Glide Track - The portable dolly system

Behind The Scenes – The Making of ‘Grolsch Idents’

Ever wonder how companies go about making the little, quick ads that they use to get their brand across when sponsoring a TV / film? Look no further than this blog. Embedded below is an eight-minute video created by James Karinejad (@jameskar) and Edmund Curtis (@edmundcurtisdop).

Edmund and James entered fstoppers.com competition with this video they created with the help of a Glidetrack HD Hybrid Slider.  James and Edmund firstly filmed their collection of idents for Grolsch and then proceeded to film a BTS (behind the scenes) film on how the made each of their fantastic idents.

What is the fstoppers behind the scenes competition, I hear you ask?

Fstoppers.com website describes it as a “contest open to any photographer/videographer around the world who wants to share how creative they are behind a camera. You must be willing to share your creative side and explain exactly how you tackled your project. In order for your BTS video to be well received by our audience, you must include the photo/video gear you are using, show the final images within the video, and also give out useful information to help teach and inspire other photographers.”

The guys talk you through how they created their idents for Grolsch. Idents are 10 – 15 second commercials that sponsor events on TV. Each of their idents represents a different film genre – i.e. romance, thriller, horror, comedy, crime, Sci-Fi, etc.

Behind The Scenes: Making of Grolsch Idents

Behind The Scenes – Making Of ‘Grolsch Idents’ from Curtis & Kar Productions on Vimeo.

The lengths that Edmund and James go to in order to create the effects for their idents are fascinating. The crime-themed ident is particularly impressive. A chemistry experiment and some taped-together torches give the realistic feel of a seedy, night-time crime scene that looks fantastic and has cost nothing at all to make.

Think the guys spent thousands creating these clips? Think again. They only had three main pieces of equipment: A Camera – 5D mrk2, Lenses – 50mm 1.2 & 100mm 2.8 and their Glidetrack HD Hybrid Slider. A keen knowledge about various types of lighting styles and techniques helped them create the different effects they were after.  About 90 seconds into the video James and Edmund talk you through a step-by-step process of how they actually managed to light the Grolsch bottle in the ways that they did. This is a really eye-opening video and great for first-time filmmakers who are looking for something to show them how to get started on a small budget.