Studio Production
Les Production phase includes developing scripts, working with a studio for production and post-production, pretesting, and sound design, as well as several approvals along the way. This phase is when the creative concept turns into the campaign!
Studio Production
How do we make our campaign come alive?
By the end of this step, you will have recorded your campaign using a production studio and will soon be ready to launch.
How to conduct this step and achieve its main objectives:
Contract a Production Agency
Production includes the recording of audio for radio or video for television. The skills and equipment are not always available in-house, so this step is typically outsourced. When evaluating production agencies, be sure you know the difference between a production studio and a production agency:
- A production studio is just a sound booth for recording audio. You will need to recruit and contract the talent, such as voice actors, and production staff, such as a sound engineer. Using a production studio requires hands-on and technical expertise in editing processes.
- A production agency provides the studio and many other services required to record a spot, including production staff, equipment, and connections with talent agencies to recruit actors. When using a production agency, you are an observer for much of the process, and you will give feedback to ensure the vision for the campaign is achieved.
Be wary of production studios masquerading as agencies that may not meet your expectations later.
Request for a Production Studio Proposal
Suggested time:
Several weeks or months
Participants:
Procurement team; core design team
Example: Request for a Production Studio Proposal
This step typically requires significant lead time to accommodate procurement policies and competitive bidding processes. It should be initiated at the start or before beginning this process. This example of a request for proposal for a production agency that can be adapted for your context.
Effort required:
Prepare for Production
The production agency is responsible for the scheduling required to ensure a successful day on the set. Before scheduling can happen, you need to select actors to be the face or voice of your campaign.
Talent Casting Guide
Suggested time:
2 days
Participants:
A few members from the core design team; production studio
Tool: Talent Casting Guide
Finding the right voice artists or actors to bring your script to life is an important part of delivering your message. This tool will help you list and define the different roles in your script to guide you through the casting process. If you are working with a production agency, the agency should issue a casting call and select appropriate talent. If you are doing it yourself, you can use a talent agency, advertising, or social media to find talent. If you are using a production studio, the studio may be able to recommend options for recruiting talent for your spots.
Although having the entire core design team participate in casting calls is unnecessary, you should ensure approval of the final cast before moving to production.
Effort required:
Finish Production
Production is when the campaign spots are shot or recorded. When using a production agency, your role during production is to be a guardian of the concept and to provide guidance on the intentions behind the spots to ensure they are captured accurately.
Production Brief
Suggested time:
1-2 days to several weeks depending on the campaign
Participants:
A few members from the core design team; production studio
Production Brief
This brief will help orient you as an observer during the production process and may help you avoid problems during post-production if you do not get a perfect recording. Key members of the core design team should be present to ensure the production agency obtains the necessary recordings. Some agencies may be more concerned with the task of production and thus may not fully understand the creative concept or even the reasons for specific word choices in the script.
Effort required:
