Audio-Visual Advertisements
Audio-visual advertisements include television commercials, Web page video ads, ads featured at the beginning of a video or DVD, video billboards, and any other type of advertising that uses sounds and images.
There's a lot of glamour that surrounds television commercials. Most copywriters who begin as junior scribes at advertising agencies dream of the day when they will be writing and producing commercials for the Super Bowl. In fact, a television commercial is considered the most prestigious assignment in all of advertising. It is the top of the ad agency mountain.
Commercials are almost always written by advertising agencies and other creative firms that specialize in broadcast media. However, sometimes freelance copywriters and staff writers at companies also get involved.
A super is a title or caption superimposed over a picture. It's used to strengthen the sales message by displaying additional information not spoken in the narration or dialogue. For example, “Order now. Operators are standing by.”
Commercials and other audio-visual advertisements can range from simple and straightforward, such as an announcer holding up a product while explaining why you should buy it, to fast-paced stories with all the flash and pizzazz of a major Hollywood feature film!
Writing audio-visual scripts can be challenging but a lot of fun too. It is enormously satisfying to watch actors or spokespeople speaking words that you wrote — in scenes that originated in your own imagination.
Getting the Format Right
The three basic television commercial lengths are ten, thirty, and sixty seconds. Lengths for other audio-visual media vary. An Internet banner video, for example, can be as short as five seconds.
What does a television commercial script look like? The format is a page with two columns: VIDEO (what you see) described on the left, and AUDIO (what you hear) on the right. Usually each scene is numbered. So there could be one, five, or even twenty scenes for a single commercial. (The more scenes that need to be shot, the higher the productions costs tend to be.)
Scripting Tips
Audio-visual ads give you a lot of elbowroom for creativity. You're not restricted to just words. You can write sounds, images, scenes, and even a character's facial expressions. But don't forget that your primary objective is to sell something! Here are techniques you can use to create a compelling script:
Take advantage of the visuals to help deliver your sales message. Don't use adjectives and expressive prose to describe how great the chicken tastes. Instead, show a family at dinnertime enjoying the food.
Viewers can only take so much audio and visual at one time. So if your commercial depends on a lot of strong visuals, keep the words to a minimum. Conversely, if you need a lot of words to convey your selling message, keep the pictures simple.
What happens when a commercial comes on TV? It's break time! Someone runs to the bathroom or goes to the kitchen to get a snack. So make sure your commercial is interesting and important enough to gain and hold your customer's attention.
If you're writing a video for a Web page banner ad, keep in mind that the customer may not be able to hear it. He might have his computer sound turned down or off. So be sure the key messages can be conveyed solely with the pictures or captions.
Use all the elements at your disposal — sound, visuals, words, dialogue. If you show pancakes simmering on the grill, make sure the viewer can also hear them crackle.
As with radio spots, repeat the product name, company, or offer at least twice — once in the middle and again at the end.
Audio-visual commercials have an advantage over print communications. They allow you to show and sometimes even demonstrate the benefits of the product. So don't just say how well a contracting company builds a deck. Show a deck being built, with professional tradespeople in nice, clean uniforms!
The budget plays a huge role in how you write a commercial. If the budget is just a few thousand dollars, it's doubtful you'll be able to have multiple characters in exotic locales driving prestigious cars in a spy scenario. So your James Bond theme will have to be downsized a little!
