Old Crow Spec Commercial

[Chris Tempel]

I wanted to add product shoots to my services and needed an example, so I shot this. It was filmed in my kitchen with a black backdrop and two 4-bulb soft boxes. I think I should of had a little more light, but overall I'm pretty happy with how this turned out for my first time.

 

[Nate North]

Looks good man, nice work!

 

[Chris Tempel]

Looks good man, nice work!

Thank you!

 

[indietalk]

Very nice. It's good enough to not critique but personally I'd slow down the pour. This will do two things, it will be more dramatic and since it is slowed it won't look like you are pouring a Big Gulp amount of whiskey since it will be less poured during that screen time. Also the light on the left side of the bottle hides the brand. Nit pick.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Very nice. It's good enough to not critique but personally I'd slow down the pour. This will do two things, it will be more dramatic and since it is slowed it won't look like you are pouring a Big Gulp amount of whiskey since it will be less poured during that screen time. Also the light on the left side of the bottle hides the brand. Nit pick.

I appreciate the idea about the pour. It shot at 60 fps slowed to 24. I tried slowing it down more like you suggested but I can't get the motion smooth enough when I do in Resolve. Next time I might try it with my phone or cut the shot shorter and create another to fill the gap.

 

[sfoster]

Your highlights appear blown out.
Curious if you experimented with adding sound for liquid pouring out of the bottle?

 

[Chris Tempel]

Your highlights appear blown out.
Curious if you experimented with adding sound for liquid pouring out of the bottle?

They are a little. I'll probably revisit this again sometime and try to improve the lighting.
I hadn't thought of adding sound effects, that's a great idea. The sound of the ice cracking and clinking around the glass would be a nice touch too.

 

[sfoster]

They are a little. I'll probably revisit this again sometime and try to improve the lighting.
I hadn't thought of adding sound effects, that's a great idea. The sound of the ice cracking and clinking around the glass would be a nice touch too.

Yeah ice in a glass is my favorite Foley noise lol

Just another idea idk if its good or not until I see it.
You could have a second glass with ice & whiskey in it, in your hand, come in out of frame and clink/cheers the glasses together at the end.

 

[Solska]

Looks brilliant, Chris! Dropping the ice first, into the glass in slow-mo, might also be worth a try.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Looks brilliant, Chris! Dropping the ice first, into the glass in slow-mo, might also be worth a try.

Great idea!

 

[CamBlamo]

Man, I've always wanted to start making ads like this. How hard was it to set up gear wise?

 

[Chris Tempel]

Man, I've always wanted to start making ads like this. How hard was it to set up gear wise?

Sorry I missed this back when you posted it. The setup was pretty easy. I had a black "chroma pop" style backdrop on a stand. About three feet in front of that was a black table. Then I had two soft boxes, one on each side of the table, slightly behind the bottle. The bottle rotating was filmed wider than I wanted so I could Dutch it in post. I didn't want to risk Dutching my large and expensive camera (URSA Mini 4K). The rotation itself was just the bottle on a paper napkin and I turned it by hand.
The whiskey pour was just apple juice being poured into a bowl so I didn't have to be too precise. Getting focus on that shot was the most difficult part. The whiskey pouring into the glass is real whiskey so I could have a cocktail after.
And for the final shot of the glass and bottle together, I thought the shot looked dead so I swirled the whiskey with my finger to get the ice moving.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Round 2!

I have a local distillery just down the street and want to reach out to them about doing a larger project. So yesterday I bought a $50 bottle of whiskey from them and re-made my Old Crow spec almost shot for shot. I took the feedback from you all and applied it, adding sounds and making the pour not as large.

Setup this time was almost the same, except that I used a white background instead of black (mostly as an experiment) and I used just one light. I recently bought a Newer 150D with a 4 foot softbox and wanted to play with that.

There's some BTS

I'm planning to approach the company next week with this new spec, I'd love some feedback! I have three possible goals:
1. They want to purchase the spec outright
2. They want a different video and hire me to shoot it
3. They purchase the spec AND hire me to do more video

Number 3 is the best outcome for me, but I'd be happy with any of them.

Here's the spot:

 

[mlesemann]

I'm planning to approach the company next week with this new spec,

Good luck!

 

[indietalk]

It's great but if only to nitpick:
On rotation 2 I would not have it stop short.
On rotation 2 there's some specs on the bottle.
The pour is not lined up with the glass.

 

[Chris Tempel]

It's great but if only to nitpick:
On rotation 2 I would not have it stop short.
On rotation 2 there's some specs on the bottle.
The pour is not lined up with the glass.

Excellent points. I'll re-shoot rotation 2 a bit slower. I did shoot the pour lined up once, but you couldn't see their branding, so I went with it off center. Is that too distracting?

 

[indietalk]

I figured that is why but yeah it looks off because they are closeups. So it's like, oops.

 

[Chris Tempel]

I should add, I left everything set up this time, so I can re-shoot if needed

 

[indietalk]

I think it looks off mostly because the bottle seems to me moving left in the pour and when you cut it's more right and not moving like that

 

[Chris Tempel]

Thanks IndieTalk for the feedback. I think this may be the final: