WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRODUCTION?
Art directors need to understand print media requirements and the technical side of
production because these aspects affect both the look of the printed piece and its costs.
Print Media Requirements
Different media put different demands on the design, as well as the production, of
advertising. Newspapers and directories are printed at high speed on an
inexpensive, rough-surfaced, spongy paper called newsprint that quickly absorbs
ink on contact. Newsprint is not a great surface for reproducing fine details,
especially color photographs and delicate typefaces.
Most newspapers offer color to advertisers, but because of the limitations of the
printing process, the color may not be perfectly in registration, i.e., all of the
colored inks may not be aligned exactly, creating a somewhat blurred image.
Magazines have traditionally led the way in graphic improvements because their
glossy paper is a higher grade than newsprint. Excellent photographic and color
reproduction is the big difference between newspapers and magazines. Magazine
advertisements are also able to take advantage of more creative, attention-getting
devices, such as pop-up visuals, scent strips, and computer chips that play
melodies when the pages are opened.
The key to an effective poster or outdoor board is a dominant visual with minimal
copy. Billboards must make a quick and lasting impression from far away so their
layout should be compact with a simple visual path. The Institute for Outdoor
Advertising (IOA) recommends these tips for designers.
Graphics. Make the illustration an eye-stopper.
Size. Images in billboards are huge—a 25-foot-long pencil or a 43-foot
pointing finger. The product or the brand label can be hundreds of times larger
than life.
Colors. Use bold, bright colors. The greatest impact is created by maximum
contrast between two colors such as dark colors against white or yellow.
Figure/Ground. Make the relationship between foreground and background
as obvious as possible. The background should never compete with the
subject.
Typography. Use simple, clean, uncluttered type that is easy to read at a
distance by an audience in motion. The industry’s legibility research
recommends avoiding all-capital letters, fanciful ornamental letters, and script
and cursive fonts.
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Product identification. Focus attention on the product by reproducing the
label or package at a huge size.
Extensions. Extend the frame of the billboard to expand the scale and break
away from the limits of the long rectangle.
Shape. For visual impact, create the illusion of three-dimensional effects by
playing with horizons, vanishing lines, and dimensional boxes. Inflatables
create a better 3-D effect than most billboards can, even with superior
graphics.
Motion. Add motors to boards to make pieces and parts move. Use revolving
panels, called kinetic boards, for messages that change.
Print Art Reproduction
There are two general types of printed images: line art and halftones. A drawing
or illustration is called line art because the image is solid lines on a white page.
Photographs, referred to as continuous tone or halftone, are much more
complicated to reproduce because they have a range of gray tones between the
black and white, as shown in Figure 10.2.
Printers create the illusion of shades of gray in converting photos to halftones by
shooting the original photograph through a fine screen, which converts the image
to a pattern of dots that gives the illusion of shades of gray—dark areas are large
dots that fill the screen and light areas are tiny dots surrounded by white space.
The quality of the image depends upon how fine the screen is: newspapers use a
coarse screen and magazines use fine screens.
Screens are also used to create various tint blocks, which can either be shades of
gray in black-and-white printing or shades of color. A block of color can be
printed solid or it can be screened back to create a shade.
Full-color images are reproduced using four distinctive shades of ink called
process colors, in a process called four-color printing. These colors are
magenta, cyan, yellow, and black. Printing inks are transparent, so when one ink
overlaps another, a third color is created and that’s how the full range of colors is
created. The process printers used to reduce the original color image to four
halftone negatives is called color separation. Figure 10.4 illustrates the process
of color separation.
Digitization
If an ad is going to run in a number of publications, there has to be some way to
distribute a reproducible duplicate of the ad to all of them. The duplicate material
for offset printing is a slick proof of the original mechanical. More recently,
digitization of images is used to distribute reproducible images. This is also how
computers now handle the color reproduction process. These digitized images can
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then be transmitted electronically to printers or by satellite. Agencies also use this
method for transmitting ad proofs within the agency network and to clients.
