30-Second TV Spot
Who this is for: Agency creatives, brand managers, and production companies producing broadcast television or streaming pre-roll advertising.
The 30-second spot is the most demanding creative format in advertising. You have 3 seconds to earn the next 27. Every shot, every word, every sound has to do work. ACT3 AI lets you produce broadcast-quality footage and iterate on the creative until it's right — without production day costs.
What you'll do, in order
1. Lock the concept before you write a word
A 30-second spot is built on one insight and one emotional truth. The best spots can be described in one sentence: "A child grows up. The only thing that didn't change was the car." Write your concept sentence first. Everything else flows from it.
2. Write a tight script — 75 words maximum
At 30 seconds, you have roughly 75 words of dialogue or voice-over if you fill every second with speech. Most great spots use far fewer. Write the action first, then see if words are even needed.
Structure:
- Seconds 0–5: Hook — something visually arresting or emotionally surprising
- Seconds 5–22: Story — develop the situation, build the feeling
- Seconds 22–27: Payoff — the emotional peak or product reveal
- Seconds 27–30: Call to action or logo/tagline hold
→ How to use the script editor
3. Plan 8–15 shots — no more
At 30 seconds, an average cut rate of 2–3 seconds per shot gives you 10–15 shots. Too many and it feels frantic. Too few and it drags. Plan your shot list before you build anything.
4. Create sets that establish the world instantly
Broadcast spots are seen once. Viewers need to understand the world in the first frame. Create sets with clear, readable visual identities — don't make viewers work to understand where they are.
5. Cast talent that carries emotion
A 30-second spot lives or dies on the performance. Cast a digital actor with a look that carries the emotional weight of the concept. Close-ups of faces doing real things are the engine of emotional advertising.
→ How to create a digital actor
6. Cinematography — make every frame count
Broadcast advertising uses cinematic production values. Shallow depth of field on close-ups. Motivated camera movement. Deliberate lighting with clear source. Set each shot's camera and lighting with the same attention you'd give a feature film. See the cinematography guide for a full reference.
→ How to set up a shot → How to set up scene lighting
7. Iterate until it's right
Generate your spots and watch them. The first render is almost never the final one. Identify what's not working shot by shot and regenerate. This is where ACT3 AI's iteration speed becomes a real production advantage.
8. Export in broadcast format
For broadcast: ProRes 422, 16:9, 4K or 1080p, 23.976fps. For streaming pre-roll: H.264 MP4, 16:9, 1080p.