1. Jingle 2. Full vocal sing 3. Instrumental 4. Front song 5. End song 6. Donut (aka Open-Close) 7. Weave

Commercial Production Flashcards by Asiamarie Domingo

Button/Stinger

A short 3 to 5 second slogan or musical identifier

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Copy (Ad Copy)

Written advertising material; the script of the commercial

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Disclaimer

The legal ‘fine-print’ at the end of a commercial

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Final

The finished recorded project that is ready to be broadcasted

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Music bed

A stereo mix of the music that will play underneath the VO in the commercial

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SFX

Sound effects

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Tag

Information at the end of a spot. The tag usually contains the company name, phone number, address, website, or a slogan/jingle

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Voice Over (VO)

Refers to the written dialogue, the person who reads the dialogue, and the recorded track in your DAW

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Parts of a Commercial

Button/Stinger
Copy (Ad Copy)
Disclaimer
Final
Music bed
SFX
Tag
Voice Over (VO)

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Commercial lengths

60 seconds
30 seconds
15 seconds

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True length of a 60 second commercial

59.50 seconds

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True length of a 30 second commercial

29.50 seconds

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True length of a 15 second commercial

14.50 seconds

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Types of Commercials

Jingle
Full vocal sing
Instrumental
Front song
End song
Donut (aka Open-Close)
Weave

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Jingle

A musical ad that usually has a catchy hook

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Full vocal sing

A commercial with singing through the entire commercial, and no ad copy

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Instrumental

A commercial with music through the entire commercial, and no ad copy, no singing

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Front song

A commercial with music at the beginning and the ad copy at the end

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End song

A commercial with ad copy at the beginning and the music at the end

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Donut (aka Open-Close)

A commercial with music at the beginning and the end, but with a space in the middle for ad copy

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Weave

A commercial with music and the ad copy alternating back and forth

Customer supplied lyrics

Exactly what it says. We are engineers, not script writers.

Needle-drop

Prerecorded music from a production library that is licensed simply by purchasing the library (ex. Soundly).

Pros of Needle-drop

You don’t have to write the music or hire a composer or pay royalties simply for using a piece of music for a low-budget commercial

Cons of Needle-drop

Other commercials may have a higher probability of using the same music

Talent

Used as a noun - referring to anyone hired to be recorded on a project

Talent release

A contract indicating that a talent has been paid for a performance, or otherwise indicating that payment will be received from someone other than the engineer

Engineer Responsibilities (Obvious)

1. Microphone choice and placement 2. Headphone mixes 3. Tracking, editing, assembling, and mixing the commercial 4. Accurate levels 5. Make the VO intelligible - use compression and EQ, \louder than the music or SFX 6. Documentation and archiving 7. Make the spot as loud as possible

Engineer Responsibilities (Less Obvious)

1. Quality Control - make sure that all elements in the session are recorded properly, labeled accurately, and sound good 2. Timing - Make sure that the commercials are the proper length; for Donuts, make sure the VO will fit into the space provided 3. Ensure content - Make sure that the correct ad copy is used and that the copy is pronounced correctly 4. Vibe - With any session, make sure the talent is comfortable so they may work quickly and give a good performance

Radio stations have limiters that cut in at this level

0 dB VU

Broadcast audio for television is typically mixed at or below this level

-24 dB LKFS

LKFS meaning

Loudness, K-weighted, Full-Scale

Simple explanation of LKFS (K-weighting)

Taking into consideration certain frequencies that human ears are sensitive to more than others, while averaging the overall level of this 'weighted' mix over a certain period of time

Typical averaging time for K-weighting

12 second

Distribution: Analogue

Basically dead as far as commercial production is concerned; too expensive.

Distribution: Digital

Usually you will use a broadcast station's website or ftp server to upload your file, or just email your final to the director of advert

Distribution: Digital - Acceptable file types

.mp3, .mp4, .wav, .mov, .aiff, .avi, and .ogg

Distribution: Mail

You could send a CD through mail... but why lol

Distribution: Unacceptable physical formats

SACD, multitrack tapes (including ADAT), hard drives & flash drives (you won't get them back!), DVD (too many issues with standardisation), and Blu-Ray (not everyone has a drive)

Distribution: Unacceptable file types

.wmv, .wma, any kind of DAW sessions, or any random converter extensions

Procedural Method

1. Ad copy 2. VO 3. SFX 4. Music 5. Mix 6. Final

Studio owner

Obvious

Studio manager

Schedules sessions

1st & 2nd engineers

You/Me lol. Sometimes the same person as the studio owner or manager. Job: uphold integrity of the producer's vision.

Producer

In charge of all creative elements. Duties: contacting/booking studio & talent, scheduling, filing contracts, paying talent & studio fees, final decider about acceptability of all creative performances, delivery of final mix to the client

VO talent

Announcers & dialogue actors

Sessions players/arrangers

Any musicians used

Account representative

Salesperson that works for the advert agency or for the radio/television station

Client

Person commissioning the commercial

Ad agency

Supplies the ad copy and the producer

Other people involved with other random tasks..

Interns, secretaries, support staff, etc.