Gravity - Color Grading & Visual Effects

I had a lot of people asking about the color grading and visual effects for my spot "Gravity". So here is a shot by shot comparison of the original raw footage and the finished shots with final color grading and visual effects.

"Gravity" was filmed on two hacked GH1's and was recorded as flat as possible and underexposed by one stop to preserve highlight detail and to provide a little more latitude during grading.

AVCHD FHD
1920x1080
23.976fps
1/50 Sec.
100 ISO
Nostalgic Mode
-2 -2 0 0

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Composited in After Effects.

Color Graded in Color.

Video Contest News Picks Gravity for Top 25!

Looks like Beardy at Video Contest News still doesn't quite grasp the gravitas of our commercial, but it still made his Top 25!

Suck it Beardy:)

Gravity and the Girl Website!

Our new website for our Doritos commercial "Gravity", is now live at gravityandthegirl.wordpress.com! Check it out for all things "Gravity"!

Pug Attack Sound Designer Likes Gravity!

I got a nice email from Patrick Knipe, the sound designer on last year's million dollar winning spot, "Pug Attack". He was cool enough to wish me luck and said, "Your commercial is really good, great job, it had me laughing". Thanks Patrick!

Video Contest News Says Gravity is Top Twenty!

Beardy over at Video Contest News was nice enough to review "Gravity".

Here is what he said, "This one is a really strong submission. The effects and photography are great and it was very well cast and acted and good call on having your actress wear those shorts. Right now I’d say your spot is one of the 20 best I’ve seen so far."

Thanks Beardy! Keep up the great work you are doing for the video contest community.

Fifth Graders Love Gravity!

Here is an email we recieved from a fifth grade teacher in San Diego.

"So, I showed the "new" Doritos spec to all 3 grps. today...they are completely entranced, and if you, Lauren and Luis ever wanted to boost your ego/day, you could come to speak to all my classes. They are all completely into this commercial (Look at the way she's standing! Notice how she sighs...and Luis, that impish grin--they can all relate!) If my students could vote, you all would WIN in a heartbeat. Thanks, as always, for keeping us updated. I know Doritos sales are soaring in Southcrest." - Terry

Those are some smart kids, I still have no idea what impish means:) Thanks Terry!

Doritos® - Gravity - 15,000 Hits & Still Climbing!

We now have over 15,000 views of "Gravity" on Vimeo! Which is a great honor, since Vimeo is the place for video professionals to share their work. Thanks guys!

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 4

Just like the voices in Kevin Costner's head, "If you build it, they will come", my voices said, "If you film it, they will watch." And they have, and they continue to do so in great numbers. "Gravity" continues to be a big hit with climbers the world over and is now featured on the The Northeast Climbing Magazine, climberism.com, as well as the russian version of Facebook, vkontakte.ru.

Gravity is also featured on the blog for touchstoneclimbing.com, where they compare our commercial against a spot from Citibank and Sector Watches. Here is what they said, "Doritos has their own view on rock climbing. This one may be the most accurate of the three. I've certainly had this happen a few times, but my belayer is usually reaching for a piece of pie."

It's a great compliment to have our commercial compared to professionally produced spots. I think Touchstone Climbing thought ours was a real commercial. Shhhh, don't tell them, just let them enjoy it:)

Doritos® - Gravity Alternate Ending - Crash the Super Bowl 2012

This is the alternate ending version of "Gravity". This one is for all of you who were worried about what happens to the girl. Now you know:) Hope you like it as much as the original version. Cheers!

Click here to see the original version on Vimeo.

A commercial for Doritos.

Three friends experience the highs and lows of rock climbing.

Starring: Luis Galindo, Thomas Meaney and Lauren Johnson
Written, Directed, Edited, Composited and Graded by: Michael Eggert
Assistant Director: Laurie Shishino
Sound Design by: Marty Vites
Key Grip: Albert Salazar
Rigger: Patrick Meaney
Music by: Gioachino Rossini - Overture to "Barber of Seville"

Shot on location at Stoney Point.

Shot on a two hacked Panasonic GH1's at ISO 100, 23.976 fps, with a Vivitar 17mm f3.5, Canon FD 20mm f2.8, Canon FL 35mm f2.5, Canon FL 55mm f1.2, Rainbow Imaging FL/FD Adapter and LightCraft Workshop Fader ND.

Sansdisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC Card.

Rode Video Mic Pro.

Tascam DR-07.

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Sound Designed and Mixed in Garage Band.

Composited in After Effects.

Color Graded in Color.

Check out the original version on the Dortos "Crash The Superbowl" website

Check it out on YouTube.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Follow me on Twitter.

Check out my free HD tutorials on iTunes and at pixelphile.tv

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 3

It now looks like "Gravity" has made it all the way to the Netherlands and Slovenia! We are now featured on the Slovenian site Gore-ljudje.net, where they said "Pazljivo izberite soplezalca", which loosely translates to "Carefully select the climber." And we are on the Dutch site sloper.climbing.nl where they entitled "Gravity" as "Flaw filmpje" which might mean "Light movie", at this point I can't really be sure anymore:)

Proost!

Doritos® - Gravity - 5 Stars!

Our Doritos commercial "Gravity", has a five star rating over on rockclimbing.com!

Thanks guys!

Doritos® - Gravity - 10,000 Hits & Climbing!

