Treatment Samples
Commercial treatments delve into all the various elements that bring a 60-second story to life. The following samples have been extracted from my past pitch work and are presented without brand names for intellectual property protection.
Genre: Food & Bev / Product
Excerpt: The Product
The magic of this tale is in the reunification of family ties, how a catalyst – in our case [Brand Name] – can be all you need to restore the bonds that were broken. As we planned our chain of events, we realized the quandary we were in and how difficult it would be to have an emotional, cathartic effect if we took too much time away from our main characters to focus on a product shot.
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Instead, we created a world that is distinct and ownable, but that carries through it the warmth and connection that consumers have come to expect of the brand’s commercials. A world that makes the [Brand] bottle feel like a [Brand] bottle, with naturalistic textures and that famous ripple and unmistakable red label – yet with slight stylization to the proportions so it feels like it belongs.
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We use the [Brand] as the reason the father and son have a breakthrough. And with the much anticipated release of tension at the end, we then showcase the family with bottles of their own around their Chinese New Year table, in all their glory, where the real magic can begin.
Genre: Food & Bev / Grocery Store
Excerpt: Character
This is Molly. Molly just turned five this past November. November 11th, to be exact. Turning five is a big deal. First, you’re not a baby anymore. You get to do a lot more on your own without grown ups all up in your business. You get to sit at the dinner table with all the adults, eat the same food, drink from a lid-free cup, dress yourself... the possibilities are endless.
At first, Molly was all for this newfound independence. She had been waiting for it practically her whole life. Her imagination is quite active so she had big plans for this new phase of her life: write her first novel about dragons who love to eat strawberries, ‘fly’ her new sled down the hill in front of her house, finally be brave enough not to skip over the middle part of The Little Mermaid when Ursula takes Ariel's voice, bake cookies for her future bakery shop called ‘Molly Bakes’, and, of course, travel.
What came as a bit of a surprise to her is how lonely this all felt without anyone to share it with. Her friends are stuck in their homes and she has no siblings. During the holiday season it has been particularly hard since she has been trapped in the house all day everyday, her parents busy working from home and getting things ready for the holidays. It’s not easy being all alone in the little red house on a hill.
Genre: Food & Bev / Product
Excerpt: Approach / Defining Two Worlds
THE BLACK VOID:
As the antithesis of The [Brand Name] Turn, I want The Black Void to disturb the mind and ensnare the viewer in its nonsensicality so that when we show our farm world, the relief is so palpable you actually exhale in real life.
Grey, sterile, but well made. It’s where hope goes to die. To execute this well, it’s essential to make the Void feel claustrophobic, verging on grotesque, and extremely familiar in the ‘casual disregard for anything not profit-related’ that we’ve come to know of as Corporate America.
Though the sets and characters themselves will be pristine, there’s a lack of humanity that creates an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. There’s no nature or joy. The action, the movements, the characters and the sound are all ‘off’, with a Theatre of the Absurd mentality. Like being trapped in a refrigerator – the constant buzz and all.
Done with my refined and delicate hand, the restraint we show here will make everything all the more unsettling.
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THE [BRAND NAME] TURN:
After the strangulation of the Void, The [Brand Name] Turn will bring the
joy of fresh air and sunlight rushing in to save the day.
Bright, warm, and open – it’s everything we could want in a farm and
more. There’s nothing artificial or fraudulent about this world. It’s
imperfectly perfect and, in stark contrast to the Void, my choices here
intentionally reflect that. We’ll use found objects as props, shots on
location composed to give as spacious a feel as possible, and sounds
captured live from the farm. Who knows, maybe even the tight, high
buzz of a mosquito will be welcome, though maybe we don’t push our
luck!
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Our breath of fresh air couldn’t come any sooner – returning hope to
consumers that business can both make a profit and treat workers,
the environment, and its inhabitants with dignity, respect, and fairness.
Genre: Technology / Telephone Service
Excerpt: Concept Art / Background
This week we put pen to paper to begin development on this fantastical street. We decided to explore a corner view in order to hint at a bigger world stretching out in multiple directions. We explored different styles of homes that range from traditional German architecture to modern day homes while also having fun with whimsical design for our more eccentric
characters, such as a tree house for our eclectic Scarecrow who loves to recycle. One manʼs garbage is another manʼs treasure.
