Today’s short attention spans of the audience require quick, clever branding. In the era of fast communication, networks are rushing to engage consumers through entertaining, shareable, efficient branded promos. Most of the time, 30 seconds is all you got. How can you drive viewers to watch a program? What works? Why does it work?
We will share examples of the most effective branded communication from past years and examine the best practices that made them so successful. We’ll look at some of the industry’s greatest brand strategies and immerse ourselves into exciting case studies, such as classical branded campaigns from The National Geographic Channel or innovative HBO network spots. We will explore how they are developed and why they connect with audiences. 

In addition to examining case-studies, students will create a variety of promotional videos from pre-existing audiovisual footage (television programs, TV series, films) and will be introduced to the principles and technologies of logging, editing, copywriting, audio recording, mixing, and scheduling. The course alternates weekly screenings and seminars and includes Final Cut Pro / Premiere editing and voiceover recording sessions spread throughout the semester. The class will mostly be a project-based learning environment offering practical skills to prepare students for further study in creative communication, digital production, as well as professional careers in TV, web, advertisement industries.

This course will answer some of the questions asked about promo-producing:

·      What exactly does brand/grid/highlight/stunt/tagline/claim mean in the TV business?

·      How do you effectively and efficiently “sell” a program to an audience?

·      How do you follow a brief and yet remain creative and open-minded?

·      How do you log a program and chose the parts to highlight?

·      How do you conduct creative research? How do you get an idea?

This course aims to provide students an understanding on how to create promotional videos for maximum audio-visual emotional impact and the skills necessary to produce them.

Upon completing of the course, students will be able to:

·      Understand the role and basic rules of on-air promotion.

·      Conduct creative research.

·      Learn the art of synthesis (“less is more”).

·      Generate copy, ideas and concepts that best meet the brief and schedule.

·      Ensure output is highly targeted to the local audience and respects brand values.

·      Understand how to write an effective audio script.

·      Oversee all the steps of the production workflow: creative research, copywriting, music consulting, editing, voiceover (VO) recording, sound design & graphic identity.

·      Direct live action shoots when appropriate, as well as edits, VO and audio sessions.

SKILLS

·      Copywriting skills, creative judgment, interest in current media trends.        

·      Strategic thinking about promotional communication.

·      Planning and practical skills to manage projects.

·      Knowledge of production processes, tools and techniques.

·      Ability to work in a creative team within given budget and timeline.

·      Communication skills and ability to be persuasive at various levels.

This course requires a significant amount of work to be completed outside of class hours.
No personal computer or smartphone use will be authorized in class.
To encourage creative writing, students will be invited to take notes manually.                                                                                                              Due to the once a week meeting schedule for the course, missing one class can mean missing out on a major technical or conceptual lesson plan, which can affect the qualty of your projects. Three late arrivals (more than 10 minutes) are counted as one unexcused absence. Two unexcused absences will result in a full letter drop in the final grade and three unexcused absences will result in failure. In the case of excused absences due to documented illness of familyemergencies, please e-mail me and present a Dean's note asap.

Weeks 1-3: Fundamentals.

Intro to promotional communication

Screenings / discussions

How to promote an event: one-of / generic promo / brand promo / stunt promo

360° Campaign - print / on-air / web

Strategic aspects of on-air communication

Less is more, the art of synthesis

Weeks 4-5: Case Study

Screening: National Geographic Global Campaigns

Trailers and Brand campaign analysis

How to pitch a project: viewing of TV series “Mad Men” selected scenes

Size matters: From 10’’ brand shorts to 3’ show trailers, which length works better?

Emotional engagement

Weeks 6-8: Creative Prep

Viewing / log exercises: selection of scenes and soundbites from a program

Creative research, looking for ideas and references

Music research (commercial music / library music)

Writing exercises: how to write a short effective script

Homework: create the tagline for a new channel

In-class assignment: pitch an idea to the creative director

Weeks 9-11: Production

Preparing a budget/schedule, coordinating the various figures (editor, sound designer, speaker, graphic designer)

Homework: produce a detailed production make list

Shooting exercises (spot)

In-class assignment: Direct a spot to promote JCU 

Week 12-14: Post-Production

Editing exercises: organizing and selecting footage, cutting music, .

Sound exercises: cleaning up audio, VO recording sessions, sound effects design; mixing

In-class assignment: Cut a 1 minute spot

Final screening of finished projects