Callaway "Nature Calls"

 

Click here to watch.

Credits

Director: Seth Rotkin
Writer: Daniel Gray
Cast: Bruce Clifford
Cast: Simon Martin
Director of Photography: Jacob Hellinga
Producer: Emily Yonker
Gaffer: Jonathan Shrader
Grip: Brandon Amaya
Assistant Camera: Perry Billett
Assistant Camera: Garrett Bean
Production Sound Mixer: Matt Gelzer
Production Assistant: Tyler Andrews
Editor: Seth Rotkin
Supervising Sound Editor: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Sound Designer: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Colorist: Ryan DeGrazzio
Colorist: Jacob Hellinga

How much did production cost? 

$2500
About 1/3 for the location, 1/2 for crew, and the rest for various production costs.

I'm always fortunate to have talented crew friends help out for much less than their standard quote.

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I'm obsessed with golf, and when I read this script I connected with the underlying drive to practice your swing regardless of how much you're inconveniencing the people around you - in this case a road trip buddy. Increasingly, I get excited by scripts with a core emotion I connect to strongly. That's the heartbeat of the project, and I do my best work when I can relate. Additionally the desert setting was something different for my DP and me, and while it was a two hour drive away felt reasonably doable.

What was the casting process like?

I needed an actor with strong comedy chops who could also convincingly swing a golf club. Fortunately, Actors Access makes this pretty easy. I asked actors to submit two videos: their read of the sides, and their swing.

How did you search for/lock a location?

I found the location on Giggster and the location manager made the process easy.

How did you select your DP, crew?

I always work with DP Jacob Hellinga, and we brought along our friends who AC. We needed a fantastic gaffer to control the sunlight as it moved across the sky and were extremely happy with Jonathan and his grip Brandon who came on a referral. I produced an AFI project last year and met a bunch of their talented students who were crucial to this shoot. Getting plugged into that kind of network is invaluable for finding great crew, and you don't even have to attend the school to make it happen! Just find a way to help on some of their productions.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

We had to cancel our first shoot day due to high winds. I was checking the weather forecast every hour for the week leading up, and two days before the shoot it became obvious that it was going to be a production nightmare if we went ahead. As a director I'm always finding creative ways to forge ahead despite obstacles, and it took a lot for me to accept that the only path forward was to quit. I'm extremely grateful that our location, cast, and crew were all supportive of the last minute change, and when we showed up the following weekend we had perfect weather.


Tell us about editing and finishing
I always start my edits with an assembly to make sure I got everything I needed for it to cut together. From there, I dive in or send it off to an editor. But this time I finished the assembly and... it basically seemed done! We put so much effort into planning our shots to pack a lot of life into 30 seconds that there was one way to put it together. I swapped out a few takes but otherwise we were ready for final sound and color.

SurveyMonkey "Hotel Room"

Click to watch. 

Credits

Director: Kade Atwood

Writer: Dan Sorgen

DP: Sam Sargeant

1st AD: Josh Contor

Production Designer: Mitchell Richmond

PA: Erin Gibson

Robot Op: Chris Workman

Robot Tech: PJ Hale

Gaffer: Trenton Davis

Key Grip: Maya Kendall

Grip: Vincent Pelina

Grip: Max Wenham

HMU: Ariel LaFontaine

Wardrobe: Amelia Kuhlmann

Set Decorator: Joe Adumson

Set Dresser: Erik Butts

Set Builder: Elise Fralick

VFX: Tarik Saran

Colorist: Drew Tekulve

Sound Design: Brenden Taylor

How much did production cost? 

$20,000

I’m happy to say everyone was paid. I think that’s really important. If I’m asking people to invest in my career, I should be willing to invest in theirs. We focused favors on materials and equipment. 

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I read this script a couple years ago and immediately had a vision to show the destruction in a single continuous shot. I didn’t have access to the gear to produce it so I sat on it for a bit. One skill in particular I developed for this project was using Unreal Engine to create pre-vis. I mocked up the entire shot and was able to show the crew exactly what I wanted. It also helped me realize pitfalls I wouldn’t have otherwise seen until production. 

What was the casting process like?

