Commercial Project

INTRODUCTION

You are currently a freelance composer and you have been contacted with your first
big break! The National Speedway in Crofton, MD has
contacted you to design a 1 minute commercial,
complete with an original soundtrack, for the
new and upcoming Motocross show on
December, 1st. They want you to create a 30
second – 1 minute commercial that will bring in
a huge audience of motocross fans and families
looking for a great show! You have been provided with stock video clips of
Motocross that you can edit any way you choose and they are expecting
you to create an exciting and original musical score with voice-over
advertisement information to bring in the targeted audiences.

TASK

The goal of this project is to create and effective and engaging commercial centered on an interesting musical score that
you have composed that facilitates the delivery of information to the target audiences.

Composing for a specific purpose can be very challenging, but it is frequently a part of the role of an electronic musician.

You will initially need to research and understand the components of effective advertisements and will need to make sure
they are effectively engaging their target audiences. In order to do this, research and understand both the history/appeal
of Motocross and communication techniques for attracting individuals and
families who are interested in exciting entertainment. Then, enhance and
build upon your music composition skills by researching techniques
associated with composing effective music for commercials and what genres
of music would potentially be effectively paired with the Motocross
commercial. You will also need to research and perfect audio and video
editing skills in order to combine edited video footage, original music and
voice-over recordings of essential information in order to create their effective
and exciting video commercial. Your final product will be an engaging and
exciting video with your own musical soundtrack.

RESEARCH RESOURCES
Lists the Internet web sites needed to complete the research task.

Motocross History
 Motorcycle Museum Composing for Commercials
 Supercross  The Jazz Lawyer
 American Society of Composers, Authors and
Creating Commercials Publishers
 Forbes  Music Biz Academy
 Creative Bloq  Mac Pro Video
 Critical Commons
 PROCESS

Your first task will be broken into three portions in order to properly meet the needs of your employer.

Step 1: You will need to research and investigate the process of editing and
creating commercials that successfully engage an audience. Create a 3 – 4
paragraph research paper outlining (save this in your “music technology”
folder as commercial research.docx):
1) The essential elements of an effective commercial,
2) Characteristics and techniques that are consistently present in historically the
most interesting and entertaining commercials, and 3) Characteristics and
techniques for composing a musical score of a fun and engaging commercial.

Step 2: In order to reach your employers target audiences you will need to understand what most interests and attracts
families to entertainment race events and what most interests Motocross fans.
Write a short paragraph, outlining the history of Motocross fans, what most entices Motocross fans to attend
events and what is most enticing for families to attend race entertainment events.
(save in “music technology” folder as motocross research.docx)

Step 3: Per your employers request, use the background research you have complied, and create a 30 second - 1
minute commercial that will attract BOTH Motocross race fans and families to the upcoming event at the National
Speedway.
 You have been provided with stock video clips of Motocross at:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Videos_of_motocross.
o You may edit and supplement these as needed in video editing software. You will then need to
compose a musical score in Finale, LMMS or FL Studio
o Using Audacity, you will combine your original musical score with Voice Over recordings that will provide
the audience with the necessary information for your commercial.
o You will then mix your final audio track with your edited video using the video editing software,
creating the final commercial product.
 EVALUATION RUBRIC
Lists performance-based criteria for grading.

Research Papers

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Organization Information is very Information is organized Information is The information appears
organized with well- with well-constructed organized, but to be disorganized. 8)
constructed paragraphs paragraphs. paragraphs are not well-
and subheadings. constructed.

Quality of Information Information clearly Information clearly Information clearly Information has little or
relates to the main topic. relates to the main topic. relates to the main topic. nothing to do with the
It includes several It provides 1-2 No details and/or main topic.
supporting details supporting details examples are given.
and/or examples. and/or examples.

Mechanics No grammatical, spelling Almost no grammatical, A few grammatical Many grammatical,

or punctuation errors. spelling or punctuation spelling, or punctuation spelling, or punctuation
errors errors. errors.

Sources All sources (information All sources (information All sources (information Some sources are not
and graphics) are and graphics) are and graphics) are accurately documented.
accurately documented accurately documented, accurately documented,
in the desired format. but a few are not in the but many are not in the
desired format. desired format.

Final Commercial Production

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Point of View - Strong awareness of Some awareness of Some awareness of Limited awareness of the
Awareness of Audience audience in the design. audience in the design. audience in the design. needs and interests of
Students can clearly Students can partially Students find it difficult the target audience.
explain why they felt the explain why they felt the to explain how the
vocabulary, audio and vocabulary, audio and vocabulary, audio and
graphics chosen fit the graphics chosen fit the graphics chosen fit the
target audience. target audience. target audience.

Voice - Consistency Voice quality is clear and Voice quality is clear and Voice quality is clear and Voice quality needs
consistently audible consistently audible consistently audible more attention.
throughout the throughout the majority through some (70-
presentation. (85-95%) of the 84%)of the
presentation. presentation.

Soundtrack - All of the music is Most (over half) of the Some of the music is None of the music is
Originality original. music is original. original. original.

Soundtrack - Emotion Music stirs a rich Music stirs a rich Music is ok, and not Music is distracting,
emotional response that emotional response that distracting, but it does inappropriate, OR was
matches the story line somewhat matches the not add much to the not used.
well. story line. story.

Point of View - Purpose Establishes a purpose Establishes a purpose There are a few lapses in It is difficult to figure out
early on and maintains a early on and maintains focus, but the purpose is the purpose of the
clear focus throughout. focus for most of the fairly clear. presentation.
presentation.

Duration of Length of presentation Length of presentation Length of presentation Presentation was less
Presentation was 1 minute. was 45 seconds . was 30 seconds. than 30 seconds long OR
more than 1 minute.
Video Editing Video was well editing, 85% of the video was The video editing was Video was mostly
with smooth transitions well editing, with most very basic and unedited and transitions
between video clips and of the scene transitions transitions between between scenes were
video footage was between video clips scenes were not smooth. not present. Footage
interesting for the target adjusting smoothly. Footage was accurate, does not engage the
audiences Footage was mostly but most of the footage target audience. Project
interesting for the target would not be interesting will need to be revised.
audiences. to target audiences.

CONCLUSION
Brings closure to the WebQuest by providing questions for reflection on what was learned, and/or providing additional web
links for further study and research.

By completing this WebQuest you have been a part of realistic audio production project as a composer. It is important to
note that while your training might be in music composition and audio production, as evidenced by this project, it is
important to be able to work with all forms of electronic media. Now that you have finished this project you should be
considering:

What is most important as a composer when looking to reach a target audience?

How has your views on watching commercial’s changed?

Where might there be career opportunities for a multi-faceted composer and electronic media producer?

If you are interested in a potential career in music, check out the Berklee College of Music’s Website for more information!