The Best Practices for Color Grading Commercials

Color grading is an art form that can take years to master. I have been doing it professionally for four years now and I’m still learning new techniques every day and developing my skill set as much as I ever have. This is largely thanks to the fact that I now work on such a wide variety of projects that all call for such different looks. But with all that I have learned over the years, some of the most important lessons have come from color grading commercials.

Oddly enough, commercials often require the most amount of color grading even if the source footage looks beautiful to begin with. To put this in perspective, consider what would be required to color grade a feature length narrative film.

Often there is a short timeline (maybe a few weeks) to color grade hundreds or thousands of shots, and artistically there is a lot of freedom in terms of where things can go. This means that in many cases the rules are easier to break when coloring a feature (within reason)  and each shot gets less attention than a commercial, since there are so many other shots that you need to get to.

Commercials are the exact opposite. A 30 second commercial may only consist of a dozen or so shots, but can still take a couple of days to grade. This is because: A) Commercial budgets can usually afford more time in the color suite, and B) More specific grading often needs to be done.

So when you break down how much time is actually being spent on any given shot, a commercial project will always have a much greater number than a feature film. Commercials can be one of the hardest types of projects to grade for this reason, and in order to achieve great results, you need to be aware of some key fundamentals.

So for those out there that do a lot of commercial work, the tips below are for you. Please know that there are of course exceptions to every rule, and these tips certainly do not apply to every single commercial. That said, they will be relevant for the majority of commercial spots you might be working on.

1. It’s All in the Midtones

As far as color is concerned, commercials are all about the midtones. This is especially true of commercials that feature talent and aren’t simply a montage of product shots. In a narrative film, it’s perfectly okay (or in some cases even encouraged) to place mid tones/skin tones in a unique place.

For instance, you might be creating a really moody scene and want your actor’s faces to be underexposed, and you might achieve that by bringing down your midtones significantly… But on a commercial project you would almost never do this.

Commercials almost always benefit most from accurate, neutral, and pleasing midtones that are a touch on the bright side. Since the talent in any given commercial is essentially there to sell a product (even if the commercial isn’t pitchy), their appearance needs to be inviting and attractive, and the first step in achieving that look is by color correcting the mid tones in a way that brings up your talent’s skin to an optimal point.

2. Use Power Windows

Most commercial projects use far more power windows than their feature film counterparts. This isn’t because the commercials need to be more stylized (more on that below), but rather because details are extremely important in any commercial project.

For example, the color of a can of soda might need to be keyed and windowed to match exactly with the actual color approved by the brand or agency. Also, certain elements of people, products, or environments may need to be highlighted or brought down in order to draw the viewer’s attention to the right place.

There is so little time to tell a story in a commercial, and the format is so highly visual that every last detail and shot becomes very important. Power windows are one of the best tools that you can use to achieve these results, but you always want to make sure to use them within reason. You don’t want your final product to look like it has windows all over it… It needs to look and feel natural, and just accentuate the most important parts of the frame without getting distracting.

Here’s a video from F-Stop Academy that covers working with power windows.

3. Never over-stylize

Many amateur colorists that come from an independent film background make the mistake of over-stylizing their commercial grades. This is often because they are so used to working with directors (possibly on genre films) that ask them to go really extreme with their grading, that they are almost programmed to push things really far in the color suite. 

In reality, most commercial projects need more color correction than color grading. In other words, a well-shot commercial should look great out of the can, and might not need a heavy look on it.

Usually just applying a LUT, balancing your shots, and matching everything gets you most of the way there. Once your power windows are added, you are probably 90% finished. At the very end, you might want to add just a touch of a look (warmer, cooler, etc.). Once again, there are cases where you need to break this rule, but more often than not, neutral and accurate works best for commercials.

Author: Noam Kroll

Sources: Article

How to pitch a video concept your client will love

When you make a video, the creative concept behind it is key, but the concept is only the first step – the way you pitch it to your client is just as important.

Here are the 4 things we do at Demo Duck, my Chicago-based video agency, to ensure the best ideas always win.

