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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

ART OF THE PROMO

Hi Nick, having worked a bit in this field (most heavily with sports related content) what's your take on shooting high concept promos (more like brand ads for the program) versus treatments using a mix of existing footage and maybe some purpose shot promo work.

Obviously a lot of time when you are working outside the network the show was originated in, or in the case of sport you are promoting a live event that has yet to happen, you are straddling that ground between being able to use footage from prior games/events and giving it a slick graphical treatment and a bit of a 'theme' (more than story), trying to impart a narrative that doesn't really exist (almost all the time with sport) and build a look that often exceeds the reality of what you are depicting.

This spot is a pretty good example of high concept promo work, where the brief was to promo an entire sport for the network, so you are trying to do something generic and also don't have access to specific talent:

https://vimeo.com/54256394


In the world of big agency TVC's this sort of brief would likely come with a fairly stacked budget, but in the world of Promos you are often literally working with resources cobbled together to try and make things on the budget. In that example the guy in the promo is actually the promo producer from the network - no budget for talent.

Again, when you aren't working with the network originating the content (or even in the case of Sports where you might be, but your access to sport stars is limited) you don't have say the luxury of going out and shooting a few days of promo shots with the talent from a reality/narrative show at the beginning of the shooting season and so you may end up with supplied promo footage from the master networks that totally doesn't work in your territory or starting from more or less a blank slate and having to come up with something fresh and specific on an incredibly tight budget.

In such situations do you enjoy the freedom of the clean slate/shot for purpose promo despite the often ridiculous budgetary constraint, or in your experience is the mismatch of resources on offer something that simply has taught you to stay away from pitching such ideas?
 
Craig Parkes said:
Hi Nick, having worked a bit in this field (most heavily with sports related content) what's your take on shooting high concept promos (more like brand ads for the program) versus treatments using a mix of existing footage and maybe some purpose shot promo work.

Obviously a lot of time when you are working outside the network the show was originated in, or in the case of sport you are promoting a live event that has yet to happen, you are straddling that ground between being able to use footage from prior games/events and giving it a slick graphical treatment and a bit of a 'theme' (more than story), trying to impart a narrative that doesn't really exist (almost all the time with sport) and build a look that often exceeds the reality of what you are depicting.

This spot is a pretty good example of high concept promo work, where the brief was to promo an entire sport for the network, so you are trying to do something generic and also don't have access to specific talent:

https://vimeo.com/54256394


In the world of big agency TVC's this sort of brief would likely come with a fairly stacked budget, but in the world of Promos you are often literally working with resources cobbled together to try and make things on the budget. In that example the guy in the promo is actually the promo producer from the network - no budget for talent.

Again, when you aren't working with the network originating the content (or even in the case of Sports where you might be, but your access to sport stars is limited) you don't have say the luxury of going out and shooting a few days of promo shots with the talent from a reality/narrative show at the beginning of the shooting season and so you may end up with supplied promo footage from the master networks that totally doesn't work in your territory or starting from more or less a blank slate and having to come up with something fresh and specific on an incredibly tight budget.

In such situations do you enjoy the freedom of the clean slate/shot for purpose promo despite the often ridiculous budgetary constraint, or in your experience is the mismatch of resources on offer something that simply has taught you to stay away from pitching such ideas?
Click to expand...

Hey Craig, awesome question. I actually plan on adding "CONCEPT SPOT" and "SHOOT SPOT" to the list of promo types! You beat me too it!

I totally hear you about limited resources. Sometimes we have a budget, sometimes we don't. With shows that have lots of available footage, a clip spot is easiest. But these days even in-house GFX teams are becoming so good at 3D and design, you can get fantastic GFX without having to go to vendors - and that really helps!

Here are two spots we shot last year on Scarlets and Green Screen, that Lifetime's inhouse GFX team did the designs for. I think they came out amazing. And you'd be surprised at how affordable these shoots were:



So yes, sometimes being judicious and smart with your budget/time, and shooting simple/good elements for GFX, can be an amazing way to promote a show, especially for a series (or a sport) that's been promoted the same way for years. These Runway spots worked so well because after so many seasons, they looked fresh.

