We were unsure of what age group to aim our video at. At first, we thought of appealing to all ages, but research discovered that the appeal for bike trials didn’t really start until about 15 year olds. We thought that 15 would be a good age group, as we didn’t have to worry about any foul language in the video or the music. It was also easier for me as I would have to edit out any of the swear word from the music, which I don’t really have the facilities for. We also thought that the video should appeal just for boys, but we also found out that a few girls did like it, so we made the video appealing for both genders. Our video does differ from other videos on the market, as they really appeal for all ages, but just for boys. We wanted to be different, so we appealed to the main people that like trials, 15-year-old boys, and a few girls. We tried to satisfy the needs of the aimed age group by using the sort of music that our kind of age group like, which was easier than trying to find music that all ages like. We also tried to use locations that our age group can relate to, as they may go there with their friends. It gives more of a viewer involvement, which most videos don’t have.
The purpose of out video was to give a good view of what trials is like, while also appealing to people who ride trials a lot. It’s not just for hard-core riders, but also for people who have never seen trials before, and so the video can give them a taste of what it is like. There are some occasions of laughter, but it is not aimed to make people laugh, it is aimed to show people the skills of the riders. It is a bit like a show off event. Our video is also trying to involve more people in the world of trials, as trials needs more support to be an on going sport. Hopefully people who watch it will think, “wow, that looks fun, I’ll try it” and that is what the sport of trials needs.
The purpose of the video did change a bit throughout the making of the video. We started out, with the idea of showing other people how well we can ride, but as we got into it, we felt that we should promote the world of trials as well as the riders. This, I think, gives it a better feel than just promoting riders skills.
Looking back at the video, we think we did really well with the video. We learnt a lot of new skills that may help in any future career. The video overall was very professional looking. The style of edit and the music just added to the professional feel of the film. I don’t really think there are any parts that could be improved. We are very impressed with the whole of the film. We were also impressed with the quality of the supporting products that we made. Things like the poster and the CD soundtrack that I made. The soundtrack is my favourite bit, as it was a chance for me to use all the technology available to make a very professional looking piece of work. We listened to music that fitted the style of the film, and then I burnt all the tracks we had chosen onto a CD, so the sound track had all the songs on it as well! The posters were good as well, as because we were making the video at home, we had a lot of spare time during the lessons so we made about 4 different posters advertising the film. These gave good support to the film.
We did learn some new skills when making this film. We discovered, when looking closely at existing videos, that certain techniques are used like the type of cut or transition you use and the angle and length of the shot. When we got into it, we found ourselves using original, and some times even stupid looking camera angles. We tried things like going as high as we can to give a wide view, and going down under the bike. All of these different angles gave a professional feel. One thing I tried to do when editing and putting music on was to synchronise the music with certain parts of the film, but that turned out too hard to do with the lack of equipment I had. I now have the equipment I needed, so that could be one thing we could improve on next time. We also leant that videos require the skill of overcoming certain obstacles. We found that making a video isn’t as easy as just point and shoot and there you go, one video. We came across numerous problems that were sorted out eventually. Problems like, in our first video, it was just the clips and music, but we felt that we needed a structure to add a bit more excitement to the film. We also lost certain clips, and over wrote things with the camera (when people forget to wind the tape to the right place!) that we wanted. We encountered other minor problems as well, but most of which were easy to solve.
Overall, apart from the few problems we suffered, I think the film was very professional looking and we did well to achieve the sort of quality we did.
