Netflix “Waiting” Behind the Scenes
Posted in Behind The Scenes, Education, Post Production, Pre Production, Production
AN IDEA THAT WON’T LEAVE YOU ALONE
Pre Production
Sometimes the best creative work happens organically. That’s what happened with our spot “Waiting” for Netflix.
Click to watch the finished Netflix “Waiting” :30 Spot
Netflix ran a competition through Poptent looking for content to advertise their Instant Streaming product. I personally use Netflix Instant streaming and love their service. I was busy at the time working on a feature screenplay and wasn’t anticipating commercial production anytime soon. The Netflix commercial was also due in nine days, so I also felt a full production couldn’t possibly happen within the given time frame. After reading the briefing though, the idea of a man who has to wait on life popped in my head and I couldn’t shake it.
I came up with a couple of scripts, and as I dove deeper into the writing process, I realized this was a universal idea many people could relate with. I also realized we could go in a ton of different directions.
I started thinking about day to day life and how much of it is spent waiting. We wait in lines, we wait for traffic, we wait on hold, and many times we wait for no one. It’s something that we all do in today’s society, and it’ s something that, many times, renders us powerless.
The idea that Netflix instant movies and television gives us power over our time again is one that would resonate well for the brand.
I also chose to keep dialogue out of the script because the concept could stand on visual storytelling alone. I think it makes a finished piece stronger, and more universal.
Another great benefit of this idea, from a production stand point, was that it lent itself perfectly for a production shoot with little to no cost and crew. We decided to shoot it guerrilla style, run and gun, and see what came about organically. As we were looking at casting, I realized my producing partner Mason would be perfect for the part. We finished pre production in two days and began principal photography.
TWO MAN CREW
Production
Armed with the Canon 7D, a Canon 17-55mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, Tokina 11-16mm lens, and minimal props, Mason and I shot the entire spot in one day, and allowed another half day for pickups. Utilizing locations around the Los Angeles area, we spent minimal time in each place, getting the coverage we needed and heading to the next spot.
I decided that we would use all natural light to keep the look and feel as grounded to reality as possible. It also kept us under the radar and made moving from location to location a breeze. It’s a challenge to DP and direct at the same time, but beyond the technical aspects of framing, lighting, f-stop and such, it’s also freeing to constantly be looking through the viewfinder and coming up with new ideas of how to visually tell the story.
As we moved from each location, new ideas of what we could shoot the hero waiting on came about, and we ended up with a lot more footage at the end of the day than we planned for. For example, the original idea of the character waiting in traffic involved us shooting a wide of an LA freeway and cutting to the tight of Mason sitting in the car. We came across construction on a backroad which I felt worked better for those in middle America as well, who don’t wait in wall to wall freeway traffic.
POLISH AND POST
Post Production
After wrapping production, I brought the clips into Final Cut and realized that we had enough great content for a :60. The competition called for a :30, so we ended up leaving a ton of good scenes on the cutting room floor.
I needed to find a music cue to keep the viewer intrigued during the entire piece, but that wouldn’t get in the way. I ended up finding the perfect song, “L’arrivée” by Ehma in the Jamendo Creative Commons area. The cue masterfully used the pace of a clock to represent time and complemented the footage beautifully.
After locking the edit, we took the final clips into after effects for all of the subtle visual effects and color correction.
The post production process can’t fix a bad script, make up for poor coverage, or salvage less than stellar acting, but it can make a good production great.
There were certain aspects during shooting that I knew would need to be addressed in post, due to our ultra fast schedule and guerrilla shooting style. For instance, the opening shot of Mason waiting for the clock to turn over to 6AM. To have achieved this practically, it would have taken a lot more effort and resources to reset the clock over and over for each take, not to mention hoping that the timing worked out correctly. So instead, I made sure we nailed the take and then fixed the time in post. Knowing what is and isn’t easily solved in post is something that I feel is extremely important in directing productions.
Another example of knowing what is capable in post comes from many of the moving shots. I wanted a subtle movement to most shots in the commercial, but didn’t have the budget, crew, nor wanted to draw attention to our production with a Steadicam rental, or Cineslider or dolly system. I shot everything hand held with my G-Cinema rig and then stabilized in post. There are many stabilization plug-ins and methods that I will get into at a later time, but using a little plug-in for After Effects called Lock & Load X is my go to that usually gets outstanding results.
After the final tweaking to color was achieved and all visual effects were finished, I finished the motion graphics at the end to showcase the different devices Netflix streaming works with. From concept to completion, we finished this commercial in six days, with a minimal overall budget.
Netflix moved forward in a different direction, with spots that were more informative and spent more time explaining the product than ours did, but at the end of the day, I am extremely proud of our final result.
This behind the scenes gives a glimpse at what can be achieved with the new technology that is available to filmmakers today. A DSLR camera coupled with great software, a proper pipeline, and a great concept can truly put the power into the hands of filmmakers for budgets unthinkable ten years ago.
Hell yes, i scarcity write a thing allied this but didnt have time, may i repost this Netflix “Waiting” following the Scenes | Creative Chops Studios
Of course you can repost, please just give credit and a link to this website. Thanks!
I learned a lot from this post, much appreciated!
Thanks for the share!
Nancy.R
Thanks for the share!
Nancy
Glad you enjoyed the post! There will be a lot more behind the scenes coming soon — as well updated content… I’ve been swamped with projects! Stay tuned!
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Thanks for spending time on the computer (wriitng) so others don’t have to.
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Thanks for the kind words! Glad you two enjoy the posts. I honestly haven’t considered guest writers to this point. That is an interesting idea I will take into consideration and get back with you. I’m currently swamped with projects at the moment (keeping me from updating with more content) but will begin posting again soon. Thanks for the feedback!
Ya learn somehting new everyday. It’s true I guess!
Well, all things considered…
Got it! Thanks a lot again for hlepnig me out!
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Helen