BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER.

We’re not blowing smoke here. Well.. maybe a little. This campaign isn’t just a guy talking to camera, this is bigger than that. This isn’t just a job posting, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. The videos need to be larger than life. The cuts are fast, the concepts are fun, and the scope is epically cinematic. The RPM of this campaign need to redline to win the attention of the media and car fans alike. Why? There are so many boring videos in our social media feeds every day. However, here we have awesome cars, a larger than life personality, and an insane job opportunity. The direction of the videos needs to live up to the hype, and reinforce the excitement of being Dodge’s Chief Donut Maker. 

The welcome video in particular needs to be BIG.

The follow up videos can be a little more direct and to the point as they are serving to educate more than entertain. The opening video should be something people have to share with their friends. Goldberg, Donuts, and Hellcats? Hell yes!

GRAB THE

bilL by the horns

This isn’t just a guy. This is WWE Hall of Fame wrestling sensation Bill Goldberg. People love his personality, and on top of that he is passionate about the brand. Bill is Bill, let’s embrace it and we will get a great performance.

The layout of the scripts allows for shooting his dialogue in bite size chunks.

With collaborative direction, and well organized shooting days, we keep this production moving at a great pace. I have worked on several projects with major celebrity talent, and athletes. Respect of their time, effort, and energy always leads to a great collaboration. Below is one spot from a campaign I recently shot for Dietz & Watson featuring Vincent Pastore from The Sopranos. This was a great example of using a persons attitude and general charisma to shape a performance.

KEEP IT MOVING

cinematic, and just a little bit over the top.

After all, this contest is big! Our camera movement and lighting should be firing on all cylinders to match the size and scope. Keeping the camera moving will help us hold peoples attention. Something needs to happen every few seconds. With Bill’s lines portioned into bite sized chunks, we won’t have any problems marrying camera movement with performance. We’re going to have great talent on both sides of the camera. A well thought out pre production plan, logistics, and storyboards will be the glue that holds us together through production.

Here is an example of a spot I directed for Marriott where we most certainly kept it moving. As we begin to block out our each spot we’ll create blocking for talent and camera that keeps the visual flow going from shot to shot.

BLOCKING IT OUT

When it comes down to it, this is all about blocking out this dialogue into shooting boards. So, I thought it would be a worthwhile venture to go through a preliminary script outline on how I would block out the welcome video. I would plan to do this for every video. It allows us to work out Bill’s dialogue, as well as get us working in sync across all departments in pre-production. Everything from schedule our days, planning our props, and timing out the videos for post is easier to do when we are working off of the scripts.

Could be funny to end the video with Goldberg and an actor playing a lawyer going over what people shouldn’t do in their entry videos, such as donuts or anything else legal would be concerned about

HOW IT COMES TOGETHER

As an editor myself, I try and shoot for the edit. The last thing I want to do is hand over dozens of terabytes to an editor and say “figure it out.”

This campaign is made up of several deliverables. I believe with a thorough pre-production plan, we can build out our shooting days to maximize the amount of content needed for all concepts, in a clear and concise manor for post production. As seen in the sample script of the welcome video, every shot will be planned out for timing and maximum impact on the edits. Here is an example of something I shot, that was planned for the edit. Our lead talent had a lot of copy to say, but as you can see, we cut his direct to camera material into bite size takes.

LOCATION

Nothing says big, like a gigantic airplane hanger. Embracing the negative space will allow us to focus on both the talent and the car(s). A huge facility like a hanger offers a lot of breathing room for our sets. We can have multiple locations to work with, and be much more efficient with time.