PICROW Rock 'n' Roll for Hyundai
Digital content studio and branded entertainment agency GreenLight Media & Marketing recently engaged the award-winning, full-service Hollywood production studio Pictures In A Row (PICROW) and director/cinematographer Peter Lang for a high-profile assignment for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and sponsoring partner Hyundai. To take full advantage of Hyundai's sponsorship of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" GreenLight conceived two energetic :15 spots featuring visually stunning cinematography of a custom Hyundai Santa Fe, which was a perfect fit for Lang and other PICROW in-house talents, including editor Joseph Remerowski.
In the spots entitled "Rock While You Roll: Capacity" and "Rock While You Roll: Styling" (http://youtu.be/Hyfvobsi8Ek), viewers see a flat-black, highly customized 2013 Santa Fe lit-up on a soundstage from many angles. Lang's high-contrast cinematography and Remerowski's fast-cutting style combine with a dynamic score to quickly illustrate the Santa Fe's styling, storage capabilities (accommodating a full load of musical instruments, including Lang's personal Les Paul gold-top which appears in the spot), panoramic sunroof and more, before revealing the car in profile with on-screen text reading "Rock While You Roll." Since their debut in October, the spots have earned a combined 4.5 million views on YouTube.
"Creatively, there was an intentional choice to show the 'behind the scenes' aspect of the stage," Lang explained. "We wanted to make sure it didn't look like a perfect CGI world, so we made sure to keep hints of the stage lights and rails and crew members in the background. Make it look cool, but imperfect: Make it look rock and roll."
The production team from PICROW was led by executive producer Roger Hunt and also included line producer Moira Michiels. Serving as director, director of photographer and camera operator, Lang shot the spot's live-action footage during a single day on stage at South Bay Studios in Long Beach, using an ARRI Alexa camera system from Clairmont Camera and an Electra Crane from Chapman.
"Peter shot on the Alexa which was great for many reasons," said Remerowski. "Because of the native video format it shoots, you don't have to transcode anything. I was able to start editing as soon as I received the footage. I had a final cut completed in 24 hours from having the footage handed to me."
Key tools in post were Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe After Effects. According to Remerowski, he and his colleagues also used Luca Visual FX to add a film look to the digital footage, and Twixtor for the variable-speed effects.
For GreenLight, credits include creative director Nick Davidge, art director Jamie Kiersted, copywriter Jackie Meyer, head of production Maresa Wickham and account supervisor Brad Nolde. While PICROW handled all facets of production and editorial, graphics and additional visual effects were courtesy of ArsenalFX in Santa Monica.
