Since I began working on the Genero platform, it became an absolute norm for me to participate in the tenders of the production of commercial videos. When you participate in a tender, your main goal is to catch the client’s attention and bypass competitors. And the treatment is the winning instrument in video tenders.
So, let’s talk about treatments (director’s presentations), what they are, how to create a treatment correctly, and so on.
What is a director’s treatment?
A production of a video advertisement cannot happen without an idea. An idea can be created by a client or a creative agency. But to implement this idea, a search for “the right” director begins. A director’s treatment is a form in which a screenplay would be implemented. It is a plot development, a filming location, decorations, and so on.
First of all, a director’s treatment is a visual document (precisely visual) consisting of words, photos, or GIF files. Usually, it is divided into sections including an introduction, a section about a plot, approximate shooting locations, characters’ descriptions, appearance, a wardrobe, production design, sound design, technical aspects, references, and a conclusion. Essentially, the treatment is an important part of the whole production process, because, with its help, a client can see a director’s idea and fully imagine an advertisement video before shooting actually starts.
The more meaningful and structured treatment you’ll prepare, the more chances you’ll get to being chosen by a client as a director of his project.
What is a treatment — and why it is not a script
Before I started working on the Genero platform, I thought a director’s treatment was a well-designed presentation of a script. However, as I gained experience struggling with new projects, I realized a treatment is a well-thought-out project for a commercial video. The more details are specified in a treatment, the closer the result will be to the idea, and fewer challenges will arise during filming and editing.
Despite the similarity between a script and a treatment, there are differences after all. In a nutshell, a commercial script is a small literary work that includes dialogues, lines from the main characters, voiceover text, and the order of the scenes. A director’s treatment describes details of the shoot in such a way the client, producer, and the entire crew could understand how each scene will be filmed and what is required to shoot it. Only after the treatment is approved, the producer would be able to calculate the exact project budget.
Let’s think about it: before starting the construction, an architect develops his project adapting it to the environment (geodesy) and the climate of a place where the object will be located. The automaker starts creating a new car with designers thinking through every single detail of the future car. The director does the same: they create a treatment in which they describe each stage and each process of creating a commercial.
If you’re advertising sports goods, you need to think through everything: location, actors, props and clothes, shooting equipment will allow you to film dynamic shots, color palette, and, finally, the weather (if you’re shooting outdoors).
What should a director’s treatment include
First of all, I would like to note the treatment is a big presentation. Therefore, it should be accurately structured, consistent, and clearly convey ideas through visuals.
A Director’s Vision
In order for a director to be chosen for a project, they must show their vision of the future commercial video through references. They could be video clips of famous directors’ works, movies, projects of other brands, or other reference formats.
The main task for the director is to tell a story, show their style, and convey the brand’s tone of voice as they see it by using the example of other videos, clips, or films. The director must show how it should all be combined in the video so that the viewer understands it and gets the right emotions.
Video Storytelling
The skill of telling stories for your commercial video is very important in video production. Through stories, you can further motivate the end customer to act. Storyboarding is actually a script split frame by frame so that the overall timing, composition of shots, plans, and style of the entire video are comprehensible. When you have a detailed and approved storyboard, it is immediately clear what, when, where, and how to shoot. It saves a lot of time during shooting.
Video Moodboard
Moodboard implements an overall style (or tone of voice of the brand). In the moodboard, we show our vision of how the commercial should look in the final version and what emotions it should evoke in the viewer. Always use the company’s existing branding, even if it is not well-developed. It’s better to have at least some connection with the brand, and the more of it, the better.
I attribute all the elements to set the tone for the video to the mood board: from the color palette and color scheme, wardrobe, makeup, decor, and interior, to the lighting settings in each scene. Always stick to your color scheme throughout the production, and pay as much attention to the small details as possible.
Use smoke.
Even a small hazer helps to create a beautiful background for your scene.
Location and Stage Set Design Ideas
Next, we offer our vision for the location and stage set for your commercial video. Given that this is a very expensive part, we chose the location by its meaning and style. The right interior or exterior sets the atmosphere of the video. Props and scenery adapt the current location to the previously chosen style and tone of voice of the video.
Be logical: to shoot sporting goods, you need a gym or a stadium, and to shoot a noisy office, you need an office and extras. Otherwise, the viewer won’t feel the emotion you want to convey in your video.
Casting Actors
Imagine your characters, write down what they should look like, what features they have, and what makes them appealing to the viewer. Decide what kind of appearance and style of clothing they should have. Add as many photos as possible with examples of how you see the actor. This will make it much easier for your client to follow your vision.
For example, to advertise baby products, we look at the mother with her child, or we cast them separately. But a man with a long beard would look strange in this type of commercial.
Visual Effects (VFX)
Today no commercial work is done without computer graphics (CG). Moreover, it is one of the most expensive costs in video production. And of course, while writing the director’s treatment you need to think about the total number of visual effects and adjust it to the budget, not vice versa.
Show the client references of transitions, effects, animations, and graphics that need to be added. The more details of your vision about all of the effects you provide, the easier and faster it is to create a brief for each art department or specialist.
Music and Sound Design
Usually when you’re working on a project and writing a director’s treatment, you ‘see’ a picture and ‘hear’ a melody in your head that you want to use for the video. The process of finding the right music for your commercial video can take days, so at the treatment stage make a quick selection of references that you associate with the video.
There’s no doubt that the most convenient audio selection service right now is Artlist. This is not an advertisement for the service (unfortunately), but it’s based on my experience. With this expensive user-friendly tool, you can choose the right background music and get access to a huge SFX database.
Always use SFX. Separate sounds are as important as a high-quality picture overall.
Video Production
Now that you’ve written down and thought through all the stages of production you need to build a plan for how to shoot it. Decide how many shooting days you need, what kind of equipment you need (and this is a separate topic for a separate post), and which lighting devices will be used. Consider even technical issues such as a camera’s recording format and storage space for all the RAW footage (which is a lot of TB of information).
Essentially, you prepare a complete list of tasks for the producer. At this stage, you can already estimate the cost of the project, and adjust or adapt it to the budget.
When the director’s treatment is agreed upon with the client, the budget is calculated and the decision to shoot is made, pre-production of the commercial video begins. At this stage, you’re preparing for filming according to a clear plan set out in the treatment.
Let’s Summarize Everything
It’s important to understand that not every treatment will become a video, but a lot depends on the treatment’s quality. And the clearer and more detailed it is, the better would be the outcome. Not every director’s treatment should include the above list of descriptions. Depending on the topic of the project, the project itself, and even the project budget, every element can be either more or less detailed.
FAQ
How To Best Write A Video Treatment Or Pitch?
To create an effective video treatment or pitch, start with a clear concept. Deliver a succinct summary of your project, acquaint the client side with the characters (if any), and lay out the plot by highlighting the principal scenes. Highlight the visual style and mood, and discuss the budget and resources, if necessary. Harness the power of language to captivate your audience and encapsulate the spirit of your video project.
What is the concept of video treatment?
What is the difference between VFX and video editing?
I would like to recommend our services, which help companies earn online
Comprehensive SEO services including text content, translations, and a personalized strategy for site promotion.
Complete link-building services, audits, SEO optimization, website promotion, and web resource development strategy.
Informational platform for posting articles and obtaining high-quality DoFollow backlinks.
Video production studio specializing in the creation of commercials, crowdfunding, and custom commercials.