1. Pick only the best ideas

Once we have a creative brief and objective defined, we assign a Producer and Creative Lead. These two individuals typically take a day or two to get to know the brief and client inside and out before scheduling a team brainstorm.

The brainstorm is where the entire team starts spitballing ideas – good or bad, just get them on the table. The best ideas have enough meat on the bone that you can clearly envision how the video will play out just by hearing a quick 30-second pitch. They should also strike a healthy balance between strategy and creative. Easier said than done: without a strategy, the concept has no backbone, and without a creative vision, the strategy won’t be successful.

With a list of 10–20 ideas in place, we start picking them apart, asking for more detail and challenging the direction. Then we all vote on our favorites and try to end up with 3–5 really solid concepts. The last step, and most critical, is to weed out any “safe” ideas. If you want to make a video that is unique, engaging and ultimately worth watching, you need to kill the safe ideas now and end up with 2–3 concepts you’re truly excited about working on.

2. Develop a compelling pitch deck

A pitch deck is what you’ll use to present your video concepts to your team or client. A compelling deck should include these five components for each concept:

Intriguing headline

The headline gets your audience interested in what you’re about to say. In some cases, it may serve as the tagline for the video, or for a potential campaign.

Flavor read

A flavor read is 2–3 lines that give your audience a feel for the tone of the piece. It’s essentially a few lines from the opening narration of your concept’s script.

Strategy and technical approach

This section should cover why you’re proposing the concept and how you plan to get it done. What’s the strategy behind the concept? What style will it be in? How will you accomplish it?

Reference videos

Links to reference videos help your audience better envision each concept. Pro tip: provide a brief description of why you selected each reference video (e.g. for tone, style, lighting, energy).

Mood images

We usually include a couple of mood images. These don’t necessarily represent the proposed style direction for the video, but they do help set the mood and enhance the visual nature of the pitch.

Here’s a sample concept slide from our internal pitch deck template:

3. Deliver a passionate pitch

Creating a compelling deck is only half the battle. The next challenge is selling your team or client on your ideas. At least two hours before the pitch, do a dry run with everyone involved. This is your chance to refine your delivery and make any last-minute updates to the deck. If possible, do the pitch in person, otherwise set up a video conference.

During the pitch, request that clients hold questions until the end. This keeps things from getting sidetracked during the pitch (and believe me, things will get sidetracked). Like any good presentation, the pitch should be part presentation of information and part theater. In order to sell your ideas, you need to present them with passion and conviction. Your audience wants to see your excitement for their project, and chances are, they’ll get excited with you.

4. Be prepared for pushback

As you might expect, passion alone won’t sell every concept. You should be prepared for pushback and to defend why you stand behind the ideas you’re presenting. This is where that initial brainstorm and dry run come in handy. By now, you should have a decent idea of what your audience is going to push back on, and a well-prepared defense.

Without a good defense and strategy in place, you’ll find clients kicking you out of the driver seat and starting to provide their own twists on your concepts (almost always a bad thing). Treat these concepts like your children – protect them with your life. This doesn’t mean you can’t make refinements to your original concepts, it just means you need to maintain your practitioner position and hold your ground at all costs. Ultimately, you’ll end up with more compelling concepts and projects that you’re more excited about and invested in.

And that’s the end goal, right? Doing work that gets you out of bed in the morning, stretches your creative boundaries and has a lasting impact for your client and their cause.

What has (and hasn't) worked for you when developing and pitching concepts for your clients? We'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

Author: Andrew Follett, Founder of Demo Duck and Video Brewery

Source: Article

Game of Drones: The Best Money Can Buy

The age of drones is upon us. Aerial photography and videography is now as simple as playing a video game, and innovative manufacturers are taking advantage. Drones have become the platform of choice for those looking to record high-quality footage in the wilderness, and the market has exploded over the past few years. With 4k video and 3-axis camera gimbals becoming commonplace, drone manufacturers have begun to step their game up, introducing never-before-seen features such as collision avoidance and customizable flight pathing. Whether you’re looking to film a car commercial or simply record yourself shredding through some fresh powder, these five drones have you covered.

