A 30 Second Jewelry Spot
Hey everyone,
I was recently tasked with shooting a 30 second commercial for a 150 year old British company called "Charles Green". They specialize in handmade lockets and gold jewelry. I felt the shoot went really well. This is my first time dealing with a live animal and one that could completely destroy my equipment, so we were lucky that the horse didn't come my way on the jump scene. Also we were able to get the sixth generation owner to be in it and he is the judge at the end. The only problem I ran into was getting the over the shoulder shot without a monitor which I now find to be an essential piece that I desperately need to buy. Thankfully, it can out pretty sharp. Any feedback you can give me is appreciated. Equipment: Canon XHA1, Bogen 516 Pro, Redrock Micro 35mm Adapter for Medium to Close shots (50mm 1.4), and FCP2. http://www.vimeo.com/661115 Thanks, -Josh |
nice job! I really like the filming and the effects but the graphics were a little bit weak in my opinion.
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I like it. The music was fitting. I think the voice could be a little more...what's that word, bold?
Would you mind posting your settings and workflow? thanks for sharing! |
Really liked it.
I agree with the voice over comment, but would go further and suggest removing it completely. Is it really necessary? All the information is displayed on the screen for the view to read- why bother having the voiceover to distract from the visuals? Also, loved the shot of the horse jumping, it looks as if you slow it down as the horse jumps through the air, did you experiment with having the whole shot slowed, instead of normal speed then slow? It might look slightly more refined that way. Either way, great ad- were they happy with it? |
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My aim here is to do commercials without showing Jewelry and that they'll show people something other than discounts but what it is about (this one is based around tradition). I'm only 17, and have shot three commercials so far, and each one gets so much better. Quote:
Thanks! Glad you liked that shot. What I did was cut in the center and then just slow down that section on jump. I haven't played with slowing the entire scene down. The reason I did it this way was to allow a second or more time for their name to be on it. I appreciate you saying that and they were defiantly over joyed by it. |
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Hey, Josh. If I'm being completely honest, I thought the commercial was terrible. The VO sounded like a joke. Like something out of an SNL sketch. The titles were really crude. The scene was dreary and gray, which didn't bring up happy feelings in me, but rather feeling of anxiety. I like the concept with the horse riding and stuff. Obviously these people aren't trying to sell jewelry to the everyday person. If they are, this commercial is way too snotty.
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Much too long static shots - an nothing of them correspond with the music.
Too hard first cut - look at the woman`s hand. And tragic VO. |
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Josh all things considered it looks great. I've seen 10,000 times worse. Take every opinion with a grain of salt because conceiving and producing a purposeful, compelling TV spot is a hard thing that not many people can do.
Seems like you already know what the weak points are, which you can improve on next time around, and with a little more experience/confidence I think you won't have to make as many creative concessions with "hands-on" clients. Be sure to post your next spot. |
It looks nice, too bad vimeo compression is pretty bad, could you possibly convert it to a better codec/bitrate to really appreciate your work.
Regards, Oleg. |
For a local/regional TV spot, your work is considerably above average. I think it also targets the products demographic very well. The equine industry in VA is one of the nations largest and this ad should definitely appeal to them. These people drop $3K-$5K per month on each horse alone, so this locket is right up their alley. Who came up with the concept?
The approval you are looking for will not be found on these message boards. Every project screams for areas of improvement, especially when presented to your peers. The only opinions that should matter to you are of the client and yourself. Your best indicator of success will be how effective the ad is once it starts running. My professional opinion of this spot is as follows: The opening shot is framed, lit, and chosen perfectly. The look on the little girls face isn’t that convincing towards the end of the second shot. She seems uncomfortable. As director, it’s your responsibility to keep retaking it until she gets it right. Speak up, clearly dictate your vision of what you want to see, and get everyone involved to make it happen. As editor, you can slow it down a bit and fade before she looks away to stay on the eye contact and smile. The jump shot is good. The music and VO are fine for this spot. The titling can easily be improved by adding a slow zoom-in on the words. Between the VO “Remains” and “Endless” is slightly longer than it needs to be. My only real issue, which I find the most important, is that there is no call to action. There is a huge blank space where a website can go. On the end VO he should say something like “fine custom jewelry,” to define the product offering a little better. The address of the retailer wouldn’t hurt either. My best advice to you would be to start sending the spot around to other niche market retailers in your area and secure more work. You can play around with your camera all day long… but nothing will make you a better filmmaker like working on someone else’s time and cash. |
I liked the look of your video a lot Josh. i definitely got the feeling of being in the English countryside (makes me want to get a copy of magicbullet...) and your shots were well done. i agree that the voice over may have needed a little more Ompf... his accent sounded slightly fake, but over all i really thought you did a great job. if the client was happy with it then rock on, keep it up.
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looks beautiful...
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