Business Live "Boxer" TV Commercial
Friday, 28 January 2011
A television commercial directed by Wayne de Lange (SBP) and produced by Silver Bullet Productions at the end of 2010.
A boxer’s self discipline, training and preparation was used to convey new brand, Business Live’s message, sewing together an analogy between the dexterity, heart and mind of a boxer and the world of heavy weight business news.
We wanted to shoot a high frame rate of up to 1000 FPS when shooting this commercial. Using a Phantom Gold HD gave us this incredible frame rate coupled with the ability to utilise 35mm depth of field at HD to bring in additional flexibility and feel to the commercial, giving substance to the boxer’s conceptual space.
Warren (D.O.P) suggested we use anamorphic lenses to capture the essence we were after, and while this would certainly enhance the surreal texture we sought, budget constraints made this seem unlikely. Having always wanted to shoot on an anamorphic lens we set about tailoring our budget to facilitate the use of this camera and lens, after all it was primarily the concept that had excited us about this advert. After calling in some favours, and with the help of Take 2 giving us an excellent deal on the Phantom Gold HD, we were able to start planning our shots.
Using the V Hawk Plus Anamorphic lens was an exceptional experience, but the one thing we did not foresee was how the V Hawk Anamorphic lenses eliminated all lens flares no matter how much light we subjected it to.
Our tight budget meant we only had one 256GB cinemag. This delivered its own set of challenges, where an immediate decision had to be taken on each shot, electing to keep or trash it before moving on to the following shot. Besides requiring ruthless executive decisions, this slowed down our shooting considerably.
Finding the perfect performer for the advert took some searching. We needed to fuse on-screen character with athletic prowess and exceptional boxing attributes. Our concept for the advert demanded that our boxer deliver a realistic performance, not to act, but to in fact box. We found our boxer in Justin Munitz. A well defined boxer with good stature, quick reflexes and the ability to perform in front of a camera for long periods. Justin was clothed in a custom-made robe to ensure the fabric’s luster translated amicably on camera.
(Thank you to all involved in this project)
Business Live "Making Of" Video:
Business Live "Boxer" 30sec Commercial:
