Creator Interview: Shane Seibel Talks Directing Social Videos

For this month’s Creator Interview, we caught up with Tongaler Shane Seibel to talk about his transition from cinematographer to highly versatile film and commercial director, as well as his latest project, the Chameleon Cold-Brew Make It Yours Social Video Suite, to get a deeper look at the challenges of creating content for brands’ social channels. Shane has a lot to say about making social videos and how to approach its many constraints, such as time, screen size, and our all too fickle attention spans. He walks us through his process in creating the Make It Yours Suite, and how he created a series of super-sleek, energetic and engaging Videos. If you haven’t seen the Make It Yours videos yet, check all three out here:

Shane offers some sage advice for all you social video creators out there, so let’s begin!  

Maddie: Tell us a little about yourself, your production company Magic House, and how you got started as a commercial filmmaker?

Shane: One day, a distant cousin of mine - a woman I’d met only three or four times in my life - called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to go on a two week trip with her for her 50th birthday (all expenses paid). I asked her where to and she told me to choose, but I needed to decide right now so she could buy the plane tickets - we’d leave this weekend...

Whoa, whoa, whoa. That means I could have picked the Amazon rainforest or LOTR mountains in New Zealand?? Maybe Machu Picchu! Or the Pyramids of Giza!?

To be honest, I don’t really know why I picked London. Maybe I panicked - it’s not every day you get put in a situation like this. Regardless, I was grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity! London has so much history, so many sites to see. I knew I’d want to remember those memories forever -

But I knew nothing of photography. Nothing. I think the first thing I typed into Google was “how to shoot good photos.” After that, there was no turning back - my love of photography erupted and consumed every part of my waking life and all of my dreams at night. After my trip to London, I knew deep down I was meant to be behind a camera and spent every moment of free time practicing my craft. My passion for photography soon developed into a devotion for cinematography.

After shooting dozens of short projects and even a few feature length films, I decided to try my hand at telling my own stories (directing) instead of trying to represent someone else’s vision on screen. I searched online for ways to get paid to make my own films and started entering as many filmmaking competitions as I could. Most of these competitions were focused on the creation of short form projects, usually commercials. This is how I got started at Tongal!

Magic House is a film production company I founded in Texas many years ago. Since then we’ve moved to Boston, back to Austin, finally settling here in Los Angeles. I’d like to say we gravitate towards a particular style of film, but honestly anything with a good story or intriguing concept is what we aim for.

M: The Make It Yours Project had a challenging ask: make three 15-second Videos for social media that show the versatility of Chameleon Cold-Brew products. You managed to fit in at least three different ways to use Chameleon Cold-Brew in each Video. What were some of the techniques you used to keep the audience focused on the product and get in as many recipes as possible?

S: Anyone who has worked for Tongal knows, 15 seconds is not a lot of time to get an idea or complex story across. There were two different types of Chameleon Cold-Brew in six different flavors, which we needed to showcase in as many recipes or methods of drinking as possible. We had so much information to squeeze into such a short duration that there never would have been enough time to properly introduce new characters or establish some semblance of a plot. Instead, we used two visual tricks to get over our hurdles - a montage-style video and “match cuts” to bridge each scene to the next.

Montage is a really effective way to condense space, time, and information. It can be a powerful editing tool when trying to evoke a feeling in the audience, in lieu of telling a conventional, comprehensive “story”. We wanted these spots to feel impressionistic, tonal, suggestive -- there is no real narrative, no conversation between characters or exposition through dialogue. In most shots, the product was the most important part of the frame, not the actors. Instead of the actors moving the story forward, they were there to help establish an environment, a tone, a feeling. Actors sometimes fell out of focus or were partially obscured from view to help draw the audience’s attention elsewhere: the Chameleon Cold-Brew!

However, even in a montage, 15 seconds is not a long time. This is where the match cuts come in. We specifically chose actions and movements that could bridge the gap between different people, places, and types of drinks we were trying to represent. Could a shot of someone shaking a spray paint can “match cut” well with a shot of a cocktail shaker being shook? How about large marshmallows falling into a mug of hot cocoa “match cut” with large ice cubes falling into a glass of milk? These match cuts were the vehicle to seamlessly carry the audience between different scenes and (if we did our job right) the audience wouldn’t even notice how often we jumped around.

M: Your Pitch thoughtfully took into account where the Videos would live because it was always your intention to capture the filtered snapshot feeling that’s native to Instagram. How did you accomplish this effect?

S: In our pitch, we envisioned these commercials with a heavily filtered “Instagram look.” We wanted to evoke feelings of warmth, shareability, summertime, hanging out with friends, and be relatable to our target demographic (millennials). Embracing that highly saturated, contrast-y style seemed like a fitting choice given the video’s distribution platform (Instagram/Facebook) as well as Chameleon Cold-Brew’s own brand aesthetic.

