Welcome back to our Turps Film blog, your front-row seat to the world of video production! Today, we’re chuffed to spill the beans on our latest collaboration with Weber for their weberjoint Premium Silicone Sealant commercial. Weber approached us with something a little bit different, and we couldn’t wait to bring their vision to life.

The Brief: A Perfect Match

Weber’s goal was crystal clear: create a promotional video that could be used across various social media platforms, on their website, and in-store. They wanted two stunning commercial videos in an array of formats (16×9, 9×16, 1×1) for platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, they needed  to use on their website and social media posts.

Our videos needed to show that Weber’s weberjoint Premium Grout and their new weberjoint Premium Silicone Sealant are a perfect match for each other. Our characters already have one of the products but they needed help to find its missing partner. It was an exciting challenge, and we were ready to swipe right on it!

The Proposal: Crafting the Perfect Match

With Weber’s brief in hand, we set to work on crafting a compelling commercial video that would resonate with their target audience.

Here’s how we executed the look

We decided to open the video with an establishing shot that would immediately showcase the target audience in a scenario that would be appropriate for them. For our trade audience, we see a tradesman prepping his van ready for the day’s work and we have our DIY enthusiast checking to make sure they’ve got everything they need for the job ahead.

A DIY enthusiast walks towards their kitchen whilst holding a bag of weberjoint premium grout

Wide shots can be tricky as you can’t sneak a light just outside the frame, and you can’t hide any messy bits by zooming in. Luckily, a good location helps and we got two crackers! We had the early morning sun to help our trade scene look glorious and with the help of our bank of lights and a fog machine, our DIY setup had a warm Sunday afternoon feel.

A tradesperson walks towards their van whilst holding a bag of weberjoint premium grout


Nerd speak:
Our lighting setup wasn’t too elaborate but it was finely crafted. The DIY scene in particular, due to it not having as many elements to play with in the scene, we needed to add character where we could. We had two aperture 600X’s outside the window through a scrim to provide an incredibly natural looking key and then a 300d with a fresnel to create some beautiful texture in the background. Add a couple of practicals in there for good measure and you’ve got yourself a fairly straight forward but beautiful result. For closeups we added some neg fill but other than that there wasn’t too much tweaking to do.

A behind the scenes shot of crew working on the Weber commercial. A man stands behind a large camera rig pointed towards an actress. There is lighting equipment towards the edge of frame.

The trade scene had a couple of quirks as we were dealing with the sun’s movements but we were well equipped to deal with this. We had to light our character inside the van and out but we used a mix of LED strips, the apertures, and a softbox to deliver that super clean, polished look.

We were able to cheat our over the shoulder shots, the sun had moved so we just had to shimmy our set up along a few meters (gasp!).

For our product shots we did our favourite. Push in whilst bringing up the intensity of the light. It’s a really nice effect and helps push the attention right into the centre of the frame.

A screenshot from a product video showcasing the new range of weberjoint premium displayed in a van filled with various tools.

The Tinder Twist: 

To capture the essence of a dating app, we placed the tradesperson in front of a “tinder-esque” app designed specifically for tradespeople. The tradesperson swiped through a couple of non-branded competitor products, portraying disinterest.

For these scenes, we had our actor hold a phone with a plain green screen displayed. (Cue dozens of crew members telling us to do it a different way). Then in post-production, we tracked the movements of the phone, created animations to replace the screen and then dropped it into the frame. Then we had to rotoscope the finger to allow us to place that layer on top of the screen replacement to act as a believable swipe . Then another layer to act as a solid edge for the phone itself. In short, a HUGE amount of work went into this process. We’ve done it before but you always forget how time consuming it really is.

Screengrab showing a close up of a phone - the phone is displaying a green screenScreengrab showing a close up of a phone displaying a bag of Weber adhesive and a tube of Weber grout - the original screen has been replaced and we can see the image overlapping the original video footage.
Screengrab showing a close up of a phone displaying a bag of Weber adhesive and a tube of Weber grout - The screen has been replaced and the surrounding elements have been incorporated to sell the effect.Screengrab showing a close up of a phone displaying a bag of Weber adhesive and a tube of Weber grout - The final image after screen replacement and colour grading.

Deliverables:

In the end, we delivered two mini commercial videos, one in landscape and the other in portrait, ensuring they were optimised for their respective platforms. We also provided Weber with a selection of high-resolution screen grabs that could be used for their website and social media posts.

Project Highlights: Collaboration and Creativity Commercial

This project was a fantastic opportunity for collaboration between Turps Film and Weber. We took care of project planning and management, sourced locations, props, and talent, and carried out a jam packed day of commercial video production in the North East. Our team used top-notch filming equipment to capture the perfect shots.

We typically shoot on Sony Cameras like the FX9, FX6 and FS7 as they provide a perfect balance between quality and speed. On this occasion, we were shooting on an Arri Amira with a DZO Pictor 20-55mm. This allowed us to heighten the production quality to create something that wouldn’t look out of place on your telly during a commercial break! The downsides? Weight, speed, cost, additional rigging and crew requirements. It just shows how every project is completely different and needs its own approach.

Post-production was a crucial phase where we put together all the elements, added graphics and sound effects, and selected a licensed audio track to create a seamless and engaging commercial video. We went one step further and had this piece colour graded shot by shot. Did I mention that a LOT of work went into this project?

As standard we offered three rounds of amends as part of the project, ensuring that Weber had the opportunity to refine the commercial video until it met their expectations.

Was it love at first sight? Here’s what the client had to say about their commercial;

“Creating these videos took us a little out of our comfort zone, but Luke, Becki and the team made it an easy ride!

Due to our normal video content being more instructional, these promotional social media videos were something different… we created a rough brief, had a short video call and the storyboard was quick to arrive!  The team arranged suitable locations and props, got the right talent in place for the feature roles, and developed a style that suited our different audiences.  As I was unable to be on set for the filming, constant communication via WhatsApp left me feeling confident, relaxed, and very excited about what was being produced!

We were overwhelmed by the finished videos, supplying them in all formats and ratios for the different social media channels in time for the product launch!

Totally recommend Turps Film for their professionalism, friendliness and creativity…. Thank you!”

Weber LogoDawn McKee, Saint-Gobain Weber

At Turps Film, we relish the opportunity to bring creative visions to life, and the Weber weberjoint Premium Silicone Sealant commercial was no exception. We’re proud of the result – a video that combines humour, engagement, and effective product promotion. We’d like to thank Weber for entrusting us with this exciting project. If you’re looking for creative video production that gets your message across with flair and style, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Together, we can create something really special.

Stay tuned for more project focuses and behind-the-scenes insights from Turps Film. Until next time!