As usual, I try to cast people I’ve worked with before. Bryson and Dalton I’d worked with on a commercial and TV show respectively. And the rest of the cast were friends of the crew. 

How did you search for/lock a location?

We shot at Enigma 3 Studios. They’re incredible and I’ve frequently worked with them on other projects. A real hotel room was briefly considered but that idea was quickly discarded.

How did you select your DP, crew?

Again, just people I always work with. Except the gaffer, Trenton. He’s one of the most sought after gaffers. I’ve probably asked him to work on 20 projects prior to this one but he is always booked. Luckily we shot in January and he was finally available. And yes, he’s as great as everyone says!

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

It went surprisingly well. We had one prep and one shoot day. If I hadn’t mocked it up in Unreal beforehand, it would’ve been a two day shoot. One of the biggest challenges was shooting at 1,000fps because it requires SO MUCH lighting. We kept asking the studio to add these lights and those. Finally, they just brought over all their lights and said “use what you need.” 

Tell us about editing and finishing.

The single continuous shot is actually five shots stitched together. In theory it was going to work but I’d never done some of the transitions before. Luckily it all worked!  

One of the big issues I ran into was the pacing. The robot shot is so dynamic and cutting from that to these slower static shots was a bit jarring. In retrospect, I wish we’d utilized some fun transitions to keep the tempo up throughout.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 came out this weekend. There’s this incredible action sequence in a hallway that plays out as a continuous shot. Watching it I realized a mistake I made. Most of the slow motion moments in my spot occur as the camera is accelerating into or decelerating out of a move. The slow motion beats should occur while the camera arm is at its peak speed. This way the camera has more motion. But now I’m excited for the next robot shoot because I know EXACTLY how to make it look as cool as possible! 

Skittles "Skittlana"

 

Click to watch

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!

Nicol Insurance "Little Notes"

 

Click to watch.

Credits

Director/DP/Producer - Tom Church

Writer - Danny Cameron

Composer - J Scott Rakozy

Grip - Dylan Trahan

Production Assistant - Tannis

How much did production cost?

The full cost of the production (not including paying myself) was around $3000 CAD. Areas I was able to save were on locations, talent and crew. Everyone got paid but because they were all friends of mine they were happy to help out for minimal pay and excited for the project. I’ve since worked with much of this same crew again on several other projects. The majority of the cost was in the custom soundtrack composition and the voice over artist. I’m glad I invested in those areas because I feel that those 2 pieces specifically tie the whole commercial together. Other than that, I owned the camera package and lights and grip gear we used. That was also my car, house and ladder so we didn’t have to rent anything. 

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

To be honest, I went through just about every script in the database trying to find a couple I could short list for my portfolio. There are alot of comedy focused scripts but I couldn’t find many that felt like something I would produce. At the same time a client had reached out asking me to submit a campaign proposal for an insurance company. I wasn’t overly interested in the project at first but then I stumbled onto this script and it stuck out because it felt complete. Almost like I had seen it before. It had a quality to it that made it feel like it would be at home on broadcast. There was also a strong emotional element woven in that I thought felt genuine and I thought the audience would appreciate. So technically not a spec project, I was lucky enough to get paid to produce this piece. As for how it reflects my vision as a commercial director, I’m not so sure. I was pretty inexperienced at the time and to produce the script seemed obtainable. It was pretty straightforward and wouldn't require a big crew or vfx. This was my first “real” commercial project of this caliber so I wanted something I could realistically accomplish on my own if needed yet still showcase a certain quality in the deliverable. Beyond that there wasn’t much vision to speak of. The script laid everything out really well.

What was the casting process like?

The casting process was similar to what I would expect for most lower budget productions. I put out a Facebook post to my friends and a few local swap and sell groups asking for actors. I included a short description of what the character would be doing and my anticipated demographics (ex/ mother, 30-45 years old) and asked the interested applicants to submit a short (1min) video of why they would be the right choice for the role. Within 24hrs I had around 10 submissions to review. A few friends reached out to me almost instantly which was nice but they were actually a really good fit for the roles so I locked them in. We actually shot 2 alternate scenes as well so that we could see how the final product felt with various demographics. Having more experience now I would still make a decision that best serves the brand first and save the expense of additional actors.

How did you search for/lock a location?

