Industry Based Project

Phase One

For Phase One of Industry Based project I had to independently pitch my own proposal for what the group campaign for Vitacress would be, which would determine the direction Phase Two would take (as seen below). Although the pitch was for Vitacress the choices for the pitch would either be directed towards Vitacress's familiar brands Steve's Leaves or Penny & Pepe. My pitch was in the direction of Steve's Leaves.

Phase Two

Phase two of Industry Based project was a group project in which we had to produce 10x 60 second recipe videos for Steve's Leaves Instagram page shot in 1080p(There were also some 20 second videos). The group was split into 3 different groups which would include a couple to film and take photographs and the remote students of the group to work on video editing and captions. The groups consisted of 'Burrito Group', 'Pesto Group' and 'Salad Group'.

I was the head of the filming/ photography for the Pesto Group and was also responsible for organising the equipment and ingredients I need for when I was filming 3/10 of the recipe videos. This was filmed with a Canon XF305 HD Camcorder and a Manfrotto film Tripod and the Steve's Leaves salad bags which were used in the recipes were Baby Spinach & Super Leaves, Pea shoot & Baby Leaves and Watercress and Baby Leaves.

Burrito Group

Filming/Photography: Giacomo Santoro, Rosie Martin

Video editing: Yifan Hu

Pesto Group

Filming/Photography: Justin Smith

Video editing: Pedro Miguel

Other: Iqbal Hassan

Salad Group

Filming/Photography: Melina Dom, Nathan Clark

Video editing: Tara Watkins

Graphics(for all groups): Nathan Clark

Photo Slideshow

Ingredients for recipe

Risk Assessment

Booking enquiry emails

Pesto group videos

Critical Evaluation

As part of a group project, we were assigned to produce, film and edit for the Instagram page of the company Vitacress for its subsidiary Steve's Leaves. The campaign required 10x 1080p shot videos of recipes using the salad bags Steve's Leaves has to offer. The responsibilities were split between 3 groups consisting of a salad group, a pesto group and a burrito group. Each group included 1-2 students who could take charge of the filming and photography, while the remote students of each group dealt with the post-production side of things. This was based off multiple elements from the different pitches we independently proposed to Vitacress.

I was relieved that we proceeded in the direction of Steve's Leaves as opposed to the other option Penny Pepe's because I felt there was more of a story to tell with Steve's Leaves. Because the pesto group I was in consisted of 2 remote students instead of just 1 this meant I had to take on the role of director and camera operator for 3 out of 10 of the recipes. The achievement from this is I was able to use these responsibilities and turn the filming into my own independent project as well as a group project; ultimately achieving one of my past action plans to be more involved in group projects.

I was a little disappointed that my original Vitacress pitch to present all of the leaves in Steve's Leaves as a recipe prior to a new variety bag was unable to happen as it would have allowed me much more freedom and creativity in cooking. Fortunately, the campaign concept allowed me to at least use 3 of the 4 of the different Steve's Leaves bags in order to use them as both a sauce and as leaves in general for old and new recipes. I was however able to apply my past mistakes in the marketing strategy from Digital Storytelling and apply it to my Vitacress pitch. This time I was able to deliver a pitch which showed an understanding on the topic and how I intended to deliver on the promise my pitch presented in ample time. What really worked for the pitch was identifying the tone of voice as the singular leaves in Steve's Leaves. It strongly linked to my campaign idea to focus more on the leaves of Steve's Leaves as opposed to what it could be made into.

Moreover, the research I found on Steve's Leaves competitors and distributors helpful with the pitch, but it also helped me to narrow down the locations I would need to travel in order to find the Steve's Leaves salad bags and the required ingredients to a few local Waitrose shops when it came to the filming. On the other hand, telling the consumer the type of lifestyle they should live was not good for my pitch, but I am at least glad I went ahead with my idea to re brand Steve's Leaves to just Steve's (in order to separate it from another Steve's Leaves company). I was motivated by my past inspiration "the greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fear you will make one" (Elbert Hubbard) to stand by this idea for my pitch, which I think went well for my presentation, even if this idea was not contemplated.

Like the other non-remote team members of the group, I had to organise the risk assessment and ingredients for 3 different recipes using the Steve's Leaves bags before filming it in a TV studio using the same template and standard as expected for Steve's Leaves. I had difficulties using the digital camera and as a result I was unable to photograph any of the recipes myself. Fortunately, I had assistance with taking the photos, although I felt if I had re-trained myself to use a digital camera before it wouldn't feel like I could be uncredited with my additional role as a photographer.

Allowing time to get a better understanding of the booking system for both equipment and rooms, plus the risk assessment for the TV studio would have helped me to resolve the problem I had when it came to booking out equipment and time in the TV studio. I contacted both technicians and members of the booking department to resolve this; and as a result, I eventually was able to get access to the filming equipment and film all 3 of the recipes I was required to do on one day instead of multiple days. The responsibilities to direct and camera operate this was slightly exhilarating and surprisingly an easy transition because some of the recipes required a blender and shared similar ingredients. Although I did not feel my contributions were acknowledged to all 3 groups when it came to the pre-production side of things, I felt I was able to take charge of the production side of things with my own group. I have learnt from experience that I can take charge of my own responsibilities and be my own boss for group productions, which will make me much more involved in group projects than I already was. I hope with the help of pre-production the next time will be even better as I think I would have benefited if I had a little more time to re-adjust myself to the camera and the settings.

To conclude, what I wish I had done differently was try to fulfil more of my original campaign promise to create multiple recipes using as many Steve's Leaves brands as possible. This would have allowed me to contribute far more of my own thoughts and ideas to the group project. My independence in group projects has improved, although my level in pre-production was not as high as I wanted. I think I could have been organised and prepared when it came to the booking of equipment, the TV studio and using a digital camera, which would have made the filming an easier process. Because of this my new action plan will be to improve my skills in pre-production as timing was a big issue when it came to the production side of the project. Moreover, as Industry Based Project did not present me with an opportunity to show how much I had improved with audio (prior to my past action plan), I also want to transfer that as an additional action plan.