case study: event tickets center

Advertising Director Geoffrey Neal was contacted by the in-house creative team for Event Tickets Center. He tasked producer Tom Marin with creating three 30-second commercial spots in a single shoot day with two filming locations.

The goal of these comedic spots would be to increase awareness of how Event Tickets Center is the preferable option to obtain tickets to sporting events, concerts, and shows.

commercials

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client: Event Tickets Center   director: Geoffrey Neal
producer: Tom Marin dp: Justin Balog
1st ac: Max Green dit: Nathan Berry-Chaney
gaffer: Tyler Trepod   key grip: Brandon Smith
prod design: Kendra Kimball   prod design asst: Emma Topping
wardrobe: Laura Wolfe   hmu: Katelyn Simkins
sound: Phillip Wallace   pa: Eric Palencia

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pre-production

Because he was instrumental in impressing their past clients, Tyler was approached by directors Chad Neidt and Woody Roseland to light these two music-video styled commercials for Litehouse Foods.

This project would be given the following constraints:

Two set days – one pre-light day and one filming day
One studio location with four separate scenes
All four scenes were to be pre-rigged to minimize downtime during the filming day
There would be enough budget for an additional grip package beyond Tyler’s 1-ton van

To optimize available time during the pre-light day, Tyler first spent an hour with DP Justin Balog reviewing storyboards, building an equipment list, and creating lighting diagrams.

Tyler and the DP settled on the following lighting package:

Aputure 1200d Pro – 1200W daylight-balanced point source
(3) Aputure 600d Pro’s – 600W daylight-balanced point source
(2) Kelvin EPOS 300’s – 300W RGB-capable point source
(8) Aputure Infinibar PB12’s – 4′ RGB-capable linear LED
(2) Aputure Infinibar PB6’s – 2′ RGB-capable linear LED
(8) Aputure MC Pro’s – RGB-capable mini-LED
Intellytech Mega-Litecloth – 5×3′ bi-color panel
Amaran F22c – 2×2′ RGB-capable panel

This package was chosen because every light has DMX control built into it, making controlling all four individual sets a breeze. Having all of the practical lights, the Infinibars and MC Pros, be from the same brand also meant there wouldn’t need to be any fine-tuning to get them all to match in perceived output.

Lights were controlled wirelessly via CRMX protocol with Blackout Lighting Console and a Lumenradio Aurora transmitter. This wireless control setup enabled quick swapping between the different looks for both songs, as well as increased Tyler’s set efficiency.

To enable all 4 scenes to be rigged during the pre-light day, Tyler recruited Eric Fulcher as his key grip, and had him bring his 3-ton grip truck.

This decision was invaluable in minimizing downtime during set day as the amount of hardware between Tyler’s 1-ton G&E van and Eric’s 3-ton grip truck meant the G&E team could pre-rig everything during the pre-light day.

scene three

The last scene barely appears at all in either commercial, but took the most amount of collaboration between camera and G&E to achieve.

Tyler and the DP knew Litehouse Foods wanted to film in this confined corner of the studio because the client wanted to have a record-label look somewhere in the commercial segment.

But shooting directly into the corner, and against the wall like this was going to be pretty tricky to make look as cinematic as the rest of the commercial.

To help block the scene, the team moved the couch away from the wall, and re-located the Litehouse Ranch bar table to the corner near the stairs.

Moving the couch away from the wall and framing into the “corner” like that helped reduce the flatness of the image. The area behind the stairs also has a more depth to it and is more visually interesting than if the team shot into the actual corner of the space containing the black curtain.

Once the scene was blocked and the camera framing was established, it was time to start lighting.

If the key light was pushed directly from camera right into the opposite wall, the talent on the couch and the wall behind them would be approximately the same intensity, which would end up with a scene lacking in visual depth.

Having the key come from this direction would also have pushed light frontally into the talent’s faces, giving them a flat look.

To resolve both of these issues, Tyler moved the key light into a far-side key position, much further back in the space.

The Intellytech Mega-litecloth ended up working perfectly here, as it’s 5×3′ size gives a soft look in a compact form factor that made the most of the space limitations.

This had a grid placed on it to help control the spill from affecting the background wall.

Next, two bounces were placed to help fill the shadow areas of the foreground talent sitting on the couch.

A 4×4 ultrabounce landed just camera left to fill in the shadow side, and a 4×4 beadboard helps lift the area under the chin.

To provide separation from the wall for the talent on the couch, as well as an overhead “key” for the talent around the back table, the key grip built an overhead speed rail rig that enabled two Aputure Infinibar PB12’s to be suspended over the space.

These bars were gaff-taped on the back, which reduced their spill onto the wall, keeping the blue hue from losing saturation.

An Aputure Infinibar PB6 was placed off camera left to help provide additional separation to the talent on the couch in the foreground.

Lastly, two lights help add viewer interest to the scene.

A second Aputure Infinibar PB6 just under the couch is adding a splash of light to the Litehouse Ranch logo on the bar table, and a Kelvin EPOS 300 casts a brand-specific blue hue over the back wall, adding color contrast to the warmer hues.

conclusion

Tyler’s on-set efficiency and lighting expertise enabled Advertising Director Geoffrey Neal to craft three 30-second spots over two-locations in a single filming day.

If you’ve got a project, please use the contact button below!

Tyler’s collaborative mindset and experience as an on-location commercial specialist combine to make him an invaluable addition to any film set in the front range area!

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Tyler Trepod is a freelance owner/operator gaffer of a 1-Ton Grip & Electric truck based in Denver, Colorado and serves the Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, & Fort Collins markets