Creative Excellence: Pushing the Envelope on Post Production
As part of a bold new series for LBB, Tag’s experts are set to challenge the tired notion of "creative excellence" – a term too often overused and under-delivered. With the rapid evolution of marketing, commerce, digital production, and localisation, Tag argues that it's time to reimagine creativity, pushing the boundaries of originality and innovation to meet the demands of a dynamic and shifting landscape.
Today, Smoke & Mirror’s Fraser Eldred, junior editor, and Kyle Willis, senior offline editor, delve into what creative excellence in post production means to them. Part of Tag, Smoke & Mirrors has been evolving what creativity and success in the post space looks like, in large part by investing in talent and giving them room to grow. By speaking to two editors at different stages of their careers, we can see how the thread of ‘creative excellence’ helps to guide them both on projects like Rexona (which Fraser worked on), and LEGO and NIO (which Kyle edited.) Below, they discuss with LBB their career story, approach to the craft, and how they work closely with directors to bring the concept of creative excellence to every project.
LBB> What appealed to you about the craft of editing and why did you decide to become an editor? What’s your approach to projects usually?
Kyle> I have always gravitated towards the creative industry. I just enjoy making things whether it be music, video, food, art or anything that I can create something from nothing. I started in the industry about 17 years ago as a creative researcher which has always steered my approach in editing by understanding how imagery is used within an edit and how to best tell the story.
Fraser> Having started working as a runner during university, I have been in and around the edit suites for a while, seeing great editors work on great work, I knew straight away that was where I wanted to be. I have always been interested in how a story is told and re- told in an edit, so I stayed running, until the opportunity for me to jump in the seat presented itself. Usually when starting a new project, I like to review everything that was shot, and start an assembly edit, as the script is written, and can cut down and adjust as the project dictates.
LBB> What was the brief for Rexona like? Why was working closely with director Giorgio Bruni a benefit in this instance?
Fraser> Similarly, the briefs for Rexona were also superb, as they are a huge brand that is recognisable across every continent, their style is intertwined with their reputation. Working with Gio was another highlight. He has an amazing background in sport, and that experience, partnered with a creative eye, really made my life easier. He was amazing at taking on my ideas, allowing me to put my own spin on each piece we collaborated on. I feel each spot has a real story that is easily followable, even with the quick cuts, and that is largely thanks to Gio and the amazing material he brings back with him from shoots.
LBB> Kyle, you worked on a few LEGO projects recently. What was it like to work on projects for such an iconic brand?
Kyle> The LEGO job was an extremely interesting and creative process. To be given the opportunity to work so closely on the content ideas and have a large amount of creative freedom to have fun with the films was a huge privilege
LBB> You worked with the director Harry Dwyer and took footage from the existing LEGO series to produce new content. Please tell us how that worked and what kind of challenges were involved.
Kyle> Me and Harry worked very closely on this project. Predominately locked in the edit suite for months trying to come up with funny concepts and to make sure the pieces reflected our specific humour references as well as ensuring they were entertaining in multiple languages.
This project was filled with challenges. But fun ones. We were challenged with making 15 different ideas by taking existing clips from the animated series and trying to find stories / content ideas that would essentially become standalone content ideas such as a faux-nature documentary called ‘City Planet” which, like all of these, had a team of researchers going through all four seasons finding clips that feature anything that could be used to tell that story.
One of the more challenging ones was where we referenced ‘The Two Ronnies: Sports Commentary’ and we matched cut scenes from the series that we cut into a forward momentum piece that told the story of the ‘City Games’.
We also made music videos, fake ads, a fashion show, and a whole film about the doors of the city. With a lot of these we had to make the edit before we could write the scripts due to not knowing what was possible with scenes from the series. Luckily my son was the perfect age to watch the series so what felt like endless hours of research was actually fun as I got to see his reaction and what he would like. He also helped with one of the scripts too!
LBB> You also worked with Simon Puschmann on a spot with ever-changing CGI for the car brand, NIO. What was the process like and how did you make it work?
Kyle> This was an interesting one as I had never worked with something that had such prominent use of that level of CGI. We had a few days together and made a cut that featured shots and moves that we would like to reference in the edit for the CGI team to make. This was for a launch of a new car that was being released on Christmas day and I think the design got finalised just a few days before. Which was more of a challenge for the CGI team than me, but this did make the delivery schedule a tad rushed. We had an amazing team here looking after it, so it was a tight deadline and constant hurdles but overall a painless process.
LBB> Are there any trends that you’re noticing behind the screen and in front, like getting involved in projects sooner?
Kyle> I know that I like to be involved from the beginning of an edit and to really get to know the director or creative work with them and try to create the best thing we can. I like to be able to work with, as opposed to – for – them.
Fraser> Recently my last couple of big jobs, it has been really helpful for me to be on set and trying to get a first cut/assembly together whilst we are still shooting. Sometimes before the end of the slate, it works really well, especially for timings, we can really start to structure an edit around actors’ performance, and we can work with the director to decide if we have enough or if we should do one more take for luck!
LBB> What does the idea of ‘creative excellence’ mean to you in the work that you do?
Fraser> Creative excellence to me is being able to really push the boundaries, and try to produce work that really does make people take notice.
Kyle> It depends on what you're doing, if it is creating a commercial, social content or music video, etc., the idea of creative excellence is different. When it comes down to editing I think if you don’t notice what I do I have done my job properly. But when it comes to general creative excellence, I think that it is being able to get the ideas in your head out and do it to a standard that makes you happy.
