Commercial Production Flashcards
Button/Stinger
A short 3 to 5 second slogan or musical identifier
Copy (Ad Copy)
Written advertising material; the script of the commercial
Disclaimer
The legal ‘fine-print’ at the end of a commercial
Final
The finished recorded project that is ready to be broadcasted
Music bed
A stereo mix of the music that will play underneath the VO in the commercial
SFX
Sound effects
Tag
Information at the end of a spot. The tag usually contains the company name, phone number, address, website, or a slogan/jingle
Voice Over (VO)
Refers to the written dialogue, the person who reads the dialogue, and the recorded track in your DAW
Parts of a Commercial
- Button/Stinger
- Copy (Ad Copy)
- Disclaimer
- Final
- Music bed
- SFX
- Tag
- Voice Over (VO)
Commercial lengths
60 seconds
30 seconds
15 seconds
True length of a 60 second commercial
59.50 seconds
True length of a 30 second commercial
29.50 seconds
True length of a 15 second commercial
14.50 seconds
Types of Commercials
- Jingle
- Full vocal sing
- Instrumental
- Front song
- End song
- Donut (aka Open-Close)
- Weave
Jingle
A musical ad that usually has a catchy hook
Full vocal sing
A commercial with singing through the entire commercial, and no ad copy
Instrumental
A commercial with music through the entire commercial, and no ad copy, no singing
Front song
A commercial with music at the beginning and the ad copy at the end
End song
A commercial with ad copy at the beginning and the music at the end
Donut (aka Open-Close)
A commercial with music at the beginning and the end, but with a space in the middle for ad copy