The Sponsor wanted the Videos to capture and convey their brand’s messaging and ethos. Instead of going heavy on the “filtered” look, they asked us to instead film the spots with a “bold, clean look. Our marvelous Production Designer (Meg Kaltenbach) assembled props and set dressing that was colorful and reflective of the new branding.

In post-production, we showed the sponsor multiple color correction passes and we settled on a happy medium: a saturated color palette that didn’t push the envelope.

M: Generally speaking, what are some of the challenges in making content for social channels, especially when it comes to creating a suite of Videos? Is the Sponsor looking to target different audiences with each Video? How do you make each Video feel distinct, but part of a greater whole, as well as feel native to its intended channel?

S: In order to make a suite of videos work as a comprehensive “whole,” you need a common element that ties the suite together. Some video suites utilize recurring characters, location repetition, voiceover duplication, or repeated plot devices. Since we were unable to rely on audio to carry our story (Facebook auto mutes ads), we took a visual approach and relied on “match cutting” to move the narrative along.

Once we had settled on the structure of the suite (each spot as a series of match cuts between 3 scenes of people), we could swap out characters and locations to showcase a wide demographic. We worked hard to give the brand a range of characters to choose from - professionals in an office environment, artists working outside, friends hanging out and enjoying each others’ company, etc. By mixing and matching these different scenes we could customize each spot to fit any target audience or demographic.

For Chameleon Cold-Brew (as you can probably tell from their name), versatility was immensely important. Their drinks can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime, any way you want it. It was our job to showcase as many of these scenes as possible and let the Sponsor decide which arrangement would be best suited to which channel or platform. This meant every shot needed to look beautiful in both 16:9 and 1:1 aspect ratios. To do this, we utilized in-camera frame guides in addition to blocking actors and important props close together or in the middle of the frame. This allowed us to consistently capture shots that would work in multiple frame sizes.

M: You brought on a very experienced food and beverage stylist for this Project. What is it like working with a food and beverage stylist on set, and what are some of the logistical needs you have to prepare for and be aware of?

S: Anna Lee was phenomenal! Last year, I saw a random interview of her on Buzzfeed - she’s worked on productions like Life of Pi and Silicon Valley - and I really wanted to work with her. At some point, I simply sent her a message via her website and we started working together! Isn’t the Internet awesome!?

It was easy to work with Anna on set because we communicated so heavily during pre-production. I made sure our Production Designer and Anna discussed color palettes, tableware design, food combinations, and ingredients - even down to which shape of ice cube would be showcased in the close ups. I sent my storyboards and mood boards to each department head and we walked through the actions in every single shot.

There were definitely a few tricky shots. We needed to create a white swirl of milk to match cut to a spinning skateboard wheel. In pre-production, we tried using every combination we could think of to get the intended effect - using whole milk, skim milk, heavy cream, light cream, using a syringe, stirring before adding the milk, stirring after, with ice, without ice, fast, slow, etc. Only one of the dozens of methods we tried actually worked as intended. The lesson here is that any work you can do in pre-production will give you more time on set to capture exactly what you envisioned.

M: You’ve won 19 projects on Tongal so far - incredible! Many of the Projects you’ve worked on are in the food and beverage category. Did you focus your energy intentionally on food and beverage spots, or did this naturally happen? What other areas do you see yourself expanding your portfolio in - and what other kinds of Projects do you hope to work on in the future?

S: Don’t stroke my ego too much! When you get complacent in your position, you can get arrogant and sloppy, so I try not to focus on how many “wins” we have and instead put my thoughts into the next task at hand!

I never intentionally focused my energy into producing food and beverage spots. I simply make as many pitches as I possibly can and try to craft every project with the enthusiasm and effort as if it were the last project I’ll ever make. I think that sort of work ethic will bring out the best in you and with enough time you will begin winning and achieving your goals.

As a cinematographer, I’ve shot four feature length narratives. From a creative standpoint, the longer format has been the most rewarding for me personally. I like being able to explore a character in extreme depth; Who are they? What are their fears? What are their desires? How can we utilize the lighting, the photography, and the sequencing of that photography (editing) to represent the answers to these questions in a creative and unique way that simultaneously evokes a range of emotional responses in the audience? More importantly, how can you keep those emotions going for two or more hours? It’s a creative marathon and I love it!

Don’t get me wrong, short form is exhilarating in its own way. It’s the ultimate storytelling test: how can you tell a complete story and inject as much character and information as possible into a 12-15 second commercial? It’s surprisingly difficult because you simply don’t have time to elaborate - every shot must be efficient and carry weight. Not a single frame can be wasted and I thoroughly enjoy the creative challenge!

I’m in the middle of developing several long and short form projects and there’s a few upcoming Tongal projects I’ve got my eyes on. We’re finishing up the Magic House website as we speak and you can keep up with us on our Facebook page or at www.magichouseproductions.com once we launch!