Includes:
- Project Preproduction (Strategy, Messaging, Location Scout & Planning)
- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
- Camera Assistant
- Audio Technician
- 2- Lighting Technicians
- 1 – Grip / Utility Assistant
- 1 – Production Assistant
- 4k Cinema Camera Package
- Advanced Cinema Lighting Package
- Boom & Wireless Microphone Package
- Up to 9 Hours of Shooting
- Stylized Editing & Motion Graphics
ENG production is similar to news gathering or documenting an event, EFP production involves additional planning, more stylized lighting, and crafting message through the editing process.
With proper planning can we shoot enough of the right images to edit an engaging workhorse video.
BlueRock Energy – Power UP
Both project
“Power UP” – Project Overview
BlueRock Energy is an ESCO (Energy Service Company). Like National Grid and NSEG, they sell electricity and natural gas to small businesses and homeowners.
BlueRock Energy was now competing with them, and their biggest challenge was building awareness and trust. People already know and trust utilities to deliver energy.
They understood they needed to advertise on television, but like many small businesses, they were reluctant to incur the expense of putting an ad agency on retainer.
This was when Spectrum TV offered them an all-inclusive, easy advertising package solution. The commercials had no production value, they were inexpensive, and they looked it. So instead of building trust, they had the opposite effect.
The lack of production value did not position them as a rival to the utility company but with local, small-scale businesses. Their packaging was all wrong.
So, after a year of running cookie-cutter commercials and lackluster sales leads, BlueRock decided to become a corporate sponsor of the Buffalo Bills and leverage this affiliation with a large regional television campaign.
They needed a high-end television commercial with national-quality imagery, and we were hired to develop the concept, write the script and produce the commercial.
Project Goals
If the new commercial was going to build trust, it needed a design and packaging upgrade. The primary target for this campaign would be small businesses, restaurants in particular.
- Give BlueRock Energy an image makeover
- Positioned BRE as a big player in the energy business
- Convince prospects they were as safe with them as it was with the utility company
- BlueRock Energy would save them money
Our Role
Our job was to create a TV commercial that leveraged the Buffalo Bills’ brand while speaking directly to small business owners about high energy costs.
This campaign needed to convince business owners that if the Buffalo Bills trusted BlueRock Energy as their electricity provider, they too could trust them to deliver their energy uninterrupted.
The Buffalo Bills affiliation needed to be front and center, not minimized as an end tag.
Preproduction
Preproduction started with discovery and strategy sessions, and with BlueRock Energy team members, we clarified messaging and developed a creative treatment that complimented their goals.
The ad concept called for a restaurant full of customers and a busy kitchen.
Energy rates are based on peak demand; this is a sore spot for small business owners and something BlueRock Energy can help with.
Visuals of a full restaurant would intercut with clips of the restaurant owner consulting with a BlueRock Energy advisor.
Once the creative concepts was approved, we created storyboards, a shooting script and developed a production schedule. We auditioned actors, found background extras, and secured a shooting location.
Shooting
The equipment and crew arrived at 6:30 am and we left the parking lot about 9:30 pm.
This crew consisted of nine people, including a producer, a director, a cinematographer, three lighting/grip technicians, an AV technician, a production assistant, a makeup person, and a wardrobe assistant.
After the equipment was offloaded and staged, we began in the kitchen and staged a walkthrough consultation between the owner and the advisor. By approximately 11 am we moved to the booth area of the restaurant, and shot a sit down sitting consultation.
About halfway through our day the actors arrived, signed paper work and went through makeup while the crew set up monitors and began lighting in the bar area.
Extras arrived around 4 pm. They were brought to a staging area, and outfitted with Buffalo Bills jerseys and hats. From there, we focused on high energy crowd shots in the bar.
We finished our shooting about 7:30 pm in the main dining room. These shots were choreographed to imply that everyone was celebrating a Buffalo Bills kickoff party sponsored by BlueRock Energy.
BlueRock Energy – Night Practice
“Night Practice” – Project Overview
After BlueRock Energy saw very positive results with its “Power Up” TV campaign, they decided to bring Bills player Arron Williams on board as their spokesperson. They wanted to double down on the affiliation and with a new television commercial.
The goals were the same as those of the “Power Up” campaign.
- Announce the New Spokesperson
- Continue to Increase Brand Awareness
- Continue to Leverage the Bills Partnership
- Continue to Build Trust
This commercial would run in the same markets as their previous “Night Practice” commercial. This demographic had been introduced to BlueRock Energy and the services it offered. They were buying a significant amount of advertising throughout a region of New York known for being huge Bill’s fans.
So together, we decided to capitalize on the success of “Power Up” and introduce our new spokesperson in a fun way. The production quality level needed to match or exceed the level of quality we had previously established.
This was great; we were excited, but as with all new projects, we were looking at a bare canvas. The creative options were almost unlimited.
Aaron Williams was a football player, not an actor, I was told he was well-spoken, but we were not allowed to screen test him, and we only had him for three hours.
I googled him but found nothing online that convinced me he could carry the narrative. I’ve been in similar situations, and I knew we needed a script with minimal, segmented lines for Arron.
He was hired by BlueRock for his football skills, not his speaking skills. We decided it would be best to see Aaron in his environment, and that’s a football field.
After some negotiating and increasing our insurance policy, I was told we could shoot on the field at the Stadium with lights on. The concept and the script quickly followed.
Preproduction
Once we had the concept and script, I brought Cinematographer Justin Maine into the fold and began designing shots and a shooting plan.
This was “Night Practice” it got dark a 6:45 pm, and we needed to be packed and off the field by 11 pm. We had to shoot this between 7 and 10 pm. This meant our camera setups had to be pre-visualized ahead of time.
The ad concept called for a single Buffalo Bill player to be practicing with stadium lights on.
Production (Shooting the Video)
Thanks to a location scout and excellent communication from Bill’s management team, we brought our vehicles with equipment into the end zone; from there, carts were supplied to help us move equipment into place. Power supply terminals had been identified and turned on.
Our twelve-hour day started at 10:00 am; we pulled onto the field at 11 am and had our equipment set up at 1:30 pm. After a half-hour lunch, we began working with Arron’s double.
We had very little time with Arron, so we needed to rehearse the camera blocking, lens choices, and lighting design of every shot. There was no room for technical setbacks.
Hiring a double for Arron not only helped us rehearse shots but also allowed us to shoot close-up footage we could use in the video. The scene was set for the night, so we had to use some camera filters, creative camera cropping, and lighting tricks to pull this off.
But at this point, Arron was an unknown, and I needed a B plan. At the end of the day, I needed to have shot enough footage to edit a high-end spot, and this extra footage might help us stitch a problem performance together in the editing room.
Arron arrived around 5:30 pm. We reviewed our shot list, and he changed into the brand new gear we had for him. We shot all of his workouts and added a bit where he howled his idea, and I absolutely love it.
The easy part was over, and now it was time to see how Arron did with precise camera blocking and spoken lines. Arron was working with veteran actor David Bunce. David would engage him with a question; this would allow us to stitch the best segments from multiple takes into a seamless scene.
Knowing how to shoot for the edit is essential in situations like this. Many corporate CEOs and upper management aren’t good on camera, But with skilled handling, two camera angles, and the right collection of appropriate cutaway shots, every performance can be improved.
Ultimately Arron was great, it took some work, but we put together a good performance; we had a lot of fun and finished on time. Lights went out at 11 pm, just as we left the field.
