Don’t blink, or you might miss something! In the fast-paced world of 15-second commercials, every detail counts. For our recently launched, national ad for Rayovac batteries, we had 8 crucial shots, each requiring meticulous precision - down to the frame! Who knew so much detail goes into such a short spot? Well, hopefully I can educate you a bit over the next few minutes.
While this breakdown focuses on camera and lighting, it’s worth noting that it took a small army to pull this off—production design alone could merit its own blog post. But we’ll save that juicy tidbit for later.
Read on to discover how we created “Imagine Your Life with Rayovac” at Lure Digital by focusing on the details.
“Imagine Your Life with Rayovac” was produced in-house at Lure Digital. Directed by Bria Little, Executive Produced by Ky Schultz, Produced by Jameson Connors, and DoP’d by Chris Kas.
At the heart of our process was the animatic
The animatic served as our blueprint and guided us through the labyrinth of decisions required to realize our vision.
Given that even a minor deviation—like a camera move being 0.5 seconds late—could compromise the entire commercial, precision was the name of the game here. This was especially evident during our tech scout at Hubble Studio, where we meticulously planned the battery store scene. We began by choosing a 37mm lens on a full-frame sensor and that informed all of the departments just how wide the opening master would be. This meticulous planning ensured our camera track, lighting, and set all aligned seamlessly.
But first, the camera package
From left to right: Canon K35 - 35mm - t5.6, TRIBE7 BlackWing7 T-Tune - 37mm - t5.6, TRIBE7 BlackWing7 Old Fast Glass T-Tune - 37mm - t5.6.
We chose an Alexa Mini LF paired with Tribe7 Blackwing7 OFG T-Tuned lenses. After a thorough testing session at Old Fast Glass, we decided on lenses that complemented the dark packaging design nicely. (shoutout to our Producer/stand-in Jamie Connors). We opted for a dolly on day 1 to handle the department store shots and a 6’ slider on day 2 for the home interior and beach scenes. We used the dolly on and off tracks to achieve every shot in the store, except for the final shot - more on that later. The switch from the dolly to the slider for day 2 was necessary to accommodate the much smaller shooting space inside the house, and for a much easier transport and setup on the beach.
Creating the perfect store
We really wanted the space to look and feel like we were inside a re-branded Target store, but with less harsh, cleaner lighting. To light the aisle, Gaffer Drew Nelson dispatched a few space lights, SkyPanels, a hard spot to accentuate the Rayovac placard, and then supplement with LiteMats as we moved in for tighter coverage. When we moved in for closeups we were able to introduce more contrast into the image by walking in negative fill and shaping the light a bit more than we did for the wide.
The birthday party scene, affectionately dubbed “The Perfect Storm”
Day 2 brought its own challenges: a perfectly timed whip pan and slider push with five actors, including two kids under 7, all within a tight 1.5-second window. It took 14 takes, but take 14 was our golden moment. The lighting setup included an Arrimax and a couple M18s outside producing a warm, punchy sunlight. Meanwhile, the SkyPanel X and LiteMat lived inside to add soft lighting on their faces. Justin Shertick’s grip team’s sun-blocking efforts, and light shaping made for a flawless and consistent sunny scene.
The beach scene, where reality defied expectations
Despite the warm and sunny vibes in our commercial, our brave swimsuit-adorned actors reached for their winter coats between takes. To create the illusion of a hot summer day on a blustery cold Long Beach coastline, Justin and his team assembled a 10x10 1/2 grid diffusion for the hero shot.
For the competitor shot, they removed the diffusion and we lit with bare sun. Our makeup team’s expertise helped make the actors appear sweaty, despite the chilly weather. Because of the patchy clouds, Drew and team wheeled out the big ArriMax to act as a stand-in for the sun if it happened to disappear behind some clouds. We got lucky. We even had some unexpected production value with a few kite surfing bystanders in the background. LBC brought the (cold) beach vibes for sure, but only for our shooting window. As we were loading out sprinkles began falling, phew!
