All You Need To Know About TVC Production

To start off this article, it’s important to clarify exactly what TVC is – so for those who are still learning and getting to grips with industry terminology, a TVC is quite simply a television commercial. As an award-winning commercial production company we often get asked, “what kind of TVC would work for our brand? Should we go down the animation/VFX route or live action?” 

A production company like ours isn’t just about executing an already decided storyboard or script (even though we’re more than happy to do so). We often are involved at the very early development stages of your production so that we can help build the idea, condept, and approach from the ground up. All you need is an initial brief to get the ball rolling and we do the rest. 

TVC Production Video Brief

First of all, you might not know if you want your video to be broadcast on television. Maybe you just know that you need some form of advertisement for your brand or product. After all there are numerous platforms to showcase your video content. Television is just one of them but a very powerful tool indeed. When you send your initial first draft of your brief to a production company you should expect a myriad of questions in return. This isn’t because your brief isn’t detailed enough. This is because the best and most thorough companies want to understand you and your brand in order to think like you and create the most suitable proposal regarding your potential commercial.

TVC or not TVC?

Once you have decided that television is the correct route for you the next thing to consider is the type of production. Is animation suitable for your brand? Maybe live action is preferable due to the tone you are going for. Do you want to relay a simple message, or do you simply want to grab attention and spike curiosity in the end user? These are all the kind of thought processes and decisions that an experienced producer will discuss with you during the early stages of development.

TVC Pre-Production

Now that you have decided (with expert guidance) which form of commerical is best for you in order to get the right tone and traction, pre-production will commence. This is the initial planning of workflows, logistics, ad clearance, storyboarding, scripting and all-round creativity and organising. Whether it is an animation, VFX or live action planning is crucial in any video production, as you will see in this more in-depth and detailed blog. Once you are happy that everything is covered from risk assessments, contributors and characters to end user experience, production can begin.

TVC Production

Now the really exciting stage commences. Assuming it is going down the live action route. The shoot, cast crew and location will be meticulously researched, sourced, booked in and filmed. This could be a simple talking head in an office environment or maybe a large crew set up on a tropical beach. There are so many variables and possibilities. If it’s an animation the storyboards will be finalised before characters are built and assets created depending on the style of animation chosen. Essentially, it’s the moment when you start seeing things coming to life. Whatever the route chosen, you will be as involved as you like from start to finish of the production phase to ensure you get the exact TV commercial you want and need.

TVC Post-Production

If your production is a live action commercial it now goes into the edit suite to be creatively cut together with all considerations involved with timings and pace to ensure the perfect balance. Once that is completed and signed off the music, VO or sync will be mixed to create beautiful audio. Then finally the Commercial will go into Da Vinci Resolve to be colour corrected (to ensure the colours are broadcast safe), colour graded (to match your brand or messaging to evoke the correct feeling and mood) and mastered for final delivery to the chosen broadcaster or broadcasters. If your TVC is an animation it is already in post-production for the entire process of production so it will need sound design, Foley and music all mixed while the final colours are being rendered. Once it’s been perfected it will then be on its way to the broadcasters too.

Many Forms of TVC Productions

These are a few examples of the journey from contacting a production company through to delivery of your television commercial to the broadcaster. Each project is bespoke and would have its own journey, but this is to give a flavour of what to expect.

If you’d like to chat about whether a TV commercial would be suitable for your brand and what form would work best then please get in touch and we’d be happy to help.