Nobody has to be explained what is a commercial. Any person can give a definition. First of all people think about TV commercials, so as every day we see commercials on TV. But almost nobody knows how a commercial is produced. Only few can know why a 15-seconds commercial have budget of hundreds and even millions of dollars! Why one commercial is recognizable and you want to buy the product advertized, but another one does nothing but annoys. How compel the commercial to be effective, easy to remember and reproduce? What does the advertiser have to know before ordering a commercial? This article will answer all the questions.
Effective commercial – is a commercial that helps to sell goods, but the aims can be much wider. Before ordering a commercial think over what You need the commercial for! Very often the advertisers forget about main task, focusing their attention on the commercial’s details and their product’s image. But it is not a secret, which primary tasks and ultimate goals of any advertising campaign are: increasing in sales, presenting new products and gadgetries, or supporting customers’ loyalty.
After You have defined aims and tasks of commercials, thinks over suppositional budget, You can spend. But You have to remember that final cost will probably differ from initially planned amount. Then You can start looking for advertising agency and production studio, that will deal with Your commercial. Don’t even try to create the commercial on Your tod, You will not be able to do it better than professional studio. Using their experience in creation and advertising companies’ realization, ad agency can develop creative concept, write script and choose production studio.
Commercials’ production is difficult, multilevel process, in which many professionals involved. The process includes next steps. At first creative strategy is being developed, that is base for the commercial script’ writing. Creativity draws buyers’ attentive to advertising product, and it is important to expound it. That’s why a commercial’s script has to be written by a professional script-writer, thought over by an editor and coordinated with the advertiser. Sometimes it is rather difficult to choose a variant of commercial, which suits both sides.
After script’s coordination You can start choosing production studio, which will produce video reel to put it on the air in the future. It is started with storyboard (explication). At storyboard plans (shots) can be seen how director and operator see them. Usually it is hand-drawn and is being prepared before actors and location of shooting is confirmed. All these steps can be fulfilled only by professionals.
There are many production studios that are ready to offer You their services. Such studios are usually clients of advertising agencies, which working with client on strategy and advertising company, offer to find a production company. Doing this they get about 20% commission. But for advertiser this is waste of money. So, before agreement signing choose your partners carefully, and study the range of the services. Pay attention to period of the company’s existing and what the achieved for this period of time. Study portfolio of commercial’s producers, so as there the best shot works are situated Solid production companies have clients the companies are proud of, and the commercials for such clients will be in portfolio with no doubts. Specify also what kind of equipment the production company has, so as inappropriate equipment can spoil any commercial.
Commercial’s scenario influences the type of computer graphic: 2d or 3d. Video reels’ production with 2d modeling is very usual, but creation of 3d models, which hardly differ from real objects – is painstaking work. Computer modeling has to be used when real object is very difficult or expensive to shoot, or if such object doesn’t exist at all.
Equipment for videoreels’ shooting:
- Cameras;
- Camera booms;
- Kits of adjustable optics (micro, macro shooting, telephoto, etc.)
- Steadicam (stabilizes a camera, allowing the picture to be held in place even if the operator is moving)
- Rails, trolley
- Lighting equipment
Besides normative filming and lighting equipment there are special gadgets, that are used in special video reels’ production. For example, for filming of pouring liquid or falling object it is necessary to use special cameras, that shoot 100, and even 1000 frames per second, but not usual 25. Not every production studio can afford equipment for helicopter survey, but presence of such equipment testifies high professionalism of the studio.
Different mediums can be used while commercials’ shooting. Roughly they can be divided into two groups: digital mediums and film. 35 mm film is considered to be the most qualitative medium nowadays, but many digital cameras have almost the same characteristics. For shooting of professional, big budget commercial film is required. Only 35 mm film costs from $3000 and more, but the quality of picture worth it. There are many types of digital mediums. One can shoot DV, DV cam, Betacam for TV standards with picture resolution of 720õ576 pixels. More professional digital mediums HDV, Full HD has resolution of 1280õ720 pixels and more. Usual viewer will hardly differ quality of HDV and Full HD picture from a picture, shot with film. Sometimes even the professionals do mistake.
If you are going to put the commercial on TV air or show it on monitors You can choose digital mediums. But for translation in the cinemas before a movie for example, it is better to use film or RED one.
Commercial’s creation is not only shooting with camera. Before commercial’s shooting casting for actors is holding on. Sometimes company has to hire actors, stage managers, cameramen, scriptwriters and others, so as they don’t have them in staff.
A lot of people can be involved even in the shortest commercial. They are: actors, stylists, makeup artists, stage director, cameramen, film editors, decorators, lighting operators, engineers, administrators, assistant directors and so on. After you have confirmed the participants of commercial shooting, the budget becomes clearer. If you confirmed the script and want to shoot it, don’t save expenditure on makeup artist or lighting engineer, for example.
After the advertiser confirmed the choice of production studio and discussed all the details, exact budget can be worked out. Have to notice, when using film the commercial’s budget will exceed 10000$. Shooting with digital camera will cost You 3000-1000$. But also many other factors influence any commercial’s cost.
What influences a commercial’s production
Term for a famous actor, director, operator etc.
Salary to all the people involved in the commercial’s production
Terms of shooting
May be increased due to castings, shots’ retaking
Floors’ quantity
Some floors and decorations can be used even for one act.
Presence of complex computer graphics and animation
3d modeling, texturing, animation demand time and money
place of shooting
If the commercial is shot abroad, expenses have to include staff’s transporting, hotel. Equipment rent can cost cheaper than bringing it. That’s why before leaving it is necessary to know the rental price of the equipment in the country of shooting.
postproduction, special effects, video-display processing
Time keeping doesn’t influence cost directly. Display period is written in the script.
After the casting Production Company starts selection of floors. Usually special decorations are built for a commercial. Number of decorations depends on quantity of scenes. Shooting itself is going in parallel with creation of graphics and animation. Montage and imposition of special effects on shoot material, and postproduction finish up the commercial’s shooting. When the commercial is ready it is necessary to put it on the TV air. It has to be adapted to demands of the TV channel, where the commercial will be transmitted. If the video reel is shot with digital medium of high resolution (HDV, Full HD) or film, it will need to be updated to TV formats, including sound and frame lines.
That is general concept of commercials’ creation. Depending on peculiarities of production commercials can be simple (without actors and computer graphics), production commercials and commercials with using of complex graphics and animation.
Cost of simple commercials in the KOMPAS Production House is — 500-1000$, production commercials — 3000-5000$, commercials with using of complex computer graphics and animations — 3000-5000$ with HDV-camera. Setting the budget for commercial’s production, think over how much you are ready to spend for release. In general in the Republic of Belarus cost of commercials release for a month period composes about 60-80 mln. BLR for 20 seconds commercial.
Terms of simple commercials’ creation compose 5-10 days, production commercials 10-30 days, commercials with computer animation and graphics – 14-30 days.
The KOMPAS Production
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