An interview with Robert Davis

Owner of Davis Advertising - www.DavisAdvertisingInc.com

Robert, can you describe the kind of work you do, your most typical or famous clients?

Prior to starting my own agency, I had a varied background which started with my first job as a graphic artist in 10th grade. During (and after) commercial art school and then business school (where I got a shot in the arm by winning a national marketing/advertising competition), I worked for several advertising agencies, both full time and freelance. I wore many hats - working in research, strategic planning, account service, media planning and buying, and creative.

My early experience involved a variety of accounts including fast food chains, hotels, restaurants, banks, health care providers and auto dealers. Clients included McDonald's, Wendy's, Rax Roast Beef, Po' Folks, Naturally Fresh Salad Dressings, Hyatt Hotels, Omni Hotels, Gold Kist, Home Depot, Sears, MoHawk Carpets, Hennessey Cadillac and other local and regional auto dealerships, home-furnishings stores, banks, etc.

Robert Davis -- Davis Advertising, Inc., video editing and recording studio.

Davis Advertising, Inc. has also served a variety of clients, large and small...retail, packaged goods and business to business. Notable clients have included Warner Lambert's Benadryl®/Caladryl® division, Warner Lambert's Shaving Products Group (Schick®), Sunshine Biscuits (Cheez-it®, Hydrox® Cookies, etc.), Rollins, Inc., and Castrol® Oil Corporation.

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We have found that large clients often prefer to work with smaller, less bureaucratic agencies. Creativity is not necessarily a function of an agency's size and computer technology has leveled the playing field.

Resealable can design with hidden advertising (Co-Inventors - Johan De Broyer/Robert Davis)

We now have in-house audio recording, video editing and 3d modeling/animation capabilities that would have been unheard of a few years ago...especially for a small agency.

Auto Lube Center TV Spot promoting Castrol's® NFL windshirt

As a full service agency, we develop advertising and collateral, either on a project basis or via our strategic planning recommendations. [Visit our blog, "Journey from Concept to Creation" for more on our strategic planning process.] The work we do is contingent on what best serves our client's marketing effort.

Trade Magazine ad - "custom tailored" branding for bank software

Corporate brochure -- incorporating "custom tailored" branding

Accordingly, we create all types of advertising and collateral -- corporate brochures, trade show booths, point of purchase displays, 3d modeling/animation, internet, direct mail, outdoor, transit... radio and TV commercials and corporate video. We also do media planning and buying.

"David Copperfield's World of Magic" proposed facility conversion video

We have received multiple Telly and Aurora awards and our pro-bono, 911 PSA was exhibited at Cannes via Ad Forum's Advertising Community Together (ACT) initiative.

Pro-Bono, PSA - Adforum's ACT initiative following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

Our work for Sunshine Biscuits® has been featured in a special section on "Atlanta's Best Advertising" in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Point of Sale Poster "Atlanta's Best Advertising"

In short, we are a small agency offering comprehensive services including in-house video and audio. In addition to video editing and 3d modeling and animation, our studio gives us the capability to create original scores for television commercials and corporate video.

How do you use BCC? Which filters do you like the best?

It is difficult to pick a favorite BCC filter. Some are "tried and true" -- upon which we consistently depend. These would include Pan and Zoom, Color Correction and the entire sets of lighting and glow effects.

B.B. King Museum Groundbreaking video, Indianola MS

Some filters and effects even have the potential of being used to build a concept around them. An example of this would include a PikaPika (light painting) effect created via the AVID FX paint tool in tandem with the Colorize Glow filter. After the detailed parameters are set up, Avid FX makes it relatively easy to create and edit the vector paint strokes and animations for this very convincing effect.

:30 spot using PikaPika (light painting) effect

From my paradigm, it is great to be able to create amazing effects under deadline pressure and the Boris filter sets allow us to do just that. There is nothing like that "how in the world did you do that so quickly?" look on a client's face.

What's your workflow? Do you use non-Avid apps or Avid FX?

Having as many aspects of the process under the same roof creates a more synergistic environment and a better creative product...and greater responsiveness to our clients' needs. No more of that sinking feeling driving back from a post production session when an idea pops into my head, leaving me thinking...dang, I wish I had thought of that!

With our own audio and video editing systems, we can create when inspiration strikes. Plus, we always have the option of going to a bigger production house for finishing. Creative ideas and inspiration can come at any time, so it is great to have access to our work in our in-house studio without having book off-premise studio time.

We use AVID Media Composer, Softimage|XSI, ProTools - and the bundled third party software, including BCC 5 AVX and Avid FX (Boris Red). We also use After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Painter and other software.

I pursue accounts that are consistent with our mission -- to promote products and services that enhance the quality of life. We have a proprietary process for the development of a strategic plan which leads to our creative brief. The creative brief will outline specific tactics for developing our strategies. This is where we set the tone and mood of the creative work.

Our basic workflow is as follows:

• Develop the creative brief which specifies/confirms the Unique Selling Points, target market appeals, talent requirements, musical genre, artwork, copy points, color schemes, etc. It basically sets the tone and manner of the work.
• Brainstorm for conceptual ideas and develop the basic concept. At this stage, we don't cloud our thinking with whether or not the concept can actually be produced (realistically) or how much it will cost.
• Write the script.
• Create storyboards -- minimizing risk by thinking through each and every aspect of the production, including timing of each scene, camera angles, pushes, pulls, pans, zooms, special effects, modeling/animation, etc.
  
  We also, of course, figure out HOW we are going to develop the concept on budget. This can be influenced by new trends and special effects capabilities...the Boris effects at our disposal can influence our creative decisions.
  
  It is great having Avid Media Composer, BCC and Avid FX (Boris Red) in-house. We can rough things out using still photos or rough video and experiment with edits and Boris effects. BCC filters can inspire or influence creative ideas.
  
  [For example, the new watercolor filter has me thinking about how I can create a spot based around this awesome new filter.]
  
  We can, in addition to the bundled, SonicFire Pro, also use our studio to develop musical ideas. We can have our music consultant, Rob Schumann, grab a guitar or keyboard and lay down some tracks...
  
  When the storyboards are completed, I want to have a tight and comprehensive vision of what will be required for production. I've been told that I run a "tight ship" during my video shoots... this is due to my desire to have everything worked out in advance, leaving little or nothing to chance. The clock is ticking and I don't want to have to go back to my client and have to explain why we are over budget.
• Preproduction meeting - key creatives and tech people meet to discuss scheduling, deadlines, scripts, creative content, technical personnel, talent and budgets...
• Talent casting and location scouting. We may shoot talent auditions in-house and email QuickTimes to client(s) for approval.
• Schedule and produce shoot. Storyboard printouts and "considerations memos" are given to all key players. Production assistant(s) keep the shoot tightly organized.
• Production of Photoshop work, vector illustrations, 3d models, etc.
• Capture video clips (SD proxies for offline) and do rough cut in Avid Media Composer. We can rent an Avid Adrenaline as needed...or offline to an off-premise post production house if necessary.
• Produce rough cut.
• Select or track music and voiceovers to rough cut...and sound effects.
• Apply transitions and titles, color corrections...render.
• Submit preliminary QuickTimes for client review via email.
• Add special effects via BCC plugin and/or Avid FX (Boris Red).
• Final compositing and renders.
• Submit to client for final approval.
• Make author's alterations as necessary.
• Produce deliverables for the media.

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