Liquid Death halloween concept
GEAR USED:
KEY LIGHT: Aperture 600D with a snoot
RIM LIGHT: Godox SZ150 RGB - bouncing off the garage wall
FOG LIGHT: Godox SL200 with a snoot - To light the fog
2 Sony A7sIII Cameras
The primary camera filmed with a sony 85mm at 1.8 for maximum isolation
The second camera was filmed with a Canon 100mm Macro lens for detail shots
The tripod for the primary camera was a Manfrotto BeFree Travel Tripod
LINKS
Unplug Production
Jackfruit Media
Isaac Alvarez
Rafal Cwiok
Creating spec ads is an incredible way to grow as a filmmaker and photographer for two reasons:
It allows you to build your portfolio It forces you to think outside the box and create projects that would appeal to the brands you would love to work with you one day.
But one additional thought to put into spec ads is any upcoming holidays that may help add a
specific theme to your projects. Cody Jay of Jackfruit Media and Rafal Cwiok of Unplug
Productions decided to create a series of Halloween-themed ads for Liquid Death. Liquid Death’s products include simple mountain and sparkling water, both flavored and unflavored. Though you wouldn’t expect it through their branding.
Cody and Rafal wanted to take on the challenge of creating an ad for each flavor: Berry It Alive,
Severed Lime, Mango Chainsaw, Sparkling Water, and Mountain Water. Due to the nature of
their flavor names and time of year, they decided Halloween would be the perfect theme to
work with. They drew inspiration for each ad through the name of the flavor they were filming,
and you'll see how when you watch each ad.
Due to the fact that this was a simple product shoot with only three lights, all ads were filmed
inside of Cody’s garage (this also prevented the sound of the chainsaw from disturbing the
neighborhood). In order to prepare for the shoot, Cody and Rafal took a day to plan out their
lighting setup. This helped them work out all the bugs and hiccups ahead of time so that they
could focus on filming once it came time.
“I think it’s important to remember that you don’t have to have an amazing location to create
product ads. As long as you know how to light, set-dress it well, and use the right camera
settings, you can come up with some pretty amazing ads.” - Cody Jay
Once their lighting had been set, Cody and Rafal took the rest of the day prepping the cans for filming. Since the cans were going to be destroyed, they needed to find a way to keep them in place. They decided to screw the cans into the table tops they were filming on. And so they cut the cans open, drilled a hole through the bottom, and screwed them into the tabletops.
“We wanted to make sure that our lighting made the brand name clear and easily readable, and that our set decorations complimented the flavors, without drawing attention to themselves” - Rafal.
While shooting the ads, Cody and Rafal got all the essential coverage shots first. Because they only had three cans of each flavor, they only had three chances to get the images right. Before filming Severed Lime and Mango Chainsaw scenes, Cody and Rafal practiced what they would film. This allowed them to prep for what the filming would entail and catch any mistakes before they happened. It was also vital that they felt utterly comfortable handling a sharp knife and a chainsaw.