We conducted a series of interviews with U.S. military personnel for James Patterson’s compilation of soldiers’ stories Walk In My Combat Boots.
Testimonial videos are right up our alley. They’re a proven way of advertising and it makes sense: it’s a supercut of real people giving you their opinions. If word-of-mouth is the single best form of advertising, then a good testimonial has to be up there too, right?
At this point, we’ve done tons of testimonials and we know what tends to work. What was unique about this project however, was the opportunity to talk to soldiers about their military experience and how this book stacked up. Director Seth Johnson deftly navigated challenging and sometimes traumatic material to get the truth: these stories were accurate and affecting.
The production took place in our in-house studio. Gaffer Collin Ingram constructed a black out cube from flags and duvetyne in order to achieve an “infinite black” set. DP Trey Gregory shot on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K with Angenieux glass for his desired look.
In post, editors Cameron Shaw and Kelsey Cherney had an embarrassment of riches to choose from. The goal was to cut two 30-second commercials with a 15-second cut-down each to maximize marketing flexibility, but they easily could’ve done many more. In a testament to both Seth’s direction and their own charisma, all our interviewees were incredibly genuine, their comments heartfelt. These factors combined to create one of our most compelling testimonial commercials to-date.