Volunteer firefighters are often the first to respond when danger strikes, especially in remote regions and villages where professional firefighters’ arrival may be delayed. These brave volunteers not only help extinguish fires but also conduct vital community outreach.
In 2017, Ukraine approved a new strategy for the development of voluntary firefighter organizations, leading to a nationwide media campaign to familiarize the public with this movement. We were tasked with the job of showcasing a volunteer firefighter rushing to prevent a blaze and inspiring the younger generation through their actions.
Our mission was to evoke respect for these unsung heroes and to inspire the younger generation to consider volunteering. We’re proud of the resulting campaign, which effectively raises awareness and appreciation for these essential community figures.
Backstage
Preparation for the shoot lasted two weeks. One of the crucial tasks in this project was to find suitable locations, as, according to the script, our actor had to interact with them. Moreover, all locations needed to be close to each other since we planned to capture all the footage within one shooting day.
The shooting commenced at 8 a.m. We began by filming a scene on a building’s rooftop where our hero, the volunteer firefighter, was climbing up a ladder to reach an apartment.
Filming the shot where the main character is climbing up the ladder.
Our focus puller covers the monitor with clothing to prevent sunlight glare from interfering with focusing on the desired object.
Videographer Yuri is capturing the moment the toy plane catches fire while our artist, Vika Yanchuk, creates smoke using a vape. The smoke is necessary so that the light beam from the magnifying glass can be seen in the video.
The shooting at the first location ended around 11:00 am, after which we proceeded to the Dovzhenko Film Studios.
While we were unloading, Victoria started creating the decorations.
A character like this appeared on our wall within a few minutes.
Using old discs and bulbs found on-site, we began creating optical flares.
Vika is styling the hair and applying makeup to our main hero.
To add depth to the scene, we used a smoke machine. We went a bit overboard the first time and had to disperse the excess smoke.
While reading the book, our hero turns the page and sees a drawing of a burning city.
The final shot.
According to the script, some force was supposed to push our hero off the couch and pull him towards the place where a fire is igniting. Three people used a fishing line to move the couch and our hero to create such a motion.
Готовимся тянуть нашего героя.
After lunch, we headed to our next location on Kozhumyatska Street. Here, the girl in red (Yulia Dovhan) was supposed to distract our hero from his mission.
The girl in red.
But that doesn’t stop him, and despite all the obstacles, he does reach his goal.
Our main hero after shooting the final take.
In one day, we conducted shoots at five different locations. After that, we moved on to video editing, compositing (which involved removing the fishing line and a number of other unnecessary elements from the footage), color correction, music creation, and sound effects.
In total, the production of this advertisement took two months.
Client: Ukrainian Association «Pobratimi» Director: Anton Chistyakov Assistant Director: Roman Krasnoshchok Screenplay: Anton Chistyakov, Roman Krasnoshchok Producer: Dmitry Andilakhai Line Producer: Anton Strelets Actors: Evgeny Nazarenko, Nikita Berezin, Inna Kuzenko, Yulia Dovhan Focus Puller: Yuri Konovalsky Designer: Victoria Yanchuk Sound Director: Marina Mikhalyuk Music: Dmitry Gapochka Color Correction: Artem Sirko Backstage: Katerina Vovchenko 1st AC: Denis Tokarev 2nd AC: Bogdan Gaydash
Equipment: Main Camera: Red Pro 5.0 Sound Recorder: Zoom H6
Locations: Zhilyanskaya Street 59; Pobedy Avenue 44 (Dovzhenko Film Studios); Kozhumyatska Street; Postal Square; Sofiyivska Square.
Our shooting team at the end of the workday.