Social Action Evaluation:

The issue of our social action video is about the charity Launchpad and
their work preventing the issue of homelessness in the local reading area.
The charity work with homeless people, the Reading Borough Council and
other organisations. Because of the charity plays a large part in the local
area, it important that the information we provide within the video is clear,
consisted and truthful. This is also why it is important that the audience
understand what the issue is, and how they can help. Because of this, I
used the Launchpad logo and name throughout the video, and spoke of
the issue of poverty within the voice over. To test this, I asked the viewers
to answer a questionnaire asking, What is the topic of the video? and
How is this clear? The views responded saying that The topic of the film
is clear from the voice over and through the use of video footage and
interviewees.
Social action videos have multiple purposes. These can be to change
attitudes, raise awareness, and change voting behaviour and to campaign.
Looking at existing social action videos and the charity we were creating
the video for, we were able to determine the purpose. The purpose of our
video is to focus on the facial side of the charity. This means that the
video will contain a lot of information that will educate the audience on
the topic of homelessness. We will also be including case studies that will
hopefully create an emotional response from people. This means that the
main purpose of our video is too inform the audience on the organisation
Launchpad, what they do, and the issue of homelessness in the local
area. To do this we used multiple techniques, such as facts, research and
interviews. By using these techniques, it provided the audience with
truthful, believable, and trusting information. We also did this by showing
the research on screen, and facts in a voice over. The research was from a
local Reading news site, proving that the information was reliable. To
address this I asked the audience Does this video raise your awareness of
homelessness in reading? and How? Multiple participants said the
video did clearly tell me and that that it raises awareness with its
interviews and Vox pops as well as facts used. This showed that that
the aim within the preproduction was successful.
As stated in the previous paragraph, We will also be including case
studies that will hopefully create an emotional response from people.
Within the interview, we asked one of the staff members to give a case
study of a member who was effected by the issue of poverty in reading,
and how the charity helped. By combining this, part of the interview,
along with emotive images I hoped to make the audience fell empathy
toward the issue and the people the charity helped. I asked the viewers
Does the video change your attitude towards the issue of homelessness
and how? All participants said that the video changed their attitude
towards the issue of homelessness, not just in the local area of reading,
but in general. The participants said that the video Makes me realise
anyone could be through case studies and that the use of emotive
language and music changes my feelings towards the issue. Not only did
I ask the audience whether the video changed their attitude, but also
Does the video campaign for the charity? And how? The views
commented the video encourages you to help out, and informs you of the
ways that you can and that it shows what they do and what impact that
has on people.
The issue of homelessness is a very personal issue, and can effect anyone
at any time. This is why when making the video, we wanted it to educate
those watching, and make sure it did not create stereotypes. Within our
pre-production booklet, we decided to create a questionnaire asking who
people thought the video should be
aimed at. From this, we were able to
determine that our target audience
for this production will be the people
from the local area of Reading,
mainly for teenagers and young
adults, and adults as they are at the
most risk of becoming homeless and
have the funds to donate and help
the charity. However, the video can apply to any age category. We will be
targeting both genders, as this social issue can affect everyone, so
informing as many people on the issue is vital to preventing the issue
from spreading. As the charity specified, no images of homeless people
were to be shown on the video, preventing the formation of stereotypes
and misconceptions. The issue of homelessness and poverty is a global
issue, but our video focuses on the local reading are. We tried to make the
video relatable to those within reading by showing images that relate to
the charity such as the reading high street. This is a popular part of
reading and the place in which the Launchpad charity event was set.
Because of this, I asked the audience Who do you think the target
audience of the video is and why? The audience answered that Its
suitable for all audiences. The style makes it ideal for teenagers.
Moreover, that Mainly older people, as they will probably relate to it
more. This showed that the video appealed and is appropriate to the
ideal target market, which was determined by the questionnaire in the
pre-production.
As said previously, our original intention was to use case studies to
provoke emotions such as sadness and empathy, to change attitudes
towards the issue, as well inspiring the audience to donate campaign and
get involved. Within the questionnaire, I asked the audience to describe
how the video made them feel. The audience answered that 25% or the
viewers felt sad, 25% felt happy and 100% said the video made them
feel Inspired. To provoke these emotions and fulfill our original intentions
set in the pre-production booklet, I
used multiple filming and editing
techniques. To see what techniques
impacted the audience in this way I
asked the viewers to describe What
techniques made you feel this way?
Most of the audiences said that the
most effective techniques were the
montage and cutting to the beat, as
well as the voice over and A mix of it all, voiceover to footage allows lots
of material to be covered. Case studies make it personal.
The original intention of our videos are that one would be used by the
charity Launchpad. In the preproduction, we reverenced to their brief,
saying that the video will be shown on YouTube as well as on the Launch
pads home page. Because of this, our videos had to be filmed and edited
to a high technical quality, as it would represent the organization. When
asked Is the video made to high production standards, what could be
improved? the audience replied that it looks very professional
throughout and that the production standards are generally high. All
the participants said that the video was made to a high production
standard.
The final questionnaire within our questionnaire addressed the aesthetical
quality of the production. This includes the technical quality of the
graphics, cuts, logos and interview titles. The logo was shown at the
beginning of the video to immediately identify the organisation to the
viewer. Not only was the logo shown over the other images, but
throughout the video, within the shots such as on signs and posters. To
link to the colour scheme that is visible on the logo, and exterior building
shots. Because of this, I used the eyedropper tool in the editing process
so that each interview title uses the same colours as the logo. Even
though this is not an obvious aspect of the graphics, I asked the audience
Are the aesthetical qualities of the production to a professional
standard? The viewers answered that the cuts are good, the footage and
colour look nice and that it the look is very good and professional

throughout. One of the viewers also commented that they Love the logo
at the beginning, the music and shots are timed nicely together too.
In 2015, a previous video was created for launchpad. This video, was
created for the same purpose as our social action video; to inform.
Although we wanted to inform the audience about the charity, we also
want to serve other purposes. These include changing attitudes toward
the issue and campaigning for the charity. Because eof this, we wanted to
create an emotional response, which from the quennaire results, was a
success. The video that was created for the charity previously was
informal. The production used techniques such as interviews and B-roll
such just as ours, but also used a presenter. Although my video did use
voice over, by only a voice, it meant that the video has a more formal
tone, and the viewers attntion was not drawn from the charity and the
members of staff. This is also evident within the interviews of the previous
vertion. Within the interview, multicamera techniques are used to not only
show the interviewwee in different angles, but also shots of the presenter
during the interview as well. This, as well as the launguage used, creates
an informal tone to the organisation. For our video, we wanted to create a
corporate tone, that inspired the audience to get involoved in the charity
and the issue. Because of this, in my social action video, I used emotonal
music, images from the company site, over the case study provided in the
interview.
Overall, I believe the production process and editing was a success. With
the use of interviews and voice overs it allowed us to creativly engage the
audience in the charity, their work and the issue of homelessness. The use
of emotional music and expressive language capture not only the
audiences attention but provoked an emotional reponces. This, alogside
the you of found and graphics, created a very proffetional social action
video, that informs the audience about homelessness, chages their
attutude towards those who those who suffer from this issue and
campagins for the organisation Launchpad.