Local VW commercial

Pretty Bad Ass Commercial

Pretty Bad Ass Commercial

811productions said:
Here's something I directed, shot, edited the other day. Please be gentle in your comments, this was done for little money and I had no crew. All lighting had to be available light.

http://vimeo.com/20114785
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Damn, I'd say this is an awesome commercial. It sure looks like there was a decent budget for a local car dealer. Great Job on the overall look and the tracked text. What lenses did you use?
 
Thanks guys, phew... The scene file was:

detail level -4
v detail level -4
detail coring +2
cine-like d
norm2
master ped -3
all other settings were 0

The lenses used were mostly the 14-140 on the wides, the panny 20mm f1.7, a nikon 50mm f1.8 and an old vivitar series 1 28-90 f2.8-4
 
Pictures look fine and clean, graphic tracking is nicely done....but can I comment about the edit.

You have edited in shots that dont resolve the action. eg. pans and tilts that go to nothing important (the waiting room pans to the edge of a desk and tells us nothing). You can not afford to waste a single frame in a TVC. Every frame should have content
 
"It's Hall Good" - great catch-phrase! In all honesty, though, I think you've done a smash-up job (and that's even without taking into account your limitations). You've also made the AF100 really sing for you in this piece. Nice work all around.
 
Shooter...understand completely. The waiting room shot was one that I wanted to cut out all together. I know it is the weakest shot out of them all... It was one of those things that would probably been better if it just stayed static. I'll know better next time.
 
Nice work, I think you did great!

I found some of the cuts quite abrupt and they each of the cuts happened so quickly that I felt like I had to rush to just read the text that tracked in. Even having some of the cuts just last a bit longer would have helped, though I know you were trying to cut with the music.

I liked the beginning bits with the lights turning on and also the end sequence.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Shooter said:
Pictures look fine and clean, graphic tracking is nicely done....but can I comment about the edit.

You have edited in shots that dont resolve the action. eg. pans and tilts that go to nothing important (the waiting room pans to the edge of a desk and tells us nothing). You can not afford to waste a single frame in a TVC. Every frame should have content
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Id go one step further and put on my "agency talking to me hat", why do we want to see people waiting?! Images did look nice and clean, text track was nice and clean.
 
Great job!
I've shot hundreds of commercials, and this is a spectacular example of maximizing a small budget. You we're able to use the escrow of the international VW brand and attach it to the local dealership.
What a nice job of simple, interesting shots telling the story with clean graphics to boot. You should thank your lucky stars that you've developed a relationship with a dealer who wants to communicate in a tasteful, powerful way, instead of the normal screaming promo oriented local car dealer way.
I like the lens flare, the rack focus, the choice of black font, the pan up to an interesting customer... oh, and the waiting room pan is just fine, thank you, sure doesn't hurt the spot.
Man that camera puts out a nice picture with a good set of eyes behind it. Once again, great job Michael.
 
dwelter said:
Great job!
I've shot hundreds of commercials, and this is a spectacular example of maximizing a small budget. You we're able to use the escrow of the international VW brand and attach it to the local dealership.
What a nice job of simple, interesting shots telling the story with clean graphics to boot. You should thank your lucky stars that you've developed a relationship with a dealer who wants to communicate in a tasteful, powerful way, instead of the normal screaming promo oriented local car dealer way.
I like the lens flare, the rack focus, the choice of black font, the pan up to an interesting customer... oh, and the waiting room pan is just fine, thank you, sure doesn't hurt the spot.
Man that camera puts out a nice picture with a good set of eyes behind it. Once again, great job Michael.
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DITTO here. I've too have shot hundreds, if not thousands of spots. Budgets from LO to +$50,000. Big agency spots are a pain.... in my eyes.... too many cooks in the kitchen.
The phrase "let's shoot it both ways" is like fingers on a chalkboard to me. It translates to "we don't have enough vision to commit to an idea!"
Anyway, question, on the "Important" shot, I noticed the 2 folks look a bit soft. I've experienced this softness on faces a couple of times. Don't know if it's exposure based, lens choice, or what.
I've monitored closely on a Pany LH900 monitor and at times, have simply not been able to get someone sharp enough. Any thoughts?

thanks and good job ! dlpark
 
dlpark said:
DITTO here. I've too have shot hundreds, if not thousands of spots. Budgets from LO to +$50,000. Big agency spots are a pain.... in my eyes.... too many cooks in the kitchen.
The phrase "let's shoot it both ways" is like fingers on a chalkboard to me. It translates to "we don't have enough vision to commit to an idea!"
Anyway, question, on the "Important" shot, I noticed the 2 folks look a bit soft. I've experienced this softness on faces a couple of times. Don't know if it's exposure based, lens choice, or what.
I've monitored closely on a Pany LH900 monitor and at times, have simply not been able to get someone sharp enough. Any thoughts?

thanks and good job ! dlpark
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Thanks for the comments. I hate the let's shoot it both ways thing. The nice thing about this commercial is that there was no agency involvement. just me and the owner of the dealership. In regards to the softness, I think it has to do with the lens that I was using. Focus in Red showed that their faces were focused and my manhattan lcd, although sharpened looked pretty good. In retrospect I probably should have used a sharper lens, but I think the shot isn't too horribly soft, it is riding that line though...
 
dwelter said:
You should thank your lucky stars that you've developed a relationship with a dealer who wants to communicate in a tasteful, powerful way, instead of the normal screaming promo oriented local car dealer way. .
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Thank you, nice laugh over that one.
 
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