Honestly, I feel pretty silly here. I didn’t do much of a location scout at all. A buddy of mine who was going to be one of my grips for the day offered his Mom’s house as a potential location. I had been there before and thought it would work. We shot the first 2 scenes there, an indoor and an outdoor scene. For the final scene we really just needed a suburban home in a quiet neighborhood. I had originally lined up a location with a garage but the homeowner couldn’t get it cleaned in time for us and the light at the time of day we would be available to shoot was going to be much too harsh. So I ended up using my own house. I think it turned out fine but I did have a much more elaborate plan in mind originally.

How did you select your DP, crew?

Minus the retiree actor, everyone else involved were friends. I live in a pretty rural community (~20k people) so finding qualified crew has always been hard. My buddy Dylan and I have worked together for a few years on various projects and I knew I could trust him to set up a light and help review framing choices. His partner Tannis was a huge help on a short film we did where she was our Production Assistant so I hired her as well to fill the same role to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

The actual shoot was incredibly simple and only took about 4 hrs total. The only challenges were really just me getting out of my own way. Directing has always been the hardest part of the process for me as I gravitated towards the cinematography elements more so getting solid performances out of the talent was not my strong suit. Luckily everyone was really easy to work with and could take direction really well. This was also my first project using a RED camera so there was some anxiety around making sure everything was “ready for the camera”. I had tested everything out and knew how to operate everything but up to this point I was used to the look associated with DSLR cameras so I was a bit anxious to see how this would be different. Once I saw the image on the monitor I knew we were going to be fine. It just looked right, right away. Hard to describe exactly what it was but the character of the image was what I had envisioned. After that I relaxed and was able to really enjoy the process. 

Tell us about editing and finishing.

This was the easiest edit I’ve ever had. Seriously. I had a rough cut together that night and sent it off the composer right away. Scott was great to work with and had a custom soundtrack and a full mix to me within a day or two. I used Voices.com to help me find a professional voiceover artist and that process was incredibly efficient as well. Within 24hrs I had 20+ applicants to choose from, most of which were really good. Highly recommend both Scott Rakozy and Voices.com! Next time I would also bring in a colourist to take the lead instead of doing that portion myself just so there could be some more cohesion throughout the edit.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

Absolutely. First thing is I would take more time in preproduction to do a proper location scout. These locations are fine and serve the story well enough but I think there are better locations we could have found that would have taken this to the next level. I still have a relationship with the client so hopefully we can turn this script into more of an ongoing campaign and focus on a wider demographic of actors and locations

Any other thoughts.

Like I said, this project was the first time I was able to really step out into commercial production and for that I’m really grateful. I learned alot about the process and have since implemented those lessons in the work I do today. I don’t have any formal video production training (I started out shooting weddings for friends and watching YouTube) so this was a big step in me understanding what I was capable of. I don't think the final product would be as good as it is without Danny’s script and without it being here on Spec Bank. Overall, I’m just really grateful that services like this exist for up and coming filmmakers. It definitely made a difference in my journey.

Red Oak Brewery "Body Language"

 

Click to watch.

Click to watch an interview with Eric Krehbiel and Dan Sorgen of Spec Bank.

Credits

Prod Co: Krehbiel Creative
Director: Eric Krehbiel
Writer: Dan Sorgen

Producer/1st AD: Joshua Collins
DP: Stephen Lemieux
Color: Kyle Messina
Gaffer: Sophia Williams
Key Grip: Carter Bailey
Sound Designer: Noah Kankanala
Sound Mixer/Boom Op: Jayden Santos
Production Designer: Jesse Malings
HMU & Wardrobe Supervisor: Amy Hendrix
Wardrobe Assistant: Ella Meisenheimer
1st AC: Caleb Williams
2nd AC: Erin Scannell
Art PA: Yuma Kobayashi
Set PA: Chandler Blancaflor
VFX AD: Erin Scannell
VFX Grip: Polly Ketcham
Photographer: Soren Olsen

Key Cast:

Briana Morell
Gideon Brown

How much did production cost?

