Disclaimer: This spot is not sponsored by Roku Gin or Suntory and has been made on spec.
I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to learn new techniques for shooting with minimal gear while I’m stuck at home. I wanted to experiment with some tabletop photography/videography which I’ve never really done before.
I also wanted to attempt to use a television with motion graphics as a pseudo video wall rear projection device to create some in-camera compositing effects while I was at it.
As a test I setup my Sony A7III rigged up with a turntable on my desk, and shot a test with my Sony a6300.
It was a simple test, but effective. So then I brainstormed some ideas for products that would work at this scale, and I thought a beverage would work well. This immediately made me think of Roku Gin, which I was introduced to while working on a project in Osaka, Japan. It’s available in the US now, and has hexagonal shaped bottle which represents the 6 botanicals infused in the Gin. I thought this would look good visually, and also presented opportunities to use those botanicals in the motion graphics.
I set up another test, and created some custom Sakura motion graphics in After effects.
This was working really well, especially getting the color from the motion graphics showing through the bottle. So then I made more options for the motion graphics with additional botanicals, refined the lighting, found some music via Epidemic Sound, and reshot.
This Roku Gin spec commercial is the result. Let me know what you think. Shot at my desk alone, with a Sony A7III with Sony 24-105mm F4, and Canon FD 50mm F3.5 macro, and my Wife’s hand to pour.