At Monday’s WWDC keynote, Apple announced the latest iteration of the iPad Pro, leading with a 75 second commercial that is as slick as one would expect with any Apple product launch. The iPad Pro will sell by the bucketload no doubt, but “Any Given Wednesday,” directed by Leonardo Dalessandri, is worthy of recognition itself as a supreme piece of commercial filmmaking.
This isn’t the first time we at Fstoppers have written about the talents of Dalessandri, and it’s great to see talent recognized and trusted with a brand like Apple. His distinct style is an elegant cacophony of stylish video, soundtrack, and transitions.
By my count there are 70 clips in this 75-second commercial, but Dalessandri ensures the viewers attention is kept by seamlessly stitching his transitions with minute attention to detail. If you are looking to bring stylish transitions to your own projects, try scrubbing over the transitions of “Any Given Wednesday,” breaking down the techniques used to move from one sequence to the next.
The first prominent transition we see is a swipe on the new IPad Pro from left to right which takes us onto a close up shot of a red-headed woman via a school bus. If you blink, you'll miss it, but it's a classy transition that increases the production value of the advertisement. There are no fancy effects here, just prepared camera movements, attention to detail with the edit, and excellent choice of sound effect to accentuate the transition.
It would also be remiss not to point out Dalessandri’s wonderful use of speed ramping, his excellent framing, and the fact he’s created a video which is fit for purpose. The commercial fits wonderfully into the existing Apple brand, shows off some new features of iOS 11, and will undoubtedly help sell iPads. Dalessandri, and the team compiled by Radical Media, I salute you.
I won't be buying another iPad any time soon, but I do love that song by Portugal. The Man - which appears to have been dumbed down a bit for the ad.
Shot in Berlin! Yay. ;)
Edited in FCPX ;)
Well, most likely, can't say for sure... yet
pretty fine video, exhibits perfectly apple´s idea of their equipment making the world go round. The makers have really succeeded perfectly in getting that message across. It says, of course, almost nothing of any interest in respect to the question what this pad can do that others can´t: draging and droping widgets/pics into other apps, having a wide range of different drawing tips in a design application, being able to take photos and attaching them to a mail/chat whatever, etc. But that´s advertisement: you sell something for fresh even if there really isn´t anything new. And if there is, they don´t show it. It´s a teaser and they did a good job teasing.