2 Spec Commercial - DVX/M2

J

Jun Tang

Active member
Hey,

Finally decided to let my ego take a stab.

I am pursuing a career as a commercial director. And these two are my first two spec commercials.

I shot this with a DVX100a/M2 adapter.

After watching Phillip Hudson footage and other HD quality footage with the RedRock M2... I have to say -I should have gone HD.

Give me any feedback you have and don't pull punches. Anywhere from what you think of the concept - to the lighting - to the quality...etc

here is the link

www.tangfilms.com
 
the second video had an original idea as the base, but maybe it was a little too long for a commercial. I liked the perspectives you've chosen in the first commercial. And the cameramoves. Though i don't think you should focus on making commercials with a sexual touch cause there are so many of them.
 
In the first one, indeed, it's probably a bit much for American audiences. European commercials are much more free that way. There's a lot more restriction in what you can show on American TV when it comes to commercials. Two technical notes: the voiceover toward the end is flawed: specifically, the last word "pressure" is pronounced too fast and not smoothly enough; also, I'd probably lower the pitch just a tad on that voice (these may seem extremely tiny points, but commercials are that way - tiny things count for a lot, which is why you pay a lot more per second of footage compared to film). The final transition to the last image is abrupt in an unpleasant way, and the image is unacceptably ugly (plus the colors are horrendous)... it completely undoes the professional look you manged to get earlier on (especially nice job lighting the guy!), this last image screams "amateur hour".

The second, is conceptually a bit self-indulgent. C'mon, you're referencing yourself in a commercial?! Gimme a break. Other than that, the idea itself was pretty funny. Technically, it was quite poor. Frankly, if you're going to be talking about "lighting", then you'd better have brilliant lighting throughout the commercial - and it was far from that... in fact, I was pretty unimpressed by the lighting there (and for a commercial, it was way too dark - you aren't gonna see a darn thing on a TV of that stuff, it is barely passable for the large screen).

Good start, but a long way to go. However, you do have an eye.
 
Thanks Ranera!

I agree with you OldCorpse...I guess I was watching European commercials too much. Yeah, that would never be aired here.

Glad you like the concept. I would say storytelling/concept/idea and working with the actors are my strengths.

I agree, my main weakness is lighting. Since I was focusing on directing the actors and the camera moves...I do need to align with a good lighting guy/gal on my next project.
 
Echo the comment about the fact that the second commercial was a bit too long...I actually felt that you could just have started it from them saying: hey guys, wanna have some fun? after establishing that they were really bored. Also, probably not everyone knows what a HMI is...although i suppose whoever is interested in an ARRI commercial should know, i might have defined it? But it really depends on the intended audience...Other than that really good job on the two.
 
I thought they were both humorous, with the second one being better than the first. I agree with Malcolm though, the second one can easily be cut down to 30 or even 15 seconds. And the HMI line is probably not necessary considering your audience. It had a good ending though, just too much exposition.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more.
 
Thanks Malcolm and Smash,

The Pennzoil was intended as a regular maybe more euro commercial market since the risque innuendo.

The ARRI was more for a video played at Cinegear or some other Conventions. So it can play at the ARRI booth.

glad you like the concept. My next project I would get a DP and shoot in higher resolution.
 
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