1. Felix Cat Food Advert – Andy Raynes
Evaluation
Felix Cat Food Advert – Andy Raynes

2. How successful were these different elements in developing your idea to the final product?
Firstly, I created a mind map of all my ideas for the advert, having three main themes to base it on, only choosing the best. This was helpful in making me maintain all the information that needed putting together to make a good approach of an advert i.e. good story, target audience, soundtrack, appeals etc. I then researched the real adverts by the brand and found that the concepts are identical to my ideas, such as cats in their natural domestic habitats – fiddling with the piano, exploring, meowing for anything etc. I put a storyboard together from these ideas, and decided it would be of a documentary and parody genre, as many domestic cats do these routines and would make any cat owner realise that domestic cats are all pretty similar, thus finding it humorous. It would also create a good impact to the audience as the emotional response, as it is a “need for nurture” appeal After I fully created the storyboard, I presented my ideas to the class and got feedback on how I could improve it – this was by making it more comical. This information and planning helped me with my ideas when editing and filming, as well as the official Felix adverts which made me determine how products of this type are usually advertised and presented at a professional level.

3. What was less successful?
The filming of the advert was generally tough, as having to work with pets/animals can be very erroneous and random. It took longer than I planned, thus wasting some time between lessons not having enough footage to work with. Also, because my cat has black fur, it does not stand out a lot in the footage so I had to film at a time when the sun was out and the room is bright. Even if the room was just illuminated with bulbs, it still wasn’t enough so I had to use my phone with my other hand as a flashlight while filming with my left hand. Unfortunately most of my carpets are likewise black. This made it tough to get good takes and had to be redone many times, as well as the smooth panning of some shots too. It was also harder than I thought to limit footage down to around seconds, as you want to cram in as much information as possible. As from the feedback I received from my peers and the teacher, the only negative point was the “white balance + exposure”, which was quite hard to get right on the editing program.

4. What could you have improved upon?
I could have improved on:
The timing with filming the advert, as working with pets can be very off-putting, as well as waiting for the precise moment for the lighting to be correct.
Adjusting the white balance and exposure more, although this has been worse in the past, such as for recreating a film scene (Unit 16). So, generally I have slightly improved on this area since my last approach.
Finding a voice-actor who sounds like David Attenborough to make the parody more obvious and humorous, however I could not find any body who could do it for me with a good impersonation

5. What is a parody? And why was it chosen as a persuasive technique to sell the product?
A parody is a humorously exaggerated imitation of something, so in my case, I spoofed a documentary-style film and tried to impersonate or act like David Attenborough, as many people know of his works and the way in which he speaks, hence why some people will hopefully recognise it and get their attention as well as finding it humorous. I feel that using humour in adverts is the best way to get people’s attention, as from the past, I have seen many beer adverts on TV that use parodies for comical effect. It tends to make people remember the product and want to buy it. Also, it helps people talk about it with others and promotes it further.

6. Class Feedback - Example
The answer to question 1 was very positive – the assumption of cats doing the different daily routines proved effective, as it lets people compare the stereotypes for a cat to their own or just general thoughts of their opinions on them which creates humour. This also makes adverts like this more memorable. It also ties in with the reply in question 3 which shows the concepts of daily cat routines were how I thought it was which was what made it humorous for cat owners. In addition, the “ ‘ah’ factor” was also proven effective as it was “cute and funny” by adding in the sound effect of a cat at the end. Of course, I wanted to give the audience the idea that this was not just some normal cat food product, but one that is of high quality, so the words of “luxury” and “treat” appealed in question 4. In question 5 the technical level of the effects in the development of the advert was very positive, such as the recreation of an actual recording display when filming the cat. Filming animals can be very hard at times because of unpredictability and problems with the weather and they have shown they understood some of the issues I faced. I was also told to make sure the white balance and exposure of the video was to be altered, and has been adjusted in my final video. I tried my best to impersonate the style of David Attenborough but I should have chosen someone else who could have narrated better than me, to make the advert stand out as a parody even more.
Overall, I am very pleased with the feedback as there are a lot of positive points and just slight issues that I needed to change.

7. Class Feedback
Feedback is a very important part when it comes to production. It is an essential part of effective learning. It helps people understand the subject being studied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve in future. Overall the feedback was quite promising, with very few negative points to pick out, such as the “white balance + exposure” and “recording a narration that has a more similar tone/voice/style as David Attenborough”. However other than that, the rest said that “it is aimed at the right target audience”, it was “cute and funny”, “engaging”, “high quality”, “to a professional standard”, “well thought out and creative”, “well presented”.

8. How well did it compare to the official Felix Adverts?
All of the Felix Adverts in my example were in the form of an animation, which I do not have the skills to do, but in terms of the general plot and humour, I think that, judging by the class feedback, it went very well. The assumption of cats doing these daily routines was an effective method of getting people to compare it with their own cats or just general thoughts of what they do, for instance walking on the piano like in the Felix advert example two. As well as in the feedback example, it caught the “ ‘Ah’ factor” of people which is what pet adverts really stand out and what it should be about. This also makes it a lot more appealing and memorable. In terms of the soundtrack, they both are similar in terms of tone, which is in a major and upbeat style, but the instruments used are slightly different but this did not hinder the outcome of the advert at all.