Megamaster - a TV Commercial

Braai! Did somebody say braai?? Faction Media sure did when they contacted us to shoot this new Television Commercial for Megamaster with them. Now if you don't know what Megamaster is all about, you'll soon find out ;-)

With such a busy schedule it was no secret that this will be a long day of filming. Arriving at the set bright and early, wet started setting up a 3m motion controlled dolly, armed with the eMotimo for the pan/tilt moves. Once the Shukuma PRO was all rigged up for the shoot it was time for the Director, Michael Oberholzer to take his place and say his say. The Creative Director Ruan Zaaiman, who also did the VFX post processing, worked closely with Michael throughout the day.

At this time Charlene Ferreira was already hard at work getting all the food, snacks and drinks ready for the set. It's a braai remember! There needs to be lots of stuff to eat. From mielies, garlic bread, wors and chops to Texan steaks and who knows what more. Once all the talents were done with wardrobe and make-up it was time to roll the camera.

By making use of bullet-time filming techniques we had to freeze the action within the movement. Unlike the "normal" way of shooting bullet-time with multiple DSLR cameras, this was all shot in real time. Yes, real time! This meant that the talents had to keep really, really still while the camera was recording and the rest of it would happen in post. For multiple reasons there is no actual fire on set while you film. So, one of the few things to be added in post would be flames and smoke from the fire.

Our first shot was the patio scene whereafter we moved indoors for another set-up at an indoor braai are. Once this shot was completed we had to move location to an outdoor area. Here we did a complete camping set-up with a tent and all other camping kind-off stuff. We again set up a 3m track, but this time we did a pull-back shot on the dolly. After a long day of shooting it all came to an end around 8pm. Now the VFX work had to start....

What a fun day it was working with Faction Media! Most of the hard work goes unnoticed and is not appreciated enough during the short duration you have to broadcast a TV Commercial. Those involved in the making of such a commercial are the only ones who will really understand what it takes to produce these creative adverts.

High five to all those involved!
See the BTS images and final TV Commmercial below.

Producer: Christo vd Westhuizen
Creative Director: Ruan Zaaiman
Director: Michael Oberholzer
DOP: Joe Louw
Motion Control Grips/Rigging: TimeLapse SA