Creating Impactful Commercials on a Budget: Our Experience with 'The Gold Star Gifter'

When filming a spec commercial there are a few things you want to keep in mind.

1 - Make it great

2 - Make it affordable

3 - Make it really great

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An easy formula, right? Sometimes, the creative challenge lies in the need to be nimble. Whether it’s a tight deadline, a small crew or the weather chooses not to cooperate, the show must always go on. Here at Diagonal Media, we pride ourselves on our adaptability.

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We concepted a speculative commercial for Uncommon Goods, “The Gold Star Gifter” because we were drawn to a single-shot narrative. We were inspired by the Samsung Feel More commercial and wanted to make a spot that captured the purchaser's reaction, instead of the product itself.

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What quickly came to mind was the range of emotions you feel when your friend opens your gift in front of the entire party. It can be nerve-wracking! Ramped up with the pressure that you always get the perfect gift, and those 10 seconds can feel like an eternity.

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We wanted to show the gift-giver's anticipation morph into excitement and, finally, relief. To do that, our team decided to add the vertigo effect because we love a challenge. The Vertigo effect creates a sense of dizziness in the scene. The effect is famously used in the movie Jaws, when Martin Brody realizes there’s a shark in the water.

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While we weren’t contending with a shark, the reason the Vertigo effect was perfect for a commercial about gift giving is that it highlights the sudden sense of anticipation. Our main character is literally holding her breath to see if her gift was a hit. In order to nail the shot we needed to stop the camera right when the tension eases, and our main character realizes her gift was a hit. Our DP, Garrett, executed this perfectly.

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Anyone who's worked on a set knows that filmmaking is a team sport. Producer Alex suggested we add a final scene between Stephanie (our main character) and another partygoer. In this button scene the partygoer asks Stephanie where she got the gift, giving Stephanie a chance to break the fourth wall and give a knowing smile to the camera. This moment sweetened everything we were trying to do. It brought attention back to the brand, Uncommon Goods, showing their desirability.

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This commercial was very fun to film and edit. Our set was a playground, we used colorful lights and a small crew and wrapped production in less than 2 hours.

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Great

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Affordable

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Really great!