Microban: Behind the Scenes
Join us for a trip from setup to final cut
Science is a lot like pollen in the spring—it’s everywhere. This is the same message that Procter & Gamble’s Microban brand wanted to highlight in a recent video project. We had the opportunity to film at Procter & Gamble’s Microban huge, high-tech laboratory full of brilliant scientists. The goal of the project was to share with kids and their families how to expand their definition of a science classroom, and to show that being a “scientist” can be as easy as experimenting with everyday items.
Microban recently teamed up with schools across the nation to show how students could do experiments at home. The timing was perfect—this was in the heat of COVID, and the “classroom” for many doubled as their own kitchen or living room.
With a small lighting and camera package, we were able to create a scene that was clean and consistent and an environment that allowed us to move around without having to change our lighting set up from shot to shot.
Lights, camera, action!
The Mission: Entertainment and Confidence in a COVID Classroom
You might be wondering: why did Microban want to make their own science videos?
For starters, Microban had recently teamed up with partner schools—the same schools in which the video was distributed as part of their at-home lesson plans. Different experiments were tailored to different age groups so kids could gain something useful from the video.
There was no better place than Microban’s high-tech lab to shoot a live science experience. And who better to talk about science during a time where kids are learning about germs and hygiene than a brand whose products sanitize and disinfect surfaces?
Staying Safe for the Love of Science
Shooting a production during a pandemic was tough. A lot of businesses were halting production altogether. Luckily, we were able to pivot and provide a safe experience to our clients.
During our shoot with Microban, we took every precaution since we had to gather multiple parties on site. Every person involved in the project was temperature checked prior to entering the building. We also wore masks for the duration of the shoot, practiced social distancing, and used Microban products to sanitize surfaces and shared areas.
Happy Clients
Working with our friends at MSL Group, our Director collaborated in real-time using videoconferencing technology to seamlessly execute this production from the perspective of the creative agency.
Since we were in the midst of the pandemic, and both the agency and the client were miles away, we set up a real-time remote feedback system. The agency live-conferenced into the shoot to see our shots, then shared them with Microban to make sure it’s what they were looking for. This gave the agency a huge slice of confidence that the video was being prepped for perfection and also allowed us to avoid surprises during the drafting and editing stages.
The Learning Curve Is Part of the Experiment
No video production process is completely flawless. Our experience in the industry has taught us to prepare for the unexpected, think on our feet, and bring our creativity to problem-solving, and this was certainly the case with our Microban shoot.
We started with a rain delay, so you can imagine the creativity we needed to haul a bunch of high-end camera equipment onto a set without getting it wet. While setting up our lighting, a breaker tripped, we lost power throughout the facility, and faced a bit of a delay. You could hear us wishing out loud that the power would return. But once it was restored, it reminded us to be careful what we wish for: a loud blower was also activated at that moment, and it took two hours for the facility manager to figure out how to turn it off.
Since we didn’t have much natural sunshine, we had to make our own. We covered one of our lights and set it up outside a window shining in, giving us the illusion of sunlight—which you can see in the final cut. We also brought in a fake plant to make the lab look more inviting for our young audience.
When you’re shooting a video, you need to have a lot of the right answers in the right moments, but you also need to be willing to get creative. We stayed true to the science theme of this video by doing our own bit of problem-solving to create the perfect lighting, which really helped bring the studio to life on video.
Ready to make a video that gets results? Reach out to our team today.