Let’s Make a TV Commercial Using a Marketing Character!

Now that you have studied character marketing, it is time to come up with an original video commercial, featuring a character.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Your assignment is to create and produce an original TV commercial using at least one character.

Your commercial will promote a product using your character and established marketing techniques.   (You can make up the product or use an existing, real product.)

Remember, your character should exemplify your product in some way, like the Energizer Bunny does.  If you need a refresher, review this post.

Guidelines for your TV Commercial Project

Your finished video should strive to be professional quality and should be around one minute long.  Since you are still learning, this assignment will be made a bit easier on you by not requiring your commercial to be an exact, precise time, but please keep in mind that professionally done commercials have strict time requirements.

You can use a teacher-supplied item as your character, or you can come up with your own. If you wish to dress up and be your own character, that is fine too.
You can sell any product, real or imaginary. To make it a bit easier, here is a list of products ideas you can select if you wish.

• Insurance, for car, home, or medical
• Restaurant or other food vendor
• Travel destinations
• Toy or toy store
• Shoe or shoe store
• Beauty products like makeup, hair care products, etc.
• Clothes, wearing apparel of any kind, company or individual item
• Cars, trucks, boats, other luxury items
• Space travel adventures

You can use green screen if you wish, but it is not mandatory.

You can (and should) use video clips out of the classroom royalty free library.

You will also videotape student actors from the class if necessary.

You will probably also need shots of your actual product.

Any music MUST be royalty free, if you do not create it yourself.

The first group decision will be to decide on your character and product.  Brainstorm the possibilities as a group.

Here is the step-by-step process to follow.  The entire project is slated to take four weeks.

• Pre-Production Phase: (One Week)
  • Decide a product (remember that you can get ideas by looking at r.f. library)
  • Develop character
  • Write Script
  • Delegate job tasks and other responsibilities to group members
  • Gather props, costumes, etc.
• Production Phase: (One and a half weeks)
  • Video your character using stop and go animation technique.
  • Video any other shots you need
  • Record any audio voice over you will need
  • Upload all of your raw element to google drive in preparation for editing.
• Post-Production Phase: (One and a half weeks)
  • Rename everything when it is still in Google Drive
  • Download everything into a desktop folder with your name on it
  • Create a new, well-named event and project in FCPX and put them in THE CORRECT LIBRARY
  • Edit
  • Convert to a sharing file and upload to its final destination point.