NEOM
Deliverables:
1 x 30s hero advert
In 16x9, 9x16 and desktop [2000x800]
>30 x 4K screengrabs
>35 x Social clips
Dead Pixel did:
Directors Treatment & Shot list
Production & Rigging
Super Slow Motion Filming
Art Direction
Editing & grade
Quote of the Shoot:
“This is the 2nd time I’ve had to wear a bin bag on a shoot”
Brief
Our long-term collaborator, Jen Spence, approached us with a brief for her client that involved super slow motion liquids and textures.
Having spent the last 3 years specialising in 1,000 frames per second content and pushing what can be achieved with a nimble and experienced team, we knew it’d be a project to remember. After talking through NEOM’s references and mood boards, we dug into their bulletproof brand that has a keen eye for design and detail, then formed a solid plan to deliver a quick turnaround.
Pre-Production
We began by researching shot types and putting together a detailed shooting list with storyboard references of what we’d like to achieve. We shared these ideas with the client in a pre-production meeting to discus the technical abilities of shooting on the Phantom (slow motion camera) as well as the key areas of the product that they wanted to highlight.
We only had one day in the studio, so deciding on the complexity of each shot and time taken to capture it Vs the final number of outputs was paramount.
We settled on 4 key setups including:
Pouring
Mixing
Details
Product
Production
A large portion of the rigging took place the day before the shoot. This allows us to maximise the amount of clips captured rather than spending time popping up light stands. Once our vital morning coffee was enjoyed, it was onto the first setup which consisted of pouring copious amounts of bath milk through a funnel that shot out of the NEOM bottle spout. We wanted to capture that initial silky smooth pour as though the customer was pouring the milk into their bath tub.
Setup 2 (mixing) consisted of multiple large fish tanks with lots of resets running back and forth to the sink. We only had one go at a time of pouring the bath milk into the clear fish tank to capture the mesmerising clouding in the water. We would then switch out the tank and send our production team to pour out, clean and reset the tank for the next frame.
Lunch - A highlight of the teams day
After everyone was fuelled up we moved onto macro details. This is where the syringes, clamps and pipettes come into their own to capture the macro details of that perfect drip. It takes a little bit of trial and error because liquids behave differently every single time no matter how nicely you ask them. Once you capture that perfect splash and rebound it makes everything worth while.
Finally, we ended on some product details. These included full bottle shots laid flat in plastic trays filled with bath milk. We rigged the camera overhead using heavy duty scaffolding poles and added gentle movements to the milk.
Post-Production
As with all super slow motion projects the edit began with transcoding the footage into an easily digestible format. After that, the 30 second assembly cut came together quite swiftly (the beauty of pre-approved detailed storyboards).
Once the main cut was graded and approved by the client it was onto the multiple formats. This is something we discussed at briefing stage so we knew certain frames were specifically designed for the 9x16 version as opposed to the 16x9 edit. We switched out a few shots that fit better in the framing and adjusted the text on screen accordingly.
As with all our of projects, we bounced out as many high resolution screengrabs (completely complimentary) as we could. We find it’s a way of over delivering to our clients and delivering extra assets to be used cross blog posts, social and press campaigns.
“The team has such a great energy on set and they really think outside the box to get the most out of the day as a creative output. They really are experts at what they do, and would always be front of mind for me to recommend to anyone.”
Behind the scenes with Dead Pixel and NEOM Organics
