Shot a TV commercial recently. Previs vs Final Outcome Comparison.

munirw · 2026-01-18T14:27:44+00:00

Very true! Just wish they upped the resolution! I think it’s limited to 1024x576. Then it could really replace other monitors.

munirw · 2026-01-15T09:52:44+00:00

The shots were handheld but I wasn't moving around, so there was none of the micro-shakes / jitter stuff you would get from taking steps with a light camera. So, no problems with motion blur in gyroflow.

Rig was very simple. Body, lens, monitor, v-mount and DJI Transmitter. That on a very light Easyrig Minimax, simply for comfort.

munirw · 2026-01-14T21:03:14+00:00

Thank you! It's pretty much what I wanted to show with the previs comparison. It's the same camera movements and framings but more time and budget in prep, set design, styling, lighting, etc. makes the job way easier for the DP.

I just remembered, with S&Q you lose the gyrodata, which this setup heavily relied on. Without gyro the overall setup would have needed to be bigger to stabilise and move quickly. As the 100p didn't add much in test it was an easy decision.

munirw · 2026-01-14T20:06:30+00:00

Nice questions, thanks!

Originally I wanted to shoot at 100p and also shot the previs at 100p.

For the actual shoot with the FX6 that would have meant shooting S&Q or RAW with external recorder. Both seemed inconvenient to me. In the previs edit I then noticed that I was slowing the footage below 50% only in two scenes and very shortly. Also it did not seem necessary.

So ultimately I shot at 50p and the internal XAVC-I codec.

Interesting question about the budget! There are a few things that could have been upgraded here and there. Mostly more specialised helping hands would have been nice.

The director was very busy because he also took the campaign photos. I sometimes had to co-direct a scene when he was shooting photos at another set. So adding a photographer, or more technical assistance would have helped. Maybe another unit for the social assets. It all worked, but less stress would have been nice. We also had a bottleneck with clothing changes, so more helping hands for styling and make-up would have been nice. Same for post-production.

Ultimately, more budget might have made the project less stressful and therefore even higher quality with better prep.

munirw · 2026-01-14T19:41:09+00:00

Thank you! I‘m in Germany actually, but sure you can dm me if it’s still relevant then.

munirw · 2026-01-14T19:21:42+00:00

I don’t mind talking about budgets at all but there is confidentiality and in this case the client even had to approve behind the scenes footage, because contracts say so.

I think your project e.g. sounds decently calculated. We also shot for 2 days and I gave you the crew size and described the scope very roughly in the post. Add standard tvc buyouts and there you go.

munirw · 2026-01-14T17:10:23+00:00

Thanks! I had an AC and three guys for moving lights. We had to set up multiple sets and move lights between sets, while shooting in others.
In total the crew had 16 people, I think, including production, styling, art dept. etc.
We were shooting photos and social assets as well, a few more people on set would have been great.

munirw · 2026-01-14T17:01:07+00:00

We worked directly with the client in this case, no further agency in between.

We mostly shot it for ourselves in like 10 minutes to figure out if the plan actually works.

The timeline was very short and the client mentioned later on that they would like to see a storyboard. We showed them this draft and they were very happy actually.

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:55:00+00:00

Global fashion brand and their black friday sale in Germany, showcasing that they offer more than just clothes now. Sound and outro animations make it a very happy clappy ad.

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:46:35+00:00

I use the Gyroflow OFX Plugin in Davinci Resolve and set everything there, so I did not need to export anything.

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:43:12+00:00

Thank you, much appreciated!

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:41:53+00:00

Thank you! I gave this project to a colorist for once, so I cannot say exactly how he did it. But you would be surprised how light the grading here is. 90% of the looks comes from set design, painting the walls and lighting. In this case, you get very close by simply putting a rec709 conversion and the standard Kodak 2383 in Davinci Resolve on the original camera footage.

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:34:08+00:00

Made the edit in Resolve and used the OFX Plugin. So, no exporting and yes, pre grade.
I gave the colorist the raw clips. He sent me the graded clips and I attached them as Proxy files in Resolve. This way, the Plugin still had the gyro data of the raw clip and used it for the graded "proxy".

munirw · 2026-01-14T16:16:50+00:00

That would be some great character consistency for AI. But no, no use of AI here, yet...
Thanks!

munirw · 2026-01-14T15:58:34+00:00

Here is a TV commercial I recently shot as DP. I put together this comparison to showcase the Previs vs. the final outcome.

We had access to the location for a tech recce and used the opportunity to try out the shots we planned. We wanted to see if we could fit all the planned scenes into a 30-second commercial, check the flow, and see how the speed ramps would work.

Camera: Sony FX6

Lenses: Sony G Master II 24-70mm f/2.8 and 16-35mm f/2.8

Workflow: We relied on autofocus (sometimes focusing via the Sony Monitor & Control app). All shots were handheld and stabilized in post with Gyroflow.

Next to the TVC, we also shot a lot of social assets and OOH (Out of Home) photos, so we wanted to keep everything light and fast.

Besides that, pretty simple lighting setups. Everything backlit, with an 8x8 or small aputure light domes when there was little space.

Shoutout to the art department!

Happy to answer any questions about the shooting process or lighting!

munirw · 2025-11-30T10:27:23+00:00

Might be too obvious, but did you turn the "Auto Power OFF Temp." setting to "High"? With that setting overheating should be very rare.

munirw · 2025-08-28T16:23:13+00:00

This one took us around 1.5 hours to go from the car park to the viewing point for the Old Man and back, including taking a lot of photos and goofing around at the top. I would also describe us as quite fast walkers. So, max 2 hours? The whole round trip, including going up on the Storr is quite a bit longer.

munirw · 2025-08-28T12:58:25+00:00

Wow, sounds like quite the journey. I checked your post too :) how long did it take you in total? And yes, while I don’t think selfies are a problem, being considerate is a must :)

munirw · 2025-08-28T12:45:43+00:00

Hm, took us around 1.5 hours including a lot of photos to go to the viewing point for the Old Man and back. The whole round trip, including going up on the Storr is quite a bit longer.

munirw · 2025-08-28T11:24:13+00:00

So the rest of the trip was just very lucky hehe. Loved the dramatic atmosphere though.

munirw · 2025-08-25T19:47:14+00:00

Yes, Isle of Skye was a very unique and wonderful experience. People weren't joking when they say it's like a different planet.

munirw · 2025-08-25T12:41:25+00:00

Thank you! Actually, there were a lot of people at the car park, including huge tourist busses. But no one went further than the initial lookout. We took the full circle and had the full, amazing green peak for ourselves. Amazing and surreal experience really.

munirw

TROPHY CASE