Promotional Video: About Client & Contact (Continuous Update)

One of the immediate things that is notable about my client, is that they heavily rely on social media to reach their market; but what is particularly apparent is that currently they only show their work through the Head's personal social media (Martin Cull on Facebook). However, they still get a far reach through this, despite most of their promotion through this being for their vinyl sticker & graphic store.

Examples of Media:

Posts like this shows the image the company is trying to promote, which is that of a funny, friendly and passive company. I think this openness is quite good to have to build customer rapport. I think I could entwine this somehow into my video by possibly even introducing the staff in the video somehow whilst still using the Call Out Titles; If i do this however, I will have to create a document allowing legally to include them in the video.

The client sent me a powerpoint that was sent to the lead designer of their new website to allow me to gain a better understanding of what they're seeking and what their companies demographic and image they want to portray is. It also says the types of exhibitions they do and previous employers/designs they do.

One of the most difficult things I was faced with this particular client was unfortunate timing. I myself have a part time job besides college, and him being the face of the company means he has to go to most events. This meant making a meeting or getting constant feedback/requests near impossible; fortunately because the client is related to me, I was able to see him out of working hours. This good because (as mentioned) there was little to no free time, but was also negative because I feel like I didn't really get a proper experience of working with a client; I wasn't challenged with real time constraints or availability because I was able to see the client out of work hours.

Moving forward, most discussions about the project will be made face to face for connivence sake. Either vocal recordings or notes will be taken as evidence of these conversations.

Meeting 10/05/2019:

My client was also very unhelpful in explicitly explaining what it was they wanted in their video, and I had to numerous times across the day ask for more pieces of information. Previously they had discussed they wanted the specs of just their machinery shown, but now they have dismissed this and just keep repeating that they want 'what is in the powerpoint'; my client stated this information too before abruptly ending the meeting:

- 3 mins long or less
- 2 versions: 1 10 sex sting - front page opener
  full ver - choose to watch
- video of what they're working on currently
- time lapse
- no voice over
- workers showed working
- 'visually stimulating rather than informative'
- series of very distinct services: design, fabrication, logistics & installations
  "I view these images appearing quite boldly in creative aspect of the video"
  Wants words literally on screen

I would class this meeting as unhelpful, and somewhat discouraging; I felt more lost because the client was proving difficult to work with off the get go. This meant I would have to come up with a video with little to no guidance, in an already tight time constraint. Alas, I eventually got enough answers to work with and am hopeful to go do location recees, health and safety and my release forms in the next couple days.

After Tour 03/05/2019:

After the tour of the location (as seen in recce), I sent a follow up email with a couple queries about the machinery and what would realistically be available to use within the shoot. I also wanted to know what the machines were as my initial idea was to do a spec video. However, not to my surprise, I was left without a response; I was at this point beginning to think of alternative clients to shoot for because of the lack of continuous communication. Again, I would rather see this as a positive learning experience but personally I was beginning to feel annoyed and once again, discouraged.

Day 1 & Day 2 Off-Site (Miscellaneous):

Throughout the day, both me and my client exchanged constantly about shots and appropriate times to film throughout the day. This helped me massively with my health and safety which was having to be done on the day; it also helped me plan my day out easier too as I was required to work as part of the team. 

The client was still very persistent on the idea of multiple time lapses which I slimmed down to just one each day (which unfortunately I was only able to film one), but I allowed him to choose where abouts he would prefer to have the laptop to film with. I also allowed him to decide how long he would like it to film for/how much he wanted the time lapse to cover each day; it was important to discuss this due to storage and as a general, a long time lapse could be viewed as boring and/or flat. I also think having long time lapses doesn't show as much detail that my client was looking for.

After First Video Draft:

Considering the long response times between each conversation with my client, his response times to my final edits were rather quick which was very useful; however, he was happy with the first draft/edit I made. I tried to encourage and suggest changes, but he seemed rather please with is and was very quick to share in onto his social media.

Whilst I am grateful my first edit was good enough for him which was the priority of this, I was hopeful there could be some changes I could have made; I think in long term, say in an editorial environment, I would be asked to make a few changes and have more updates. I don't think this really satisfied my idea of being challenged in this aspect.