Struggling to get the creative juices flowing? I’d like to share what you could call my ‘lightbulb moment’ – the basis for my Radio for Art Directors© sessions.
I’ve worked with the same sound engineer, the remarkable André Jacquemin in London for more than 30 years. Many of our spots were radio playlets (still are) and with stereo, we could place or move characters left or right, up or downstage.
There came a point, though, where I began to draw crude diagrams to indicate how I saw the blocking. This kind of thing.
I created these for André and I but I also showed them to agency guys to help involve them in the process. Sometimes I came up with adventurous stereo stuff with voices and sounds coming from all over, and diagrams made them much easier to explain.
I don’t remember when exactly I started drawing storyboards before the recordings, but it sure helped agencies get a feel for… well, the story! It also helped them sell spots to clients.
Although I sometimes hired real storyboard artists for important jobs, I mostly did – and still do my own scribbles – like this one for an anti-speeding spot I directed in 2009 for M&C Saatchi.
My light bulb took around 15 years to illuminate, but my visual approach to creating radio, e.g. the storyboard, is at the heart of the radio workshops which I’ve now taken to 33 countries. I’m thrilled to say that I get a constant stream – well, trickle, of e-mails from all over the world saying how it’s helped them approach radio writing in a new way.
Tony Hertz
Creative Radio Specialist
you will have heard the latest Lunchbar promo where Kraft Foods is certainly savouring the sweet taste of success.
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’You know it’s summer when the smoothest brands (in this case Veet) partner with the hottest DJs to bring you the coolest ‘Summer Blast Parties’.As the name suggests, the ‘Veet Summer Blast Parties’ are exclusive parties for the hottest, smoothest people under the sun and are coming to a beach near you!Having done their homework on who the most happening DJs via social media platforms are, 5FM and METRO FM DJs including Poppy, Glen Lewis, Euphonik, Sphectacular and Roger Goode were selected.Given the campaign’s key message; ‘Are you smooth enough for Summer?’, the marrying of these super smooth individuals and their velvet voices with the brand is a natural fit.“It’s a ‘summer campaign’ and radio is the perfect match for our market on hot summer days and nights, where listeners tune in to those hot summer vibes. South Africans ‘consume’ so much brand related data on a daily basis that we needed to cut through the clutter of advertising to make an impression.” says Matchworld Business Director: PR Natasha Terlecki.
