Shooters Produces New Image Campaign for Baltimore Gas and Electric Company
By staff
Jan 18, 2008, 02:00
Shooters Post & Transfer, one of the nation’s most comprehensive digital post production facilities, partnered with marketing communications firm, Weber Shandwick, and production company, Lewis Pictures, to produce a new, fast paced advertising campaign for Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE).
Working closely with the agency, the eight-time Emmy award winning Producer/Director Rick Lewis sought out Shooters based on earlier work he had seen the company do for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Those spots featured extensive animation, compositing, editorial and finish work—many of the same tasks called for in BGE’s first :30 spot titled, “We’re on It sm.”
“The campaign utilizes BGE’s employees to tell the story of the work the utility performs each and every day,” said Lewis. “The best thing about Shooters was their hands-on help throughout the project. Inferno Artist/Editor, Rob Graham, helped us work through all of the compositing and editing issues. It is a fluid spot where everything moves and one shot dovetails to the next so everything had to be timed and blocked out to ensure smooth transitions.”
The campaign shows the dedication and commitment of BGE employees in providing reliable and responsive service to customers 24/7. The TV spot starts off with a family walking out the front door of their home where the shot transitions to workers surveying a gas pipeline in a ditch. In each scene the workers assure customers, “We’re on it sm.” The transitions key on moving objects (moving truck, worker’s torso) to wipe from scene to scene. From the gas pipeline the shot quickly segues to a woman communicating with BGE over the internet, where the location changes again to BGE’s Electricity Operations Center and its workers monitoring workflow.
The spot continues with a shot of a worker in a bucket truck restoring power to a home in the driving rain, wrapping up with a group of BGE employees repeating the tag line one final time in front of the house where the power was restored.
The post process began before the TV spot was even shot. Graham was involved in pre-production, as well as effects supervising on the two-day shoot. Graham provided creative as well as technical input to ensure that the spot’s creative could be pulled off efficiently in the inferno suite. According to the agency, Graham’s advice on how to shoot a scene to alleviate post-production scene-matching headaches was invaluable.
“It was critical that Shooters and Rob be involved from the initial conceptual conversations,” said Christopher Durban, Creative Director, Weber Shandwick. “Rob is a great artist and editor who gave 110 percent and who brought a lot to the table to help. The completed spot looks great.”
Lewis also credited Shooters for its “superb” color correction capabilities and in one instance the ability to turn an overcast day of shooting into a warm and sunny afternoon that popped off the screen. “They have the tools and the talent to remedy any production problems,” said Lewis. “I couldn’t get this kind of help and service at any of the places I have worked in the past.”
Technology used: Shot on HDCAM using CineAlta camera, Avid Adrenaline offline, Davinci HD color correct, Smoke / Inferno Finish.
