Spec TVC shot w/ HVX200+Movietube

First, I'm sure you are aware already, you weren't zoomed in enough with the HVX.

Was the glow/haze done in post, or was this an effect from the movietube? For me the haze it was a little too heavy. Especially in a couple shots.

The overall quality was great. While I didn't think it was a problem, I wonder if Mastercard would feel it was too much of a downer. Hopefully not, I thought it was tastefully done.

Did you guys rent the movietube? Should we expect to see more from this set up of the HVX with the Movietube?
 
I loved the painterly quality of the photography and I thought it was very tastefully done - sentiment without being sentimental
 
other then the obvious not zoomed in enough - it looked really nice - had a great pacing. A little soft but great feel

My biggest issue - is this would not get me to want to use a credit card - its a real downer - I would suggest spinning or shooting a different ending - the whole thing felt like it was building up to an emotional high point in a positive way and then you see the girls ashes - ouch -

This is way too beatiful of a piece to lost it on a downer end moment. Remember the audience - people spend money at uplifting moments.

Great technical work though
 
I loved it cause it was so morbid. Defineteley would not make me want to get a credit card, but a commercial like this is something I'd absolutely get a kick out of.

I rank this up there with the sleepys slogan "Trust sleeeepys . . . for the rest of your life. . . . "
 
I don't think it's repulsive or morbid at all. I think it was very beautifully done. However, I have to agree that the end result is the same: the message doesn't suit the existing Mastercard campaign or the audience. During the opening sequence, I got the impression he was on his way to see a distant love, which turns out to not be completely wrong. Powerful stuff, and I personally like it a lot, but I just don't think it would fly.

I don't know what everyone's saying about the HVX "not being zoomed in enough". I assume that the vignetting in this piece is an intentional stylistic choice.
 
RogerandOut said:
It looks good, but the dead girl angle is repulsive.
Click to expand...
I saw this morning right after he had posted it, and while I liked it, I feel a bit of the same as Roger. It almost made me wonder if it was a spoof. You're being taken down a road that we're all familiar with in the Mastercard advertising world, then BOOM, it's a dead girl's ashes.

Now, I can also see the sentiment that they were trying to obtain. They achieved that with some and, obviously, some others not so well.

But regardless of what you felt when you watched it, it can't overshaadow the very strong quality of the product. It looked very nice and right up until the reveal, you had me feeling what I was supposed to with the MC commercials. (Except I did chuckle with the gas fill-up portion of the spec. It's hard not to chuckle when you hear "2 tanks of gas: $85.00." It's just one those things that makes you laugh becausse of it's everyday realness.)
 
Well, for what it's worth... I caught the tail end of a car ad on TV last night, in which at the end of a day together the mother drove the kids away, saying "bye dad! see you next week!" with almost an intimation that the adventurous SUV might lead to family reconciliation. I was a bit surprised, but in at least some circles it seems advertising may be tackling heavier subjects.

I mean, I guess now that half the commercials we hear mention "greasy discharge" and/or erectile disfunction, nothings really off the table!
 
Great job man.. Touching..Very well done, great edit.. As for being a mastercard commercial? I'm not sure.. Mastercrad commercaials are usually a bit sentimental, but no product will ever show anything related to death.. It's just not something you ever want a consumer to associate with a product..

BUT - - On the other hand.. Just because it's never been done, doesn't mean it CANT be done...... Something different could give the media something to talk about, and really advertise the product... I've never seen a mastercard commercial that EVER made me go "WOW!!! I'M GOING OUT RIGHT NOW to use my mastercard!!!!!"

I do however think that you might want to re-consider an alternate ending that is a bit more positive..

- - Justin
 
... I'm like not happy after watching that :crybaby:

How many of the shots had a post-gradient over them? Any set pics of the Movie-tube, that rig looks like fun. What kind of glass did you use?

Matt
 
unfiltered said:
It's hard not to chuckle when you hear "2 tanks of gas: $85.00." It's just one those things that makes you laugh becausse of it's everyday realness.)
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was the saddest part of the whole spot! ;)

As others have said- nice work- it is a well done spot, the pacing seemed right, the images were great, quality work. It just misses the target audience.

Any specific reason you chose the movietube over Mini35 / M2 / any other 35mm adapter?
 
