For all our spots we will craft and choreograph our edit to speed up or slow down the overall pace of the visuals and the edit – helping create interest and excitement in our story - concentrating on the drama of cinematography and injecting energy and tempo into our gorgeous food visuals to compliment our underlying narrative adventure. In order to make are spots particularly unique we will also craft some of our visuals from a liquid level POV on a wide angle lens. This will help in capture the drama of the moment as the liquid cascades like a Tsunami towards the lens (we can frame ramp any visuals accordingly).

Ultimately this story is a wonderful combination of stunning liquid visuals and beautiful macro product cinematography, which will tantalize the viewers' taste buds and ignite people's interest in this the leading Cognac brand, whilst also being a metaphor of strength.

Key to this particular project is the design of our unique and groundbreaking visual style. I personally love anything that embraces the energy and disruption within the visual process – keeping the viewer engaged with the story. However, the spot referenced below for 'Jack Daniels' is a gorgeous example of a macro mood and of an iconic brand and in terms of a template for product exploration exactly where we should be –

This beer commercial we shot (although on a somewhat limited budget) is another great example of the use of macro lenses and periscope lenses drives the visual exploration keeping the viewer engaged and hooked. The visuals are all beautifully choreographed to follow a voyage around the bottle – highlighting the embossed design.

• We cut to see a slow column of liquid twisting and through frame (against a dark sepia soft texture backdrop) glistening in the light – ramping up and slowing down the action of our liquid to add a little sex appeal. Meanwhile we hear a little rumbling in the audio design. 1000 fps.

V/O – "You were born to be the first."

• We now start an explosive montage of our stunning liquid cinematography – as we see our hero column of golden liquid caught in slow motion hitting the mysterious embossed surface of our logo (although at this point our logo is still more of an dark abstract structure). Once again we will frame cut the action to slow it down at the point of impact and add weight to our visuals. 1000fps.

V/O – "And be free in your essence…"

• The camera is now directly above our logo seeing the carved geometric shapes – as once again the liquid tumbles through shot filling the spaces below camera beginning to form more recognizable symmetrical shapes against our golden torrent of Cognac. 1000 fps.

V/O – "You used to take what is rightfully yours."

• Now we cut to a camera or tabletop level POV - as we appear to be looking along a huge dark granite corridor towering above us – something almost leviathan in front of us by design. Instantly, we see and hear a sound of tumbling of water, which builds in momentum, and as the camera begins to pull back – trying to escape the oncoming flood - this huge Tsunami of golden liquid rushes forward, crashing against the camera and filling frame. 1000 fps.

V/O – "You don't swim downstream, you don't wait for a wave. "

• Now we finally see our product and as if formed from the liquid itself. Our bottle slowly turning in frame, coming out from the darkness until we see the label of the bottle - facing camera. We recognize the brand logo 'Aznauri' – a glint of light passing over the label - before it disappears into darkness as quickly as it came. 150 fps.

V/O – "That will lift to success."

• As the hero bottle sinks back into the darkness a huge amber wave corkscrews like surf towards camera – rolling and crashing dramatically towards us. 1000 fps.

V/O - "You are the wave."

• We now cut to a quick montage of fast paced graphic macro liquid visuals – seeing our cognac in close-up – frothing and bubbling – but ultimately playing with light. 1000 fps.

V/O – "You won't prove anything to anyone…"

• We now see the liquid filling frame – swirling in front of camera as the golden liquid undulates and ripples before the lens. At the same moment our camera begins to slowly rise in frame - rolling as it ascends – revealing the liquid enclosed by geometric dark shapes. The more the camera rises the more defined this shape becomes – until we begin to realize that we are looking at part of our bottle emblem and that the liquid and geometric silhouettes are actually the shapes of the two lions contained on the logo. A pure moment of suspense - as we finally reveal that the destination of our liquid adventure has been a spectacular exploration of the 'Aznauri' brand insignia. 200 fps.

V/O – "You are all of that…"

• The action now cuts to a beautiful abstract macro close-up of our embossed lions on the brand logo. As the lion emblems twist slowly through frame the light refracts and changes as a soft sheen caresses the contours – highlighting shape of the of our logo to camera. Again we could frame ramp this section to add drama to our imagery – slowly down the action section as the bottle rotates through our key visual but we should be prepared to keep this element abstract in order to maintain an element of mystery. The most important part here is that we see we see the liquid is beautifully refracted in the glass bottle. 100 fps.
• *My thought here having now seen the shape of the bottle is that seeing a drop going into the top of the bottle could be problematic due to the long nature of the bottle and size of bottle neck – all infinitely possible but more of a CGI process*

We can replace this sequence with the following more graphic brand driven scene – this will now be a amazing key moment where we can introduce our brand and logo in another unusual and iconic visual. Now we see a close-up on our label as it rises heroically out of the golden amber liquid – as if formed out of the liquid itself. We can catch this moment in an extreme close for the label and slightly wider to show more of our distinctive moment but either way this will be a stunning visual to introduce this classic cognac bottle to our viewers. 300 fps.

