In 2020 Dream Engine began work on a series of TV commercials and social media videos for Epson. The purpose of the campaign was to help promote their new range of EcoTank Printers.
The release of Epson EcoTank printers was revolutionary because they are cartridge free. Rather than the hassle and expense of needing to regularly change ink cartridges, the new EcoTank printers are filled directly using large ink tanks which enable you to print literally thousands of pages.
Comedian Jimeoin was selected as the face of the campaign. His playful yet understated approach was a good match for a product with such a powerful and unique sales proposition that it, in many ways, sells itself.
The art direction for the TV commercials was deliberately simple and minimal. This helped to elevate the printer as the star, and to really focus on Jimeoin’s interplay with the printer, as you will see in the extract from the storyboard below.
The original plan was to complete the video production in Sydney. Owing to the Covid travel restrictions, it was not possible for Jimeoin to travel to Sydney, so filming took place in Melbourne.
Filming took place at Hitmaker Studios in Port Melbourne using their white cyclorama. Rather than having an infinite white background, we elected to light the cyclorama to still see some texture in the background.
We preferred the look of the grey/white background rather than locating the action in stark, white, infinite space. And it also enabled us to light the background behind Jimeoin to draw attention to him and the printer. You can watch the first TVC in the series below:
Adding an interesting layer of complexity to the shoot was the fact that the Agency and the client were both in Sydney, and were unable to travel to Melbourne due to Covid travel restrictions. Our solution to this challenge was to live stream the shoot so that they could view the action and participate by giving feedback. We streamed the feed from the camera via Zoom. And we streamed a second feed which was a wide shot of the studio. This enabled the Agency and client to keep a close eye on things, and to ask questions and provide feedback as needed.
As part of the project, we also shot a series of short videos for social media. While the TV commercials were carefully scripted and storyboarded, the social media videos were a bit looser. We wanted to give Jimeoin more freedom to be inventive and play with the material. Some of the material that appeared in the social media videos were actually developed during the shoot. You can check out one of the social media videos below:
The campaign has been a big success, and we received great feedback from Epson:
“I have no hesitation in recommending Dream Engine for their professionalism, attention to detail, quick turnaround and high quality output. Despite a very tight schedule and numerous unforeseen challenges, Ryan and the team delivered time after time.”
– Nathan Fulcher – Marketing Communications Manager
Since then we have produced another series of commercials for Epson, which I’ll tell you about in another post.
Ryan Spanger is one of Melbourne’s most respected and sought-after video production professionals. Ryan founded Dream Engine in 2002, and specialises in helping medium to large corporates, government departments, and the non-profit sector to connect with their audience more effectively by using video.
