The Project. Kylin TV is service that allows you to download original Asian television programs. LA-18, working with Kylin TV, is offering the service, and wanted to do a commercial announcing the service.
The Creative Challenge. The format of the commercial was straightforward. I was responsible for shooting the portion where Juliette, the host, explains the service. For those of you not familiar with her, Juliette has a daily talk show called LA Living that airs on Channel 18 at 5:30 PM. She's quite well-known in the Chinese speaking community. Kylin TV provided the video footage from the films, and LA-18 did the final editing and the graphics.
Behind the Scenes. I have to thank my friend Julian Chan, who lent me his great penthouse apartment for shoot. He's also the owner of the nice 42-inch television that you see in the spot.
- Cinematography. I actually DP'd the shoot myself. I used a combination of tungsten arri's with gels to light Juliette, and kinos to light the background. Setting the temperature to 5500K (daylight), gives everything the slightly bluish, clean look.
- Casting. Juliette Zhuo as host was a given, but I just have to say how great she is. You can go over what she needs to say minutes before you shoot, and she'll just get up an improv it without a problem. Guess it comes from years of being on television, but she's really great to work with.
- The Result. I thought the material we shot worked well, and the shoot was fairly smooth, didn't take a full day. I even had some time to tinker with an odd dolly contraption offered by the rental house. It didn't work very well, which is why you don't see a dolly shot. The close up of the Kylin TV box was done on sticks. That afternoon, I also managed to squeeze in some footage for a Wal-mart commercial I was shooting for LA-18.
The Team. Thanks go out on this one to Julian Chan, as mentioned, for the location; to Joe Wah, Eddie Magana and Alex Salmona (sound), my go-to crew. And to Juliette Zhuo, of course, who's always a pleasure to work with.