Luva
A glove for lovers
For my section of this group project Trey Davis and I worked together to produce this 55 second video. Trey and I went to town square for a location scout. Once we got there and saw the lights on we knew this was the place we wanted to shoot the commercial. Trey drew up the story board as we collaborated on where the actors would start and finish their movements and how we would digitally shoot it. We got help from 10 other film students at DSU and made it happen. Everyone had a specific job and I directed the commercial.
This commercial has multiple design principals and gestalt theories incorporated into it.
When we first started storyboarding one of my main concerns was that everything in the video would have continuity so it would flow together seamlessly. I wanted the video to look as if it was shot in one take. This required having the actors repeat the same movements so when I went to edit it there would be no trouble in transitioning to a new shot. Once I got to post production I needed to make proper color adjustments so that the color matched and followed our style guide throughout the scene.
In the following screen shots I break down the colors in this video more.
Master Shot: here the scene is established. You can tell it's cold outside because they are dressed warm and there are light blue and violet hues, which gives that chilly feeling.
Here Isabella has to stop her date during this walk through the park to warm her hands.
See those cool colors? Don't you wish there was something to keep your hands warm?
Zac to save the day! At this point once the Luva has been placed on their hands they immediately step in closer to warmer light. When Trey and I were story boarding we wanted the couple to come and sit down in these red lights because we knew the red would give a warmer feel to the video. So basically there are to halves to this video: the cold half and warm half. Right after the Luva was slipped on, it provided a solution to the cold and our actors stepped into the warmth.
In this last shot I release the brighter colors of our Luva logo and the actors are fully submersed in the warm hues of pink and a kiss of violet.
Next, balance and harmony was also a big focus for this video. I feel these principals were accomplished because there was a problem introduced in the beginning of the video and later a solution provided which gave balance and harmony again. Visually the composition of each frame also helped keep the balance. There was a establishing shot and then wide shots which moved into close ups. The rule of thirds was also applied which helped make the shots interesting and flow together. An example of this is where Zac and Isabella were exchanging glances back at each other as Zac introduced the Luva. Both actors faces were put on opposite sides of the rule of thirds to help show how they were each looking toward each other with leading space in front of their faces.
Another visual element that was used was space; which has to deal with what fits in the frame. I decided to keep the frames very tight on this couple because I wanted it to seem like their chemistry was the only thing that mattered in the moment. In addition the very last shot we used a 100mm lens which gave great depth of field to blur out the background and keep the focus only on the couple.
The orientation of the camera was mostly directly in front of the couple the whole time. I felt this was the best angle to tell their story because it allowed us to be completely involved with them.
Contrast also helped separate the characters from the background as I tried to make the couple's faces brighter than everything else. Shadows were beneficial in separating the characters from the background as well so this scene would appear three dimensional.
Back to Gestalt principals:
I greatly feel that the Law of Proximity was accomplished through this video because it states: objects near each other tend to be grouped together. That is the whole point of the Luva; to bond two people together. The product showed how comfortably a couple can keep their hands close to each other.
The Law of Closure was followed when your mind sees a close up shot of hands going into the Luva and it doesn't seem awkward having the arm chopped off in the frame. Another example is the close of of Zac's head being cut off while he's looking down at Isabella. Your mind naturally fills in the rest of Zac's head.
Law of Pragnanz: reality is reduced to it's simplest form. The whole goal of this video was to keep it simple and make it look good. I feel that it only looks as good as it does because it was kept so simple.
I enjoyed working with my group on this project and to see how our ideas improved as we collaborated together and that I especially got to make some new friends from it. In addition, I had a great time applying visual communication principals which have helped me improve my skills as a cinematographer and will continue to help me as I further my career.
