At the annual Shoot Forum held recently in New York, much of the talk was about the future of advertising. There were panel discussions on the continued viability of the 30-second spot, what new forms of advertising might emerge in the years ahead, and what advertisers, agencies and production companies needed to do to continue to reach and affect increasingly fickle consumers. The speakers had different ideas and opinions about these subjects but all seemed to agree that advertising, whether in the form of commercials or some other medium, has to be better than ever–it has to be great.
That left me wondering what we, meaning all of us involved in creating advertising, need to do to make great advertising.
I work on the post side of the business. I work with sound designers, composers and mixers, people who work at the very end of the long process that takes an ad from idea to air. The artists I work with are extremely creative and very dedicated to their crafts. They put their hearts and souls into every project they undertake and they have wonderful ideas for enhancing the spots they work on. They want to hit it out of the park every time. And if there is one thing that could help them do their jobs better and bring more creativity to their task, it’s a little more time.
Everyone in this business faces tight deadlines, but in postproduction, the time squeeze is extreme. It is not uncommon for sound designers and composers to be given 48 hours or less to deliver final tracks. Inevitably, the artists rise to the occasion and I never cease to be amazed by the imagination and quality they are able to deliver in what seems to be an impossibly short amount of time. But just as inevitably, when they are finished, the artists are also left wishing there had been just a bit more time, another day or even a few more hours to turn a very good track into something truly remarkable
Each year, deadlines seem to be getting shorter, even as clients demand better work. Yet, rising creative expectations and shortening schedules are inherently in conflict with one another. It is simply not possible to continue working faster and creating better work at the same time.
Nothing benefits the creative process more than a little time to ruminate. The imagination needs space to wander. There needs to be time to experiment, to try out that crazy idea that may not work, but if it does will take the piece to the next level. Risk-taking is essential to the creative process, but risk-taking takes time and artists can’t take risks if they are working under the pressure of a ticking clock.
Deadlines do have a useful role in the creative process. They enforce discipline on artists whose drive for perfection might otherwise keep the process going forever. But deadlines need to be reasonable and they need to be balanced by the clear need for creative excellence. All truly committed commercial artists want to give their clients their best effort and they want to do all they can to help create memorable, engaging advertising that resonates with the public. It just takes time.
