BRIEF

Your Game – a project exploring the control we have over our lives. If life was a game, and us its designers, then we alone make the rules. 2020 may have left us feeling like control is a fleeting concept, but with a new year comes new opportunities to take back control and make the game our own once again.

EXECUTION

This was our first time using a smoke machine, and was seen as a great opportunity to experiment and see how the smoke interacted with the strong lighting on camera. Without too many tweaks needed, the effect we achieve was close to the references, and we were extremely happy with the end result.

From a lighting perspective, the strongly backlit scene had the potential to overpower Pax (our talent), so a key light coming from the top, without gel or colour, was needed to keep him exposed and not swallowed up in the sea of light and colour around him. The red lens flares were achieved in-camera by moving a small red safely light (often worn by cyclists) in front of the camera quickly and randomly. This could have been achievable in post, however it always feels great to get it right naturally in-camera.

FINAL THOUGHTs

Your Game was produced to show a potential client what Undefeater could achieve in a sports-themed commercial/hype reel. It was an opportunity to experiment with smoke and learn how we could utilise it going forward.

CREDITS

DOP, Editor, Color: Adam McKay
Talent: Pax Masongele
Producers: Adam McKay, Samuel Kwong