 

We spent about $11,000 in total on this project. Almost everyone involved on the crew side took less than industry-standard rates since many were on the less experienced side and just looking for a portfolio piece or credits or the experience itself. As the director I worked for free, as did my DP, Stephen, which saved us a few thousand dollars. He also supplied Camera, Grip, and Lighting at no cost to the production, which saved us an additional several thousand. Without Stephen's eagerness to jump in and generosity with his time and equipment we could not afford to reach the level of quality we were aiming for. As a close friend with his own full-time gig working on video games, my sound designer, Noah, also jumped in for a very humble rate just to dip his toes into a different type of media. Our location also let us shoot for an entire 12-hour day for free, which went a long way for us financially. If everything had been priced at what it normally would be, it would have likely totaled about $40k.

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

 

When I found the Body Language script, I thought it was a perfect fit for the type of project I was looking for. It centered around a great bit of emotional drama, which I figured would be a unique thing to display in a commercial while also sticking to the strengths of my niche of dramatic storytelling spots. I knew how I wanted to shoot it right away. 

What was the casting process like?

 

I knew if we were going to do a beer commercial, especially one with a romantic spark to it, we would need some real commercial talent. We talked with a few local talent agencies and looked at a handful of model/actors. I only considered people who had prior dramatic acting experience and looked at a lot of audition tapes they had done to gauge how each person performed on-camera. We eventually narrowed it down and made the call based on the assumption that Briana and Gideon would have decent natural chemistry.

How did you search for/lock a location?

 

We knew we wanted a bar that had something a bit dive-y and classic to it. We looked for places with a long bar and darker wood tones with an aged look throughout the space. After looking at several places, we settled on The Wooden Nickel Pub which Josh, our Producer, had a relationship with. They were incredibly accommodating to our production; we couldn't have dreamed of a better location to work with. 

How did you select your DP, crew?

 

Stephen was the first person I approached about the project. We had worked in Camera Dept together on a short film a few months before and I enjoyed his energy on set. He had told me he was looking for opportunities to build his portfolio as a DP, so I mentioned I was going to be making 2 spec spots and would he want to jump in. He was eager to get the chance and offered to work and supply a generous amount of gear for free (which he already owned). I realized quickly in planning that I would need help pulling all the elements together and brought in Josh, my Producer and 1st AD, to help with logistics in order to let me focus more on the creative. The rest of the crew came together over the course of a few weeks through my personal network of crew people.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

 

This was probably the smoothest shoot I have directed thus far. There were a lot of variables and a last-minute scheduling change that created quite a bit of stress leading up to the day, but once we got on set and started setting up everything clicked into place. Josh did a great job of giving direction to our 14+ extras between takes while I was able to only worry about Briana, Gideon, and the frame. We only had 4 lighting set ups all day, so we had a decent amount of space in the schedule to really work on the performances and get our angles and everything exact to what had been storyboarded.  

Tell us about editing and finishing.

 

The cutting process was a bit tricky. There were several incredible shots that we had that ended up on the cutting room floor. Initially in the storyboards we cut out to the two shot a few more times, which had a nice rhythm in the sequence, and we had a little more back and forth between the characters before Gideon walks off to get the beers. We tried to do a 30 second cut that kept all these elements, but the cutting became far too rapid to allow for any real feeling to develop with how the guy and girl were interacting. It was too chaotic, so we had to reduce our shots significantly to create more space between each cut. I think we ended up finding the right balance to have enough going on for the scene to be interesting, while also slowing it down enough to get a sense of the chemistry between Briana and Gideon, which was important to making the scene connect with the viewer. 

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

 

Carrying off what I said on the editing, I think we had too complex of a sequence in the storyboarding phase. Since I hadn't had to deal with a 30 second runtime before, I wasn't aware of how much a cut impacts the feeling of the scene you're covering. Since the dramatic tempo of this spot was meant to be a bit slower and focused on this romantic angle, we really would have found a perfect balance at around 13-15 shots. We had storyboarded 21 and ended up at 17 in the final edit. It might have been a good idea to use 2 cameras to shoot coverage a bit differently than how we did it here. The process we used was very much shooting a certain moment here and a certain interaction there, in a very broken up manor, so that in the final sequence the framing of each shot would change as the two leads warmed up to each other more. I think visually what we have is very effective, but it would have been nice to also get performances that were a little richer and more spontaneous. 

Any other thoughts.

