Shot: Film production from the idea to the premiere
Our image film “UVA in 3 minutes” has just premiered. Three minutes is 180 times the word twenty-one. Not much time to make a statement. But who wants to see an epic long version about UVA?
We think: Three minutes is perfect, everyone has them. And although it sounds like almost nothing, there is quite a lot in it. Unfortunately, the average attention span of people has recently become shorter and shorter. According to studies, today there are only eight seconds to convince the reader or viewer to stay tuned.
Eight seconds: Where are the nerds?
Our film shows three shots in the first eight seconds: Top view (cool: drone flight); project manager Wolfgang at his desk; graphic designer Nicole at her PC. Zack, Zack, Zack. This arouses curiosity: what else is there to see in the house, where are the nerds, and will they finally show us the legendary roof terrace with bar and jacuzzi?
The fact that in the end everything comes across so casually that you don’t switch off, even though we are only reporting on our work (and the Jacuzzi never comes), is the result of a laborious process. Read the “Making of UVA in 3 minutes“ here.
The idea must become a screenplay
Early March: The decision is made: we give each other three minutes. In the kick-off meeting “Image Film”, Art Director Arvid, who is very familiar with everything to do with film, images and graphics, presents the idea: “Our film should show UVA in the context of Babelsberg. It should also be relaxed and humorous, reflect what we can do and what we are like. The assignment for a screenplay idea goes to copywriter Steffi.
Mid-March: The copywriter presents her draft: almost 30 scenes showing aspects from the agency as well as suitable parallels from Babelsberg. In order to create an entertaining narrative structure from the short scenes, they have to interlock well through clever transitions. The colleagues let the draft sink in. And what’s more, we are all working primarily on customer orders, our own project is once again only second priority. 🙁
April: The copywriter processes the feedback from colleagues: exchanges scenes, incorporates new beautiful image ideas and creates the treatment. She also writes the final text for the speaker. Art director Arvid then takes over and turns it into the finished script. It also states what footage is available and what the film team has to shoot. It goes without saying that all colleagues are required to work as actors, and there is even a vacation ban.
We grill and shoot and need a movie title
May: The shooting schedule is set. We spend a lovely week with our very nice colleagues from the Hauptstadt-TV filming team. We wear monochrome clothes so that there are no flickering effects later on. The graphic artist builds the oversized UVA donation check by hand, which our colleague Felix will later load into a car. We go for ice cream and pizza together and have a barbecue in the UVA garden. The latter was a lot of fun, unfortunately only the 1-second sausage-on-the-grill scene remained (1:29 to 1:30). The right music has to be found and the production wants to know which speaker we want, male or female, and can it also be a version in English? Finally, a title is sought shortly before the deadline. The lyricist remembered this one day on her way home.
June 2: Premiere at the 30th anniversary UVA summer party!
Here you can see the movie in full length, “UVA in 3 minutes”.
If you would like us to produce a film for you, please contact us.