Digitization
If an ad is going to run in a number of publications, there has to be some way to
distribute a reproducible, duplicate of the ad to all of them. The duplicate
material for offset printing is a slick proof of the original mechanical. More
recently, digitization of images has been used to distribute reproducible images.
This is also how computers handle the color reproduction process.
Digitization makes it possible to create some spectacular effects in out-of-home
advertising. Some outdoor boards have become digital screens complete with
changing and moving images. A new technique in transit advertising comes from
Atlanta where the city’s buses are wrapping their sides with something called
“glow skin.” The ads use electroluminescent lighting to make the ads glow at
night and appear to jump off the sides of the buses.
Binding and Finishing
Art directors can enhance their ads and other printed materials by using a number of
special printing effects. Mechanical techniques include:
Die-cutting. A sharp edged stamp or die is used to cut out unusual shapes. A
common die-cut shape you are familiar with is the tab on a file folder.
Embossing or debossing. The application of pressure to create a raised surface
(embossing) or depressed image (debossing) in paper.
Foil-stamping. The process of foil stamping involves molding a thin metallic
coating to the surface of the image.
Tip-ins. A tip-in is a separate, preprinted ad provided by the advertiser that is
glued into a publication as the publication is being assembled or bound. Perfume
manufacturers, for example, use tip-in samples that are either scratch-and-sniff or
scented strips that release a fragrance when pulled apart.
3D Printing
The latest printing technology innovation which began making headlines in 2013
is 3D printing. Experts predict a new Industrial Revolution from this developing
technology.
What Does An Art Director Need To Know About Video Production?
Where does an art director start when putting together a video for a commercial, a
video news release, or some other kind of corporate film or video? Obviously, the
first consideration is the nature of the image. The art director can arrange for
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filming on a constructed set or in a real location. The image is composed through
the lens of the camera, just as in still pictures, but the challengelies in the way the
moving image takes shape.
Another option is to use stock footage, which is previously recorded images—
either video, still slides, or moving film. Animation, stop motion, and 3D are other
film production techniques that can be used instead of stock footage or live
filming.
Working within the framework of the creative strategy, art directors also create to
look of the video or commercial. Other graphic elements such as words, product
logos, and still photos are digitized or computer generated right on the screen. A
crawl is computer-generated letters that appear to be moving across the bottom of
the screen. All of these are designed or specified by the art director.
The big change has been the move from film to digital images. Computer graphic
artists brag that they can do anything with an image. They can look at an object
from any angle or even inside out. One creative video technique is called
morphing, in which one object gradually changes into another. Photographs of
real objects can change into art or animation and then return to life.
Filming and Editing
Most local retail commercials are simple and inexpensive, and are shot and taped
at the local station. The sales representative for the station may work with the
advertiser to write the script, and the station’s director handles the taping of the
commercial.
Creating a national TV commercial is more complex and requires a number of
people with specialized skills. The ad agency crew usually includes the
copywriter, art director, and producer. The producer oversees the production on
behalf of the agency and the client and is responsible for the budget, among other
things. The director, who is the person responsible for filming the commercial, is
usually someone from outside the agency. This person takes the art director’s
storyboard and makes it come to life on film.
The producer and the director make up the core of the production team. The
commercial’s effectiveness depends on their shared vision of the final commercial
and the director’s ability to bring it to life as the art director imagined it. A list
summarizing the responsibilities of broadcast production personnel can be found
in the textbook.
The Process of Producing Videos
Originally film was shot on 35mm film or videotape and then digitized, after
which the editor transfers the image to videotape for dissemination, a process
called film-to-tape transfer. Digital technology has changed the process. With
modern filmmaking, images are transferred to hard drives, eliminating the use of
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film or videotape. Art directors work closely with editors who assemble the shots
and cut the film to create the right pacing and sequence of images as outlined in
the storyboard.
Filming Techniques
Animation is another filming technique that is often used in commercials. The
technique of animation traditionally meant drawing images on film and then
recording the images one frame at a time. Animation is traditionally shot at 16
drawings per second. Low-budget animation uses fewer drawings, so the motion
looks jerky. The introduction of computers has accelerated the process and
eliminated a lot of tedious handwork.