 

I'm very grateful to everyone involved in this project and especially to Red Oak for taking an interest in the product of all our efforts. This was by far the most enjoyable shooting experience I've had so I can only say that I really loved getting to make it. Many thanks to Dan and Spec Bank as well for being such a great resource from the start of the project. 

 

Gatorade "Blindfolded"

Click to watch. 

Credits

 

Prod Co: Krehbiel Creative
Director: Eric Krehbiel
Writer: Dan Sorgen

Producer/1st AD: Joshua Collins
DP: Stephen Lemieux
Color: Kyle Messina
Gaffer: Sophia Williams
Key Grip: Carter Bailey
Sound Designer: Noah Kankanala
Sound Mixer/Boom Op: Jayden Santos
Production Designer: Jesse Malings
HMU & Wardrobe Supervisor: Amy Hendrix
Editor: Joshua Collins, Eric Krehbiel
1st AC: Caleb Williams
2nd AC: Erin Scannell
Art PA: Yuma Kobayashi
Set PA: Chandler Blancaflor
VFX AD: Erin Scannell
VFX Grip: Polly Ketcham
Photographer: Soren Olsen

Cast:

Sky Rebeor
Dries Raets
Tyler Gene
Amir Bradsher
Caleb Barreto

 

How much did production cost?

 

We spent about $12,000 in total on this project. Everyone involved on the crew side took less than industry-standard rates since many were on the less experienced side and just looking for a portfolio piece or credits or the experience itself. As the director I worked for free, as did my DP, Stephen, which saved us a few thousand dollars. He also supplied Camera, Grip, and Lighting at no cost to the production, which saved us an additional several thousand. Without Stephen's eagerness to jump in and generosity with his time and equipment we could not afford to reach the level of quality we were aiming for. As a close friend with his own full-time gig working on video games, my sound designer, Noah, also jumped in for a very humble rate just to dip his toes into a different type of media. If everything had been priced at what it normally would be in the commercial market, this spot probably would have cost about $35k to pull off.

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

 

I chose the Blindfolded script because I thought it was well suited for the type of commercials I want to be working on. It had a clear, focused narrative element with the main character competing against a group of antagonists. The scene had a simple set up, dramatic stakes, and a lot of room to play in terms of how it could be captured. It was also a single-location commercial, which made it more feasible with our limited resources. I was specifically looking for a non-comedy storytelling script that allowed for two things: 1) plenty of working with actors (so no tabletop/food/etc.) and 2) a dynamic sequence of shots.

What was the casting process like?

It took some time to simply find people who would be available for 10-12 hours overnight on a Saturday. I knew we wanted actual basketball players since we wanted them to be able to bring a dose of realism to the movements they would perform. We thought we had some players from a college basketball team locked in until a scheduling conflict cropped up about a week before production. Luckily, we were able to find a new cast of actual players quickly through word of mouth within a few days and proceeded as planned. It was a lot of reaching out to friends and online casting calls.

How did you search for/lock a location?

 

Originally, I intended for this spot to be shot on an outdoor court at night in order to get a deep level of contrast with background falling into blacks. Unfortunately, we were locked into shooting in January, which made overnight temperatures too cold to put a team through for a full shoot day, so we decided to look for an indoor court instead. We were able to find a community rec center close to most crew members that closed for 12 hours overnight on Saturdays. We rented it out at a slightly discounted rate for the full 12 hours and ended up wrapping out with 1 hour to spare. 

How did you select your DP, crew?

 

Stephen was the first person I approached about the project. We had worked in Camera Dept together on a short film a few months before and I enjoyed his energy on set. He had told me he was looking for opportunities to build his portfolio as a DP, so I mentioned I was going to be making 2 spec spots and would he want to jump in. He was eager to get the chance and offered to work and supply a generous amount of gear for free (which he already owned). I figured that would be a win-win arrangement and we both ended up being very proud of the work we did together. I realized quickly into planning that I would need help pulling all the elements together and brought in Josh, my Producer and 1st AD, to help with logistics in order to let me focus more on the creative. The rest of the crew came together over the course of a few weeks through my personal network of local crew.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

 

