Shooting a Webmercial and fancy words to make you Hollywood Hip!

Editing Body Within Webmercial/Promotional film copyright McKindles Photography 2014

     As I sit waiting for a file to Render, I thought I'd begin a post to the blog.  We're in Post Production for a Webmercial (do I get any credit for making up this name or am I late to the dance?) for my friends over at Body Within Fitness (located in Howell Michigan) which means I'm taking everything that I've shot (or recorded) and I'm now in the process of stitching all of my ideas together to create a commercial for their website, or Webmercial.



     I had posted an image on my Facebook page of my storyboard, and I thought it might be an interesting discussion for those that don't really know how commercials and TV shows get made.  Now let me be clear:  I don't know everything!  What I know is that my wife and family are constantly reminding me to put my decades of experience in the Entertainment business to work as a photographer and film maker.  And they make a very good point.  So... I try my best...

     After scrambling to create all of the films I made for The Great Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce, it was nice to be able to take my time and plan out this project.  I remember meeting with Chris and Jenny (Owners of Body Within) and after the excitement of our initial meeting, I asked Chris if he had an idea as to when he wanted to start using this film for his marketing campaign.  I was still in the process of editing for the Chamber and I held my breath waiting for his answer.  I was prepared to pull out if he wanted it done any time soon.  I was very glad to hear that they were in no hurry.  Chris & Jenny understood that this was going to take a solid plan to be effective and produce the film they had hoped for, so rushing was not an option.  Phew!  I got to keep the project and I had time to plan it all out!  Win-Win!

     So why plan?  Well, we weren't interested in just setting up a camera and making Chris and Jenny talk about why you should hire them.  They are both incredibly charming and that wasn't the issue... that idea just seemed a bit boring for their line of work.  I came up with a concept that I thought would be more creative.  The script I had in mind to write was very specific to their philosophy, energy and mission, and I had an story that included a lot of different shots.  This meant I'd have to storyboard everything so I wouldn't have to keep it all straight in my brain.  I was planning on shooting in multiple locations and a good portion of the commercial was to be shot on Green Screen.  So taking the time and planning this out was essential.

   What did I just say?  Okay... here are some terms I just threw out, so when we meet and I'm shooting your film, you'll have an idea as to what I'm saying :-)  or better yet, you can really dazzle your friends by sounding like a Hollywood hot-shot at your next Roller Skating 80's themed party!

... or the DMV...



Terminology:
Render - This is the process where the software (In my case, Premiere Pro) says "okay... so you've added all these adjustments to the footage you've put in the timeline, added some transitions between shots, maybe some special efx and some titles and now you want me to put it all together.  Give me some time... this could take awhile..."  This can be quite intensive as I am asking my computer to do a lot of complicated things.  The amount of time it takes to complete the process varies on the length of the movie and the time it takes.

Post-Production - Pretty simple.  It's all the stuff we do after we've filmed everything.  All of the editing, mixing and tweaking happens in this period of time.  This is when the hard part and the labor intensive stuff begins (Stuff is being used as a technical term here).  Not to say that any acting isn't hard, it's just my experience that this is when you have to put all of your ideas together and that takes a lot of time.  Making everything look like you're telling the story you want to tell, matching shots, making it look the best you can, etc... this takes time.  I was recently asked which part I like best:  Filming or Post Production and my answer is both.  I love the challenge of planning it out, getting the shots right, working with talent and then putting it all together.  Sometimes you deviate from the plan a little here and there and that's fun to discover.  (Except when my wife is Producing and reminds me that I've left the shot list...) This can include cutting things because they're no longer necessary to tell your story, sometimes you need to add more than you thought.

Storyboard for B.W. copyright McKindles Photography 2014

Storyboard - Speaking of planning... Storyboarding is a visual way to get ideas down on paper so you and your team can visualize what your overall plan for shooting is.  This helps me organize my shot list so I don't get home and realize that I've missed a shot...and the idea of having to replicate the set up would make me want to cry real hard like!  Storyboarding also helps me create a checklist of everything I need to capture including voice overs, narrations and anything else we need to record to tell our story.  Not everyone does this and I don't do it for every single project, especially ones that might take a few minutes to film.

And finally for today...

Webmercial - I don't know if this is an actual word or not, but I do know that I like it.  I use it for people that ask me what I'm working on or when pitching to a client.  It's inevitable that if I say I'm editing or shooting a commercial and I mean for a website, people get excited and think I'm some hot shot.  I think it's exciting to make these webmercials, so whether that qualifies as hot shot or not, I'll keep tabs on the reactions...

So that should give you plenty of high falootin' fancy buzz words to make your tweets the talk of the town... or something... Can't wait to share our finished product of the Body With Webmercial soon!  And don't forget to check out Body Within... those guys know how to make you feel great, feel strong and get in condition without getting hurt!