These are fickle times we live in. Consumers are no longer confined to any one medium of information; neither are they averse to switching from one info source to another at the slightest whim. For this reason, marketing professionals in the new media era are not contented to simply churn out 30- sec commercials anymore. The fear is that such traditional forms of marketing may not survive the media onslaught that a typical consumer is exposed to these days.

Now enter multi-platform marketing, which simply leverages on the adage that encourages "putting yours eggs in many baskets." In the marketing world, such baskets ought to be strategically placed mediums that have the potential of attracting the most number of "eyeballs". Think YouTube or Yahoo. Over at the creative end, it is not simply a case of replicating the same content for different platforms. As in the examples shown here, it is about using a variety of platforms to showcase unique yet interweaving creative work that essentially sends home the same message.

Purple Haze

The initial brief from the client, RCG Hong Kong, a holdings company that develops state-of-the-art biometrics and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) software, was simply that of a 30-second CEO and film director of Blackbox Pictures received the commission, he proposed a 30 minute short film, in addition to the TVC, both starring Malaysian celebrity Guang Liang, a famous singer-songwriter known throughout Greater China, Hong Kong and Malaysia - the intended markets for the commercial.

Blackbox Pictures is a fully integrated, one-stop creative hub that offers diversified services in print, film and event production throughout the Asian region. It has an affiliate company based in Bangkok known as BKK Blackbox.

The clients were sold on the idea after a draft storyline had been presented for the short film, which would later be released on RCG's official website and be the centerpiece of a movie gala launch in Zhu Hai, a Chinese province; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Doubling as a movie trailer for the short film, the TVC is a stylized Pang brothers-inspired, quick-cutting montage of pristinely shot images. Replete with opening credits and a narrative voice-over, this TVC is at first glance a movie trailer with all the trappings of one. The only giveaways were the unfamiliar names that replaced the production credits, as did the dubious omission of the names of the director and producer.

There was little selling in this TVC as far as the products were concerned, but after all, it was meant to be a teaser ad to entice viewers online to watch the short film. The latter tells the story of Guang's character - he could very well be playing himself - a singer-songwriter who is traveling in Beijing, in search of inspiration for writing songs. While there, he comes across a purple crystal that somehow leads him to believe has special powers that could inspire him musically. The appearance of the precious rock, however, throws our hero into a web of mystique and danger, as he soon realizes that many people are after the purple crystal. His travels bring him to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, as well as strange encounters with beautiful women, who also seem to covet the crystal like the others. Each time the crystal is in imminent danger of being snatched or stolen from him, RCG’s high-security systems, enabled with biometric identification, save the

day. Fans of Hong Kong celebrities can watch out for a surprise twist in the end, marked by the surprise appearance of actor and famous socialite, Simon Yam.

Shot on a budget of US$180,000, the TVC was filmed on location in Beijing, Hong Kong and Malaysia. According to Jeffery Chow, regional producer at Blackbox Pictures, the most difficult part of the shoot was filming in Beijing. He recounts:

"We were shooting at Wu Men in Beijing, and we needed to rush as we wanted to obtain some early morning shots. Since it was a tourist spot, we faced a lot of difficulties controlling the traffic that day. They faced similar problems shooting at Yin Din Qiao in Beijing and Lan Kwai Fong in downtown Hong Kong, both exasperating outings due to the massive crowd and limited shooting time."

"We couldn't have done it without the patience of the crew, who all participated in controlling the traffic."

Using ARRI 435 on 35 mm, director Hor wanted a film look but otherwise was keen to explore different methods and styles of shooting, in consultation with the three DOPs, one for each location shoot. Chow remarks on the seamless collaboration:

"The director and his DOPs had very good chemistry. Although all three DOPs exhibited different styles, the final film doesn't come across as being inconsistent at all."

A one-light grade was done in Hong Kong for the shots acquired in Beijing and Hong Kong, followed by the Offline edit. During the same period, the crew was filming in Kuala Lumpur. For post work on the KL footage, the team turned to VHQ Post in Kuala Lumpur. The final grade of all the footage was accomplished in VHQ. Online work, including graphics and compositing of the 30-minute film took two weeks.

Worlds Apart

Hong Kong songstress Joey Yung is the spokesperson for Broadway and the main star of the electronic goods retailer's latest TVCs and music video. To be precise, that's three 30-second TVCs and a three-minute music video, all for the competitive price of US$100,000. Considering Joey's star power; and that each of the TVCs used totally new sets based on different themes such as Fantasy, Working Chic and Night Trip, it does seem like a small price to pay.

Targeting the 16-45 age group, the TVCs were designed to segregate the audience into more defined demographics. Director Ellis Lee came up with the idea of putting Joey in three vastly different environments in which she would 'interact' with the electronic products that would be popping up throughout the ads.

For example, Fantasy features Joey at the centre of a kaleidoscope, made with shifting rotoscoped images of electronic products, ranging from digital cameras to LCD monitors to laptops. As the images unravel - some to reveal the brand names of the products - more develop in the background and gradually envelops the activities in the foreground. Of course, replicas of Joey appear with each new montage to continue the changing cycles.

Evidently, the ads are tailored for different segments of the target audience: Working Chic is obviously aimed at working adults; while Night Trip with its theme of 'clubbing' and 'haute fashion' - as suggested by the graphical elements - is more targeted at urbanites, yuppies, and other well-heeled professionals. Of course, the products were also specifically chosen for each of the demographic groups.

Due to limitation of the budget, the entire shoot was done in chromakey within a grueling, non-stop 35-hour session. Along with those of the celebrity, the 30-odd product shots had, in no small way, contributed to the long hours.

While the Arriflex 435 shooting on 35 mm was opted for the TVCs, the production crew decided to go HD for the music video, using the Panasonic P2HD camera.

Dennis Yeung, CEO of Post Production Office (PPO) explains: "The client wanted to showcase the best possible quality images for the products, so we chose 35 mm as film is always the best choice."

"Because of the loaded motion graphics in post production, HD seems to be the best and most economical way for the music video."

In keeping with budget considerations, and the fact that all the shots were done in chromakey, this was decidedly a post-heavy production.

The whole series of TVCs had basically used a symmetrical and kaleidoscope style of motion graphics, to introduce the different products and Joey in a funky and creative way. However, Night Trip, which sees Joey flying through space clad in Matrix-inspired attire, was a complete 3D composite in Flint.

Naturally, the bulk of the work boils down to keying, colour grading, tracking, rotoscoping and building the whole 30-sec TVC in a 3D environment and synchronizing all the elements to fit the correct timing. Asked to explain some of the cool effects used in the ads, Yeung says:

"This series of TVC is more about the complete composition than any particular VFX elements." As to how they survived the grueling shoot, extensive post work, and lived to tell, Yeung confides:

"Overall good project management between the Online team and the director meant that we were able to put everything together in the time given without too much sleep loss!"

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