Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

[Drazus]

OK, I've got this freakin stupid project for English (cause my teacher is evil). I have to do a power point on a book I've read (War of the Worlds) and basically pretend to "sell" the book to my peers, like they're a publishing company.

I've got the power point worked out, but I'm having trouble with the commercial half, where I have to do a mock-up commercial for the book.

So I'm making a video of the commercial, and I need ideas. I have this really cool clip of a Martian tripod with its heat ray, however, its file type doesn't work with my video editor (It's Pinnacle Studio 8, btw. I've already tried converting it to an .avi, still won't work.)

SO, I need ideas, and maybe a way to allow the video to work in my editor. I'm thinking if necessary, just record over the screen with a video camera, but only as a last resort. Any help?

[Drazus]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

PMDP...

OK, I've got the clip thing figured out and I REALLY need some help coming up with ideas for a WotW commerical.

Anyone have any ideas? I REALLY need help thinking up something.

[Valkysas]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

market it based on it's Tom Cruise potential.

[Czechs Mex]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

OK, I've got this freakin stupid project for English (cause my teacher is evil).

That sounds like an awesome project. Would you prefer to just write the usual book report?

[thetruecoolness]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

Well as for ideas, you could consult the movie trailers for the movie based on the book.

As for the video type, it likely won't show up because you do not have the correct codec to play it. AVI files can be of any codec, DivX, Xvid, some wierd one only used by 10 people in the world. If you want to find out what codec it is you can get a program called GSpot (get it here http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ ). As for getting the codec, just google it.

[Zeroth]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

I think you should make the commercial funney! You could do something like have a person sitting on a sofa and have them stareing at a wall then say in the commercial " Reading this book is equivalent to waching paint dry." or have a guy banging his head off the wall and say " This is just as fun as reading WotW

[Valkysas]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

I'd be tempted to do something like that. make the book look as stupid and boring as possible, even if it requires that I outright lie about it.

Kind of like when I did a book report in front of the class for Resident Evil 2 (yes, the video game) and halfway through I stopped reading my paper and started making things up as I went along (claire was a robot determined to get angel wings so she could ascend to heaven). We were supposed to bring props in to help describe the book, so I brought in some resident evil action figures, some dollar store dinosaurs, a tennis ball, and a power ranger.

and thats how I failed 10th grade literature.

[Zeroth]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

Cool!

[Chad]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

and thats how I failed 10th grade literature.

Mad props. I failed my senior year english final for making quotes up and she didn't like the fact that I wrote about my own topic. I found this out since she ripped my paper up in front of everyone after I left.

[IRC]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

What do you want the commercial to say?

[Red Dragon]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

I'd be tempted to do something like that. make the book look as stupid and boring as possible, even if it requires that I outright lie about it.

Kind of like when I did a book report in front of the class for Resident Evil 2 (yes, the video game) and halfway through I stopped reading my paper and started making things up as I went along (claire was a robot determined to get angel wings so she could ascend to heaven). We were supposed to bring props in to help describe the book, so I brought in some resident evil action figures, some dollar store dinosaurs, a tennis ball, and a power ranger.

and thats how I failed 10th grade literature.

I wish I didn't care about my grades, then I might have done somthing crazy like that in 10th grade.

[Jamos' Old Account]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

That sounds like an awesome project.

I agree, that kind of project is something I would look forward to. Unlike, this art assignment where I had to do a self-portrait using letters, numbers, and symbols. God, I hated doing that project! It took forever!

[Drazus]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

That sounds like an awesome project. Would you prefer to just write the usual book report?

Trust me, this project is in NO WAY FUN. A book report is way easier.

It's time-consuming. The commercial has several specific requirements that must be met, and the power point requires at least 60 hours of work to get a C.

And this is immediantly following ANOTHER project, so we only have roughly 1-2 weeks.

In addition, my science teach is also assigning a large report that's due Monday, right before my Enlgish project.

As for the commercial, I need to to advertise the book and persuade people to read it, yet still be creative. If I can get some ideas, I just would have to put them together.

Also, does anyone know if there will be any problems when I switch from Power Point 97 to Power Point 2003?

[Drazus]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

PMDP again...

I still need ideas for a commercial, just to advertise a book. The only hard part will be putting it together.

Also, does anyone know if there will be any problems when I switch from Power Point 97 to Power Point 2003?

[H2SO4]

Re: Commercial Inspiration... Need Ideas

Make the commerical witty enough to both get you a good grade, and mock the teacher at the same time. That's what I always did when I disliked a particular project or paper.