bringing, then it may look as if I'm 'promoting' something which isn't actually at the tourist site, therefore could be a waste of valuable time.
Voice Overs in Regards to Content
We also came to the conclusion that voice overs of the staff could work to help promote the Dockyard. Here, the audience could be introduced to some of the workers (i.e. tour guides) who could then give a 'virtual' tour (in brief) of the specified tour whilst the camera is showing the content. For example, we could see the tour guide of the submarine commenting on her/his job (i.e. saying its exiting) which could then lead to them giving information about the submarine, whilst the camera can be seen entering the ship and cutaways of the ship. This structure could be quite effective as it enables the video to flow whilst at the same time getting interviews of the staff who work on the site.
Other Minor Discussions
- Gail said she will arrange a private ropery, tour, enabling me to get the POV footage on how to
make rope. This part of the video should specify on this more instead of the ropery tour.
- She also mentioned to arrange interviews with tour guides, and will try to pick guides whom are
likely to be best on camera. However, this is dependent on which dates I film, as she will need to
see when these tour guides are filming.
- Confirmed that the video should be between 4-5 minutes.
- Confirmed that the video should have a voice over and not a presenter. This is because it may
seem 'forced' having a presenter, and having a voice over enables the video to flow naturally
without causing any distractions. She also confirmed that a soundtrack should be used.
- Iconic Sound Effects which you would expect to hear at the Dockyard. For example, the noise of
steam trains, train horns, the bell of the clock tower, etc.
What are the Plans for Now?
Now that I've met my employer and brainstormed what ideas to do, the next step is to of course, prepare and create a first script and shot list etc for the film. Below are some of the following steps which I will be doing:
- Re-arranging the rough structure of the video, taking in consideration the changes from the
meeting
- Visiting the site to create a recce of the site, to gain a better insight on what I will be filming
- Arranging a meeting in a couple of weeks with Gail to show my progress
- Research and preparation on what mini-videos to create
- Changing the shooting dates to the structure which Gail mentioned
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