AirDog: $1599

Man’s best friend just got a lot cooler. AirDog, the aptly named drone developed for action sports junkies, is part of a recent paradigm shift in drone technology, which is moving away from clunky, dual-joystick control mechanisms and toward something much simpler. The AirDog, a fully functional UAV, is designed such that an enterprising surfer — or skier, skater, or wakeboarder — can head into the wilderness alone and easily film themselves without any additional help. This is because the AirLeash, a water-resistant control panel that fits on your wrist like a quarterback’s playbook, allows for a selection of pre-programmed flight patterns unique to your individual sport. You can also control the drone manually, if you desire.

Although the AirDog doesn’t come with a camera, its gyro-stabilized gimbal fits a number of third-party cameras. Its lightweight frame also makes it as close to a grab-and-go toy as any drone, though the price might make you think twice about playing football with its folded-up body. It can reach speeds of up to 40 mph, too, and depending on how you fly it, can last anywhere between 10 and 18 minutes on a single charge

3DR Solo $784

For those who want complete command over their aerial footage, California-based 3D Robotics created the world’s first “smart drone,” aka the 3DR Solo. The Solo offers more control over aerial videography than any drone before by isolating the camera movement from the movement of the drone itself, thus allowing the user to choose exactly how they want to film. Powered by dual 1 GHz Linux Companion computers, the Solo can pilot the drone along a predetermined flight path while you control the camera (or vice versa). As for compatibility, the Solo works with GoPro Hero4 cameras.

The Solo also brings a number of unique features to the table, not the least of which are the selectable flight modes. Cable Cam mode allows you to select two different locations, and pilot the drone along an invisible line between Point A and Point B. The aptly-titled Orbit mode, meanwhile, allows you to select a single location, one which the drone will encircle at a specified distance. Follow Me mode is pretty self-explanatory, as is the Selfie mode, which sees the drone close in and out on your location.

The Solo does all this while streaming live video directly to your mobile device using a remote control that’s designed to feel like a video game controller. The remote is HDMI-compatible as well, meaning you can stream live footage to any monitor or VR. Sadly, the price is a little misleading, as the 3DR Solo doesn’t come with a camera or a gimbal mount. If you’re looking to purchase both accessories to complement the drone, you’re looking at a total price of about $1,500.

Yuneec Typhoon H $1300

The Typhoon H, the newest offering from Chinese manufacturer Yuneec International, utilizes the power of six rotors to help keep the itself aloft, automatically switching to five-rotor mode should one of the rotors give out. The Typhoon H also offers unparalleled video and photo resolution from its native 3-axis CG03+ gimbal camera, which is capable of capturing 4k footage at 30 fps or 1080p footage at 120 fps. The camera captures vivid 12-megapixel stills in 360 degrees, and conveniently streams 720p video to the 7-inch display housed on the bundled remote control.

The Typhoon H’s carbon fiber frame and collision avoidance system, which is powered by sonar sensors located on the front of the drone, combine to make this one of the sturdiest drones currently available. Moreover, it also features some flight modes similar to the 3DR Solo. “Orbit Me” and “Point of Interest” mirror the 3DR’s Orbit mode, and “Curve Cable Cam” takes the 3DR’s Cable Cam mode to the next level, allowing the drone to fly from point to point along a series of preset coordinates while you control the camera. The Typhoon H is capable of flying for around 25 minutes on a single charge, and is currently available for pre-order.

DJI Phantom 4 $1399

The Phantom 4 is the newest edition in the best-selling drone series of all time. DJI’s latest offering introduces a few new features to stay ahead of the game, and they don’t disappoint. The Phantom 4 comes equipped with automatic collision control, which alerts you and automatically stops your drone if you get too close to an obstacle. The all-new Sport Mode, on the other hand, disables the collision detection and transforms the Phantom into a bat-out-of-hell racing drone capable of reaching (and recording video at) over 45 mph.

