On the set, people are running everywhere trying to get the stage set up. Actors are pacing back and forth practicing their lines. People are setting up refreshments for everyone to have between takes. Working in a commercial can be hard at times, and it can also be time consuming. They are waking up early in the morning to get the stage set up and staying late to finish filming the scenes for that day. All the work is supposed to result in a commercial that will entertain the public. .
Kent Arceneaux, cinematographer, photographer, and a neighbor of mine, asked me one day if I wanted to help him with a few commercials. The commercials we shot were in our own backyard! One commercial was for Town & Country Meats back in 2013. The commercial has four guys hanging around a table outside with a grill and some charcoal. The first guy says that he brought the wood chips. The second guy says he has the seasoning. The first guy again says he has the charcoal. The third guy asks who has the steaks. The fourth guy says with a tiny steak, "I've got the steaks!" The third guy then says, "I'm going to Town & Country." The commercial then goes off to the scene where they talk about Town & Country. Another commercial I helped with was a commercial about how people need to exercise everyday. In the commercial, my brother was riding his bike and my dad was jogging on the treadmill. .
There are many roles in the filmmaking process. It all starts with a script, a story waiting to be told. Then there is the director, the person with the plan. We tend to all understand that filmmaking is highly collaborative, so a team begins to emerge, with a group of like-minded artists all striving towards a similar goal. You have your art directors and production designers, and new worlds are created. You have your editors, who lovingly craft the footage into the final piece of art. You have your makeup artists and VFX artists and lot of different craftspeople who ultimately shape the film in some distinctive way.
