New York-based production studio Juniper Jones recently crafted a new commercial for Squarespace, a software service-based Content Management System (CMS). The 30-second spot, which will air nationally on broadcast and web, celebrates the diversity of Squarespace’s clientele, building on the company’s “Better Websites For All” campaign.
Squarespace’s in-house marketing team enlisted Juniper Jones as its production partner to execute their concept, which showcases the company’s web development tools across multiple devices and environments. Juniper Jones spearheaded the entire production, including live action, graphics, VFX, compositing, editing and music licensing.
The company opted to shoot the live action in house in its 1200-square-foot stage in Brooklyn, streamlining the editorial workflow and allowing production to be more cost effective. The environmental backplates were provided by Squarespace from their existing print and digital campaign.
“We captured all of the footage on a RED at 5K to closely match the caliber of the print campaign,” explained Kevin Robinson, founder/creative director of Juniper Jones. “Replicating such assets extended to our website animations in After Effects. To the naked eye, it seems like a fairly simple spot, but there are actually a number of technical challenges to get a project like this off the ground.”
Squarespace enlisted some of its employees to hand-model for the demos and one employee even provided the voiceover. Actual Squarespace clients are also featured in the spot. One shot, for instance, features the street artist Hanksy showcasing his own website.
Juniper Jones used Nuke for compositing and clean-up, so the devices would appear sleek and beautiful. Editing and music licensing rounded out the post-intensive project, which took two months to complete.
“The edit was tricky with so many different actions to consider, including what’s happening on the device screens, in order to make them flow seamlessly in tandem,” said Kyle McKeveny, Juniper Jones associate producer/music supervisor. “Our animator worked together with the editor, so when there was a change, such as the timing of a sequence, he would create a mock up. Having previously done TV work using a similar technique – essentially edits within edits – it was a fairly fluid process.”
