Hey Arkies!

Welcome to February! I think we pretty much all wished for a better start to the year but sometimes, the unexpected happens. However, we strongly believe in the good of every adversity; challenges happen not to bring us down, but they come as opportunities for us to band together and rise above it all - greater and better. 

Stay sane (no hoarding!) and safe (proper personal hygiene!) everyone. If you are wearing a mask, don’t forget to check and make sure you’re wearing it right!

Anyhow! We are still keeping to our promise of looping you in on all things video. Earlier in January this year, we were wowed again by Apple’s annual Lunar New Year offering; a '‘Shot on (the latest) iPhone' video titled 女儿 (Daughter), about women, family and reunion, meant to showcase the capabilities of the phone and tug at our heart strings!

Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Theodore Melfi, Cinematography by Lawrence Sher (who recently won the BAFTA award for Joker), and starring multiple Award winning Chinese actress Zhou Xun, this stunning 8 minute short film gained more than 800K views within the four days of release. BOOM!

“If I buy this phone, will I be able to create the same film magic? Or at the very least, not be that far off …. ... right?”

This advertising video may have awakened the Spielberg / Zhang Yi Mou / Bong Joon Ho  in you, but before you embark on your debut video production, it may be useful to do a quick walk through on the video production process!

Decoding 女儿’s Purpose

女儿 is no doubt first a short film but fundamentally, it’s really an advertising video in its most powerful form. Powerful because it tugs on our emotional heartstrings. And with every tug, we draw back to the impression fed to us at the opening sequence – Mindblown. This iPhone 11 Pro is rad. Must… Buy…. Now……!!!

Just by the impact of this film, the smartphone is transformed from a mere telecommunication device to a storytelling instrument capable of evoking all the feels.

But is your smartphone really that “rad” enough to cut out the professional production and shoot your own advertising / branding / commercial / corporate / event / marketing video?

Or if you’re part of the video production industry, did this cross your mind, “this phone is going to take over my job & my life!”

Hold those thoughts. Let us tell you why.

The Smartphone vs …

There’s so so so much more behind a video production that most don’t usually see!

In tandem with the release of 女儿, Apple released the Making of ‘Daughter’ with Director Theodore Melfi, a behind-the-scenes video which shows how the ad was brought to life with the iPhone 11 Pro.

Cue the critical opening seconds - Big man, small device! Smooth glides! Wide angles! BAM! SOLD! It took only 15 seconds to sell you the prospects of amazing storytelling capabilities with the iPhone 11 Pro. May we add that this impact was maximized with its strategic placement in the precious opening seconds of the advert, capturing the attention of all viewers; this was definitely planned in advance - well played indeed!

But within all that action, one may have failed to realize the sneaky (indispensable) presence of the location sound recordist with his boom mic! And while you had your eyes fixed on the iPhone at work, you may have also noticed the hard core equipment and the number of crew involved.

Gimbals, stabilizers, dollies, car mounts, drones, rigs, professional lighting - you name it, they had it. The iPhone was almost never used just by itself, and even for those very pro ‘handheld’ moments, don’t forget that it was done by the golden hands of an Academy-award nominated cinematographer.

And if you noticed in this scene below, the iPhone was also given a software power-up.

Not to mention the muscle was done by a full team of professional production experts, working at their best even under harsh conditions, to the unfortunate extent of sometimes looking like wet dogs left out in the rain.

Behind the Making of…

Yep, so there’s the filming portion of the video production process which we now understand. But have you considered what happens in pre and post?

Working around the limitations of the smartphone and bringing to fore it’s latest offerings , 女儿’s shots would have been strategically planned and organized to the smallest details; all these come into play during the pre-production portion of video production. There is the process of storytelling - cleverly weaving in shots that showcase the key features of the phone and tugging heartstrings without any hint of corporate messaging compromise. No easy feat at all!

Other creative and logistical feats will have to be performed too for video production - casting the stellar actors, location scouting and planning, art department with sets and props, and sometimes, even timing for the right weather.

Post-production adds the final touch of magic. At this stage, the footage is artfully pieced together to create a smooth and compelling narrative; by no means a layman’s job. In the case of 女儿, ensuring perfection of the final product, post-production was handled by a team of professionals, which can be seen in the end-credits.

While there are some great editing apps out there perfect for the home movie makers, the skills of the professional editors and post-producers don’t come bundled with a smartphone. 

Remember the questions we laid out at the start? Is your smartphone really that “rad” enough to cut off the professional video production and shoot your own advertising / branding / commercial / corporate / event / marketing video?

Smartphones DID NOT Kill the Video Star

While we are grateful for continuous technological improvements with smartphones - democratizing personal storytelling and providing a means of self-expression - learning from 女儿 , a smartphone alone may not be enough to replace professionally crafted video productions.

To ensure that your vision comes to life in the way YOU want (if not more) and in dashing quality, we suggest you knock on the Ark for the full suite of professional video production expertise! Having the right team is crucial as each and every role has a part to play in steering your project to success! CALL US!

Read Also: Are You Wearing Your Mask Right?

The COVID-19 situation has given rise to a rush for masks and various debates on what is the correct way of wearing one. After intensive research on the right method of handling masks from various authorities, we created a video on how to wear your mask right - in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.