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Sometimes I get into cases when clients order shooting from other artists and then order my services only for post-production. And the most difficult aspect of such a situation is usually getting RAW files with poor quality. I explain the problems you may encounter and how to solve them in my article.
PROJECT INPUT: SHAPING THE TASK
In May 2022, I made a deal for post production services with FineDine, a Turkish company that produces restaurant management software. The company’s primary goal is to digitize menus to help businesses increase sales and improve customer service. The startup has already proven successful in the local market for two years, so it plans to scale up and sell its software in other countries.
Therefore, the company needed commercial video production services that would allow it to present the app profitably.
What we received from the client to provide post production services: RAW material shot in Turkey.
What our tasks were:
- Work only with RAW video materials that the client sent.
- Commercial video production, which is aimed at a young audience.
- Create a motion design to show all the features and capabilities of the app.
- Make a video that fully maintains the branding style.
PRE-PRODUCTION PROCESS
Even with post production services, my priority is creating the mood board. The project includes the selection of references, the creation of storyboards, and the development of styles and color schemes. In my experience, these are some of the most essential stages, even though we are already in the editing phase. All these details affect the result and the whole process of commercial video production.
- What does our ideal client look like?
- What problems does the audience have?
- How can we solve the audience’s problem?
- What are the benefits of our product?
- How will we call for action?
Once we identified these essential aspects, we moved directly to the post production phase.
POST-PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
We had to decide what to do first: if we grade all the footage (it’s about 2 TB), we’ll lose a lot of time. First, we had to make a rough cut, choose the footage we used, and grade it.
Since we already had ready footage for commercial video production, we needed to come up with a good intro. But I could not find a decent starter image among the files I received. So we found stock footage on Artgrid with a focus on the signboard.
Since the company planned to enter the international market, we had to translate this commercial video into different languages. The signboard had to be changeable in the beginning. That’s why we tracked the movements, made a new signboard design, tracked it in 3D space, and added highlights. A few adjustment layers have been applied on top, and it’s done.
During providing post production services, I was always in touch with the product designer. We discussed the best design elements to use to fit in with the product’s brand identity. Such a process requires a fair amount of time. But the result is worth it. All the motion designs in commercial video production are created in the same style, which pleases customers and increases the value of commercial video.
GRADING VIDEO
One of the biggest problems was the color and lighting in the footage. The video footage was dark because the production team could not light every scene during filming. Even though this is BRAW, and I could set the exposure to +2, it resulted in shots with a lot of noise.
Another problem was that there was no set decorator on the set. There were all the colors in the frame except for the most important one, the brand color – pink. To solve this problem, we added brand color to the scene, which completely changed the mood of this commercial video.
According to the metadata, filming took place on November 25, 2021. We signed a contract for post production services in May 2022. The whole project was suspended for a month. And in July 2022, the company updated the application and interface for mobile and POS terminals.
In this regard, we get to set a new task – to replace all the screens on phones and POS terminals. However, this is easy if the shooting is on a green screen with markers. Here we had an ordinary frame not adapted for a screen replacement (fingers, shaking, the glare of light).
SCREEN REPLACEMENT FOR UNPREPARED FOOTAGE
Despite all the nuances I wrote above, we did all the post production services and got a decent commercial video approved by the entire project team. In addition, we received positive feedback during the beta testing of the ad.
FINAL VIDEO
I invite you to watch the finished video, which we have turned out. We were delighted to gain even more experience in commercial video production by working with other people’s footage. We took charge of one of the most crucial processes – post-production and diligently addressed all the requests and specifications for the design.
ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
After the English video was approved, we faced a new task – translating the entire video into Turkish and Arabic. This was also included in post production services. We didn’t experience any problems solving the video in Turkish. However, with Arabic, it was more complex, and it took time. Because all the words had to move from right to left, we had to redo up to 90% of the animation. You can judge for yourself what we did by watching the video below.
FineDine – Commercial
FineDine – Commercial
FineDine – Commercial
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
What is a Commercial Video?
A commercial video is a clip that is made for one essential purpose – to showcase your product and capture the attention of viewers. There have been no definite frameworks and strict rules for commercial video production for a long time. The main goal is to fully reveal the product and show people that it can improve their quality of life. And this must be done concisely, clearly, concisely, and understandably. The viewer should not be bored, but at the same time, they should not have questions.
Why is Post Production Important?
What’s the Typical Commercial Video Production Process?
