YP Employment Evaluation

The brief of this task was to produce content for a website called YP employment. The content in which I will be producing will be based around the theme of help and advice on young people seeking employment. The content in which I provide will be portrayed as a 5minute video with vital information on such as where to look for potential employment, how to present yourself at an interview, managing your time and preparing your cv. My production will be aimed at 16 to 24 year olds seeking employment. This video had to include subjects based around the theme of helping young people finding employment. The target audience for this brief is 16 upwards as 16 is the legal age for a person to start working. I chose to focus on my third idea, which is called “Don’t let your past determine your future”. This idea is about ex-offenders finding employment. I chose to go with this idea because ex-offenders find it very difficult to get in the world of work after being convicted. Having a criminal record can be a major disappointment and may not be what employers are looking for in a potential candidate. So my ultimate focus for the brief was to produce a video that motivates and encourages ex offenders to want to be able to find employment.

For this task I used different method of research such as primary and secondary. Research was carried out so we have a better sense of what the target audience wants and needs to know. My idea is about depicting the transition of a teenager with a violent criminal past into a successful head teacher. This idea was taken forward to aim at a different target audience and show that ex offenders also deserve a different chance in the world of work. The first research I carried out for the YP employment task was to research at least 5 articles and 5 videos that match your brief and write a summary of their content. This method of research is secondary. For example I researched the Barclays like skills videos with my class and it was very informative in terms of what skills are needed later on in life especially when scouting for a job. A primary method of research I used once I picked my idea was the focus group. I gathered three students in my sixth form which I asked various questions about their opinions on what I have decided to do. This method of research helped me because it gave me an understanding of what my future target audience think of my idea before I was able to produce and illustrate it. My class members and I used survey monkey which is a primary method in order to gain more knowledge on our chosen subject and what people think certain things happen and what are the causes of it. We produced five questions surrounding our chosen subject in which I got all of my class members to answer. This affected my work because I was able to understand from the perspective of young people on my ex offenders who are not employed. I was able to use the results from this to give a vivid, motivational depiction of why it is vital to aim to change if a person has a criminal past.

For my idea I produced an ideas pitch via PowerPoint presentation in which I presented to the whole class. My first idea was social media/ digital footprint. This idea was to be based around what a person decides to display on their social media due to future references and lack of employment. My second idea was top Ten Lifestyle Skills for women in order to be successful. žThe purpose of my video will be to offer my audience a variety of skills that they can use in order to be successful. The illustration of my video will engage my audience because the females in the video will be discussing the skills and sharing the opinions as to why they think to skill is vital to acquire. My third and final idea was "Don’t let your past determine your future" which was about ex-offenders being able to gain another chance in the world of employment. I narrowed my three ideas to one as my final idea received positive feedback on how it differed from other videos and also how distinctive the plot is. Drawing a storyboard helps the visual process of planning a video. I drew out all scenes before editing it from reviews and feedback for improvements. I used my storyboard to give me a visual insight on how I want each part of my video to be shot. In my video I used a voiceover towards the end in which I wrote with a script for. Writing a script helped me as I planned the steps of my voiceover properly with the order of what I was going to say.

During this task I managed to gain and develop on many skills. Throughout the production my production skills improved. The hardware I used was a camera and tripod in order to capture he footage needed to assemble the video. My practical skills developed in the filming aspect, as I made sure all footage was shot in appropriate angles according to the scenes. I was able to set up the tripod properly and close it back up after I finished using it. During the course of the year my editing skills have improved, as I was new to the editing software called final cut. During this production I was able to use final cut to edit my footage. I required some help from my peers to accomplish edits such as a spilt screen on the two characters used in my video. I used natural lighting as some of my scenes were outside but I also used top key lighting to accentuate features and brighten the scenes. During the production stage of this task my management skills improved and have been developed from previous experience. I managed my project well because I organised the scenes I will be shooting beforehand and sorting out the locations through my reeces. I managed my project well as I absorbed the objective of this task properly and understood the plot of my 5minute video along with the correct target. Managing my project well included being able to assemble a clear vision video for the YP employment video which I done well through consistent planning of various sorts. I delivered my video on time to my teacher, as I was able to receive feedback on how to improve on my scenes and editing.

I received audience feedback from the pitching of ideas to swot analysis on our rough cuts from our peers in our classes. I used audience feedback to develop and change my production, as there were aspects of my video that needed improving. On my rough cut there were scenes that were simple and bland. Members from my class stated that I could use techniques such as spilt screen to depict one of my scenes properly. I used this feedback and edited a split screen between the younger versions of the head teacher walking towards the door. This technique was able to show a clear transition of the change being made buy giving an ex offender an opportunity in the world of work. Overall the audience feedback was able to give me an insight on what my potential audience may want to see and how it would appeal to them the most.

Meeting the brief and audience feedback

The brief of this task was to produce content for a website called YP employment. The content in which I will be producing will be based around the theme of help and advice on young people seeking employment. The content in which I provide will be portrayed as a 5minute video with vital information on such as where to look for potential employment, how to present yourself at an interview, managing your time and preparing your cv. My production will be aimed at 16 to 24 year olds seeking employment. This video had to include subjects based around the theme of helping young people finding employment. I met this brief very well by choosing a topic that affects young people in London. I was able to meet this brief well as my topic, which was ex offenders needing to find employment is a subject that many young people are victims of. In my video I made my subjects such as Stephan my peer in my sixth form the young criminal and Cedric who is also my peer in my sixth form the drug dealer conform to typical stereotypes such as costume and criminal activity. These were hooded jumpers and drug dealing. My target audience are able to relate to this, as this may be some of the stereotypes they are likely to conform to and may find the subjects in the video relatable and identifiable. Also I have used black and white characters to illustrate ethnic diversity in my video. 

In my production there were much strengths. One of the strengths was use of spilt screen. This showed my use of improvement on the editing software and my ability to use a technique to depict a strong transition between the two characters. In my production I could improve my sound. My music was appropriate for my video but I could improve on it by producing my own instrumental. My audience think that my video has a unique plot to it and I will receive a very engaged target audience because of this. My audience think that this video depicts its concept very well and the stereotypes used such as youths wearing hooded jumpers and drug dealing are portrayed to give my target audience something to relate to.