Making BMW TV: Part 6.2, Details

I didn't write too much yesterday about the experience. I was just too tired -- we were out in the wind and sun and heat for a really long time. I wanted to get some of the details written down so I don't forget them.

Brian Shown got into town late the night before and looked a bit wrecked when I saw him in the morning. I think he shook off most of it in the car on the way up to Lake Hughes. We started pretty early, following the 328 in the video van. They had the Ultimate Arm out in the morning and got some killer car-to-car shots. We had all kinds of dandelion-like tree seeds floating around in the sky. It was pretty thick and more than a few of us were worried about how it was going to look in the shots. As it turned out, when the car got up to speed you didn't see them at all. The car looked amazing -- I think we have some footage that starts to convey what an absolute blast it is to drive one of these.

We did some process trailer later in the day to get some interior and through-the-windshield shots of our principal actress. During the first process trailer session I got to run across the lake to get a shot of the car whipping around a horseshoe section of the road. It was a tiny, tiny snip of film that may never get used in the final spot but it was a lot of fun to be put in charge of a shot from the agency perspective. That being said, it was the team from AERO that did 99.9% of the work -- another impressive experience with them.

Another round of process trailer (I got to ride along on this trip) and then it was off to set up the pack shot. While we were at the pack shot location (over looking Lake Hughes) Roger was on the ground with a camera crew shooting the car running through some windy sections while Brent was in a chopper above shooting stuff at the same time. Crazy amount of work going on simultaneously.

Dave, Helen and I worked to get the cars positioned correctly while the camera crew started working on getting the crane and camera moves figured out. We had something we thought was cool, but then Brent, Roger, Bill and Lance showed up and created a shot that was nothing short of amazing.

All in all it was another totally killer day. Thanks again, AERO.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 6, "In The Can"

- Day 2 filming: done.
- All shots on the storyboards: done.
- All shots continuing to exceed expectations: done.
- Totally exhausted: done.
- Sunburned: done.
- Happy: done.
- Missing my wife and daughter: done.
- Tired and going to bed: done.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 5, "Action!"

Today was day one of shooting -- the first half of the first of three spots. Almost every aspect of the entire day completely exceeded my expectations. AERO films again showed that every single member of their crew is a consummate professional. Every shot was dynamic and amazing -- both the cast and the car looked stunning. The director, Brent, was unbelievable gracious in allowing us to participate in as much of the shoot as possible. We certainly had a crowd, but the crew showed us a tremendous amount of patience.

Tomorrow we hit the road to shoot this car doing what it does best. The precision driver we had today did a great job with the little driving we had for her, but tomorrow is her day to shine. I won't say anything about the large bolder incident here -- it never happened.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 4, AERO gets stuff done

AERO continued to crank work out today. Wardrobe is approved (that's huge). House should be preped early AM, including rebuilding the interior of the garage. That's amazing seeing that we switched houses yesterday afternoon.

I feel kinda bad -- AERO worked like mad today and I didn't have much to do. I did use some of the free time to walk around town a bit and snap some bad camera phone picks of the ferris wheel down on the boardwalk outside our hotel. It hasn't been running all week, but maybe I'll get to ride it this weekend. I need to snap some picks from up on it for another project.

We had dinner with the client, then straight back to the hotel so we can all get some shut eye for the early start. Hotel lobby at 6:15.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 3, The Pre-Pro

Yesterday was a long day of cleaning up details and selling through all the casting, locations, props, wardrobe, etc, etc, etc. We had a solid pre-pro -- everyone is very comfortable with the decisions we made. There was much jubilation and drinking (for us, AERO meanwhile worked through the night to pull this stuff together).

We'll be shooting in a different house -- the first one was amazing but in the end was perhaps a bit too cold and industrial. The new house was actually the directors first choice but wasn't the original reco due to budget issues. The new house is a bit warmer and the garage and driveway are amazing. Should be very cool.

Also big news, 'The Coupe' arrived in town. Roger and Amanda are at AERO right now doing wardrobe for our lead in Amanda's spot. This is super important because that ad is all about style and power. I think they're going Chanel.

Film rolls tomorrow. AERO rules.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 2, Tech Scouting

Left San Francisco at 6:15 yesterday morning to head down to LA and scout three locations. The morning found us at a BMW dealership where we'll shoot 2 spots. Some minor concern about whether we'll be able to move some cubicle walls in order to get a nice wide shot of the show room for the end of the spot. Other than that things went very smooth. Director is happy. I'm happy.

Next it was off to a house up in Malibu. This was probably the coolest piece of home architecture I've ever seen in person. All glass and steel. Amazing. We need, need, need this house for the spot. Fingers crossed. I got to check out the shots Brent has blocked out through the view-finder -- I felt all totally like a director. These guys appear to have their operation totally buttoned up. This should be fun.

After the house we cruised on out to Lake Hughes. We're doing a pack shot up on a bluff that looks down onto the lake. The view is awesome and should look pretty damn impressive. We also planned out the driving footage which is a huge part of one spot. Some great winding road, fantastic vistas and even some white picket fencing and building to help keep it from feeling too isolated.

Lots of pre-shoot jitters all around. Two more days to go before film is rolling and we have way too much to do. Have to sell some stuff today and get final approval on everything.

Pics from the day.

Making BMW TV: Part 1, Meet AERO FILM

I've spent the last couple months pitching TV commercials to BMW. We're about to start shooting them this week, and I'm going to try to document as much of it as I can here.

Things really got going last week. Up until Wednesday, it felt like it was just a string of meetings to sort out details: budgets, locations, budgets, casting, budgets, schedules, budgets, production studios, budgets. There were also a few meetings about budgets. But Wed we flew down to LA to meet with AERO Film for the first time -- great group of people. We still had a ton of meetings, but at least we got to see more refined directors boards, look at some wardrobe examples and start to make some real, tangible progress. The AERO offices are pretty sweet as well. They're located right next to the Santa Monica airport, so you get to see jets parked right next to the building (literally) and the interior design has a pretty cool aeronautical theme.

Friday was the first day of callbacks. Previously it had all been done via the internets, so it was good to have some of the team there in person to get a better look at the talent. Our director, Brent Jones, was fantastic. The dude did about 10 or 11 hours straight with nearly 60 actors, actresses and dancers and never let up. His energy and enthusiasm was as strong at the end of the day as it was in the morning. We saw some great performances and have solid options to choose from.

This weekend will be spent going through the rest of the callback video, making some decisions about casting and making some progress towards finalizing our wardrobe and locations.

Tomorrow it's back to LA for tech scouting.

Pics from the day.