Our First TVC and the Inimitable Genius of Clayyesmumma
Nearly two months since kicking off the new biz, we’re working with our regular clients under the Machine banner as well as a whole lot of new clients from all over the place. We’ve jumped on some dream briefs (most of which we can’t speak about yet) and all of us have had our fair share of late nights, early mornings and long drives to get it all cracking. So I’m excited to pull back the curtain a little on one particular project and introduce you to my current favourite creative genius to finish up.
Our First TVC
Last month we were approached by Mountain Culture Beer Co. to help them create a 30 second TVC spot for their GABS Hottest 100 chart topping Pale Ale “Status Quo”. The idea was simple - a real life cockatoo has a conversation with a... real life... schooner of Status Quo, inside a classic Aussie pub.
Yeah ok so not super simple, but we leaned in.
We were brought on to cover all post production and VFX for the ad and Damien, Machine’s resident edit overlord took the reins solo.
Firstly, the trained cockatoo (named “Cocky” irl) had to be shot on camera going through certain motions - think head tilts, raising his crest, nodding etc - as the base footage. Cocky, his trainer and the whole crew nailed the shoot so the foundation was solid. First box ticked.
After chopping the footage into the sequence to hit the right beats and get the overall flow of the spot tight, Damien then re-worked the beak movements, crest raises, head tilts and eye movements using frame-by-frame animation and puppet pinning in After Effects to sell the idea that Cocky was actually having a proper chin wag with this delicious schooner friend of his. I sit next to Damo in the office and it all looked completely bonkers to me, but he didn’t once break a sweat.
He then dubbed both bird and beer with the human voices recorded by voice over talent (respectively Merrick Watts and Russ Eats, no less), colour graded, mixed and mastered everything out, and our first TVC as Machine Studio was a wrap.
Damien had this to say about the project:
“I wanted to tap into that nostalgic feeling of 90s movies featuring talking animals, and used Little Nicky’s talking bulldog Beefy as a key reference.
Bringing out the best from Cocky’s incredible performance was my number one priority, and I thought it was only right to honour such distinguished talent with flawless VFX and editing. That said, he did go a bit off script at times and would show off his crest when specifically directed not to. But what can you do? Rockstars...”
Cocky did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
All in all, it was a great project for Machine and we’re all pumped with the result. It was an awesome experience to work with the project’s director, Mountain Culture’s own Lachlan Paterson.
Glued: What I’m Watching
There’s been enough happening on my medium and small screens over the last month that I haven’t revved up the large screen in a while, but what I have been doing is waiting very impatiently for every single Clay Yes Mumma TikTok post. Mr. Yes Mumma, as he is known on the internet, is one of the funniest people I know and watching his account morph from hand made clay craft to chaotic meal-prep burritos (but with clay cameos) has been all the entertainment I’ve needed. Several elements of that sentence sound like jokes but I’m deadly serious.
Yes Mumma, Sydney born NYC resident was a diehard MasterChef fan from a very early age and it shows clearly in his ingenuity in the kitchen – he makes a ZERO DOLLAR DINNER for god’s sake. Can you believe that? In these times? And in this pantry pasta is pastrami, tomatoes, garlic (with a legitimately good hack), pickles for some reason and even wasabi. I did say genius.
Along the way from clay to kitchen, I’ve witnessed a true artist rapidly develop his craft - and by that I certainly do not mean cooking - I mean editing.
Get at @Clayyesmumma on TikTok and hopefully you’ll see what I mean.
Happy Friday,
Hugh
PS new Future mixtape