JVC asked us to produce a promotional video. We had a goal to promote JVC Everio - a durable camera, introduced recently. Target audience is people aged 25 and above, probably with kids, that like active lifestyle and travelling. Idea is - everyone nowadays are used to durable action cameras, like GoPro, that allow users to use it in severe conditions, like sand and water. Everio gives users all this, plus - much more comfort in filming, and all the features of standard handheld cameras.
We came up with several ideas, but the one we and guys from JVC loved the most was about a kid that just loves to demolish everything. We came up with a "crazy scientist" character (the kid), and added a calm and silent assistant to support him. That was exactly what JVC looked for - concept was a perfect solution to reach family-oriented viewers.
Here is the result:
Production
Scouting for the "Ideal geek" and the "Ideal misbehaved child" actors was quite a task. We thought that portfolio portraits would be not enough for selecting the right guys, so we selected people based on "reaction shots"
The most challenging part of this filming was working with a child actor. A child actor is still a child, and a 5 year old does not grasp the concept of money and you can't pay him extra to not get bored and misbehave. Until this shoot we thought we can deal with anything on stage, but we had to shamefully admit that dealing with kids is definitely outside our expertise.
Luckily enough, when process started to get out of hand, we quickly reordered filming sequence, so that all the parts that include the child - are shot in less then 2 hours. Indeed, a detailed storyboard is crucial for nonlinear filming.
The rest of the shots, including the B-roll took us about 12 hours and went quite smoothly. However, building a perfect sand castle on a table was not the easiest task.
Post production was pretty straightforward - cleaned shots from unnecessary details, added special vfx (ember on the coal and explosions), and, of course, some color correction to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera footage.
You can check the process behind some of the shots here:
Results
We organised extremely effective and cheap placement campaign for the video. Audience seemed to like it, and viral effect kicked in almost immediately.
Video reached almost 50.000 views on youtube alone, and more than 100.000 views in targeted social networks (vk.com and ok.ru), becoming the most viral video JVC ever had in CIS market, and one of the most effective online campaigns they had. Client's representatives reported a visible peak in sales, connected to the video reveal, and that's the best news for us.
Team
Direction, special effects, production - Nick Terentjev
Concept, camera, colorgrading, final cut - Paul Goluzov
Little professor - Egor Gordejev
Professor's assistant - Mikhail Malkin
Production assistant - Julia Iljuk
Storyboard artist - Agnete Maciukaite
Account management - Valeriya Kalugina (Trinity Magic Agency)
Voiceover - Evgenij But (Zvuch'OK)
Location - FOKO studio
