We can easily show products and what they do, but I think to really get people’s attention and engage with them on a deeper level, you want to be able to create a great story, even in thirty seconds – Rob Shearer, Independent Director

Webroot, a market leader in cyber resilience, and One Floor Up recently teamed up to create a series of commercials featuring Webroot security for Chromebook.

Award-winning independent director Rob Shearer [My Father’s House (2019)] elevated the project with his creative vision and long-time passion for filmmaking. Rob spoke with us about pitching original content for the project and then bringing it to life on-set:

One of the spots [the client] had an idea of what they wanted – to show kids on the computer using the software. For the second spot, they were totally open to whatever ideas I had.

I came up with a few concepts and there was one that I thought for sure they were going to say no to, which was this StarTrek inspired spaceship one. I thought it was a little too “out there” (pun intended). […] But they liked it! The computer is like a spaceship and the potential virus is something they have to physically combat. So, playing on those tropes, the cliches of science fiction, we were able to tell the story of what their product does.

Then we had to figure out how to make it happen. One Floor Up did an amazing job of building the team and getting everything in order because we only had about 30 days to produce both of these spots.

I want to give a shout out to Faraway Creations, they’re the ones who designed and built the whole set. They were able to come in and build it all the day before. So, on the day of production we were able to just move the camera in, move the talent in, and start shooting right away. And it looked great!
My good friend and cinematographer, Josiah Roetker, did an amazing job capturing a very clean aesthetic for the first commercial and then capturing the new StarTrek look for the second one, with all the lens flares and dynamic lighting.

[…] Once the emergency happened [in the script], we changed the lights to red which created a very high contrast look. And then we moved in [additional] lighting to emphasize certain shadows and camera movements.

Rob on collaboration and the embracing more original content:

We can easily show products and what they do, but I think to really get people’s attention and engage with them on a deeper level, you want to be able to create a great story even in thirty seconds, just so [the audience / consumer] knows what your brand is and your [brand] personality.

I think doing it in kind of an abstract way is just as successful as doing a full breakdown of what your product does.

I was appreciative that they trusted us to have this unusual crazy vision and to run with it. If you can get the client involved in the creative process it helps them be engaged with it and feel like they’re creating something too – not just trusting and hoping that you’re making something that will be successful.

It is a risk going with something a little more original but – with high risk comes high reward – and I think it always pays off as long as you have a good team of people.

Watch the spots and let us know what you think!