Project 1- Web advert

For my first project, I found that I had to adjust to using Adobe After Effects. At first, I had to familiarise myself with the format and so, I just experimented with the basics. But with practice, I soon found ease in creating projects and using techniques in After Effects.

I decided to choose smoking for my web advert because I wanted to choose a topic that was meaningful and would evoke emotion. I always want my work to create a reaction and I felt that my ideas for this first project would do just that.

Health effects of smoking are constantly highlighted in adverts, and I often think that they aren’t effective enough. I find that they are missing persuasive tools. My inspiration for this smoking web advert was the SmokeFree television adverts, where a young child would give a real account into why they want their parents to stop smoking.

My web advert was going to use children as a tool of persuasion to highlight to parents how health effects of smoking can have serious consequences for your life with your family. This web advert was always going to be a challenge because firstly it will be designed for the web. Therefore, it has to be time restrained; as users on the web don’t stay on a single page for long because they scroll up and down, and browse onto other sites. So, my advert has to be instantly eye-catching. Secondly, my web advert will not be accompanied by sound, therefore, I needed to make the content stimulating using just text and images, to sustain interest.

I kept the theme of my web advert simple- using just black and white. I believed that using black and white is not just simple, but the most effective method when conveying a serious issue. During the production process, I experimented a lot with the sequence of my web advert. I kept it really simple, using only one image, a logo and the rest being text.

I had difficulties with the timing. I had to make sure that all the text could be read, yet at the same time, I couldn’t make the web advert too long. Additionally, I had to remember to RAM preview my work if I applied effects, so that it would play back in real time. When I played back my work, I wasn’t satisfied with it because it wasn’t stimulating enough. So, to change this, I created a mask on the smoke background layer, to have an effect of the smoke moving along the screen. This change was visually a massive improvement, which enhanced my project.

I do think that I spent quite a lot of time on the first project, but that was partly due to me adjusting to the program. I am pleased with the finishing product taking into account the time limit and other conflicting schedules that I had. However, I do believe that no work is ever really finished because everything can be improved, adapted and developed.