Making it work on ALL the platforms

  • Client Bader Rutter for Zoetis
  • Deliverable :30 for all social platforms
  • Timeline 2 months
  • Budget $$ ($15,000 - $50,000)
Woman in Zoetis wardrobe behind the scenes of commercial production

The Problem

This creative had a fun special effects component that required our talent to reach “through” the split screen side by side from one environment in to a new environment.  We worked closely with our post production team and the motion GFX/special effects manager to figure out exactly how to execute this “magic”.  The REAL challenge though was keeping our delivery platforms front of mind during our creative prep.  When investing in video, understandably, clients want to push that video out EVERYWHERE – hitting all the social media platforms.  With that in mind, the standard 16×9 video aspect ratio doesn’t always work – especially when needing to show the action horizontally (standard), vertically (stories/reels) and in a square (instagram).

The Solution

Capturing the product “pass across” in the horizontal aspect ratio was simple, but we definitely needed to change tactics for that action to translate to the vertical format (9×16).  That’s when we thought to film the product sharing scene as a “pass up” instead.  It took a little extra time during our shoot schedule but that was an easy trade off to make to avoid the many many hours that it would have required in post trying to figure out how to take action filmed only as a 16×9 and make it work vertically as a 9×16.  And frankly, there likely wouldn’t be a visually good solution.  It goes without saying that not everything can be solved with “Fix it in post.”

The Unusual

What we feel is unusual about our approach to video, and what sets us apart as a production parter, is that we are always thinking about how to maximize the use of the content we make.  We want our videos to not just work for you but to WORK HARD and get to as many eyeballs as possible.  That means having a strategy in pre-production that allows for maximum efficiency for deliverables of the final product.  Just like our clients, we want to see our videos go everywhere and not only that but look good everywhere.  So even though a client may say – “we just need an explainer video for our website”, we ask if they’ve thought about making it work on their social channels… if they’ve thought about making cutdowns for “snackable” content to push out multiple posts over time… if they’ve thought about other uses the footage we capture could be useful for – what about a dynamic video banner for your profile pages instead of the boring static one?  We not only want to make high quality content – we want to help you make the most of it.