Just Like Mad Men

Advertising is seldom glamourous; usually it's endless meetings, it's hours spent drawing stupid doodles on paper, it's debating whether it should be "yet" or "however" in a bit of body copy that no one will ever read. It's why I started my Just Like Mad Men blog a few years back.

However, next week advertising will be just like Mad Men for us, as we're off to Cape Town for 10 days to shoot some TV commercials. It will be posh plane seats, it will be all the wine you can cram in your face, it will be delicious food, sunshine, swimming pools, expensive restaurants, it will be fancy hotels, and (at some stage or other) it will be a bit of work. 

In an ideal world, there shouldn't be a lot for a copywriter to do on a shoot. If a job's been done properly then you've written the script, amended it and finally had it approved. You've chosen a great director who you feel confident will bring your work to life. You've discussed with client and the team how it should look, which actors you should use and what everyone will be wearing. You'll even have storyboards that show you how each shot will be framed and where it fits into the finished ad. All of which you'll have discussed and changed until (theoretically) everyone is happy. Aside from approving the odd set, giving a thumbs up to wardrobe here and there, and nodding now and again when someone shows you something or other, it's pretty much just a case of making sure you're happy with each take. And eating your weight in cake.

Obviously, there will be tensions on set, but that's not exactly taxing - you just have to try to keep everyone happy - come to a compromise if necessary, or just do a few different takes and put the argument off until you get to the edit. 

That's that as far as work goes really. On your average shoot day, you wake, shower and dress, and from then on it's basically a case of watching other people work.

Someone drives you from the hotel to the set, where someone else shows you to a seated area next to a TV screen which other people have set up for you. If it's too sunny, someone else will put you in the shade. If you're a bit thirsty they'll make you a drink. If you're a bit peckish someone else will bring you some food. Actually, you don't have to be peckish, they'll just bring you something to eat anyway. From your pampered playback perch you watch everyone else run around; sawing, building, painting, pulling, pushing, acting, filming, directing. 

It's an awkward experience to be honest - the one time you feel a little like a movie star, but one that should never be taken for granted. 

At times like these all the re-writes and brief changes, all the brainstorms and ideas dumps just fade away. These are the times when advertising feels like what normal people think advertising is. These are the perks of the job, and because they only make up a mere 0.00000034% of your average day, you'll forgive us if we make the most of them. 

Now, where's my cake?