You probably think “Lights, Camera and Action!” is the shortest summary of what we do based on the movie Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood or any movie about making a movie. I confused myself there but you get the jist of it.

But in reality, the short version is a lot longer than you think. Quite the paradox, isn’t it?

At Tones & Colours, every project that we do begins with a little (to a LOT of) raw madness.

From putting a method to the madness in pre-production, to turning it into the final product that everyone sees in post-production (You know. Those commercials you see on TV or mid-youtube that you either hate to love or love to hate).

Here’s a closer look at how we make it all happen, one teensy step at a time.

Script and Concept

It all begins with a strong idea (or a few of them). 

We work with clients to understand the product or service they’re selling and who they’re targeting as consumers. After a few brainstorming group meetings (with a lot of energy drinks. Work Expenses of course) and “creative thinking” sessions, we come up with a script that not only tells the story but also strikes a chord. Basically, selling the product in a way that would actually compel people to buy or resonate with it. It’s a lot harder than it seems. 

Queue the often back-and-forth banter with the client till we decide on the best concept. Once that’s sorted, the idea is then refined to align with the brand's identity, message, and objectives.

Sometimes, the client approaches us with the idea that they create themselves, and we just need to find the best ways to bring it to life. We even hung a girl off the balcony for one commercial. Nothing’s impossible here.

For legal reasons I must mention that she was not actually hanging off a building. We just made it look like she was. Totally different. :)

Pre-Production

This is the foundation of any project we do. It’s where our ideas take shape, sanity gets lost, and everything starts falling into place. It’s the blueprint phase, where we make sure every element is carefully planned, leaving no room for surprises later. But just because you prepare for it, it doesn’t mean everything necessarily goes to plan (we could probably count the number of shoots where everything went to plan in our hands) and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, our best shots are the ones we didn’t plan for. 

Storyboard

Visualizing the script comes next. We create Storyboards to map out every frame. A recipe, in other words. This recipe becomes the guide and gospel for everyone involved, making sure everyone’s in the loop and in the same page, with the added bonus of giving our clients a more in-depth idea of how the video would look in the end. They’re happy, we’re happy. It’s a win-win for both of us. 

Talent Sourcing

Most of our Pre-Prod team (if not all of them in a not-so-anonymous anonymous internal survey we did) would argue that this is probably the most annoying stage in the process. Finding and picking the right actors, models, and voice artists who fit the project is like finding a needle in a haystack. And we’re very picky. 

It’s not that there is a shortage of models and modelling agencies to contact, it’s that sometimes our shoot requires a 5’9 curly brunette-haired woman with broad shoulders and a swimmer's build for a tropical shoot. Yes, it’s that specific. And more often than not, we have to compromise on one of the features we wanted (if we can’t find the perfect candidate). But not to boast about our own tail, we pull through. We’ve worked with multiple talented individuals and we always pick the best fit.

And as much as we love a loved face. We always try to look for newer faces and give them a chance to get a crack at the industry. Our internal model bank usually consists of more freshers than common models if our clients ever want to give a new guy or gal a shot. 

How do we do this? We’ve successfully held a few open auditions, calling peeps from everywhere and anywhere to try out a career in looking good in front of the camera. And we intend to keep doing this, and further encourage more raw talent to enter the scene. We use the clips we take from here to show prospective clients and try our best to land them a gig from our side as well.

Location Hunt

Moving on to the next problem. Finding the perfect setting and location. Or creating it with our bare hands. We’re not kidding. In the event that we can’t find that perfect location (and it has to be perfect), we employ the use of our external Art Team to build one. From scratch. 

The perfect example would be our shoot for Crocodile (Look below)  

But we usually find a place that fits our requirements without needing to build it. Our Pre-Prod team would go on what we call “Recces” to scout prospective locations with our in-house Art Director to make sure that the location fits what’s drawn on the storyboards.