SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
Television commercials are television messages designed to sell a product, service, or an idea. A public service announcement, or PSA (public service bulletin [PSB] in the United Kingdom), is similar to a commercial but is produced for a socially relevant cause or a nonprofit organization. PSAs are usually dedicated to improving or serving organizations involved in education, health, welfare, safety, and so on. In the United States, commercial television stations are required by federal communications law to provide service to the community, and airing PSAs is considered a form of community service.
Stations usually use their inventory of unpurchased air time to run PSAs. There is no charge to the non-profit organization, but the PSAs are most often scheduled to run during non prime time periods.
PSAs have the same running time as commer-cials—usually 30 seconds—but they can be :10, :15, :60, or longer. They run adjacent to commercials or in commercial time slots. Like commercials, they are expected to motivate some action, such as “Get a checkup!” or “Visit your local library!” or to change behavior, such as “Stop smoking!” or
“Eat smart!” The message must be timely, accurate, and relevant to the community. Restraints on the message regarding political, religious, and contro-versial material may exist to protect the station from involvement in issues that demand rebuttals, counter-rebuttals, and possible litigation.
The production of a PSA is handled as if it were a commercial. PSAs may seem easy to make, because, like commercials, they’re short and thus appear to be made with minimal effort. That’s a common misconception. If a PSA is to get signifi-cant air time, it must be perceived by the stations as
being worthy of being aired. This is of particular concern to stations because although PSAs are often aired late at night, they are nevertheless aired between expensive and carefully produced commer-cial messages. Stations want commercommer-cial breaks, even those with PSAs, to look good and not “turn off” viewers. That means the PSAs have to look as good as commercials.
The cost of producing a commercial can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars if it’s to look exactly right. Even then, the cost of production is just the beginning. No matter how extravagant the commercial production budget, the cost of running the commercial is much greater. With that kind of investment, commercial production is expected to be flawless. Anything less might in some way mar the sponsor’s image, and it would do so at tremen-dous cost in both production and air time. The viewer cannot help but compare the PSA with the commercial that he or she just watched. A shoddy PSA might reflect on the commercials surrounding it when they are aired. Stations and sponsors want PSAs to be at least a close second in production values if they are to be considered for airing. Then, too, if they seem to be created with less care than the commercials that surround them, they do not help the organizations or causes for which they were created.
The networks and many independent stations provide guidelines for PSA production. The guide-lines can usually be obtained by calling the local sta-tion and speaking with anyone in community affairs or with a public service coordinator. At smaller sta-tions, the news director may be the appropriate contact.
It’s sensible to request a copy of these so your PSAs comply. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of
Directing and Producing for Television. DOI:10.1016/B978-0-240-81293-9.00008-1 191
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time preparing messages that go unseen. Often a station will suggest that a storyboard be submitted for approval. It’s sensible to do this rather than spend money for a production that may be found to be unsuitable for broadcast.
Guidelines will also spell out requirements for the technical requirements of the spot. At one time stations required color bars, tone, slates, and so on at the start of each spot, but the move to digital media has changed that for most stations. The appropriate format for slating and delivery of the PSA or spots should be ascertained on a station by station basis. The slate, or some form of identifica-tion, is essential to assure the station that it’s run-ning the right spot. The commercial or PSA information includes the following:
1. The name of the client or agency responsible for the spot—so they can be notified in case there is a problem with the content of the spot.
2. The name of the spot—which serves as a check with the broadcast coordinator’s log.
3. The producing company—because it, along with the client or agency, may be notified if there is some technical difficulty with the spot.
4. The total running time (TRT)—to confirm length (e.g., the first spot runs one minute; the next, which the station is running, is a :30; and it’s followed by a :10).
5. The production or editing date—to determine timeliness and version.
6. Some kind of reference code—for ease of handling and for a double-check with the daily log.
The guidelines may specify that commercials usually run for 30 seconds but have only 28 seconds of copy to allow for a fade-up and fade-out.
The guidelines would also indicate the appropri-ate duration for phone numbers (5 to 10 seconds), safe copy area, and so on. Questions about using celebrities, politicians, and other spokespersons are also covered in most stations’ guidelines, as are requirements for proof of nonprofit status.
In some ways PSAs are a wonderful way to study television production. Like longer forms, they can be studied in terms of preproduction, produc-tion, and postproduction. They require a limited amount of time but demand a great deal of focus. If properly conceived, they are short enough to be able to be produced well.
PREPRODUCTION
The preproduction for shooting PSAs starts with dis-cussions that lead to several concepts. These are then whittled down to one central working idea.
From that a script evolves. In most television for-mats, the director has nothing to do with the crea-tion of the script. In fact, the director of professional commercials seldom writes or “creates” the com-mercial. The director is often absent from the editing process. The creation of the idea, script, and story-boards (which present the script in a kind of comic book format) is done by an advertising agency. Both the preproduction and postproduction are done by the agency producer in conjunction with the com-mercial producer and sometimes the client.
