Tabletop is Trending

In “The Great Film Production Renaissance: Are You Ready,” producer/entertainment executive, Richard Janes, writes about the role of innovation in getting the green light from advertising executives. Some are skipping live-action, all together, and sending the same message via tabletop and animation shoots. To produce and distribute content at the speed of change, we at Cobalt, see an exciting movement toward highly-controlled Tabletop cinematography and macro techniques. We’ve always loved this way of working because it’s the ultimate blend of art and science. Creative teams dream up wildly imaginative concepts, and technical problem-solvers dream up inventive ways to make them happen.

New Challenges (and Opportunities) for Advertisers
The New York Times reported 😉 that “the pandemic has caused companies to slash TV ad budgets by more than 40 percent— according to the research firm, Kantar. In response, networks have offered commercial time at double-digit discounts.” As a result, producers need to be more competitive and more resourceful than ever to help their clients take advantage of these low-cost media buying opportunities and higher-than-ever viewership. Edward E. Timke, an advertising expert at Duke University, told the Times, “This is going to be a watershed moment in history, where ad agencies or their clients are being forced to rethink how they produce and how they create,” he said. We already see this happening, and Cobalt offers many readily-available alternatives to help you create content that doesn’t compromise on creativity.

The Safe Shoot Dream Team: Tabletop and CG
The “product-as-hero” approach has always been effective in connecting with customers. Cobalt clients, like Friendly’s Ice Cream and others, have charmed viewers by using a hybrid strategy that combines the limitless creativity of Computer Graphics with the down-to-earth practicality of Tabletop shooting. To introduce new products, Friendly’s leveraged our turnkey offering to their advantage, shooting ice cream in Tabletop and magically dropping in toppings via CG. Any production can leverage our comprehensive food styling kitchen, in-house rigging, Motion Control robotics, and Virtual Backlot—just like Friendly’s did. Our Motion Control robotics even make it possible to control camera moves, remotely.
Now is the time to shoot.

Are you taking advantage of low-cost airtime and sky-high viewership?

Let’s talk – (201) 963-5900