The Phantom’s new ActiveTrack technology allows the user to select any moving object — i.e. a car, a cyclist, another drone — and the Phantom will automatically follow the object without any assistance from a beacon or tracker. The integrated 3-axis gimbal camera captures 4k footage at 30 fps and 1080p video at 12 fps for slow-motion shots, and captures 12-megapixel still images in Adobe DNG Raw. DJI claims the Phantom 4’s battery lasts for 28 minutes on a full charge, but we found that 20 minutes is more accurate if you spend a lot of time on the throttle.

DJI Inspire 1 Pro $3,899 + DJI Inspire 1 RAW $5,999

If you thought the Phantom 4 was cool… you were right. But the Inspire 1 Pro, the flagship drone from DJI, ascends to another plane when it comes to aerial videography. The Inspire 1 Pro and Raw editions include Micro 4/3 cameras, the Zenmuse X5 and X5R. The X5, which is capable of recording in lossless 4k resolution and snapping 16-megapixel stills, produces some of the most pristine footage in the consumer drone world, making the Inspire 1 a great choice for photographers and videographers alike. The X5R, in particular, is capable of capturing 4k raw footage — a feature no other drone-compatible camera can boast.

While the hefty price tag may dissuade some from considering both the Inspire 1 Pro and Raw, their recording power is second to none. The DJI app, available on Google Play and the App Store, features remote focus technology that allows for quick one-tap focusing on any mobile device. If you get your hands on a second remote control, the Inspire 1 is capable of dual-operator control, meaning one user can control the camera while the other user flies the drone. With all this power, though, comes a short list of drawbacks. The Inspire 1 takes much longer than most drones to set up and fly, and its heavier frame makes transporting this guy a little tougher than its little brother, the Phantom 4. The sheer power of the cameras also reduces battery life, too, with the X5 clocking in at around 18 minutes and the X5R around 15.

Parrot Bebop 2 $499

If you can’t manage to cough up the cash for the Inspire 1 Pro, the Parrot Bebop 2 might be for you. The Bebop, like the other drones profiled here, features an integrated 3-axis camera that’s capable of recording 1080p footage even at speeds over 40 mph. It also features a litany of sensors, gyroscopes, and stabilizers that help the drone stay balanced in most wind conditions. Although the Bebop 2’s ultra-light frame is composed of ABS plastic and reinforced with glass fiber, it can still handle wind speeds of up to 40 mph. The accompanying mobile app for iOS and Android also features an auto-land button in case things get too crazy. The drone’s battery life is one of its strengths, too, and allows it to achieve 25 minutes of flight time.

The Bebop’s default control mode is accessible through the aforementioned app, though for a cool $250 extra, you can purchase the Parrot SkyController remote control, a more traditional joystick-powered gizmo that allows for video streaming via a compatible smartphone or tablet attachment. Optional in-app purchases also serve as a way to unlock waypoint functionality for the drone, but otherwise, the drone is only as smart as its operator. The Bebop 2 — though a refinement of the first iteration of the Bebop — remains a far cry from DJI’s more expensive drones in many ways, but for first-time drone users or anyone who isn’t looking to spend their entire life savings on a flying camera, it’s an excellent choice. 

Author: Nick Hastings, Digital Trends

Source: Article

Steve Jobs's Tips for Hiring Your A-Team

In his book, Leading Apple with Steve Jobs, author and former Apple senior vice president Jay Elliot details Jobs's approach to motivating people, pursuing excellence and forming innovative teams. In this edited excerpt, Elliot, who was personally hired by Jobs, describes his former boss's strategies for hiring A-list players.

Define the requirements but don't be rigid.

At first glance, this point will sound painfully obvious. But too often, the person doing the hiring hasn't given enough thought to defining the need precisely enough. You might be interviewing the perfect person and not realize it. Or the person in charge of filling the position might be looking for the wrong type of candidate. Worse, you run a high risk of hiring the wrong person.

Steve always had a very clear grasp of the need. Yet at the same time, he was not at all rigid about what qualifications he was looking for. Sometimes his choices surprised me, when he saw something in a candidate hardly anyone else would have seen -- something that told him, "This is the right person for the job."

