The Oxjam Takeover
Oxfam has a month-long music festival called Oxjam. This event is run all around the UK and is organised by people who have volunteered to help. The Oxjam music festivals help raise money to save lives around the world.
The Oxjam Takeover is a social action production. The video begins with an animated title sequence of the Oxjam Music Festival. This is Oxjam’s official title sequence. There is no background music (BGM) to the intro. However, there are sound effects (SFX) that can be heard along with the animated effects to give an edge. For technical codes and conventions, there are shots of the singers and musicians playing at the music festival. The video editors have faded in the text saying “a month long music festival” and “hundreds of events”. One hears diegetic sounds of the musicians playing and the artists singing. There are also shots of the crowd/customers enjoying the excitement. From this, one knows that hundreds of people like to be at a music festival and it is an advantage for Oxjam because they will raise plenty of money. The style of the video is promotional because it promotes Oxjam. The purpose of the video is to show what it is like in the Oxjam Music Festival. There are interviews of the Takeover Managers who say that they had “seven hundred people” volunteering to help make the event “innovative” and “unique”. These managers promote the live music venue and are working with lots of people in the music industry.
Marriott’s Walk, Witney, West Oxfordshire
This video is an introduction to Marriott’s Walk shopping and leisure centre that is being opened in Witney, West Oxfordshire. The title sequence shows three mini clips of the shots showing what is happening in Marriott’s Walk. They both fade in along the left to look like a dynamic transition. The sunbeam effect that fades from the title sequence to the shops makes it bright and wonderful. One hears non-diagetic music in the background that sounds pleasant. There are close up (CU) shots of the store banners such as M&S and Café Rouge. These shots show what new “shops” and “leisure facilities” have been built in Marriott’s Walk. The music is then turned down to introduce the commentary that talks about how Marriott’s Walk has become a success in Witney. There are interviews of the general public who have been shopping there and say how “brilliant” the place is for Witney. The people are delighted and excited. Some people are happy that they don’t have to go to Oxford or Banbury to go to the cinema anymore because there is Cineworld in Witney. This video promotes the town of Witney as well. There are images of what Witney used to look like in history. The commentary says that Marriott’s Walk was named after the “Marriott blanket making family” who made Witney famous for weaving blankets in that period.
HE Full Circle (Lenzflare Creative Production UK)
The HE (Higher Education) Full Circle video is a promotional film for the project. It starts off with the logo of Staffordshire University fading in. This shows that the HE Full Circle project was organised at that university. Then there is a cube spin transition to the Advantage West Midlands logo, and another transition to the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone logo. These companies funded the project. The aim of the HE Full Circle project is to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise to young university graduates so they can start their own business in the future. There are clips fading in of people working. There is text that explains what the HE Full Circle project does for other people like the ones seen working. At 1:01 of the video, the editors have created a reel on the left side with images of the young entrepreneurs scrolling down. There is a variety of text scrolling next to it with names of companies. One can see interviews with certain people have their own business because they got a bursary. These interviews are examples of what the HE Full Circle can do to people and what will they do in the future. The project can help give university graduates a bursary so they can get a job.
