Thursday 2 August 2012

Top Go Viral tips from director Stuart Fryer


Viral director Stuart Fryer is a valued talent at toast. Notable previous work of his has included the Flomax Pman commercial, the infamous VW Bomber viral and various Oasis videos. Next up on his to do list is directing and judging our Go Viral competition. Below are his musings on the competition. Leave us a comment if you have any questions regarding entries or production tips and we will relay them to our team of experts. Stuart writes:


Those creatives at BBH who get to write ideas for British Airways get it lucky.
When budget is not an issue, then writing the idea:

The plane taxis through London hotspots showing the diversity of the great city to then park up at the Olympic Stadium.

…becomes easy, with a squillion quid at your mercy.

The real challenge is the short film budget idea. Let me explain...

Cast. More than four people gets expensive. Got to clothe them, feed them, etc.

Location. Too many locations or set ups in a shoot day may mean to many creative sacrifices along the way, or simply just not possible.

Outside. Can’t guarantee the weather in this country that is a given, so try not open with ‘A sunny day...’ Don’t make weather an important part of the film.

Don’t set it outside a landmark. ‘We open outside the Olympic Park’. The producer would freak.

Logos and trademarks. Would love to dress a kid up as Darth Vader and make that VW spot but George would not let us.

Special Effects. I love them but the best ones you don’t notice. We can’t have an army of aliens invading even if your best made is an after effects wizard.

Music. I would love to have a Rolling Stones track over the viral but Universal will want us to re-mortgage our house for that.

In 30 seconds with a simple plot and good actors we can do a lot. We can frighten, amuse, move, inform, educate.

Maybe try and infuse some politics into the idea. All good art these days, including the advertising commercial, reflects society. Lets make people think about the world.

We just gotta keep it simple.It is all in the idea. A great idea can be directed by your gran. So, I can't wait to read your ideas. Lets make something that the whole world watches.




Keep up to date with our video production tips, news and analysis by subscribing to our RSS feed in the top right hand corner, or join us on Twitter and FacebookClick here for competition tips from producer Jeremy Dunn and click here for tips from script writer Martin Sadofski. Click here to apply to toast's Go Viral contest.

3 comments:

  1. Great tips! An effective strategy by most Video marketing specialist is setting up a goal that achieves relevance and quality throughout the whole process of video production and finally the output.

    ----------
    Perth Video Production

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome tips. Keeping it simple should not be overlooked, especially when we're talking about going viral. The truth is, too often when you produce a video that you hope to go "viral" you over think it. Keeping your concept and script simple will give you the best chance of succeeding. Just my two cents!

    - Jackie

    Video Production MA

    ReplyDelete