Pepper Tree Post is proud to have helped NY-based agency Code & Theory over the finish line with a series of spots for Amazon Ads. The spots feature a continuous shot that transitions between various locations with the occupants going about their daily activities. Each location is equipped with an Amazon Device.
Reid Brewster was one of the senior producers for the campaign: “The intent was to demonstrate the full depth and breadth of the client’s advertising capability. That capability translates into a consumer experience where branded advertising fits in seamlessly with the platforms and devices consumers know and love, with little disruption to their everyday activities.”
Oscar Velasquez produced the content, and wanted to echo some of the client’s values – diversity and inclusion – in the way that he set up his team: “I wanted to have these values mirrored into the creative team by building a female-led dream team: director Karla Braun, photographer Julia Johnson, and producer Shannon Bowen. The same values were also carried into our casting.”
With a tight deadline and scores of US and international deliveries, PTP was brought onboard for all post production. Milton Adamou worked with the creatives at Code & Theory to establish the bold, punchy look you see in the final spots, but under the hood there were important decisions to be made: “I realized that each vignette was going to require us to push the primary colors in a big way. The camera dollies through each location via a ‘portal’ that appears at the end of each scene. Since each location uses strong primary colors, with no cut points, I decided the only viable solution was to employ embedded mattes between each location. That way I could style each shot without having to worry about the separate grades interfering from shot to shot.”
The timeline for each spot resembled a descending staircase, with tracks overlapping at the point of transition. Adamou worked with Josiah Reeves over at Occlusion VFX to have them deliver RGBA mattes for each shot (the alpha being used the the transition wipe). “We could use these mattes as the basis for building more complicated setups. We had a matte for major parts of the scene, and using an inverse key we could, for example, occlude the kettle on the kitchen table or the TV in the living room. It helped in crafting an ultra stylized look, but also allowed us to protect (and select) areas that needed to feel more normal (skin tones, etc).”
In addition to the conform, online and finishing, PTP also handled all national and worldwide deliverables.
Client: Amazon Ads
Agency: Code & Theory
Director: Karla Braun
Direct of Photography: Max Makhani
Producer: Reid Brewster, Oscar Velasquez
Colorist: Milton Adamou
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