This week we will enter the world of low-budget audiovisual advertising that forces us to be creative so that the product looks more expensive than it really is.
Before we start, I would like to remind you that we always need more resources than we have. I have to admit that we never feel like we have enough to achieve the piece we imagine. At the end of the day, this challenge is what helps us grow by force. I often sin in choosing projects that give me butterflies in my stomach, but this is exactly the signal that tells me that this is the project that will make me grow and that has the potential to be an exceptional piece.
Let's start with our Prix Mundial 2022 journey. This time we will focus on the production of the commercial. Prix is a Nicaraguan carbonated drink brand, competing with Coca Cola.
The task was to shoot 3 30-second commercials and 5 10-second commercials in 10 days of filming. HAHAHA, guess how many days we had to produce that amount of commercials. Tick tock, tick tock. 5 days? NOOOO!!!. 2 days?? No way! Well, we had only one day to do it. That's right, welcome to the world of advertising, limited resources but unlimited creativity and enthusiasm.
Let's get to work. As a director, they hire us to give creative feedback to the commercial. Creative feedback is a visual treatment that a director wants to give to the piece, that is, how we envision it. For this, we have to immerse ourselves in what the communication goal is, and how the brand is. We must research past ads of the brand to understand the audiovisual language they carry and look for many visual references to communicate to the client what we are going to offer and contribute to creativity. This step is crucial because it sets the tone so that the rest of the team also understands my vision and we can all (art director, casting director, photography director) reach the same goal.
Now let's start with the complicated side of our adventure. We have 12 talents, with which, in parallel we have to shoot an infinite number of shots, three simultaneous productions. Now you wonder how is it three simultaneous productions in one day? In modern audiovisual advertising production, clients ask us to simultaneously film the main commercial, in parallel digital content and finally still photography. But how do we do this with the same 12 talents!! What to do? We can say, "I quit, this is impossible". Should I call the client and tell him personally that it is not possible? The client will surely answer me that he will never hire me again. Now let's talk seriously. The truth is that it can be done. The secret is to be organized and plan everything in pre-production with the whole team. This is not a job for one person, it is the work of an entire team. The secret to achieving our goal is to divide the talent at each location. Of course with a detailed work of which talent we want in each shot and in each production unit.
Additionally, we have another camera operator and a photographer. While I was filming a portrait of an actor, the photographer took advantage of filming another scene that we had previously choreographed with the other camera operator. The truth is that everything went great in the end. The day was long but rewarding. Capturing these images in places that are traditionally not captured in commercials, of an urban Nicaragua but with character and attitude, was a pleasant experience.
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