• Now we see a close-up POV of a suited male hand firmly clasp the neck of our cognac bottle pulling it from the liquid – in a show of strength – like the legend of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone. We see the water dripping slowly from our bottle as if leaves frame – leave pools and ripples slowly undulating in our amber cognac fluid from which our bottle came. * This is a shot but could symbolically bridge the connection between our liquid and bottle sequence and our hero and line narrative – to be discussed. 150 fps.
• Now we cut to a very dark film noir style set - we see a mid shot of our hero cut at the waste holding our hero bottle of Aznauri Cognac, which glints golden on screen. Our hero strides forward with a purpose and confidence – but our attention will be firmly the amber tones of the cognac. 100 fps.

V/O – "And only you can decide"

• We cut to see the wide of this shot where we see our hero in our dark mysterious urban environment. Once again he is almost in silhouette – however, now we see the whole of our hero's torso in frame and instantly have the impression that he is dark, charismatic, stylish and strong like our vision for this adventure. Again he is walking confidently away from camera, through this dusky urban scene, with the bottle of cognac shimmering as it catches the light – meanwhile a large and strong lion (caught in the backlight of our set) wonders serenely next to our hero. This should be similar in mood and tone to the Agency reference and allow for a CGI lion to be added in post-production. 100 fps.
• Our camera slowly pulls focus through this frame until we reveal our hero bottle of 'Aznauri' Cognac sitting on an old rustic barrel to the right of frame with a glass of cognac next to it (similar to the Agency board). However, it is important to keep some life within the liquid itself – underlying our story of creation, therefore, we should maintain some slight movement within the glass and bottle – perhaps a very small refraction of the lion and hero through the bottle. An instantly iconic pack shot and an immediate message of power and strength (as our lion growls in the background). 100 fps.

V/O – "Glorious power of AZNAURI Cognacs".

However, time on our 10" spot is at a premium – every frame should count. Therefore, my plan of attack would be this –

• We start with our Aznauri logo in frame – almost set against darkness. Immediately, we begin to see soft golden circular ethereal glimmers of light falling towards camera. Duration – 50 frames.

V/O – "To whom…"

• Through this visual a beautiful golden conical of liquid engulfs our logo and splashes in slow motion – filling frame with luscious amber shimmers and soft textures. Duration – 50 frames.
• Cut to see our embossed glass lion logo as in macro close-up as it rises horizontally and elegantly through a pool of our golden liquid (as if being born from metal and glass). Duration – 50 frames.

V/O – "You really are…"

• Now cut to our heroic wide of our hero and lion walking through the dark urban concrete landscape with our hero carrying the cognac bottle. In essence this can be exactly the same as the end shot from the main TVC but flipped – to be different from 30" TVC. Duration – 50 frames. We could have the bass tones of a lion's growl in audio design in this section.
• Finally, cut to our pack shot where we see the glass embossed logo of a lion and our brand to the left of frame – with the texture of the warm golden liquid as vignette behind. We will introduce some depth to this visual with a slight and very subtle movement in the golden liquid behind our logo and text, whilst also making sure that our light caresses and highlights the emboss surface of the glass logo at the same time – creating a classy and iconic endframe. Duration – 50 frames.

And as the audio of the lion's growl subsides – we hear our final line

V/O – "The noble power is within".

Again this is merely a suggestion for how we make the most of a limited screen time for our 10" TVC to be able to breath visually. I have dropped a scene but this will allow us more time for story and also to add a little sex appeal to the graphic nature of the visuals by speeding up and slowing down the bottle and liquid visuals for this spot accordingly.

This will allow us to be able to craft some real dramatic visual 'show stopper' moments for this product.

Also quintessential to all of our narratives, is the continuing sense of exploration and travel. Some of these visuals will need to be at tabletop level to be really amongst our liquid elements, driving through the scenery to sell our the dramatic adventure. In order to achieve this dramatic and heroic visual sense of bold exploration we will use a Probe or Revolution lens attached to the main camera. Ultimately, this will allow for our dramatic wide-angle vistas and as the camera voyages within the logo capturing our dramatic Tsunami of golden liquid as it tumbles and cascades slowly towards the camera lens.