That's what happened with Susan Kare. At her high school in Pennsylvania, Susan had known Andy Hertzfeld, who would become one of the early Mac team members. Steve was captivated by the "graphical user interface" he had seen at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, which used icons on the screen to make routine operations obvious and easy; you use such an icon every time you drag something to the trashcan symbol.

Who was going to dream up those icons, and the other parts of a pleasing and easy-to-use onscreen design? Andy suggested Susan, whom he knew had become an accomplished artist. Almost any other executive in those circumstances would not have agreed to let Susan come in for an interview: She was a creative artist who knew nothing about technology. She had "not qualified" written all over her.

But Steve saw in her a spark, the ability to catch on quickly and the kind of creativity that suggested she would be able to offer the kind of inventive contributions Steve was committed to having. He decided that Susan's talent, passion and flair were more important than the fact that her background in technology was a big blank. He accepted her as a key part of the Mac team. 

Don't limit your search to the usual methods.

Steve's accepting invitations to lecture to classes at Stanford University became part of his routine. The students considered it a rare privilege to be able to discuss real-life business problems with an entrepreneur whose start-up company was already in the forefront of the new industry of personal computers. But it was a two-way street. Steve felt inspired and energized by the students. And everywhere he went, he had his antennae up to find likely candidates for the Macintosh group.

Related: Hackathon Hiring: How to Scout for Coders with Confidence

Mike Murray was a 20-something MBA student at one of those sessions. Steve spoke plainly about Apple and how we were trying to change the world with personal computers. That was all Mike needed to hear; he wanted to be part of it. Steve was impressed, and Mike was given the job of heading up the marketing group for the Mac.

Bob Bellville was 21 in the spring of 1981 and about to graduate from Stanford. For some eight years, he had been working at least part time at Xerox. Steve saw that Bob had a deep insight into how to build technology into a total product. Bob also had valuable insight into how a company should operate, which Steve liked. He saw a very smart engineer who had independent thought and technical leadership abilities.

Someone at Stanford gave Steve the name of Mike Boich, a former Stanford undergraduate who had gone on to earn an MBA at Harvard. Steve got in touch with Mike and hired him. It was Mike Boich who tackled one of the toughest challenges facing the Macintosh when it was launched, coining the word "evangelists" for people on the team he helped assemble: Their job was to persuade software developers to create software programs for the Mac, and it proved to be a very successful effort -- so crucial that the Macintosh might not have survived without the evangelists. 

Talented people know other talented people.

Steve often said, "Make sure you're hiring only A-players." Hire a few B-players, he said, and they hire B's and C's, and pretty soon the whole operation is going to pot. Obviously not everyone can afford to hire only A-players. So how do you find people who are exceptionally talented and a good fit? One of the greatest sources is your own employees. Really sharp people generally prefer the company of other really sharp people. When you need to hire someone, you ask the people on the team to recommend somebody they admire.

Author: Jay Elliot, Entrepreneur.com

Sources: Image , Article

Lav Miking Techniques

This fantastic video from Izzy Hyman is great not just for filmmaking, but for any time you need to mic somebody up and the lav can't be in the shot. I'm not a huge fan of lavs, even less so when they have to be hidden, but if you shoot video, or you're getting into audio, at some point you're going to have to do some of these techniques. The triangle tape trick has been one of the most useful to me, and if you've never seen it or used it before, you should absolutely try it the next time you need to hide a lav. You can also use little adhesive discs or mic concealers that are made specifically for this purpose like these here and here, though there are plenty of times where some regular old tape can do the trick just fine.

If you've got more techniques not mentioned in the video, be sure to share them in the comments!

Author: Joe Marine, No Film School

Sources: Image , Article

8 viral ads that won 2015

The Internet has transformed advertising, opening new paths and creating new genres for commercial filmmakers. These are some of the most shared videos of 2015, each viral ad demonstrating ways the Internet continues to disrupt traditional content creation.

