If you live in one of the more than six million HDTV households in the U.S., it’s likely you’ve been wowed by the outstanding quality of hi-def programming. You also may have noticed the relative poor quality of many of the commercials that appear on HD channels.
Many of those spots are simply up-resed versions of ads that run on standard-def TV, therefore they lack the sharpness and richness of true HD imagery and appear weak in comparison to the HD programming they air alongside. The experience of watching these ads is akin to what it must have been like in the early ’60s to see a black-and-white commercial during the middle of a "new" color program.
The television industry plunged headfirst into HD several years ago. Today, almost all primetime series are posted in HD, if not for immediate simulcast in HD, then for the purpose of archiving the show in what will surely be the medium of the future. The advertising industry, by contrast, has been much slower to embrace HD. Most of the spots that are posted in hi-def are intended for cinema display.
Of course, television producers have strong incentive to produce HD masters of their product. They hope that their series will live on for years in syndication, well into the time when HD will be the mandated delivery medium. Advertisers don’t share that long-term view as the life span of the average spot is measured in weeks or months, not years. In light of that, many wonder why they should bother.
The truth is, there are several very good reasons why advertisers should consider producing more of their spots in HD right now. For one thing, HD makes an ideal mastering medium. From an HD master, it is quite simple to produce a version of a spot for cinema display or to down-convert to NTSC or to PAL for European display. As delivery mediums continue to proliferate—spots are now turning up on the Internet, on DVDs and even on POP displays in supermarkets—it makes practical sense to have a single master that can serve as a source for all other media. HD is also the perfect archival medium, one of the best ways to store assets for often unpredictable future needs.
We recently posted the Revlon mini-movie Sexy Story in Four Parts that featured actresses Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes and Jaime King. The package was intended to include a two-minute theatrical version plus several 30- and 15-second cut-downs for airing on television. We posted the project in HD, then used the hi-def master to produce a two-minute 24p version for theatrical display and to down-convert the 30- and 15-second versions to NTSC. When we finished, Revlon and its agency, Deutsch, were so pleased with the longer version they decided to air it in its entirety during the season premiere of The Bachelor. Because we had an HD master, it was very simple to meet their requests.
Agencies have several reasons for their reluctance to post more work in HD; it can be more expensive, it can take longer, and it can be technically challenging. However, all of these obstacles can be mitigated simply by learning more about the medium and how it differs from standard-definition video.
One problem that can cause big headaches in HD post is material that is framed for 4:3. That can lead to either an unhappy compromise (cropping the image) or a costly fix (extending the set). Of course, the problem can be easily avoided simply by planning for HD before the shoot. Similarly, difficulties with technical issues such as formats and frame rates can be circumvented with a little forethought and HD knowledge. With proper planning, the extra time, money and trouble involved in HD production can be minimized.
At R!OT, we feel strongly that HD is not the medium of the future, but rather the medium of the here and now. So strongly do we believe that our agency clients ought to be looking to HD that we have held a series of seminars to help them learn how to make the HD experience pain-free. Making the switch to HD now will not only enable agencies to better meet today’s diverse distribution needs, it will also give those six million HDTV owners a reason to stick around during the commercial breaks.
