Shooting Report Corporate film with DSLR and Technicolor Picture Style

In the latest corporate video of the UNEM-Filmproduction for Rekord Fenster und Türen (windows and doors) the Canon 7D with the Technicolor Picture Style have been used. In this shooting report we explain the content focus and technical conditions of this corporate video production.

Dramaturgy

The aim of the image film is to show the quality of the products. The film gives customers and interested parties an insight into the production and a sense of security and trust.
In the staging of this image film, it is especially important to show the people that create this quality every day. The film shows that the company has successfully implemented a combination of craftsmanship with the optimized processes of industrial production.
The film production values a steady camera work, with sequence shots on dolly and crane – a staged production with lighting design and cinematic depth of field.

To achieve those “soft” cinematic images, the 7D with 25p mode is the first choice of the UNEM-Filmproduktion. With the follow focus system of redrock micro focus pulling during
dolly shots and crane shots, with the APS-C sensor (90% of the size of SUPER-35 FILM) is no problem and the result is a convincing film look. A high quality optical look to match the quality of the “rekord” windows and doors.
The individual product lines were integrated into the film and combined with cut scenes, such as forest and studio takes.
The intro of the film and the eye-catcher for the viewer is the subject of quality, images from the wood production and a rhetorical question, “What does it take to create quality?” to motivate the audience to watch.


The Customer of UNEM filmproduction

Rekord Fenster und Türen is a manufacturer of quality windows and doors. A family business since 1919. The factory area is huge about 30000m² (325,000 square feet).

Production schedule

After an informative briefing and a factory tour with the marketing department, a challenging script with more than 80 scenes in the procution halls have been written. Therefore, a thorough planning is important for the use of crane, dolly and light as a large factory can’t just be stopped. In the screening of the location we are looking for interesting perspectives and are determining the shots. Based on a scene overview with photographs as a storyboard the order to shoot the film is planned.

Thanks to the support of the marketing the employees were notified and could prepare for the next working steps to film, that’s how you can have fun on set despite a large workload.

Shooting

Instead of showing the production lines for wood and plastic windows in succession, we show the lines in parallel.
In the intro, the values of Rekord Fenster und Türen are symbolically represented. Then the production process begins. Raw materials, cutting of raw materials, gluing / welding, painting, glass, security, training, quality control, dispatch. The equipment was moved with large trolleys between the locations. Because of the good focal length range we used the Canon 24-105 F4.0 with ISO 320 for most of the shots, in order to avoid changing the lenses in this dusty environment. Putting the concept into practice was done within two days of shooting.
When shooting the Technicolor Picture Style you have to look carefully that you have the correct exposure. Test images showed that difficulties can arise for dark images after color correction block artifacts in the sky. We’ve done this by using the exposure visualization of the marshall 7″ LCD-monitor.

Mobile studio

With a grey carton background and tripods a mobile studio have been built in the production, for beauty shots of the products.

Equipment

  • Camera Crane 6m
  • Dolly
  • Canon 7D, with RedRock Micro MatteBox & Follow Focus
  • Canon 24-105 F4.0 IS
  • Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS
  • Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II
  • various Hedler lights with up to 2.5 kW and softboxes
  • two large Kino Flos
  • Mobile Studio – Tripods, black background fabrics and gray carton background

Post Production

To support the emotional pictures warm colors were used. Hard contrasts should be avoided, so we used a flattened S-curve in the color correction for the flat image of the Technicolor Style.

 

Post-production took five days, including grading and sound mixing. The voice over text for the image film was spoken by the speaker Gilles Karolyi. The sound of his voice was just right for the story. A great collaboration.
The soundtrack for the film is kept very classic – An ensemble of chimes, harps, a piano melody with a gentle “chorus” of strings and cello. The highlight of the composition – a brass of trumpets, tuba, and
it’s refined with a subtle drum march.

Conclusion

The film had its premiere at the VFF annual conference (association window and facade) in Munich and was honored with great applause.
The quality of the Technicolor Picture Styles is convincing and will be a production standard of the UNEM Filmproduction when shooting Canon DSLR.

The finished corporate film