1. Android, “Friends Furever”

Smart content creators look at viral videos to learn what people like. Even smarter creators take viral video formats and repurpose them to get their message out. Android’s “Friends Furever” is basically just a YouTube compilation video with a message at the end, but it’s fresh and fun to watch. More importantly, it works—”Friends Furever” was the most viral ad of 2015.

2. Disney Parks, “Disney Characters Surprise Shoppers”

This viral ad uses a tried and true advertising strategy—the filmed live event. Videos in this style tend to feel staged, but “Disney Characters Surprise Shoppers” is surprisingly heartfelt and convincing. Its longer run time (2 minutes, 16 seconds) allows the filmmakers to use more natural pacing in the edit, which gives viewers the chance to relate to the people on-screen and share a sense of nostalgia at the end.

3. Purina, “Puppyhood”

Purina partnered with Buzzfeed to produce “Puppyhood,” a cute short video about a young adult and his new puppy. It’s not exactly a short film, but it’s not what you’d expect from an ad, either. “Puppyhood” represents the next big step in sponsored content. Most ads are still trying to interrupt or distract you from watching something else. With more than three million shares, Purina and Buzzfeed demonstrated that sponsored content like “Puppyhood” can be the destination itself.

4. GEICO, “Unskippable”

Adweek chose “Unskippable” as the best ad of 2015. GEICO’s viral ad is a perfect example of a commercial designed around the context people will see it in. “Unskippable” was created for the web, meaning that its largest audience would be seeing it on services like YouTube and Hulu. And so the ad begins with a joke about YouTube pre-roll videos. It’s funny, contemporary, and succeeded in getting viewers to watch all the way to the end.

5. Adidas, “Unfollow feat. Leo Messi”

The celebrity athlete commercial has become something of a cliche. Adidas shakes it up by mixing TV news footage, social media, and dynamic sports content, demonstrating what it means to be a celebrity today. It then flips the script when Messi encourages his fans to “unfollow” him in order to make their own dreams come true. Using music from a lesser-known artist (P.O.S. “Stand Up”), “Unfollow” makes it feel like Messi’s own personal anthem. Mixing the mega-popular with the somewhat obscure gives the viral ad a unique tone.

6. “The Collective Project: Robert Downey Jr. Delivers a Real Bionic Arm”

Who says a viral ad can’t be both funny and inspirational? Microsoft Office’s video with The Collective Project mixed an inspirational message, a moving event, and a giant movie star to generate a major crowd-pleaser. Kleenex’s “Unlikely Best Friends” was similarly inspiring, but didn’t generate as many shares. It’s hard to say whether it’s the humor or the movie star that makes The Collective Project’s video so appealing, but the combination was enough to generate more than ten million views on YouTube.

7. Red Nose Day, “Coldplay’s Game of Thrones: The Musical”

A mockumentary following a famous rock band, who are working on a musical about the biggest TV sh0w in the world. Narrated by Liam Neeson. It’s easy to see how “Coldplay’s Game of Thrones: The Musical” tallied 15 million views, even though it’s 12 minutes long. What’s not clear is what the video had to do with the Red Nose Day charity. Rather than creating a typical call to arms video, Red Nose Day gave viewers entertaining content and then invited them to donate if they enjoyed it. It’s a whole new kind of viral ad. Did their strategy pay off? It’s hard to say; we’ll see if they take a similar approach next year.

8. The Ad Council, “Love Has No Labels”

The Ad Council used a giant X-ray to show people how their feelings have been affected by unknown biases. It’s a classic device, brilliantly used. If that great idea wasn’t enough, they joined the live event with a music video format, creating a video that punches through prejudice to hit the audience right in the heart.

As traditional models become less powerful, filmmakers have the opportunity to tailor their content to the stories they want to tell and the spaces they want to tell them in. Sponsored content and viral ads allow for a truer blend of filmmaking and advertising than every before. What were your favorite viral ads of the last year? Have you made any long form product videos or advertisements? Share a link in the comments.

Author: Stephen Heleker

Stephen is a filmmaker and writer living in Los Angeles. He grew up in southwest Idaho and worked as a video producer/director before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an MFA in Directing at UCLA. Twitter: @stephenheleker

Source: Article