Animation is similar to illustration in print in that it abstracts images and adds a
touch of fantasy and/or mood to the image. Animation effects can also be used to
combine animated characters, such as the little green Geico gecko, with live
action figures, or even with other animated characters. A technique called “mental
ray” was used in a Levi Straus ad featuring 600 stampeding buffalo. Mental ray is
so good that it not only created lifelike images but even added realistic hair on the
animals.
Another type of animation is stop motion, a technique used to film inanimate
objects like the Pillsbury Doughboy, which is a puppet. The little character is
moved a bit at a time and filmed frame-by-frame. The same technique is used in
claymation, which involves creating characters from clay and then photographing
them one frame at a time.
3D is a type of film production that creates the illusion of depth using special
motion picture camera and projection hardware. Viewers also have to wear
special glasses. The 3D technique has been around for many years.
Music and Action
Specifying the music is usually done as part of the copywriting. However,
matching the music to the action is an art director’s or producer’s responsibility.
In some cases, the music is the commercial. Other times it is used to get attention,
set a mood, and lock the commercial into memory.
The TV Production Process
For larger, national commercials, the steps in the TV production process fall into four
categories: message design, preproduction, the shoot, and postproduction. Figure 10.5
shows the steps in the process.
Preproduction
The producer and staff first develop a set of production notes, describing in
detail every aspect of the production. These notes are important for finding talent
and locations, building sets, and getting bids and estimates from specialists.
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Once the bids for production have been approved, the creative team and the
producer, director, and other key players hold a preproduction meeting to outline
every step of the production process and anticipate every problem that may arise.
Then the work begins.
The talent agency begins casting the roles, while the production team finds a
location and arranges site use with owners, police, and other officials. If sets are
needed, they have to be built. Finding the props is a test of ingenuity, and the
prop person may wind up visiting hardware stores, second-hand stores, and
maybe even the local dump. Costumes must be made, located, or bought.
The Shoot
The director shoots the commercial scene by scene, but not necessarily in the
order set down in the script. Each scene shot is called a take, and after all the
scenes in the storyboard have been shot, they are assembled through editing. If the
director films the commercial on videotape, it is played back immediately to
determine what needs correcting. Film, however, has to be processed before the
director can review it. These processed scenes are called dailies. Rushes are
rough versions of the commercial assembled from cuts of the raw film footage.
The director and the agency creative team view them immediately after the shoot
to make sure everything’s been filmed as planned.
The film crew includes a number of technicians, all of whom report to the
director. For both film and video recording, the camera operators are the key
technicians. Other technicians include the gaffer, who is the chief electrician, and
the grip, who moves props and sets and lays tracks for the dolly on which the
camera is mounted. The script clerk checks the dialogue and other script details
and times the scenes. A set is a busy and crowded place that appears at times to
be total confusion and chaos.
The audio director records the audio either at the time of the shoot or, in the case
of more high-end productions, separately in a sound studio. If the sound is being
recorded at the time of shooting, a mixer, who operates the recording equipment,
and a mic or boom person, who sets up the microphones, handles the recording
on the set. In the studio, audio is usually recorded after the film is shot, so the
audio has to be synchronized with the footage.
In some rare cases, an entire commercial is shot as one continuous action rather
than as individual shots edited together in postproduction. Probably the most
interesting use of this approach is “Cog,” an award-winning commercial for the
Honda Accord.
Postproduction
For film and video, much of the work happens after the shoot in postproduction,
when the commercial begins to emerge from the hands and mind of the editor.
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The objective of editing is to assemble the various pieces of film into a sequence
that follows the storyboard. Editors manipulate the audio and video images,
creating realistic 3-D images and combining real-life and computer-generated
images. The postproduction process is extremely important in video because so
many digital effects are being added to the raw film after the shoot.
Another goal of video editing is to manipulate time, which is a common
technique used in commercial storytelling. For example, condensing time might
show a man leaving work, then a cut of the man showering, then a cut of the man
at a bar. The editor may also extend time. All of these effects are specified by the
art director in the storyboard.