Genre: Food & Bev / Product
Excerpt: Style & Technique
Elegant Detail. Handcrafted Feel. Rich Textures. This is how this years film will differ from last years, leaning away from a more graphic language to one rich with the different tapestries specific to each generation.
The handmade quality of a practically built set immediately heightens the
weight of humanity, complete with imperfections, and soft and hard edges that reflect back to us the message of our film: that family dynamics are hard and ever-changing, but in between the chaos is where the magic happens.
From a technical perspective, we want our world to feel distinguished and unique while being economical, so we’ll mix CG techniques with matte paintings. This will add a tactility to the field and stone habitats which make them feel tangible and robust, while allowing us versatility and the ability to be strategic in which details are enhanced to better serve the story.
Genre: Parcel Delivery Service
Excerpt: Lighting & Camera
The magical realism of our approach lends an authenticity that is unmatched by other techniques. By actually filming this spot as a miniature, the audience will instinctively perceive it as genuine and
be captivated by the way light illuminates our island world.
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Part of our job is to select camera lenses that will both capture the tiniest of crisp details, but also give the scenes a soft and dreamy depth of field to foreground elements. Playing with rack focus will allow us to move back and forth to reinforce where we want our audienceʼs eye to go, while the camera itself will stand still or track with our truck to add dynamic movements and a variety of compositions. An enchanting film is often the result of beautiful lighting, so weʼll design lighting setups that will bring
life and warmth to each moment of our story.
Genre: Pharma / medication
Excerpt: Approach
My goal this week has been to create a very dynamic visual that would embrace the colors and elements of the brand in an interesting way.
The concept starts with a fairly simple but unusual concept for this kind of iconography. We take a 100% surreal approach that invokes the imagination and allows us to visualize our organs in a less organ-centric way, as though they’re a simple, plastic display floating in the ether of a Science class. The otherworldly glow highlights our subject and brings a clean, almost heroic feel to the gut.
For the look itself, the metallic treatment of the arrow and barrier we employ is heavily inspired by 80’s artwork, an era known for rebels who weren’t afraid of being loud and unique and fearless – of standing up for those around them. The cells are presented as clean spheres that are big on the outside of the barrier, and smaller and brighter for the few that make it through The smoothness helps reinforce the message that the cells are not the enemy while creating a nice harmony and composition by differentiating the cells by size.
The background has a hexagonal pattern, a sacred and ancient symbol of
interlocking triangles found in symbols like the Flower of Life, whose shape often stands for harmony, balance, and male and female energy.
Genre: Consultancy /
Environmental PSA
Excerpt: Approach
To begin, we looked at the script to find a unique way of
understanding our simplest form of energy, the proton, and
progress it to its most complicated and largest form, the
community. Storyboards, sketches, and keywords were our
answer here. These helped us explore how to tie each frame
together using our energy-flubber as the primary subject, figuring
out its logic and driving force – the way it morphs, transforms, and
shapes the world around it.
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The tone of our story is designed to be optimistic and imaginative
yet sophisticated enough for the scientific, complex moments to
shine through clearly. The abstract, visual metaphor for energy we
developed pairs so well with our literal, technical visuals. We find
the combination of the literal and abstract keeps this film really
exciting and unexpected.
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With so many types and categories of energy to explore, we’re
thrilled at the prospect of all the different ways our energy-proton
can adapt to be used for any form needed!
Genre: Food & Bev / Product
Excerpt: Look & Feel
This film is full of surprising interactions that conceptually reposition a homestyle classic in a new, revelatory way. To encapsulate this, we will combine the iconic, graphic visual heritage of the [Brand Name] brand with a confident, clean aesthetic.
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Traditional tabletop settings will be abstracted yet familiar. Our monochromatic background will provide both contrast and warmth. Following the gravy stream down, dynamic camera moves will catch the gravy’s glistening sparkles, highlighted by our bright, crisp lighting. It will be graphic, relatable, and, above all – timeless.