How to shoot a BEER commercial??

W

wawaii

Member
Guys,

I tried searching for a thread that might explain this a little bit, but didn't find anything on the subject.

My client wants one of those beer commercial where you mainly focus on the beer from all kinds of angles and make interesting shots. It's all about the bottle and the beer!

I'm aware that lots of tricks are used to make the bottle look frosty, to make the beer look more interesting etc... also the way to light the bottle has it's trick.

Do anyone of you have shot a beer commercial and might want to give me some tips and advice? Maybe a webpage or anything that can help me on the subject will be appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.
 
cut a hole in the table, smaller than the foot of the bottle, an shine light up into it from below. as well as a backlight, and a side light. get a dolley, and make micro dolley ins, and outs.... this way there is some movement.
 
to frost the beer glass, put the empty glasses in the freezer for a while and as soon as you're ready to pour and shoot, bring the glass out and pour and shoot. when it comes out of the freezer, the warm air will automatically frost it.

and if you listen to timur and cut a whole in the table, you may as well shoot straight up through the whole as the beer is going down into the glass.
 
PIck up a book called reflections, in a nearby bookstore or order from Amazon. It's a great book on cinematography, and has a cool chapter on a beer glass!
 
Solid advice guys.

I'd also add that for a product such as this, a low profile skater dolly would work really well.
 
wawaii said:
I'm aware that lots of tricks are used to make the bottle look frosty, to make the beer look more interesting etc... also the way to light the bottle has it's trick.

Do anyone of you have shot a beer commercial and might want to give me some tips and advice? Maybe a webpage or anything that can help me on the subject will be appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

For beer clear glass/mugs and/or cristal bottles: on a wet and wiped glass throw salt or sugar and then spray or mist water... You'll get that frosty look... Do some excersise until you get what you want before shooting... This will let you shoot with big hot lights for high speed and shallow DOF.

Hope this helps.

Henry Epstein
 
[SIZE=+0]Wow guys... this is some really helpfully info![/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+0]Timur, I would never have thought of shining a light from beneath. Nice trick! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Janusz, that's like the cherry on top of the cake... hehe[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Electronica, interesting trick!! will the sugar be visible during close-ups ? specially in HD..?[/SIZE]
Taubkin, thanks dude. I'll check that book out!

these tricks will definitely make the commercial more interesting..

Thanks guys.


Wawaii
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Instead of backlighting or from below try putting a small piece of mirror behind the bottle when you shoot it. Have worked on numerous spots like this and this is how they light the bottle.Most of the other suggestions on frosting the mug/bottle work but might want to spray with fire extinguisher to make really cold. A certain type of lighting is used called Unilux. It is a high speed strobe (Unilux.com) I believe it is rentable out of NYC . Also some of the dripping or sweating is added with glycerine. Usually a food stylist is on set to do this and really knows all the techniques to make the bottle an glass "perform"
 
You need to be able to get the right amount of head as well, just enough to slightly run over the side of the mug. 1/2" to 1" is recommended in pubs.
 
Another thing to try (depending on the hue of the beer) would be to experiment with differenct intensities of CTO gel on one or more of the lights. It could help to really bring the out the nice color that good beer has.

If it's clear beer we're talking about, you may want to stick to half-naked women.
 
What comes to my mind is a tight, low angle shot which magnifies the size of the product. Also have you considered moving a light source to create a "flashing" effect on the beer? If you cut this with your other shots in your edit, it could provide some visual interest. I know i've seen this technique before and it was used to good effect. too bad i cant remember where i've seen it. good luck! I hope we can see your final piece when its done.
 
You guys are the best!

Barkingspider, extremely helpful info!! About the mirror.. how small and how far from the bottle? Or did you mean to glue it behind the bottle?

Pmpworks, I like your dolly test! Specially the one coming from the left and kind of rotating on the last beer can at the far left. That's a kick ass shot right there. I'm gonna try and recreate that one if you don't mind. hehe :)

Capt Quirk, do you know of a special technique for the amount of head, or should it be just trial and error??

Horse Films, that's a very good idea. Will definitely do that!

Electronika, that shot is just perfect for reference! Thanks dude! I'm officially convinced about the salt trick!! hehe

JRAnderson, somehow when I open the link, Explorer seems to freeze. I'll restart and try it again. Thanks .

JBurkey, I know what you mean.. I think I've seen that shot in the closing shots of the Budlight commercials.. and it looks really nice.. and definitely will move one light source, hmmm.. or maybe a few together.. not a bad idea! Thanks!!! :)

Guys, I feel more confortable now to shoot the commercial, thanks to all of you.. We're gonna start doing some storyboard sketches and pre-production. As soon as we start shooting I'll let you know what is working for us. Oh, and of course, upload the commercial so you all can see what you help us achieve!!

Thanks once again!!

Wawaii
 
"to frost the beer glass, put the empty glasses in the freezer for a while and as soon as you're ready to pour and shoot, bring the glass out and pour and shoot. when it comes out of the freezer, the warm air will automatically frost it."




Don't forget to dip it into water first, the frost will last longer. I'd also look into dry ice. :)
 
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