“There is nothing I love more than telling a good story.”
— Murray Rodriguez
A STORY & A PROJECT
There is magical feeling I get when I stand behind a camera and focus in on a shot. I feel that same magic in the edit bay when I piece together footage, sound, and music to assemble a story. My whole life I have pursued the joy of creating. Looking back on my college experience, I see the journey it has taken me on. The magic of storytelling has motivated me in my video production classes and has also helped me gain an appreciation for marketing and commercial work. Afterall, nothing sells a product better than a good story!
My senior project combines my love of film and my interest in marketing. The project I chose also allowed me to demonstrate the skills I have been learning in college under both of those pursuits. For my project, I wrote, planned, and produced a commercial for the existing water brand, Liquid Death. I edited the commercial into 90-second, 60-second, and 30-second versions. I then edited my footage into two unique 15-second vertical video versions and two unique 10-second 1:1 video versions.
PROJECT EXPLANATION VIDEO
GOALS FOR GROWTH
– Produce a unique commercial that fits with the established brand, tries something new, and still creates interest in the product
– Increase understanding and ability in pre-production planning, cinematography, and post-production
– Produce a commercial that showcases my skill, personality, and is a worthy addition to my portfolio
– And finally, produce a commercial I can be proud of
PREPRODUCTION
From past experience, I knew that before I even wrote out a script or picked up a camera, I needed to have my story down. I grabbed my notebook and started brainstorming ideas. I knew that ultimately, my idea needed to do two things: Fit the zany, out-there marketing style of the established brand and convince a general audience that they should try the product.
My ideas got pretty wild, but I finally focused on simple, relatable experiences. Those relatable moments informed my commercial. Have you ever woken up at night super thirsty? Who hasn’t!? Have you ever heard a weird sound and peered down a long, dark hallway? Yes! Is there anything more satisfying than cracking open an ice-cold drink when you are thirsty? Very few things meet that level of satisfaction! Below is the preproduction storyboard I drew up, inspired by those core experiences:
PRODUCTION
Once I had my idea set, nothing was going to stop me. Unfortunately, I did not have a car, a team, or more equipment than my trusty Canon 90D. I scouted several locations and settled on my apartment complex as the best option. It was close and after talking with the manager, I was able to gain access to an empty apartment where I could shoot for hours and set up whatever I needed to without being an inconvenience to anyone. To lock it in, I had the complex manager sign a location agreement form for their protection and mine.
The biggest challenge in preproduction came when approaching people for help with the project. I had no problem finding willing participants; however, schedules did not line up and I could not lock anyone down. After trying filmmaking friends, I decided to reach out to the next best thing, film-loving friends. I approached Owen and pitched him the project. He agreed and I made sure that he signed a talent release form for his protection and mine.
For the shoot days, I chose to keep the equipment to a minimum because I would be the one transporting it by hand. I decided to borrow a triple Aputure 120DII kit from the school to help me light each scene and a Zoom H6 01 recorder for sound. I of course used my Canon 90D to shoot the commercial. I love the simplicity of the Zoom H6 and I recommend it to everyone. The interface is incredibly easy to use, and I have never gotten bad sound using it.
POSTPRODUCTION
Editing clips into a sequence is one of my favorite parts of the filmmaking process. It is at this step that I begin to see the final piece taking form. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The challenge of this part was taking my original commercial footage and cutting it down into the different, shorter formats. I had a message and I had to make sure it stayed more or less consistent over each cut. I learned so much about editing, especially color editing. I realized there is so much I still need to learn. After over 60 hours of planning, filming and editing, I was able to craft the commercials below. Don’t believe me? Here is a breakdown of the time it took.
THE FINAL PRODUCT
MOVING THE NEEDLE
Judging if I have “moved the needle” with this project is hard to quantify this early on. Personally, I feel like I grew and learned so much from every aspect of this project. Most of all, I am appreciative of the confidence this project has given me. I now know I have something cool in my portfolio! In fact, I have sent this link out to a few choice marketing professionals online in the hopes of getting feedback. I also included some promising YouTube analytics below. I cannot wait to see where I go from here and I cannot wait to tell my next story!
