Markenfilm 'Swing' In With A Winner For Santec

Markenfilm 'Swing' In With A Winner For Santec

There are certain products whose attributes sell themselves and certain ones where visualising the qualities are a little… trickier. Security cameras, whilst undeniably useful and essential for safeguarding property and businesses aren't exactly the sexiest of products to sell, especially in a filmic manner. Despite this, Markenfilm in Hamburg have managed to create one of the year's most enjoyable and refreshingly surprising ads for Santec – 'Swing'.


The setup for the spot is simple enough – some CCTV footage catches a ne'er-do-well in the midst of an attempted break-in. However, in a delightfully surreal twist, the miscreant is then hoisted aloft by the camera's gaze and swept around the factory forecourt. Smartly and precisely executed, the spot, directed by Benjamin Brettschneider, is by far the best security camera commercial we've seen in a while!

We caught up with Markenfilm's Managing Partner Johannes Bittel to chat about the shoot, the concept and how many bruises the stuntman ended up with!

How did you get involved in the Santec project?

The agency Serviceplan called us and told us about the idea. We were excited right from the beginning about it as we all had the feeling that this commercial definitely fits in with the other successful commercials that have been done in the past for Santec.

The conceit – a man gets hoisted around by the security camera focussed on him – sounds pretty audacious. Were you confident you could do it justice when it was shown to you?

Having a great idea is one thing, executing it on set is totally different! Thankfully, after having had the chance to talk to all departments (stunt people, post production, director and DoP) we were pretty confident of having the right plan to bring this to life.

How much of the flinging around was initially proposed and how much did you guys come up with?

The flinging around was partly an existing idea, the rest of it was pure reality when shooting it. It was kind of tricky to create the feeling for the viewer in post production that our hero is really pushed by the movements of the security camera.

How did you shoot the stunts? Was it wirework of CG?

It was pure wirework, no CG work.

Were there any moves you weren't able to make? Did the shoot go as expected?

The shoot was pretty tough as we did not have too many points where we could stitch from one picture to the next. Hence we needed the flying as one take, and as always it was the last shot that we could do before the sun was rising again.

How did you ensure the safety of the unlucky robber? How bashed and bruised was the stunt-person?

As always on set and during a shoot - "Safety First". Our stunt man was covered everywhere. Actually the movements are all sped-up, so the actual movement of our hero was much slower and more controlled than it seems in the final spot.

Did the film require a lot of post? Ostensibly the film is pretty much a single take, but we imagine there had to be a bit of manipulation.

Some stitching and stabilizing some movements of our guy. We needed it to feel as though his movement and the movement of the camera were always parallel. There was also a lot of painting work to get rid of the wires.

Are you happy with the response to the film?

Very much, but as we have just started to put this one on different blogs etc. we will have to see how viral it can get.

What's up next for you guys?

Looking out for the next exciting project. We are working right now on a pretty big 360 degrees project for the Swiss market with all different kind of media. This could be pretty amazing when all comes together. Let´s see.

Posted on 10th May 2013