This is the third and final locations blog for the WunderTRE(k) Brandfomercial and without further adieu, let’s jump in!

The Shower – Washed Up Filmmakers Use a Shower that doesn’t work.

If you’re going to be skeptical and say “I can see the shower working in the shot,” I’ll give you credit. You are an extremely observant individual. Pat yourself on the back. When I say the shower didn’t work, I mean that the shower we shot in didn’t have glass walls like what we wanted. All the locations we found that had a shower that even had glass in them were too small for the setup required for the shot. How did we solve it? Good question! Our Mom was actually the saving grace for this location (again in her house). They have a nice shower that works well and has PLENTY of space, but the issue we had initially was that it’s just a shower curtain. No glass. As Ross and I were running through ourselves our Mom chimed in with an idea she had seen on a blooper reel for “Criminal Minds.”  She said she remembers one of the characters, in the final shot, being behind a plate glass window and hammering on it. But in the blooper reel, they revealed it to just be plate glass affixed to a C stand. Mom! You’re brilliant!

A Hot Steaming Plate of Glass

Now we were on the journey to find plate glass big enough for the shot. It didn’t need to be huge, but it needed to be about two feet tall and three feet wide. Matt at WunderTRE had the PERFECT solution to our problem. He made a few calls and sourced a piece of plexiglass big enough for the shot. At this point, we already knew how we were going to rig it. Thanks to our great friends at Matthews Studio Equipment (MSE) from whom we bought our Master Car Mount about three years ago. Fast Forward to Spring of 2018, we went out to the NAB (National Assoc Of Broadcasters) show and got to meet up with Tyler Phillips from MSE. Tyler explained to us that the suction cups used on the Master Car Mount are the same exact suction cups glass companies use to move BIG sheets of glass. Fast forward again to the shoot day in the shower. As you guessed, we used our Master Car Mount suction cups to fix the plexiglass to the C stand. Voila! A shower with a glass wall! Jacob ran down to Wal-Mart and picked up a CHEAP $12 clothes steamer to steam the glass and Bob’s your uncle. There were some interesting sound issues in this location as well, but those will be covered in the sound blog! The shower was our first shoot location of that day and we still had two more to go.

Getting the Shot off

The first shot with the family and board game is what we call a “one-shot,” because all the action takes place in one shot. Pretty brilliant name, am I right? It took several takes to get all the actions down and took even longer, because every time Steven knocked the board game off the table, we had to clean it all up and reset for another take. Thank goodness Matt’s family was there to help the reset. After we agreed we had our best takes, we let everyone go, except Coby. The shot where he presents the WunderTRE(k) board on the table was his character wrap shot, meaning it was his last time for the remainder of the production where he would appear on camera. We flipped the lighting, changed our setup, and knocked that shot out pretty quickly, although we were running on fumes at this point. We still had our last location left!

Kitchen with the Board Game Where Grandpa Pony’s Up 

The struggle to find appropriate locations was VERY REAL on the WunderTRE(k) Brandfomercial. But it all came out in the wash. We decided to use a small, granite-topped breakfast table in our mom’s Kitchen for the Family playing a “simple board game.” Mom actually scored the most out of this location because I helped her clean the kitchen. This location didn’t present any problems really or at least any problems we weren’t prepared for. 

The Backyard Campfire – Home of the Mysterious Voodoo Magic

Coincidentally, our very last location for the WunderTRE(k) brandfomercial was the first one that was even imagined for this project. That location was the fire pit of the Voodoo Doctor played by Ian Lawrence. This was a funny location because it was just at a very Texas fire pit in a very Texas backyard! It worked perfectly because we had Steven Bailey and his brother-in-law, Travis Burt, on set to build the fire in the fire pit as well as building the fire accelerant that the Voodoo Doctor would use. This backyard was pretty big and open and it allowed us to make the shot look as barren as possible. We had a lot of people on this shoot, possibly the most out of the entire shoot. We had 9 people on set for this (if my calculations are correct). It was definitely a highlight on which to wrap the shoot.

The locations each provided unique challenges, but the cast and crew took these challenges in stride. If you enjoyed this blog, make sure to subscribe to our “Key Frames” Newsletter below and turn on post notifications on Facebook and Instagram. Also, if you think WunderTre(k) can benefit your business, check it out here!  

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