30 June 2020
This Chinese New Year, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) took it to new heights with its ‘Reality Not Virtual’, a seasonal web advertisement. We see Bryan, a young working adult who received a package sent by his mother. In the package was a pair of VR goggles and as soon as he put it on he was, quite literally, taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. We follow him on a journey filled with laughter and tears as he navigates his way around the office creating chaos offscreen while on a joyful reunion with family members on-screen.
The ad was shot using RED Epic Dragon 6k with Schneider Cine Xenar Prime III and the DJI Osmo Action for the VR scenes. Here’s the run through of our tests and final configuration of the set up for the DJI Osmo Action.
Pre production – Getting the right equipment
The unique nature of Reality Not Virtual features a large sum of shots in POV (point of view) of the main talent going through numerous activities. Our rigging tests included rigging a BMPCC 6K and Lumix Gh5s on the helmet rig but it didn’t make the cut as our widest SLR Magic 8mm lens was not merely wide enough. Besides that, the protrusion of the camera would limit the talent’s capability to carry the little girl up. Pushing the camera closer to the talent’s face also meant he would have no visuals of his surroundings as the evf and screen were too close to his face.
Switching it out for the DJI Osmo Action mounted onto the FeiYu WG2 gimbal, we were able to solve those issues. Having a much smaller and lighter overall load, our talent was able to have optimal, if not complete, freedom to carry out the movements needed in each scene.
With the Osmo Action we were also able to achieve wider and more stabilized shots as seen in the ad.
Rigging – Final configurations
Helmet Rig:
- Glide Gear POV Helmet Rig
- FeiYu Tech WG2 Wearable Gimbal
- DJI Osmo Action
- DJI CrystalSky Monitor
- Hollyland COSMO 2000 Wireless Video transmitter
- FXLion BP-98 Square V-Mount Battery
- SmallRig V-Lock Assembly Kit 1846
The DJI Osmo Action on FeiYu WG2 Gimbal mounted onto the front of the helmet with a standard ¼ screw thread scuba arm. The CrystalSky rigged to one side of the helmet with the wireless transmitter rigged on the opposite end of the helmet and finally a smaller sized v-mount battery on the back to power up the transmitter while also acting as a counter balance.
The Osmo Action is remotely controlled by the CrystalSky monitor using the DJI Mimo app enabling HDMI output to Hollyland’s wireless transmitter for director/client viewing.
Because the Osmo Action is mounted onto the WG2, we found the shot stable enough and didn’t have to make use of a RockSteady, saving approximately 18-22% frame crop without RockSteady on.
Watch the ad and the behind the scenes below.
TNB CNY 2020 – #RealityNotVirtual
TNB CNY 2020 – The Making Of #RealityNotVirtual
Credits
Production Company: Reservoir World Sdn Bhd.
Exec. Producer: Ryan Khoo
Director: Quek Shio Chuan
Asst. Director: Shane Nunis
DOP: Eric Yeong
Producer: Sze Kay
Camera Equipment: DP Gadget
Lighting Equipment: Yellow Lighthouse
Grip Equipment: Big Tankers