New Jersey Lottery Transforms a Warehouse Into a Broadway Musical-Style Stage

New Jersey Lottery in conjunction with PureRed advertising have come together to create a musical spot which intended to transform a warehouse into a Broadway musical-style stage. 

“Musicals take tons of planning... The song needs to drive the action, the choreography has to tell a story, the camera has to move with the choreography, the set must create opportunities for the dancers, and the lighting cues should dance with the music and build energy. Well, we had an incredibly talented, skilled, and ego-free team that absolutely killed it." said Mark Nickelsburg, director.

The beginning of the reveal is marked by a seamless wardrobe change and a shift in lighting.

The director of photography, Evan Jake Cohen, aimed to create lighting cues that would build energy, support the choreography, and sync with the music — emphasizing each lottery ticket reveal. This emphasis was created through utilization of 1.2K HMI follow spots in lifts to highlight our hero talent. Mac Viper moving lights were used both in-frame as well as in the grid above that could be repurposed for each cue. Par Bars, MR-16 strips, Color Force II’s, and COLORado 2-Quad Zoom LED’s provided additional theatrical “practicals” and edge lights. Vortex 8 & Lustr units provided our color shifts & accents from above. 

Evan Jake Cohen also utilized Previs Pro and Shot Designer for the lighting plot and to render pre-vis frames that were instrumental in prep & on set with our tight schedule. The pre-vis process began with the first rehearsal tapes of the choreography, eventually leading to a fully rendered example of the final spot, which informed everything from measurements to lenses.