Author Archive

Commercial Concepts – Concepting the Concept

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Where do all of the ideas for commercials come from? Market research? Demographics? Detailed surveys and focus groups? Sure why not…if your client has the budget! But, could these commercials fail? Yes. And they often do.

So what are we to do? What are our clients to do? Advertising is as important as ever. Budgets are shrinking and in some cases the competition is shrinking too.

Here are some options:

  • Look to what has worked in the past.
  • See a commercial you like and do something similar.
  • Get a message and stick to it. Then beat it into the ground.
  • Get nostalgic, air commercial campaigns from long ago and freshen them up for your client with the addition of their website URL. And Voila!
  • Or, my favorite: sit down with your client and ask them questions.

I like to ask a bunch of questions. I may not know a lot about what my client does and they may not know a lot about what I do, but we have that in common. Talking, asking and answering questions creates a-kind-of-magic.

I know going into a meeting with a client that they want easy to digest videos that pack a punch. So, I need to know what they want to say. I will take that info and grind it up… and the first thing I do is try as hard as I can to make fun of the product or service! Privately, I come up with a few horrible ideas (free of Charge!). I wish I could give examples… but that is a trade secret I will not divulge.

Why do this? It's fun, for one. For two, I need to take "the box" that my client created for me by answering my questions, and turn it inside out. It's the way I approach it… right, wrong or indifferent… it makes me happy and I get interesting commercials from the process. It’s a thought exercise. Does this mean I work only with the oils and brushes of comedy, satire, or self-debasing humor on behalf of my client? I wish I could do more of that, but I digress.

There really is no value to thinking out-side-the-box unless it leads your intended audience into-the-box. A creative commercial concept has to have teeth, the fang to inject the message. Wait, that is a bit negative. The needle to inject the life giving medicine of your client's life enriching message. A B12 shot for sales and happy consumers. A good commercial distracts the viewer into a state where they don’t realize that they are being sold something, or at least they don’t mind as much. The smiley face sticker we slap on the injection site… yeah that’s a good commercial.

There is no handbook on creativity and there is no rule book either. Listening to people who are self described as "not-creative" can unleash a wealth of un-tapped creativity, in them and in the mind of us "creative-types."

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Flat Camera Work vs Dynamic Camera Work

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Flat vs. Dynamic Camera work

National Spots move the camera, local spots point the camera. There is a difference -allow me to explain. A moving camera shot immediately says to our subconscious mind something along the lines of “Wow, that’s cool.” It’s simply that the camera is showing us something in a way that we can not experience in normal life. The camera is moving up or down, swinging over the heads of people like a bird in flight, gliding through a room smooth as silk – its movement is taking us as an audience somewhere special. As an audience we expect and demand Dynamic visualization, or at least we crave it…

Flat camera work resembles our own normal experience. A camera on a tripod is like a person sitting in a chair. Look left, look right, look up, look down… it’s flat. It is expected. The reason that I chose flat to describe this way of shooting video is this – video shot in this way creates a two dimensional image for a two dimensional media (TV) for a client/audience that is accustomed to viewing the world in three dimensional space.

Dynamic camera work gives the impression of three dimensional space in a two dimensional medium. This convincing illusion happens when the foreground and the background move in relationship to each other showing us the distance between them.

Not every shot has to be dynamic. It is also not true that every spot has to have dynamic shots.
This is part of the creative process to decide how best to utilize our tools to make your message make an impact.

Tools for Dynamic Camera work available at Guardian Studios.

  • Cam Mate Jib Arm: This camera crane can be built out as short as 8′ to 30′ to give huge movement. With its robotically controlled head, the camera has complete freedom to get the shot.
  • Glide Cam: This harness mounted piece of gear is worn by the Director of Photography. Walk, run, forwards, backwards, complicated choreographed moves, inside and out… all super smooth.
  • Dolly: This platform is simple yet highly effective tool to move the camera across the ground in a variety of ways to “sell the shot”.

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How do you determine a Local Commercial from a National Commercial?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

As we sit and enjoy our evening TV shows we inevitably see commercials for a variety of products and services. Within that variety we are exposed to a wide spectrum of quality.

I feel that we as an audience instinctively sense the difference between Local and National commercials; let’s try to articulate the difference. I will share my thoughts about the differences I see and then you tell me your thoughts and your own independent musings.

Below, I have listed a few key differences between Local and National Spots. These are not rules or even theories, in the scientific sense, but some aspects that I watch for when creating a commercial.

The usage of graphics

Local spots use graphics more liberally than National. Local spots want to convey more specific information than National spots. The easiest way to put more information into a spot is to add textual graphics. Don’t get me wrong though, there are spots that are “heavy” on the graphics that work in both National and Local spots.

Fact Laden Scripts

National spots tend to dance around facts or delicately nestle them in tidy packages within the spots. Local spots seem to use every opportunity to articulate the facts throughout their spots. However, there are exceptions and both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.

What’s my motivation?

Feel/Learn Meter

Typically national spots want you to “feel” and local spots want their audience to “learn”… in a nutshell. Both of these approaches can backfire. Make the audience feel too much and they may not learn. Try to give too much info and your audience may turn the channel, space out, ignore your message, or simply not be able to remember the info.


Best Least Memorable Commercial?

We have all had this conversation:

    “I saw this hysterical commercial last night! Did you see it?”
    “What was it for?”
    “I don’t remember… but it sure was funny!”

The flip side is confusion that comes about by trying to educate your audience to fast. This can be due to a fact heavy script and/or over use of graphics to explain your business and services. Pick a message, boil it down to its essence, and wrap it up in an exciting package.

The Solution?

When we consult with our clients, we strive to give the client a balanced commercial with appropriate levels of National “Feel” and Local “Learn(ing)”. By focusing on the core message and relating it to your audience, we focus on making a memorable spot that leaves them with the core lesson – your website, business name and/or your custom jingle rolling around their head for days.

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