SCREENWRITER
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
The most engaging ads tend to have the same narrative structure and inflection points that screenwriters use in film and TV, although they often aren’t shown.
For instance, in this spot, “Kelly Baked” (done by colleagues at BBDO Atlanta), there’s an implied ACT ONE that we don’t see, where we would establish who Kelly is: a young mom invested in becoming a good mom.
At the end of ACT ONE, an unseen INCITING INCIDENT, would plant the idea of having a ham for the holidays in her head, and thus, set her upon a QUEST: to make one herself.
This kicks us into ACT TWO, which is what we see onscreen, “the struggle”. Where she clearly struggles mightily to make a ham.
ACT THREE isn’t seen, because in our narrative, as in many ads, it hasn’t happened yet. The third act of Kelly’s story will either be tragedy or triumph depending on whether she uses the product, in this case, a Honey Baked Ham.
All this is done in 30 seconds. That’s great storytelling, and a great ad.
CONDENSE AND REHEARSE PRESENTATIONS
Pitching new ideas for shows or films requires being able to express your idea in a very short time, often as short as two minutes. So if you plan to finish on time and effectively convey your idea, you’d better rehearse.
I find that most of the ad presentations I’m in, no one rehearses ahead of time, and everyone tends to ramble, making us all seem less confident about our ideas, and putting our audience to sleep, sometimes literally. If we want to sell great work, we need to be great salesmen.
Here’s a video pitch I made for a screenplay I co-wrote with Pete Johnson for “Weekend at Bernie’s III”. Believe me, it took a lot of rewriting and rehearsal to get all this down to just over two minutes, and present it with an authentic, natural feel.
LOGLINES
No matter how complicated or dense a film or TV show is, it’s always summated in a one sentence encapsulation of the idea called a logline, also referred to as an “elevator pitch.” Here’s some examples of very dense, complicated film stories distilled down to their simplest form…
The Silence of the Lambs
A young, female FBI trainee must befriend a notorious incarcerated psychopath and use his knowledge to track and stop an active serial killer before his latest victim is murdered.
Little Miss Sunshine
When a wannabe child beauty queen learns that a spot has opened up in the “Little Miss Sunshine” pageant, she convinces her dysfunctional family to make the cross-country trek, despite her father’s (and society’s) protestations that she may not have what it takes to win.
I’ve found that distilling ad ideas into loglines is a great way to discipline ourselves to keep ideas simple and powerful, and to keep our eye on the ball even as we wander into the weeds. And I ask the creatives reporting to me to present their ideas in this form before anything else. Here’s how I wrote loglines for a couple of stellar campaigns (note: I did not work on these, I just like them).
Progressive Insurance - “Dr. Rick”
“Parental Life Coach” Dr. Rick leads hopelessly inept young people through in-situ training exercises to help them not become their parents, even though they purchased life insurance.
“You’re Not You When You’re Hungry”
Hungry people turn into the worst versions of themselves, returning to normal only after satiating their hunger with a Snickers Bar.