We must not be constrained by traditional visuals as we are designing something more iconic – therefore, if we should want to roll the camera so that our liquid barrels through frame at an unusual angle then let us do this.

Meanwhile, our camera movement around the bottle can be choreographed on a small turntable – which will allow the product to rotate gracefully through frame whilst the light caresses and embraces the curves and contours on screen.

We can use macro and long lenses on the camera at certain points in our story, in order to create intimacy and throw backgrounds slightly into soft focus – creating a depth and texture, whilst keeping attention firmly on the product and action. Macro long lenses will be especially important in creating the more mysterious graphic sequences of our bottle and label. All shots and action will be designed and choreographed – in essence we are capturing beautiful moments of mouth watering 'taste appeal' and on screen brand recognition, to help drive a simple but engaging graphic narrative.

Finally and if not already shot in camera, we should film some organic elements as subtle textures to incorporate in post-production. Things like organic lens flares and soft golden orbs of light (like those created by amber liquid as it travels through focus towards the lens). These elements when added as a layer in post-production will add a further level of more organic depth and richness to our final visuals.

All our action will be choreographed to happen in frame and designed to sell the craft and authenticity of the brand and emphasize the quality of the product. Ultimately the drama of this spot will be in the dynamics of the edit and the ability to be able to slow down or speed up our gorgeous graphic visuals accordingly.

All this can be built as a simple kit of parts – as well as incorporating the final logo reveal but it is essential that it is tested prior to the shoot and approved by Agency.

We will also need a couple of simple glass tanks for our liquid effects, plus one tank deep enough that we can rise or sink the bottle easily in and out of the liquid itself for one of our key visuals.

Apart from our logo and kit of parts we may need to design angles and curves in the same material which physically provide us with options to shoot elements of liquid folding in or over itself – tumbling towards camera like a wave of surf.

Meanwhile, the set for our final male and lion wider end sequence should mirror the feeling of our model – a dark urban geometric style and structures (as referenced by the Agency Creative). This space needs to feel clear and stylish, but also embellish the sense of mystery – allowing for backlight and long shadows to add to the drama and sex appeal of the story. My feeling is that we could create this mood with a simple geometric piece of set design which we build in a studio and therefore have total control of the mood and lighting. However, any set or structure needs to feel contemporary as if made from dark granite or even concrete (something Architecturally on trend).

Finally, my only suggestion with the overall mood of our sets is that we inject some warm notes or subtle amber tones into the textures within the darkness. This could easily be achieved through lighting. However my feeling is that this should build on the warmth and tones of the cognac itself and help reflect the natural and organic heritage of the brand.

Key to providing the exquisite high-end visuals required for this story is the lighting. Our Cognac is a premium product and must reflect this in the design and motivation. Therefore, as previously stated, the lighting design will have more in common with that of product photography for Tom Ford or Chanel perfume then it will with everyday commercials. We will be referencing the style of high-end fashion as a starting point.

With our 'Aznauri' bottle we really need to make sure the warm amber tones of the liquid show within the glass, whilst our lighting needs to caress the curves and contours of the gorgeous product especially key in showing the embossing of the exquisite design. To help highlight this design we will create a delicious and beautiful interplay of a light in liquid and reflections and across the bottle and labels. This will be achieved by either subtle movement of key light sources or by slowly turning the product through frame. Essentially we are creating highlights, shadows and depth too convey a sense of prestige and nobility. All this when constructed will have the desired effect of creating a delicious movement of light refractions across the bottle and label – creating iconic product visuals.

Meanwhile our soft backdrop – although merely a texture to help add depth and draw the eye through screen - should reflect the subtle warmth of our gorgeous liquid.

The liquid itself, for our high-speed visuals, could be naturally translucent for certain sections, but again with the energy and movement of this sequence we will be able to see all the stunning golden refractions, textures and undulations as the liquid tumbles through gracefully through frame. The darkness in the liquid is as important as the rich golden tones in selling the quality of our cognac. Meanwhile, if we require a more metallic liquid for certain imagery then this will be a combination of more specific liquid styling and bouncing soft sources back into the liquid in order to produce a beautiful golden refraction and sheen in the surface (a technique similar to lighting a luxury car).

Finally, for our end sequence with the hero and lion we will be giving this sequence more of a 'film noir' appearance – lighting the set in order to increase the element of mystery. This will be done predominantly by backlighting the subject matter in frame and keeping all other lighting to a minimum – therefore building maximum visual drama and intrigue for our edit.

Any further tones or colors can be increased or decreased in a good grade in post-production according to any client requirements.