In recent years, broadcast advertisers have become concerned with the tendency of video cassette recorder (VCR) owners to "zap"--fast forward delete--commercials. However, research has shown that viewers retain some recall of commercials, even with fast forward zapping, and it is to the benefit of advertisers to discover ways of increasing that recall through video production techniques. To determine whether certain production elements affected recall, a study was conducted to examine six elements on a variety of viewer responses. The elements studied were camera angle, shot size, cutting rate, background clutter, subject movement, and camera movement. Subjects, 125 college students, viewed seven commercials for nationally advertised products in five different presentations: normal speed, video-only, fast forward standard play, fast forward long play, and fast forward extended play. After viewing, the subjects completed free-recall and aided-recall measures of product type and brand name. Results showed that (1) camera angle affected commercial recall, with normal camera angles or those with extreme degrees of vertical/skew resulting in greater recall, (2) medium shots resulted in better recall than long shots, (3) moderate amounts of cuts resulted in more recall than low or high amounts, (4) background clutter was not negatively related to recall, (5) moderate amounts of subject movement resulted in greater recall than did low or high amounts, and (6) moderate amounts of camera movement did not produce greater recall than did low or high amounts. (FL)