Commercial production moves fast. When TCL came to us for their latest campaign, we had two weeks from greenlight to locked picture. Here’s how we did it.
Pre-Production: The Invisible Work
Before we rolled camera, the team spent three days locked in creative. Storyboards, shot lists, lighting diagrams, talent casting, location scouting. The work nobody sees on screen but everything depends on.
Key decisions made in pre-pro:
- Camera package: ARRI ALEXA Mini LF for the hero shots, Sony FX6 for BTS and cutaways
- Lensing: Cooke Anamorphic /i SF — client wanted that premium cinematic look
- Lighting: Natural + supplement. We scouted the location at magic hour and built the schedule around it.
- Talent: Three-day casting process, chemistry reads for the family scenes
The tighter your pre-pro, the smoother the shoot. We’ve learned this the hard way.
Production: The Day On Set
Call time was 6:00 AM. Crew of 18. Four hero setups plus BTS coverage. The schedule was tight but achievable — if nothing went wrong.
Something always goes wrong.
In this case: the hero product didn’t arrive until 10:30 AM. We’d planned to shoot it first. Instead, we flipped the schedule, knocked out the family scenes, and stayed flexible. By the time the TCL unit showed up, we were ahead of schedule and had time to light it properly.
Lesson: build buffer into your day. Always.
Post-Production: Where It All Comes Together
Two days of offline editing. One day of color. Half a day of sound mix and final delivery.
The ARRI footage graded beautifully — exactly why we reach for it on high-end commercial work. The anamorphic flares in the product shots gave TCL exactly the premium look they wanted without us having to manufacture it in post.
Final deliverables:
- 30-second broadcast spot (16:9, ProRes 4444)
- 15-second social cutdown (1:1, H.264)
- 9:16 vertical for Stories and Reels
- BTS sizzle for internal use
What We’d Do Differently
Honestly? Not much. The product delay could’ve been catastrophic if we hadn’t built flexibility into the schedule. And the DP’s call to add a kicker on the talent close-ups saved those shots in the grade.
But if we ran it again, we’d book the colorist earlier. We had to push the final delivery by a day because our first-choice colorist wasn’t available. Lesson learned.
Want to work with us on your next campaign?
Get in touch. We’ll walk you through the process and build a production plan that actually works.