Shooting was quite smooth. We had done extensive prep with detailed storyboards beforehand and all dept heads knew exactly what we were trying to capture days in advance. There was a hard stop at 12 hours which caused us a bit of stress going into the shoot. We had to shuffle our shot list and change one section of the sequence early on to ensure we didn't lose time, but since we were in one room for the entire shoot it was a minor set of changes.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

 

Editing was a challenging process for me as a director. Facing the time constraint of packing the entire story into 30 seconds, with time left over for a logo card, was something I hadn't dealt with before and I'm glad to have been forced to figure it out. You start to understand which frames are really communicating something worthwhile when you must condense down to that level. In storyboarding, we added an entire angle with a plot-twist where the 4 villains disappear, and it was all in the protagonist's mind. The rough cut where we tried to keep this felt cluttered, and in being economical we had apparently made the ending confusing, per feedback from other creatives. For the final cut I decided to cut out that angle entirely and let the editing focus more on emphasizing movement and action, which I think ended up being a much more powerful use of a 30 second runtime. Finding the soundscape mostly revolved around balancing the deeper layers of texture and foley with a top layer of music. We knew once we locked the cut that the audio was going to be what carried the energy of the scene. The mix we ended up with was something that had to be fine-tuned to be able to carry narrative momentum all on its own. 

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

 

I wish I had built the sequence with a smaller number of shots when we were storyboarding. We captured 31 shots on set and ended up using about 26. Even in the final cut I felt the editing was a bit cluttered, so if I were to do another 30 second spot in this style, I would aim for a shot count closer to 23 or so. I did not appreciate the impact of a cut within such a short window.

Any other thoughts.

 

I'd like to say that Spec Bank was a super valuable resource for the project. Without this caliber of a script to work off, there is no way the project would have been what it is. That sort of embodies the whole approach to getting this spot made. We had to take advantage of a lot of resources that were readily available and turn them around into the highest quality product possible. I'm continually impressed with what each department was able to pull off to get what we have with the finished cut.

Crest "Smiles for a Lifetime"

 

Click to watch.

Credits:

Director: Eli Meir Kaplan

Writer: Josh Weinstein

DP: Tyler Davis

Producer: Eli Meir Kaplan

Gaffer: Taylor Roesch

Sound Operator: Mike Schoen

Hair/Makeup Stylist: Kim Reyes

Wardrobe Stylist: Alyssa Sadler

Talent: Linda Townsend MGMT

Editor: Eli Meir Kaplan

Colorist: Faction

PA: Elon Durant

Cost to produce the spot? 

It cost around $5,000 to produce the spot

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I specialize in emotionally compelling storytelling. I searched through most of the scripts and found a few that I resonated with. Of those, Crest "Smiles For A Lifetime" was the most economically feasible (small cast, one affordable location)

What was the casting process like?

I cast most of the talent through Backstage. The adult version of the child was difficult because I wanted to use a real family that had a daughter. Linda Townsend MGMT helped me find a family for that particular role.

How did you search for/lock a location?

I used Airbnb. I was looking for a house that had two distinct bathrooms that didn't look modern.

How did you select your DP, crew?

I'm a commercial photographer and often hire most of the people who were on the crew. There were a few people who I hadn't worked with--such as the wardrobe stylist. I always make a point of hiring people who are able to help on spec projects. I had worked on the DP on a short film--his work is phenomenal. I was lucky that he was willing to collaborate on this.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

Everything went relatively smoothly. We took a little long with the first scene and had to move more quickly for the rest--we ended up cutting out a shot. There was also a mixup with the Airbnb and renters entered the house toward the end of our shoot. I asked them to stay in the basement. That kind of threw me off. Parking was also an issue.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

I edited the project in Final Cut Pro. The original cut was around :60 and I wanted to cut it down to :30. I found the best way is to delete and shorten shots from the at :60 edit rather than try to fit everything into :30 from the beginning. Faction handled the color grading. I worked with a motion graphics designer from Upwork on the Crest logo at the end. He nailed it.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

Yes, I think I tried too hard to hit emotional notes. It seems to work better when I don't try to turn on the waterworks and it just unfolds organically.

Any other thoughts.

It takes a lot of effort to put spec shoots together, but it's SO worth it. There's nothing like creating a compelling story from scratch.