Before being produced, a commercial message or PSA is studied thoroughly. First, the target audi-ence and the goals of the commercial or PSA must be analyzed. The message’s language and presenta-tion must be checked, reanalyzed, and rechecked.
The production company hired to carry out the pro-duction will be considered and reconsidered. The talent and the director, as well as the crew and the postproduction facility to be used, are very carefully scrutinized. Every step along the way is thought out, evaluated, challenged, and then finally accepted and executed. Along the way, some of the best wri-ters, producers, directors, and crews may work on the project.
In smaller markets, a service organization may work directly with a station, college, or university to produce a PSA. In larger markets an agency is asked, or offers, to work for specific organizations that wish to have PSAs or other media prepared and placed. Usually, the agencies or the local station handle PSA assignments with the same personnel and in the same way they handle any client. This occurs for four good reasons:
G To many in the industry, making a PSA is an opportunity to “give back” to the community.
G The quality of the campaign and production will help define the agency and the production company in the creative community, and therefore the work is taken very seriously. No agency or production company wants to be seen as doing shoddy or poor work.
G It is often a way in which an agency or a station that is limited in what it does for clients by working in some single area—retail sales, for
example—can “stretch its wings.” Work on a PSA project might create opportunities that would be impossible with the agency’s or station’s current clients.
G Other clients may appreciate well-made PSAs and ask the station or agency to produce some for causes that are important to them. This becomes a form of professional networking.
Not all agencies or stations, and not all stu-dents, will handle all PSAs in the same way. Some consider making a PSA an odious chore that they are compelled to perform for a demanding client, boss, teacher, or “image.” However, in order to produce any commercial or PSA, the following steps must be taken:
1. Meetings are scheduled with the public service organization, and the nonprofit organization’s goals are discussed.
2. Executives, account executives, or project leaders meet with a creative team. (This may simply mean “Self, what do I do now?”) 3. The creative team provides ideas, which are
then analyzed—sometimes with the client, sometimes just in-house, and sometimes all alone. Storyboards or scripts are created (Figure 8.1).
4. The client chooses a campaign.
5. The process to production continues through preproduction, production, and postproduction.
The in-house cost of the project is handled as a charitable contribution. Production costs are han-dled the same way whenever possible. For example, a production company may have to pay the crew but will not mark up the production costs.
Student-produced PSAs are at a disadvantage:
their casts and crews, like the students themselves, are learning the craft. Few writing classes emphasize
Figure 8.1 This storyboard is typical of those from the MJA agency. The work of other agencies may look different.
Some storyboards use clip art, some use drawings, and some use simple stick figures. Used by permission from MJA, New York/San Francisco.
writing television commercials or PSAs, which are very specific forms. Production classes that attempt to produce PSAs may be plagued with hidden script or production problems, as well as hardware and budgetary limitations. Furthermore, while a profes-sional cast and crew might be able to help a neo-phyte director, such help is scarce for the student director. The best guidance for anyone who wants to direct and produce successful PSAs is to recognize and work within whatever limitations exist for them and to emulate the steps taken in professional com-mercial production as much as possible.
Usually projects go wrong when they start with a point of view that’s geared to production instead of beginning with an idea: “Let’s go down to the beach or over to the poor section of town. We can shoot a lot of garbage, graffiti, flotsam, and jetsam and put a tag on it that says something like ‘It’s our home. Let’s keep it clean!’” Although it’s a nice sentiment, and it might actually make a good visual PSA, it’s been seen too often. It doesn’t have the spark of an original idea, no matter how well you shoot the garbage, graf-fiti, flotsam, and jetsam (or what have you).
Professionals start with conferences with their clients because they know that the idea for the com-mercial must come out of the client’s needs. Stating those needs in one clear sentence is often the key to making the commercial work. The sentence may be
“Drinking [the client’s soda] makes you feel won-derful.” That sentence will be discussed for its possi-bilities. What exactly does “feel wonderful” mean?
How can we illustrate feeling wonderful? Is there sufficient material in our daily life to show how the client’s soda goes with feeling wonderful? Should the pitch be to someone who isn’t having a wonder-ful time and whose whole day becomes wonderwonder-ful because of the client’s soda? Those questions and the discussions surrounding them, and many more, inevitably lead to some ideas of how to “sell” the idea that drinking the client’s soda will make a per-son feel wonderful. Many approaches will be tried, although only a few may be presented to the client.
Each, however, will contain just that one idea. In this case that one idea is “Drinking [the client’s soda] makes you feel wonderful.”
Arriving at that one statement is sometimes eas-ier for a commercial than for a PSA because the commercial’s goals are so apparent. Manufacturing clients want the public to buy their products—any-where. They want us to buy and drink Cokes, to buy and drive a Fords, or to use Dawns
dishwashing liquid. Retail clients want the public to buy the Coke, Ford, or Dawn from their particular restaurant, dealership, or grocery store. Knowing the ground rules and what results are anticipated changes the nature of what is said to the public;
with a PSA, the real message may not be as apparent.
