The GMC In-Market Video Project opened for Pitches in June 2016 with a big ask for lots of content. GMC was seeking one filmmaker or production company to create a suite of 25 hero videos and 25 cutdowns highlighting the key features of 5 car models. Production would take place over only 5 days, and the Pitch winner would have to deliver all 50 videos within 5 months.
Many brave Tongalers raised their hand for the job, but only one would go on to win the Pitch: Cardinal Collective. After months of planning and producing, all 25 hero videos are now live on GMC’s YouTube channel, so we caught up with Riley and Jon from Cardinal Collective to hear how it all came together.
Tongal: Why did you Pitch on this project?
Cardinal Collective: We brainstormed a few different concepts and eventually landed on trying to do a feature series with Engineering Explained. We thought teaming up with a YouTube star would be the perfect way to bring a personality with a direct automotive following into the series, to give it more character and shareability. This felt like the best approach given the scope of the project, and we thought it had a very good chance of being a contender in the pitch process.
Had you ever shot an automotive spot before?
We’ve always shared a passion for cars and have been making content for fun in the automotive world for quite some time. We had done one other automotive project with Tongal for Turtle Wax, and had worked on multiple other automotive videos ranging from classic car documentaries to drifting event coverage. Jon actually hosted drifting events in Virginia for 6 years, and has a competition drift car. We just love cars.
How did you handle shooting so many cars in only so many days?
Thorough pre-production was crucial to this project. We spent months driving around to find the best locations in Colorado, getting the shot list nailed down exactly how we wanted it, and planning out how each and every shoot day was going to run. We had a team of around 20 to make this happen. We had 5 trucks with 5 videos each to make happen in 5 days. With so many setups to do each day, we did everything we could to maximize our time; things like shooting segments of each video out of order so we wouldn’t need to swap lenses and lighting setups as often. We broke everything up into what section of the truck it happened at (front, side, rear, or inside) and then organized the shooting order to complete everything at each section before moving on. Having a rockstar AD and Script Supervisor was essential to making sure that nothing was missed and that we were sticking to our very tight schedule.
What equipment did you use on the shoot?
We shot on an Arri Alexa mini with Schneider Xenon lenses. Since four out of five of our locations were exteriors and the trucks are very large, we needed a variety of bounce and diffusion sources to shape the light for each scene. We had a 3 ton grip truck with a talented gaffer who also has a lot of automotive experience. For our one interior day, we added an HMI package to the truck. We needed a lot of light output to light an entire airplane hangar. We also found some creative uses for battery powered quasar tubes, putting them under the car for an extra highlight, or in the passenger seat or gaffed to the roof to get extra light in a small space. But our main source each day was good old Colorado sunshine. Shooting long days in the sun meant constant adjustment to frames and bounces to try and keep continuity as the sun keeps moving across the sky. Really the most important thing for making the trucks look good was to have great locations. We put a lot of focus and time into finding the best locations possible to really help these videos stand out. We also utilized a polarizer filter to provide contrast between different body panels on the truck.
Did you run into any problems on set? How did you handle it?
Exterior locations always bring about a whole plethora of issues. Our biggest one was one day up in the mountains at a remote home location. There was a wind advisory for the day with gusts of over 80 mph. We tried to get set up in the morning, but nothing would stay down. Combo stands with nothing on them were getting knocked over, dust and dirt were flying everywhere, and the truck was shaking in the wind just parked in the driveway. We ended up having to postpone until the next day. When we hired our crew, we had everyone on standby for an extra day in case we had any weather issues through the shoot, for this exact reason. But we had some fun packing up, jumping up in the air and seeing how far the wind would carry us! Other exterior locations also proved difficult for sound. The Marina we were shooting at was active, with people winterizing their boats and loud construction happening nearby. The home locations were in neighborhoods with dogs barking and people mowing their lawns. A lot of times we would have our AD work on this - at the Marina she talked to the staff and people around to try and hold off noises until we were on lunch. We also had a constant battle with reflections. These trucks are covered in chrome - which is a perfect mirror to show anything nearby. We generally had to have video village and most of the crew hidden or far away from the trucks. On the Sunshine Canyon day with the Sierra Denali, we actually set up video village inside the garage!
What was the most fun thing about this shoot?
Though our schedule was very tight, we tried to keep the set open and fun. Having the opportunity to work on a project of this scale was very exciting for us. We really enjoyed having a larger crew with lots of specialized roles that all come together to make great content. Because we do a lot of smaller projects where we both have to wear a lot of hats, it was fun for us to be able to focus all of our energy on our specific roles. And Jason (our talent) is just a funny guy, which brought constant entertainment to set.
How was your experience working with Tongal and GMC?
At first, it was definitely a little intimidating to have 6 producers on set (between Tongal and Digitas/GMC); but we quickly found how helpful it was to have everyone there to be able to talk through any creative changes or issues that came up on set. There were small changes made to the script as we went along, so we would all meet in the morning while everything was getting set up to go over any changes we would be making. It also helped to have extra people focused on the scripts and content, double checking that everything was coming together properly. All of the producers were very professional, but fit into the vibe of the set well, and were excited about the content and being a part of the production. Matt and Rebecca from Tongal were also a blast to work with, and we really enjoyed having them on set. This was our first Tongal gig that had the Tongal producers on set with us, and we couldn’t have been happier with the experience.
How do you feel about the final videos?
Looking at all of the videos on GMC’s YouTube page, it amazes us that our team was able to pull off making so much content in 5 days of production. The locations provided fantastic backdrops, and Jason really helped add some personality to the videos. We are really proud of this project.
What’s next for you? Where can people find you on the internet?
You can check out our other work on our site at cardinalcollective.tv. We’ve been working hard to bring our style and personality to different kinds of commercial content, and are continually pushing to get more opportunities in the automotive field. We’ve loved working with Tongal, and are excited to keep pitching towards some of the great projects they have coming through. And we’re always looking for some reason to incorporate drifting into every shoot.
