Thanks Keith. I understand about the blank 3rd. I just didn't know what to put there in the beginning since there was no info to relate yet. But I didn't think it would be ok to have a basic 16x9 for the first half of the commercial then jump to having the video on the top with the lower 3rd. What's the thining on doing that? Is it ok?
And, yea! I used the Sony Z1u for the shoot.
Might be worth noting, I also used VASST's Gearshift to bring everything into 1920x1080 YUV. Chewed my HD up a bit, but hey, the look is very clean.
Thanks again.

Great concept for a mortgage company!! So many of them are talking heads and, as a result, are very boring. I really liked the dust effect as they're dragging it and as the house settles back in at the end.

As far as the lower third is concerned, maybe bring it in at the end but make it semi-transparent so that it doesn't overpower the video?

Some distractions I noticed.
The reflections follow the side of the house in the first shot (CU of people) but, in the next shot, they stop 1/2 way to the garage door and get smaller as the shot continues (texture mapping not set correctly??).
When they're dragging the house across the street, the wife's chain is quite slack. When they're coming back from the store, they're pulling in the same direction as when they were going to it. I found this a bit disconcerting.
Finally, when the chain is being cut, it's obvious that he's not cutting all the way through. I know that large bolt cutters are quite unwieldy and maybe this is why he didn't cut right through. Maybe plastic chains instead?

Mike

Thanks Mike.
Everyone likes the dust. That was actually something of an afterthought. Glad it's there. I'm re-thining the whole lower third thing. Maybe I'll loose it alltogether.
I'm not sure what you mean, "reflections." Do you mean shadows? What was it you noticed? I don't think there are any reflections at all.
I changed the direction they're pulling when they're returning from the store. Thanks for that thought. The only problem now is, in reversing the shot, the word, "STOP" on the street behind them is now reversed as well. Heck. Well, hopefully no one notices. And if they do, perhaps they'll get a chuckle out of it.
As far as the cutting of the chain, I completely agree. They actually were using plastic chain and the Jaws Of Life couldn't cut them! HAHAHA! All it did was squish the plastic. That's why I pre-cut it and just had the talent pull the chains apart. I was hoping it wouldn't be noticed. I'm bummed that it's obvious. Ah well, live and learn. (I am pleased that the plastic chains were good enough to fool you into thinking they were real.)
I also wish I varried the speed of the house more to more closely match the movement of the talent. hmmm... next time...
Any other thoughts from anyone?

Those reflections are definately there.

I'm re-thining the whole lower third thing.

I like the way the titles come in now. Far less obtrusive.

...the street behind them is now reversed as well. Heck. Well, hopefully no one notices.

I had to look more than once before I noticed it. You could always export that short range of frames to Photoshop and paint the markings out as it's now on the wrong side of the road too. Either that or tell them Grazie shot that scene for you in London, England which is why it's backwards :-)

Do you mean shadows?

Sort of. When you're on the first shot of the couple pulling the house, note how the light streaks travel across the house wall directly behind the wife's chain. It also shows on the garage door. When you go to the next shot, those steaks disappear from the garage door completely and are on 1/2 of the wall behind the chain. Then, as the shot progresses, they disappear completely.
Hope thqat makes sense.

... the Jaws Of Life couldn't cut them!

The sad thing is that if the agent had used a normal pair of pliers, the cutting would've worked just fine but the effect would've suffered :-(

Two questions about the audio.
What happened to the classical music track? It was in the hi-res version.
And what are the background sounds I here in the store? Sounds like a kid says something right after the husband says" ...on the way home".

Mike

In reference to the womons chain looking slack. Are you talkin 9 about the whole thing, or just once it appears over the house? the prob. was that the ''real" connnect point Was much much closer & lower than the one we had to make.

Dave

Dave, the slack in the chain is most apparent in the 4th shot (wide shot where you see the street behind them).

Mike

A question re other than the video technique...
Near the very end, if I'm hearing correctly, it sounds like the sponsor is insulting their customers... does the narration actually say:

"Our clients aren't perfect, but we're here to help"?

I don't get the intention of that line.

Ernie

yep unfortunately the chains positioning just doesn't allow for the positioning to be the same on both w/o looking a little strange on one.

Dave

I thought that turned out pretty darn well--everything was nicely done!

Good spot,,
Picking on it , I would say the slack in the chain is an issue, and the continuity between the first shot of the house pulling to the wide shot of pulling, the suv is gone and the ladies stride is off as well as the chain position. A dissolve could solve that .But as it stands better than most cable spots by leaps.

Thanks for sharing, I liked it a lot... as someone noted, interesting concept for a mortgage company.

My one nit was when the husband asks his spouse whether they should pick up the kids on the way home, you cut on her answer which is inaudible but seems to be an emphatic and satisfied "Yes!", rather than a resigned, roll-your-eyes "yes". I wonder whether including her audio would have helped (me) with that.

Best,

Pierre

Good job buddy....serious.

Cool idea and great execution. The only thing that bothers me is the texture map on the side of the dragged house. At first few glances, it looks like reflections of trees in a glass like material. But upon repeated viewings, it looks like you were going for shadows playing across the 3D model.

Shadows can be hard on 3D models as you need to adjust the opacity of the shadows to match the background plate. Not always easy. And th ose shadows have to angle differently with each contour and bend of the house. And I still think the side of the house looks reflective.

Other than that, a fantastic job. Well paced, directed and edited.

...cute girl too ....you knew I'd say that.

Good job buddy. Very well done.

Stan

EDIT - Oh, I just watched it again and there is something very important that you missed. It's in your setting up of the shots. A lot of people miss this but it's very integral to making a good edit.

You crossed that axis.......huh ?

Ok, the shot where they "snap" the house back into it's base, you see the "tie" man walk into frame left....then you dissolve to him standing on the right. This is passable as you did a short dissolve. If you did a cut, it would have thrown the viewer off.

Then he picks up the cutters in the same shot and then

CUT TO: Close Up of the cutters on the chain, but you crossed the axis to the tie guy's right side. You need to stay on his left as that's where he was in the last shot.

Cut To: previous wide shot of the three of them and we're back across the axis to the tie guys left....

So the insert of the close up of the cutter on the chains should have been from the tie guys left side and not his right.

Sounds nitpicky but that IS important.

I really love the concept. I think the thing that keeps it from seeming more like a national spot is the voice over through most of it. I think it would have been great to have very little dialog or VO, and just show more examples of the people being "chained" to their homes, then finish up w/ the message "Cut your chains, w/ Top Choice Morgage". I find the VO, and interesting visuals competing for my attention. Overall very nice work.

Kinda OT: (has nothing to do with this commercial - which I like BTW, whoever did those chains must have been good ;-) )

I think that you're sorta right Kula Gabe - the main differences that I've seen sometimes in national spots are that a lot of the good ones have very little VO (at least till the end) and they let the footage and the images speak for themselves.

Great spot BTW.

Dave

Mathew. Very unexpected and a great effect ..I especially love the bit where she kicks the house into place and a little smoke puff ..ITS the little details :) Colour Matching was very good and the effect was seamless.. The Voiceover was professional.. Not sure about the grey title box being there all the Time although it was unobtrusive. but does look a little confusing with the road I was happy with the Titles...

Informative Fun LARGER than life Film that keeps the viewers interest..Very nice work !

Dave, you did a really good job rotoscoping that shot. I saw the original footage and one of the chains didn't even connect to the house... the chain you replaced it with looks great (and has slack too).

it took long enough :)

But the spot was great - Great job mathew.

Dave