HELP!!! - Local Commercial

[taz911xl]

I'm Filming a commercial for local cable TV.... its a very little, to no budget commercial its pretty much doing a favor... well anyways i have a dilema..... spend 70-$80bucks on a light reflector.... or go for a zoomable $70 mic WHICH DO U THINK I NEED MORE?

[Micaso]

It all depends on the setting of your commercial. Where are you shooting it?

[steven_craig]

blow the lot on beer

[Alex]

Foam Core can be a good substitute for a reflector, and can be bought for under 10 dollars. Renting a lavalier might be better than a zoomable microphone.

Your audio miking should be independent of all camera movement.

As for doing someone a "favor" in regards to a commercial. It makes no sense to shoot a commerical for 200.00 if the bloke is spending 10,000 to run it.

You should study the financial ratio between commercial production costs and broadcasting costs.

Usually, 10%-18% of the overall budget (including advertising costs) should go to the making of a low budget commercial. Discuss this BEFORE you agree to make the commercial.

If the commercial runs 500 times on local cable, and you scrimped 50 bucks on the production and as a result it makes the commercial look cheesy, what have you gained ?

Instead of being able to tell prospective clients you have a commercial running on the air, you'll have to lie and say it's a competitors because it didn't come out right. [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]