The Chase | TV Commercial

Project Overview: For our recent project, "The Chase," we collaborated with Mullenlowe, a global marketing communications mogul, whom essentially took a leap of faith with us, trusting our team with one of their biggest projects. We were tasked with creating a TV commercial for the launch of the new Sri Lanka cricket team jersey, featuring the famous cricketer Matheesha Pathirana, alongside other legends such as Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, and cricketing veteran, Romesh Kaluwitharana. We were required to create a unifying piece that celebrated the diversity and unity of Sri Lanka through the use of an exciting narrative. This project was especially significant, as it was our very first TV commercial. For this commercial, we aimed to create a cinematic experience, inspired by Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire." Our direction and treatment drew heavily from the film's fast-paced, high-action style, designed to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Production & Treatment: This commercial involved several days of meticulous planning and organization. We conducted three days of location recces to ensure everything was in place. The first day focused on understanding the location, organizing logistics, and determining where everything needed to be stationed. The second day was a camera recce to establish our shots in advance, along with the focal lengths we would use. The third day was an art recce, allowing our art team to plan their setup, understand the location, and determine how to place their art to bring the set to life. In addition, we held several days of meetings with various external parties crucial to the execution of this commercial. These meetings ensured that everyone was on the same page, well-briefed about their roles, and aware of what was required to pull off this commercial seamlessly. The production of the commercial took place over two days. On the first day, we shot all the scenes that did not require the cricketers, utilizing body doubles for certain shots. This approach was necessary as the cricketers were only available on the second day. Day two was particularly challenging; we had just 6 hours to shoot the scenes with the cricketers and nearly half of the film still left to complete. Adding to the complexity, we had up to 50 extras on set who needed to be precisely coordinated and positioned at the right place and time. We used a RED Komodo as our main camera and a Sony FX3 with an Atomos Ninja Ultra as our second camera to capture as many angles as possible. The RED Komodo was perfect for shooting in natural light and allowed us to film in RAW, giving us more flexibility with colour editing in post-production. The FX3, equipped with the Atomos Ninja Ultra, also enabled us to shoot in RAW, ensuring high-quality footage from both cameras.