Case Study: Acanva

Pre-Production Part I: Ideation

Acanva is a US-based furniture company that focuses on luxury and comfort with their variety of affordable and durable sofas.

For this client, I was given the freedom to handle the entire operation. They informed me of their deliverables, provided me a budget, and I come up with everything from scratch. This includes the video ideas, onscreen talent, and location scouting.

For deliverables, the client wanted 3 videos. 1 was an aesthetic forward TVC and would feature 2 of their couches. The others were shorts that include comedic elements to promote their products in a funny way. To help me bounce around some ideas, I hired my former co-worker to have a couple calls to discuss potential ideas. With her, I was able to write up treatments to present to the client. A couple of treatments later, we had ideas ready to come alive.

Pre-Production Part II: Talent and Location Acquisition

Next on the agenda was providing the client with talent and locations. For talent, I knew I had to hire a pair who had some acting chops so they were able to deliver lines and express the appropriate emotions. I made sure to find reels so I could actually see some examples to know who were appropriate fits for the script.

As for location, there was a balance between space, location, and price. Since there were 2 couches to be featured, we had to find a place with 2 appropriate settings. Along with that, the location needed to be accessible for everyone to get to. The client ended up choosing a pricier option and they were able to provide me with an increased budget.

Pre-Production Part III: Final Budgeting and Logistics

With the script, talents, and location in place, it was time to finalize all the logistics before the shoot. This includes finalizing the budget. To determine that, I needed some questions answered. How many hours do I need the shoot location? How much does insurance cost? Are meals provided for the talent and crew? Will I need to hire anybody else for the shoot? Expenses can come from everywhere, so budget management needs to be looked after in great detail. Also, the final payments might end up being different than the estimation, so I made sure to be ready for any changes by leaving some room for that.

For the shoot, I needed to schedule out the different scenes and compose a shot list to help make sure the shoot goes smoothly. Given the shots needed in the space, I set aside a day and a half for the shoot, allocating specific lengths of time for each scene without feeling rushed nor wasting any precious time. I also needed to coordinate the shipment of the sofas used for the shoot, so made some phone calls to make sure they arrived the morning of the shoot and are picked back up at the conclusion of the shoot the following day.

Production Part I: Setting Up the Shoot

90 minutes were set aside the day of the shoot for setup. I arrived early to meet with the location owner and made sure the place was ready for a production. I hired a PA to come with me in the morning to receive, unpack, and move the sofas to the appropriate rooms. We then dressed the set up and added any necessary lighting. From there, the talents arrived and I provided initial notes for them as they prepared for the shoot. They changed into their planned attire and were ready to be in the spotlight!

Production Part II: Ready, Action!

The shoot itself utilized a detailed schedule and shot list, which helped everything go at a good pace and we made the most of the day and a half. We made sure to set aside time for scene and wardrobe changes, as well as a well-deserved midday break on the first day to reenergize. The second day went just as smoothly without major hiccups.

Post-Production Part I: Edits and Revisions

The final stage was the edits. I came up with the first drafts as I envisioned and in order to minimize revisions, made sure to have clear communication with the clients on any revisions they wanted. They wanted to keep the length short, so after chipping away at a few drafts, we were able to achieve the desired length and videos.

As a last minute addition, we also created VO, so I asked the talent to a recording session to add that element to one of the videos.

Post-Production Part II: Delivery of Videos

The edits are done and ready for delivery. The final tasks were to reformat the videos into aspect ratios to fit the client’s different uses. I also provided them with the raw files in the case they wanted to do edits of their own.

These final edits were delivered to the clients and they were given permission for use in any way they wished (agreement made prior to project start).

For the final versions, check out the links at https://www.chiuproductions.com/videos.