Credits:
Directed by Seth Rotkin
Director of Photography: Jacob Hellinga
Cast:
Circus Szalewski
Viravara Shetty
Zacerous LaRue Jones
Casey Lawrence
Michele Wunderlich
Daniel Green
Evan Daniel
Michael Hearn
Crew:
Gaffer: Rudy Marcial
1st Assistant Camera: Perry Billett
Production Designer: Kelsey Wright
Hair & Makeup: Ashley Noel
Post-production:
Editor: Seth Rotkin
Supervising Sound Editor: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Supervising Sound Editor: Christina Gonzalez
Re-Recording Mixer: Christina Gonzalez
Sound Designer: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Colorist: Jacob Hellinga
Voice Over: Clint Morrison
Post Production Audio Services Provided by Paper Mountain Post LLC
How much did production cost?
$3500
$1000 for location
$200 for G&E rentals
$500 for props (including $88 in bananas)
$1000 for cast & crew
$500 for post
$300 for other craftie and other miscelaneous costs
Everyone was extremely generous with their time and willing to work for less than they'd get on a full commercial shoot.
Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?
The concept was specific and weird. My recent specs have all had a key plot concept that I need to convey clearly to the audience for it to make sense. I was drawn to this because there's none of that. It's absurd!
What was the casting process like?
I used Breakdown Express to cast our lead actor through Actors Access, and had select actors self-record and submit electronically. Headshots and reels do a great job of showing what the actor will look like on set, but you have to do a good job crafting the audition sides and description if you want to know how directable they'll be. I gave the actors very short sides to record, but made sure there was space for a variety of emotions packed in, and encouraged them to give me a few takes. That both respects the actors' time and ensures you'll be able to find someone who delights you with their flexibility on set.
How did you search for/lock a location?
I used Giggster.com to hunt for locations but was having trouble finding my ideal giant office breakroom. One of the challenges of low budget shooting is limited locations. There are tons of shacks and warehouses, not a lot of pristine offices. Ultimately I found Electric Pony Studios which was more of a blank canvas and then got to work with our production designer to turn it into the space we wanted.
How did you select your DP, crew?
I'm extremely lucky to work with my friend and talented DP Jacob Hellinga on all my shoots. I've worked with most of the crew before, and the rest came from referrals.
How did shooting go? Any challenges?
Shooting was a blast. We had seven hours to dress the space, shoot, and get out of there. But we'd done so much prep that everything ran smoothly. The commercial plays out in a single shot. Of course that presents big challenges - you have to get one perfect take since you can't cut around problem spots. But that also meant that we didn't have any lighting setup changes! Once we got rolling we could get 4 or 5 takes in ten minutes, take a nice break, watch footage, reassess, and come back for more.
Tell us about editing and finishing.
Editing was seemingly easy - one take, no cuts! But the writers and I had left the end card concept undecided, figuring it would fall into place once we saw how the main footage turned out. That left a good amount of writing work for post, and then I had to actually put the end card together in After Effects. Also, my daughter was born a few weeks after our shoot!
In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?
I'd hire a 1st AD. Having someone to manage the set, make sure we're working at a good pace, keep an eye on everyone's safety, and wrangle actors would let me focus much more of my attention on directing.
Any other thoughts.
Thanks again to SpecBank for connecting me with great writers!
