On the Film Set
Filming Process
Filming commercials is never the same! One team, one set of equipment, one location, but the process is always different. And each time, no matter how thorough the preparation, there is always some nuance that could not be predicted or foreseen in advance.
This time, the client set the task: to create commercials that clearly, thoroughly, and visually showcase all the advantages of their product — carts for easy cargo transport.
Sunny Location
Since there were several types of carts available, it was decided to make four commercials: one for each type and one overall featuring all of them. The shooting shift stretched over the entire daylight period. The first scenes were filmed at a real warehouse outside the city. Here, the challenge was to manage natural lighting: the hot Kuban sun had already lazily spread across the sky in the morning, growing increasingly intense by the minute. It was impossible to block the sunlight inside the warehouse. The necessary equipment handled this challenge perfectly. After measuring exactly 54.3 meters of the actor’s walking path, the crew moved from the cool building directly to the sun-drenched “frying pan” of the lot in front of the warehouse. Here, it was necessary to combine the movement of a truck and a forklift so that the actor would end up joyfully standing in the center of a dynamic shot. A reflector proved very useful in achieving this. Although it was not used quite as intended — it served more as protection for the crew from the blazing sun.
Green Screen Pavilion
Having successfully finished at the warehouse, the filming crew moved to the pavilion, where they shot the main “acting” parts of all four commercials, as well as static shots of all the carts with all their wheels, bolts, locks, board coatings, and holes for threading straps and ropes. This rather monotonous but extremely meticulous process was enlivened by a very beautiful actress invited to play the roles of a housewife and an office lady. Her divine hip swings walking from one end of the pavilion to the other extended the filming process somewhat, as the cameraman was never quite sure the shot had worked perfectly and kept asking for “one more take.” And he had yet to film the actress threading a strap through a cart’s hole...
From Dawn to Dusk
The shift lasted from dawn to dusk at the warehouse and in the studio pavilion. We did almost everything with the carts: pushed and pulled them, sat and lay on them, hung them up, carried them, wet them, dirtied and wiped them, rolled them on a forklift, sprayed them, built pyramids, stroked them... And filmed, filmed, filmed. Heat, warehouse dust, studio lights, A LOT of cargo, A VERY beautiful woman, and finally — a VERY long watering with a hose on the lawn near the pavilion. The carts passed all our tests — you’ve got to take them! 