I think it was great in regards to production and conveying the message you wanted.
But I do agree with everyone in that I don't think associating death with mastercard is a message they would want to convey. Oh also I think you used the rack focus slightly to much.
 
thanks for all the comments!

thanks for all the comments!

Hey everyone,

I am grateful and overwhelmed by all of your responds. In hindsight I do agree that the ending is terribly sad, especially for a MasterCard commercial. But if I could shed a little bit of a reason why we went with this idea of the ashes... It was because this spec spot was created specifically to enter an advertising competition with this year's theme "Priceless". We thought we'd do something a real agency would never go for because to us, a spec shouldn't be one that has too many constraints. But with all this said, yeah, it is quite a heavy piece, I hope we didn't upset you guys too much. :)

As the the not-zoomed in enough thing, yeah, it was slightly for some shots, tricky thing with the HVX and adaptors is that to get the sweetest part of a 35mm lens, one would really have to zoom in a lot more... ie. Z26 was the recommendation value on the video camera, but I've noticed that Z33.3 actually looks cleanest. Live and learn right?! haha.

Oh right, to answer some questions: a lot of the haze, glow, vignette stuff was done in post as you can tell. We picked Nikon still lenses for this one because there is a slightly softer/old vacation feel to it. I own the HVX and Movietube setup and I've only shot a few things with it so far. (1 feature and a few commercials.) I definitely will be back with more work for you guys to comment on. really really appreciate it! Very helpful!

Thanks.

Kevin,
DP- www.kevincwwong.com
 
Very cool to see the Movietube in action. Surprised you own it instead of renting. That's a big chunk of change for that bad boy. The image was a little soft for my taste. Do you have a version of this before all the post work? I'd be curious to see how sharp it looked before.

If not, then I'll just hold out for the next thing you post. Can't wait :)
 
I'd also love to see more.

Really liked it. Get the point about mastercard, but still... Made your point.

Gunleik
 
I'm impressed you were able to get that thing into the back seat of a car for the in-car shot.

In case anyone is wondering, here are some pictures of an HVX200 sitting on a Movie Tube:

MovieTube1.jpg

http://www.misterfrag.com/MovieTube1.jpg

MovieTube2.jpg
http://www.misterfrag.com/MovieTube2.jpg

Anyway, job well done. Good concept (very touching), and nicely edited. Gotta zoom in a bit more, but with HD, you can always crop without losing resolution.
 
THoff said:
I'm impressed you were able to get that thing into the back seat of a car for the in-car shot.

In case anyone is wondering, here are some pictures of an HVX200 sitting on a Movie Tube:


Anyway, job well done. Good concept (very touching), and nicely edited. Gotta zoom in a bit more, but with HD, you can always crop without losing resolution.
Click to expand...


Thats why I like the movietube. It gives you the size and weight of a film camera. I'm not a "run-and-gun" (most over-used term ever!) filmmaker so I don't mind it.
 
Kevin C. W. Wong said:
Hey everyone,

I am grateful and overwhelmed by all of your responds. In hindsight I do agree that the ending is terribly sad, especially for a MasterCard commercial. But if I could shed a little bit of a reason why we went with this idea of the ashes... It was because this spec spot was created specifically to enter an advertising competition with this year's theme "Priceless". We thought we'd do something a real agency would never go for because to us, a spec shouldn't be one that has too many constraints. But with all this said, yeah, it is quite a heavy piece, I hope we didn't upset you guys too much. :)

As the the not-zoomed in enough thing, yeah, it was slightly for some shots, tricky thing with the HVX and adaptors is that to get the sweetest part of a 35mm lens, one would really have to zoom in a lot more... ie. Z26 was the recommendation value on the video camera, but I've noticed that Z33.3 actually looks cleanest. Live and learn right?! haha.

Oh right, to answer some questions: a lot of the haze, glow, vignette stuff was done in post as you can tell. We picked Nikon still lenses for this one because there is a slightly softer/old vacation feel to it. I own the HVX and Movietube setup and I've only shot a few things with it so far. (1 feature and a few commercials.) I definitely will be back with more work for you guys to comment on. really really appreciate it! Very helpful!

Thanks.

Kevin,
DP- www.kevincwwong.com
Click to expand...
Really impressive looking spot, well done. What was the post production workflow ? I'm presuming you shot 720/24PN with a faster frame rate.
is it all finished to an HD master or an SD master ?
If I had seen that I TV I wouldn't have guessed it was the little HVX thats for sure. And I liked the vignetting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top