This article is about how to write a promo for TV; but it could be how to write any TV commercial for that matter. It may also be described as a way to teach yourself how to write TV ads and promos.

The secret to the technique is the use of what's known as a paper cut.

No, not those annoying slices you get on your pinky, The paper cut is simply an old-fashioned way to format a multi-media communication; and in the process you will also:

• teach yourself promo making;
• develop your creative ideas in a very short amount of time;
• maybe even get a job in promos.

Like most of the content on this website, this article is not just for newbies; the paper cut is a worthwhile tool for promo producers of all experience.

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
These days, most promo producers edit their own work; right there on the same desk that they eat their lunch. Editing is, for better or worse, a core skill of the job. For many promo department managers, editing is the first, if not the only skill they are interested in when hiring a new employee.

However, there was a time when editing equipment cost a gazillion dollars, and the promo department shared just one edit suite; meaning a producer only had a few hours to get all their week's promos edited.

Before they were even allowed in to an edit suite, producers had to have their entire promo worked out on paper. This was more than just "a script" it was a plan of how the promo would come together: vision, soundbites, graphics, music, and voice over.

So what I'm talking about is a plan on paper of the finished promo cut: hence paper cut. Something, in theory, you could hand to an editor (the human kind), and the promo would come out fairly close to how you imagined.

Desktop editing has made paper cuts a thing of the past. But I think this is a great shame, as the discipline of thoroughly thinking about a spot before it was edited, somehow added a certain efficiency to the total communication that seems to be lacking in many of today's promos and ads.

WHO SHOULD MAKE PAPER CUTS
Of course, there are plenty of great promos that are made on desktop editing equipment. Meaning that today's talented producers have simply absorbed the step of making a paper cut and applied the necessary thinking to the non-linear timeline.

However, in my opinion, there are still many producers who would benefit from the excercise of making a paper cut. They are:

1/. working producers who want to thoroughly develop an idea.
2/. working producers who want to try something new.
3/. trainees who want to develop their understanding of the craft.

Last, but certainly not least...
4/. people wanting to bust in to promos.

I get a ton of enquiries from people who really like the idea of working in a promo department, but who feel they just don't have enough experience to really impress a potential employer... especially when it comes to editing.

If you just don't have the resources to get started with the whole video editing thing, don't worry... there's still a way you can get started in promos and give yourself something to show to an employer at an interview. And that is by making Paper Cuts.

Even if you do know how to edit, I still highly recommend you do this exercise as you may come across one of the better employers who will be more interested in your ability to sell programming rather than your ability to chop it up into 8 frame increments.

THE PAPER CUT FOR BEGINNERS
This is a great way to familiarise yourself with the form of promo making; and the number one way for newbies to make the very first step.
It goes like this:

• Record promos from the channels you like and/or want to work for;

• Create a two column word processor or spreadsheet page,
Have the first column take up about 2/3rds of the page;

• Transcribe the voice over and the soundbites into the first column;

• In the right hand column, briefly describe what's happening visually.
make notes about:
- any footage lifted directly from the promoted show
- any graphics,
- and/or any especially shot or sourced footage;

• describe the tone of the voice over and note the gender of the voice/s.

• describe the style and tempo of the music;

• make a note of anything else that stands out to you.

• Familiarise yourself with what the scripts look like,
particularly what 10, 15, 30 second promos look like on paper;

• Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

example
This promo is by producer Matt Hodges from the Seven Network in Australia. In my opinion, it's an excellent example of a "day-in/day-out" clip-based promo, made 99% of the time, by 99% of the world's promo producers.

You might not understand why I like this promo so much, but don't worry about that for now. For the purposes of this demonstration, just assume it's something you like from a channel you want to work at one day.

And here's what the promo looks like in paper cut form:
(click image below to expand)

Okay... once you have got the idea, it's then time to turn the process around and start making your own paper cut versions of promos.

• Watch or record a show that you like;
especially from the same channel/s you want to work for one day.

• log the show (see what this looks like here)

• select what you think are the best soundbites from the show;

• write a script around the selected soundbites;

• Jot down what vision/graphics you think should go where;

• Make it look like the scripts you previously transcribed,

• Repeat for as many genres of shows as possible.

• Show your paper cuts to your future employer!

Knowing the best soundbites from a show to select for your promo
is a fundamental skill of promo producing.

It takes years of trial and error to develop this instinct.

For more information about this, click here.
Learning about Dramatic Structure would help too.
Geez, if only somebody offered some kind of seminar about that. ;-)

Also:
Do you select your soundbites first and then write the script around them?
Or, do you write the script and then find the soundbites to support it?

Ultimately it's up to what works best for you; but I suggest to get started, pick the soundbites first and then write the script.

THE PAPER CUT FOR WORKING PRODUCERS
I know that 95% of working producers are never, ever actually going to do this; but as I said in my videos, what I'm talking about here is best practice; so I'm compelled to–– at least–– suggest a few reasons why.

Here goes: when you see a promo (or ad, or trailer) that you think really works, why not go through the process outlined above, for exactly the same reasons I suggest it to newbies. Compare it to the scripts you write Monday to Friday.

I am 100% sure you will find something in your transcribed paper cut that you can borrow for your promos.

Secondly, A paper cut doesn't even have to take the word-processed form as shown above. You can write notes about promos/ads/trailers almost anywhere; no computer required. I'm more of a visual thinker. So, personally, I am a big fan of the A2-sized art pad, using a combination of text and pictures that I scribble out quickly with a pencil.

I'm a massive fan of RSA animations, and my paper cuts (coincidentally) look a bit like their work... except theirs are really fantastically well done, and mine look like a two year old's spaghetti doodle by comparison.

There is one last point that has to be made about paper cuts that makes them worth mastering. Once you can "see" what a promo looks like on paper, once you're familiar with the form of them, you will find paper cuts a ridiculously fast way of rendering ideas. Desktop editing---as convenient as it is---still doesn't come anywhere near close to the speed of creating promos on paper.

So it turns out, technology has yet to rival the creative fluidity of a good old fashioned pencil. Go figure.