Clear Cut Concept

This was one of the first times my experience as an editor gave me a significant advantage in pitching, concepting and ultimately executing a project.

Creative agency Hiebing wrote the script for Fiskars and were looking for a director & production company to execute the shifting, table top concept. Pitches from other directors were focused on elaborate rigging. Either suspending the camera over a very wide table top set or another which would use a rolling background to move all the elements horizontally underneath the camera.

This project was completed in March of 2016.

I thought these techniques would be too cumbersome and unnecessary. So I proposed an alternative. Simply film each scene separately as a static overhead and stitch them together in After Effects. On top of that utilize the ultra-high resolution of the RED camera and allow for significant real estate outside of the frame to overlap between each scene. Helping the illusion that each scene was physically next to the other and reveal additional details as the camera moved horizontally.

The pitch was chosen and as a bonus, significantly reduced the budget.

Filming, editing and additional compositing all went according to plan. Director of Photography Jon Sovey did a phenomenal job lighting each scene so that it would all fit into a single world. Besides the blade testing machine, each scene was filmed in studio, including the store shelving and checkout conveyor belt.

The finished project was received very well and is still utilized by both client and agency.