A commercial has to pass through three stages -– pre-production, production itself, and post-production.
Pre-production
In pre-production, we select a strong story- board in keeping with our ad strategy, and decide about the casting. Mostly, the cast consists of models considered suitable to enact the roles envisaged. Cast can be picked up from established actors and actresses. But it will shoot up the production budget. Even common people can be used in casting. After the client company approves the story board , it is sent to TV channel for clearance. Mostly it is cleared if it does not violate the broadcasting code set by the TV channel.
The production company submits a production estimate to the ad agency. It is called budgeting. It include expense heads like pre-production expenses, recce expenses, casting fees and expenses, production salaries, unit salaries, electrical unit expenses, camera equipment expenses, art department’s expenses, studio charges, location shooting costs, post production costs, insurance and miscellaneous expenses. Animation production expenses and mark-up are added to the total expenses to give the total production cost.
Production cost can be controlled if we know how all the elements contribute to the costs. Besides, one must always try to have a strong idea, rather than celebrity endorsements and fancy special effects. Over-time also adds to the budget. We have to get multiple bids from several production companies to select a cost-effective bid. Most commercials are shot on film, and later edited on tape.
Production
The actual shooting of a commercial is a matter of cinematography. It has a time schedule of generally one to three days. The actual time taken depends upon whether it is shot in a studio or location, the complexity in terms of lighting, the camera movements and the action involved. The whole process is well-planned to avoid time over-runs.
Shooting is a team work where the key figure is the Director. The script is divided into shots, and there is a sequence of shots. To economise, all shots on one location may be shot together. A cinematographer translates the director’s vision to celluloid. Lighting is looked after by specialised technicians. “Light, camera, action” are the three commands that set the ball rolling. Each shot is clapped before action. If a shot is not okayed by the director, he shouts ‘cut’. Then the clap reads ‘shot one, take two’. As many takes can be taken as necessary to get the perfect result. The perfect shot (at least two ) are canned. These are printed in the lab to convert them to rushes.
Post-Production
In post production, we generally include editing, special effects and dubbing. Video tape editing is simpler and faster than film editing.
Last Word
Great commercials are built around strong ideas. We should not produce lousy commercials, and waste resources. We have to spend our budget effectively.