The result of the editor’s initial work is a rough cut, a preliminary edited version
of the story that is created when the editor chooses the best shots and assembles
them to create a scene. The editor then joins the scenes together – in
contemporary film production, all of this happens digitally. After the revision and
re-editing have been completed, the editor makes an interlock, which means the
audio and film are assembled together. The final version with the sound and film
mixed together is called an answer print. The answer print is the final version
printed onto a piece of film. For the commercial to air on hundreds of stations
around the country, the agency has to make duplicate copies, a process called
dubbing. The dubbed copies are called release prints.
WEB DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Visuals are just as important on websites and Internet ads as they are in print ads
and outdoor boards. Photos on company websites are particularly important in
terms of what they say about the corporate or brand image. Since websites are
often created on the cheap, viewers may find themselves looking at product
images that are fuzzy or confusing.
Web design includes creating ads that run on the Web as well as the website itself.
Banner ads are designed more like outdoor boards than conventional print ads
because their small space puts intense requirements on the designer to make the
ad communicate quickly and succinctly and yet attract attention and curiosity to
elicit a click-through response. You can see some banner ads online at
http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffathelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/banner
.html.
Designers know that Web pages, particularly the first screen, should follow the
same layout rules as posters: The graphics should be eye-catching without
demanding too much downloading time; type should be simple, using one or two
typefaces and avoiding all capitals and letter spacing which can distort words.
Because there is a lot to read, organizing the information is critical. In terms of
legibility, black type on a high-contrast background is usually best; all of the
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design elements – type and graphics – should be big enough to see on the small
screen.
What makes Web design different from print designs is the opportunity to use
motion, animation, and interactive navigation. While attention getting, these can
also be irritating. Professor Mallia reminds us that online ads can succeed or fail
because of their design as well as their copy. Even in the highly visual online
world, it is still important for the art and copy to work together to attract attention
and build interest.
Usually the illustrations are created by artists but sometimes, for low-budget
projects, the illustrations and photos are obtained from clip-art services, or rather
click art. Any image can be scanned and manipulated to create a Web image,
which is causing copyright problems for the artists and others who originally
created the images. Because of the magic of digitizing, Web pages can combine
elements and design styles from many different media: print still photography,
film, animation, sound, and games.
The combination of interactive navigation, live streaming video, online radio, and
360-degree camera angles creates Web pages that may be more complex than
anything you see on TV, which is why ease of use is a factor in website design.
Web designers use a completely different toolbox than other types of art directors.
Animation effects, as well as sophisticated navigation paths, are designed using
software programs. It is such a rapidly changing design world that it is difficult to
keep track of the most recent innovations in Web design software. The use of
animation effects and streaming video has made websites look more like
television and film.
For more examples of excellence in website design and reviews of the top
websites, visit: www.webawards.com, www.worldbestwebsites.com,
www.clioawards.com, www.100bestwebsites.org, www.oneclub.com,
www.topsiteslinks.com, and www.webbyawards.com.
Action and Interaction
Web advertisers are continuing to find ways to bring dramatic action to the small
screen in order to make the imagery more engaging. Because users can create
their own paths through the website, designers have to make sure that their sites
have clear navigation. Users should be able to move through the site easily, find
the information they seek, and respond.
Navigation problems really turn off viewers. Eye tracking research has found that
if the navigation is cluttered or unclear, viewers will give up and move on to some
other site. Ideally, users who visit a site regularly should be able to customize the
site to fit their own interests and navigation patterns.
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Online video has also expanded the avenues for action on the small screen on
minicomputers, personal digital assistants, and cell phones. Web video is
becoming a new business opportunity for businesses that want to use videos to
display their products. The secret is to plan these videos specifically for a small
screen and not just try to use regular television or film images.
If a site is well designed, people may want to interact with the organization
sponsoring the site. For example, Texture/Media, a Colorado web design firm,
created a seven-episode series over five months for one of its clients. The
objective was to make the consumer a participant in the client’s brand stories.
END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
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