The final shot
I can’t lie, this one was a challenge - but a challenge we were excited about taking on. We saved this one for the end of the first day because we wanted to ensure we had time to try 2 different approaches to achieve this effect. We knew the end result would appear that the battery pack is falling in slow motion toward the camera, but we didn’t have a high-speed camera and we weren’t really interested in doing the effect in real-time, so we had to fake it. Ultimately the technique that proved best was to attach the Rayovac battery pack to a thin green-painted rod, the rod was then puppeteered by the art department that was standing just out of frame. This way all of the light reflections and shadows were captured for real in camera. Faking the slow motion also mitigated variables that would have been present if we tried to shoot this scene at speed.
The Alexa Mini LF was over-cranked to 60fps for more flexibility during the VFX process, and that gave Lure’s in-house VFX artist Jonathan Blanton a 3.8k resolution frame to work with. Jonathan was then able to skillfully remove the green rod that was attached to the battery pack and add a speed ramp to the whole scene, creating a realistic slow motion effect.
In the end
It was a blend of precision, collaboration, and a bit of movie magic that brought this commercial to life. So here’s to every frame, every shot, every battery pack, and every person who made it all possible.
Credits
Client
Michele Woolever, Marketing Director
Leanne Gasior, Associate Manager
Lure
Director - Bria Little
Executive Producer - Ky Schultz
Producer - Jameson Connors
1st AD - Travis LaSalle
Director of Photography - Chris Kas
DIT - Dane Brehm
Photographer - Karla Espino
Gaffer - Drew Nelson
Key Grip - Justin Shertick
Production Designer - Eve Axness
Art Director - David King
Wardrobe Stylist - Trevor Dow
Hair & Makeup - Heather Galipo
Storyboards - Michael Yakutis
Talent
Mom - Gabriela Kostadinova
Dad - Danny Ata
Child - Aven Melancon
Younger Child - Layla Grieshober
Friend - Andrei Recavarren
Background
Shopper - Janet Carter
Shopper - Sean McHugh
Beachgoer - Sammy Cantu
Beachgoer - Michelle Gatpo
Camera
1st Assistant Camera - Alex Velasco
2nd Assistant Camera - Joe Moceri
Camera PA - Efrain Zelaya
Playback - Dylan DeFelicis
G&E
Best Boy Electrician - Will Reid
Electrician - Eric Paulsen
Electric Driver - Javier Lopez
Best Boy Grip - Robert Ortwin
Grip - Anthony Ryan
Grip Driver/Grip - Paul Mora
Art & Vanities
Set Dresser/Shopper - Nick Lugovina
Set Decorator - Lejan Deocariza
Graphics Designer - Diego Herrera
Driver/Props - Michael King
Lead Man/Driver - Sam Cooper
Hair & Makeup Assistant - Alexa Coleman
Wardrobe Assistant - Jordan Testar
Production
Production Coordinator - Austin Barrett
Assistant Production Coordinator - Nicklaus Myers
2nd AD/Key PA - Henry Brower
Behind-the-scenese Photographer - Elise Wine
Production Assistant - Sean Maydoney
Production Assistant - Clio Byrne-Gudding
Production Assistant - Kevin Alcantar
Additional Production
Studio Teacher - Rachael Tanenbaum
Craft Services - Amada Velasco
Catering - Beezoo
Equipment Rentals
Old Fast Glass
Capture HD
Stanley Production Services
Chapman Leonard
Lightforce Rentals
Power House Generators
Cinelease
Blue Rock Media
Avon
Bunker 21
Cintegral
Locations
Locations Manager - John Brown
Hubble Studio
Long Beach Locations
Board Brothers
Reel Wast
Production Set Security
Sirreel
Ultimate Layout Board
Art Vendors
Beyond Graphics
Castex
Jackson Shrub
Nest Studio Rental
Pinacoteca Props
Linoleum City
Lennie Marvin
Vision Scenery
Post Production
Editor - Chris Kas
VFX - Jonathan Blanton
Colorist - Arianna Shiningstar
Music - Bryan Lee Brown
Voice Over Artist (English) - Beth Deehan
Voice Over Artist (Spanish) - Martina Fara
Voice Over Artist (Portuguese) - Ana Paula Lopes
View the final commercial here!
Chris Kas // Lure Digital // Director of Photography
Lure Digital. An award-winning video marketing agency in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles dedicated to creatively connecting people to your brand. Connect with us to create national broadcast commercials for your brand.
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