The wording of the PSA’s message is very important because it affects what we shoot.
Consider the two statements “Don’t litter” and
“Keep our city clean.” Either could be used for a campaign—neither is right or wrong, better or worse. As a director/producer you might prefer one to the other. “Keep our city clean” is more positive and suggests more action to me, but if the client prefers “Don’t litter,” that’s the way it’s apt to get made. With a PSA, unlike the case with a commer-cial, the director/producer may voice creative sug-gestions. The director/producer of commercials usually doesn’t have much input about which approach is taken, even though the choice might have a profound effect on the work that’s produced.
As a director/producer I’ve often wished for a better script and sometimes have been able to make sug-gestions. Most of the time the storyboards with the script and all the shots laid out have been approved, and the job of the director/producer is to make the approved boards work. Sometimes, but rarely, that does include rewriting the spot. At some time—
eventually—the agency or the station and the client agree on the desired action and the message. At an agency, a creative director working with the account executives, copy editors, and art directors creates a plan or campaign that may include other media as well as television commercials to achieve their goals.
At a station, the same task may be accomplished by a director/producer working alone.
Lots of books about advertising, creating cam-paigns, writing copy, and so on are available. They attempt to give the reader tools to find the right approach and the right questions to ask, but the process is a creative one, and no single answer will work for everything or everyone. The key may be in asking good questions and then in holding one’s cre-ative values to high standards. Although this book is about production, the idea and script will have a profound influence on the effect of the commercial or PSA. All commercials tend to fall into well-defined types. Many authors have listed the preva-lent commercial types. In his book Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy lists some specific
categories in which successful television ads tend to fall. These are some of my favorites:
1. Characters: Zeke and Eb, two old codgers you’ll never forget, along with the product with which they are associated (this can even be an
animal . . . or animated!).
2. Comedy: The danger here is that the audience will remember the joke, not the product.
3. Demonstrations: An “infomercial” is a long demonstration. Commercials for Dentsu Knives and Krazy Gluesare short ones.
4. Problem solving: How do you serve the unexpected guests who arrive ten minutes after you get home? Easy—just use the client’s product.
5. Reasons: Here are three good reasons why you should use the client’s product. This approach is self-explanatory.
6. Slice of life: These may feel trite, but they do work. Often two actors argue over the merits of a product, and one is finally convinced.
Sometimes there’s simply a question, such as
“Oh, Madge, how do you get your dishes so clean?” or a statement, such as “Bob, I can’t tell you how much trouble I used to have getting a great shine on my car, but that’s all changed now. . . .” In some ways this may be considered a variation on problem solving.
7. Talking heads: A pitchman (someone dressed as a doctor or a mechanic, a group of women around a table) tells the audience how wonderful the product is.
8. Testimonials: Hidden-camera technique, as well as stars and personalities. The danger of using stars is that the audience remembers the star but not the product!
There are more, but these are the most fre-quently seen.
Once the agency, station, or project leader has come up with a campaign and the commercials to tell the story, they present the client with their plan.
This presentation may include mockups of the cam-paign, including magazine layouts, radio scripts, and television storyboards. The storyboards are usu-ally 4, 8, or 16 panels; sometimes more are needed or, as in Figure 8.1, fewer. Sometimes they’re like children’s books, with tabs to pull, flaps to lift, and so on. These storyboards are usually an artist’s representation of the proposed commercial. They are either freehand sketches or can be created from
any of a number of computer programs. Sometimes they are simple stick drawings. Each panel is num-bered and represents an edit point or indicates a montage sequence. Under each panel is the copy or audio that will go with that panel. Once the client agrees to the storyboard, it’s put into the production process. At an agency, the “job” is put in the hands of an agency producer, who sends it out for bids.
Sometimes a favorite production company is asked how much the spot or spots would cost. Sometimes a formal presentation takes place in which a number of production companies are invited to bid on a job.
Their bids are based on the storyboards or presenta-tions that are often made to all the bidding compa-nies at a single meeting. Most of the time a limited number of companies, perhaps three or four, with whom the agency is familiar will be asked to bid on producing a specific set of storyboards. They may be asked to price it out, with and without editing, or to bid the job digitally as well as on film. The production companies that are asked to bid would probably include an established company whose work is well known but expensive; a second produc-tion company whose work is known but may be slightly less expensive; and a new company that is
Their bids are based on the storyboards or presenta-tions that are often made to all the bidding compa-nies at a single meeting. Most of the time a limited number of companies, perhaps three or four, with whom the agency is familiar will be asked to bid on producing a specific set of storyboards. They may be asked to price it out, with and without editing, or to bid the job digitally as well as on film. The production companies that are asked to bid would probably include an established company whose work is well known but expensive; a second produc-tion company whose work is known but may be slightly less expensive; and a new company that is