Thanks everybody for helping making "Gravity" such a success! We just passed over 10,000 views on Vimeo!

For those of you who have wondered what happens to the girl after the climber lands on her? That question will be answered soon in our forthcoming alternate ending version of "Gravity".

Spoiler Alert! The girl is doing just fine:)

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 2

It looks like our Doritos commercial "Gravity", is a worldwide hit amongst rock climbers and bouldering aficionados. I had no idea when I shot this spot, that so many people would like it. I guess since there is very little dialog, it makes for a perfect international commercial, which anybody can understand and enjoy.

Above, you can see that we are featured on Germany's "Berg Leben" website, which translates to "Moutain Life". "Gravity" is a featured video of the week. Vielen Dank meine Freunde!

It looks like Jerry Lewis is not the only American who is big in France. We are featured on French Photographer Rogier van Rijn's blog, as well as Kairn.com, a French adventurers site. Here is what Kairn said, "Voici la dernière pub pour les chips Doritos. Attention à bien choisir vos assureurs!", which translates to "Here is the latest ad for Doritos chips. Make sure you choose your insurance!" Merci beaucoup d'amis!

And finally, our comrades in Russia at mountain.ru have been nice enough to help promote our capitalist ways. They called our commercial "Сила притяжения". which I think translates to "Attractive Power". They must have been talking about Lauren. Sorry Luis and Thomas:)

More reviews to come! Stay tuned!

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 1

Well, it's been about a week since I finished and submitted my entry "Gravity", to this year's Doritos "Crash The Superbowl" contest. Some of the reviews and comments are starting to trickle in, so I thought I would share some of them with you.

Above, you can see that we are featured on the Rock Climbing UK magazine with an article entitled, "Why you should always pay attention when belaying...". They kinda took the commercial a little too literally, expecting it to be a video on proper climbing etiquette, rather that just a spot to bring a few laughs. I thought the British were suppose to have a sense of humor? Maybe they are still mad at us for stealing "The Office" from them:)

We are also featured on rockclimbing.com, supertopo.com and mountainproject.com. While most of the climbers really enjoyed it, a few took the time to point out our improper use of safety equipment. We know we took a few liberties regarding proper climbing procedure, but otherwise we wouldn't have had a punchline, and what fun would that be?

Here are some of their comments.

Wow! Nice to see an ad that 'knows what it is doing' with the ropes! - tooth

That chick has a HAWT ASS. Good production values, too. - toadgas

Well done! Thats a great commercial! - Prezwoodz

FABULOUS! Seems to fit the genre perfectly! YAY! - eKat

Fun way to start the week! Great job & thank you! - Fritz

Since there are so many commercials, there should be a law that each has to be funny. This would definitely pass the test. Very funny. Nice work. - Patrick Oliver

Superb! - Dos XX

FANTASTIC! I love it! - Ihateplastic

Haha that's awesome! Just sent it to everyone at the climbing shop I work at! - Curt Hokanson

More reviews to come! Stay tuned!

Doritos® - Gravity - Crash the Super Bowl 2012

A commercial for Doritos.

Three friends experience the highs and lows of rock climbing.

Starring: Luis Galindo, Thomas Meaney and Lauren Johnson
Written, Directed, Edited, Composited and Graded by: Michael Eggert
Assistant Director: Laurie Shishino
Sound Design by: Marty Vites
Key Grip: Albert Salazar
Rigger: Patrick Meaney
Music by: Gioachino Rossini - Overture to "Barber of Seville"

Shot on location at Stoney Point.

Shot on a two hacked Panasonic GH1's at ISO 100, 23.976 fps, with a Vivitar 17mm f3.5, Canon FD 20mm f2.8, Canon FL 35mm f2.5, Canon FL 55mm f1.2, Rainbow Imaging FL/FD Adapter and LightCraft Workshop Fader ND.

Sansdisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC Card.

Rode Video Mic Pro.

Tascam DR-07.

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Sound Designed and Mixed in Garage Band.

Composited in After Effects.

Color Graded in Color.

Check it out on the Dortos "Crash The Superbowl" website.

Check it out on YouTube.

Follow me on Twitter.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Me and Bear

Here's a picture of me and Bear during day four of shooting for the Doritos "Crash The Super Bowl" contest.

He's so photogenic, me on the other hand, not so much:)

Photo by: Janet Keijser

"Catch?" - Doritos Commercial

My entry for the 2011 Doritos "Crash The Super Bowl" Contest.

Starring: Thomas Meaney, Erin Cooney and Bear
Written, Directed, Edited by: Michael Eggert
Sound Design by: Marty Vites
Voice Over by: Kevin Thomas
Music by: Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites
Special Thanks to Erin Vites & Janet Keijser

Shot on a hacked Panasonic GH1 at ISO 100, 23.976 fps, with a Canon FL 55 f1.2, Canon FL 35mm f2.5, Kiron 28mm f2.0, Rainbow Imaging FL/FD Adapter and Fader ND.

717AH Fluid Head, Benro C-298M8 Carbon HVC Flexpod.

Sansdisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC Card.

Audio recorded on a Zoom H1.

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Audio mix in Garage Band.

Composited and color graded in After Effects.

You can see my commercial and other entries at the "Crash The Super Bowl" website.

You can also see it in HD on YouTube.