With normal production not an option during the pandemic, at the request of advertising agency The Marketing Arm, the Chicago creative company The Colonie remotely edited, color graded and finished a live-action commercial for State Farm insurance. Its team rallied, pulling volumes of stock shots, user generated content in conjunction with Catch & Release and even augmented footage by filming their own families at home in scenarios that have become the new norm.
The Colonie’s Joe Clear edited the commercial on Adobe Premiere. Focused on finding the best approach, he reviewed the wealth of content selecting footage that brought home State Farm’s message. The editor weaved together an engaging visual story that viewers can relate to as they go through this unprecedented shared experience.
“Working on this spot was actually a pretty amazing experience,” says Clear. “This job had a lot of moving parts and would have been difficult under normal circumstances, but our collaborative remote approach was seamless, and our team never missed a beat. Once I put out the call, within hours everyone was contributing.”
“Because of the tight timeline, there was an incredible amount of collaboration with TMA. We were able to share ideas and explore options very quickly,” adds Clear. “All opinions were welcome to make the spot the best it could be. I loved the creative energy that surrounded this commercial.”
The :30 spot, entitled New Normal features typical scenes of families engaging in the kinds of activities that fill the days of a homebound population. We see people working at their computers, staying connected to friends with video chats, and spending more quality time with their family - playing, dancing, and cooking with their kids. The commercial closes with the voiceover acknowledging “Our world is suddenly different. But one thing stays the same – State Farm is there.”
Addressing issues created by the mix of footage from different sources, The Colonie’s Jennifer Gaida used DaVinci Resolve to color grade the spot and created a unified look. Tom Dernulc finished the commercial on Autodesk Flame.
The job came in on a Saturday afternoon, and The Colonie took it from script to air in five-days. The seamless workflow provided the efficiency needed to deliver a compelling campaign that met the client’s high standards and tight deadline.
“Productions are on hold during this pandemic, but creativity hasn't stopped,” says Colonie partner, Bob Ackerman. “The Colonie is providing agencies with out-of-the-box solutions - from creating visual stories that tap its experience repurposing existing footage to integrating stock footage to craft fresh, new content. At the same time, our motion design division brings a level of skill and technical savvy that's called on to create memorable design-driven content for commercials and a wide range of social media.”
“The Colonie remains committed to providing agencies and brands with creative solutions that help them move forward as we meet the challenges created by the impact of the coronavirus on the industry’s landscape,” adds Colonie partner/executive producer Mary Caddy.