That said, sports can be a challenge...as it's hard to promote a "match" that hasn't happened yet. When I worked at BBC, we would use GFX heavy spots (like your examples) a lot - they were very convenient.

Looking ahead, I think we may start to see more collaboration btw design and production: more designers and production companies working side by side to create mind blowing designs, even on a budget.

And I don't just mean designers using green screen elements, I mean production companies shooting full on plates of macro elements, ink in water, etc - fantastic 6K plates designers can use to transform promo packages.

I think this convergence of shoot material and design...is an exciting new area of creative...one we're seeing already in commercials, but one I'd like to see trickle down to more affordable promo work.
 
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Hi Nick, this is a great thread! Thanks for sharing your expertise and insight.

A couple questions, if you don't mind. First, what lead time do you typically get with a promo? Are we talking days? Weeks?

Second, to what extent do you take into account the identity of the network itself when creating a promo? I get that the show is by far the main driver, but do network considerations play a factor in the look, the rhythm of the cuts, the music used, etc?

Thanks again!

Mark
 
Mark George said:
Hi Nick, this is a great thread! Thanks for sharing your expertise and insight.

A couple questions, if you don't mind. First, what lead time do you typically get with a promo? Are we talking days? Weeks?

Second, to what extent do you take into account the identity of the network itself when creating a promo? I get that the show is by far the main driver, but do network considerations play a factor in the look, the rhythm of the cuts, the music used, etc?

Thanks again!

Mark
Click to expand...

Mark, my deepest apologies for delay. It's been a LONG week.

Promo "schedules" vary - some take over a month, and some get cut in a day. Depends on the job, the scope, and the client.

This cut took over a month, and probably had close to a 100 versions before it was approved:

DEVIOUS MAIDS: LAUNCH SPOT
https://vimeo.com/80351240

All the "beauty" shots, incidentally, were shot by our very own Christopher Probst, on a RED Epic MX....with I believe Master Primes. Devious was a very hard campaign to crack - the network had invested a lot, there was a huge cast, and a complicated plot/murder to "sell"....a lot to fit into a :30. But eventually, we got there. I'm proud to say this was the first Devious spot that made air (there were numerous "teams" competing for that honor).



On the other hand, we cut this spot literally in a day. I wrote the script in about 15mins:

MONDAYS COMBO SPOT
https://vimeo.com/131167783

This spot is airing right now on History. And I'm proud to say was approved without a single note. Sometimes you get lucky that way!!

But this also leads into your second question. TONE.

I happen to know History's "tone" REALLY WELL. That "manly" voice, that POV, is so ingrained in me, I'm comfortable writing a script on the spot, and delivering a high end promo...on short notice. After 12 years, I just KNOW the brand. Intimately. And obviously that's a huge advantage - for them, and for me.


On the other hand, look at this spot:

TONE I DON'T KNOW WELL
https://vimeo.com/128342324

I didn't write this spot. For good reason. The scripts I submitted were TERRIBLE. I can't write for FYI's audience as well as FYI's social team can. THEY literally wrote this script in 15mins. Whereas I agonized over my crappy scripts for hours!

So, TONE is very important, and knowing a network's tone is a BIG part of the job. But it's not the WHOLE job. In the case of this FYI spot, their team wrote the script (and hired that famous Youtube VO talent)...and once I had these elements, I was off to the races and produced the spot in one night.

So, once GIVEN the tone...I was fine.

To make things more complicated...most networks have various tones (variations on their "identity"). For ex, not every spot on History is "huge". Some are fun, some serious.

That's why I try and nail down tone with client before we start a job.

Hope this helps!

best
 
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Hey Nick,

Thanks for the response! Super-informative. BTW, love the "Devious Maids" piece - fun, fast-paced, and a nice hook at the end. Congrats on nailing that!
 
Mark George said:
Hey Nick,

Thanks for the response! Super-informative. BTW, love the "Devious Maids" piece - fun, fast-paced, and a nice hook at the end. Congrats on nailing that!
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark. The client had a very specific idea, and it worked (eventually). So kudos to him. His stubbornness paid off in the end!!
 
Hey guys, here's another fun spot we just did. History's "MONDAYS" combo spot:


Unlike most combo spots that promote TWO shows back to back, this actually pushes a TRIO - THREE shows back to back!

Even more fun.
 
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