English

Fantasea Fantasy – A Different Definition of Photo Advertisements

ע״י עידו גנוט

פורסם ב 27/06/2012

In some cases, enormous budgets, celebs and complicated productions aren’t required in order to produce a catchy product advertisement. Like many other companies these days, Fantasea Line, which manufactures and markets underwater photo equipment, decided to take advantage of the web’s great viral distribution capabilities and to create an amusing video clip with a twist. Here at MegaPixel.co.il we had an exclusive interview with Sharon Rainis, an underwater photographer who took part in this production.

Up until now, we have had quite a few close encounters with the talented underwater photographer, Sharon Rainis (including “Epson Red Sea Live Broadcasts at the Photokina Fair” in 2010 and the “Underwater Brides” project last year). This time, Sharon joins Fantasea on a creative and humoristic project, designed to promote one of the recent underwater compact housings released by the company. Below you’ll find the video clip, along with an exclusive “behind the scenes” images and a short interview with Rainis.

Fantasea Fantasy – The video

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEyX7gm0C_4[/youtube]

Interview with Sharon Rainis

Q: How did the idea of the video clip come up?

A: The idea came up in a meeting of the Fantasea Line marketing team while working on an introductory video clip for the FP7100 Housing. The creative team wanted to introduce an attention drawing item and therefore we spent some time on the web, trying to dig for some creative ideas in promotional videos. Our online journey made us realize that in the field of underwater photo equipment almost all promo video clips follow the same concept, that is, they feature a creditable and confident presenter who monotonously reviews the various features and functions of the product. We couldn’t help but think that there must be a more entertaining yet effective way to introduce a new product to the market. We were determined to come up with a creative video which will increase the awareness of underwater photographers and divers to the FP7100 system. Throughout the following weeks, we carried out quite a few brainstorm discussions, which eventually resulted with the “Fantasea Fantasy” video clip. Our intention was to focus on the fun experience this system provides rather than simply reviewing its quality features. After all and despite its compact size, this system is capable of producing professional results by all means. The message we planned to deliver was that the FP7100 Housing and the P7100 camera can and will fulfill the wet fantasies of any diver out there…

The little mermaid – Maya Shiri (Credit: Sharon Rainis)

Q: Where did you film, how large was the crew and how long did the production take?

A: We filmed the video in Eilat above and below the Red Sea. The production included two diving days, but practically speaking, it began two weeks before, when we started preparing a detailed script, schedule, team casting and more. All in all, we were a team of 7 divers, including 2 videographers, one assistant diver and 4 models/actors.

Award winning underwater photographer Boaz Samorai and I filmed both on land and underwater. Maya Shiri was the fantasy model, Esti Golubev provided Maya with air and assisted with underwater logistics, Roy Barkan was the Rasta man, Eyal Segal and Eial Gabai acted as Roy’s friends on the beach and last but surely not least – the fish of the Red Sea brought color and life into our frames.

Sharon Rainis underwater during the shoot (Credit: Boaz Samorai)

Q: Who plays the mermaid? Is she a professional diver (after all, she spent a considerable time without a mask underwater)?

A: When we got to the point of casting the “Fantasy-girl”, we had a very clear idea of how she should look like. We searched for someone that will make our viewers wonder if at the end of the day, their underwater fantasies really have to do with sunken ships and whale sharks.

Eventually we chose Maya Shiri to play this role. Maya is a diving instructor at Eilat’s Dolphin Reef. She was selected for her great looks and figure, amazing breath holding capabilities, great underwater performance without a mask and a charming attitude. We found her to be perfect for this job. Whoever took part in the filming could not believe that this was Maya’s first experience in such a production. Challenges included “coldish” water and the difficulty of keeping the eyes opened without a mask for such a long time, but the most difficult and challenging obstacle to overcome was the sense of total dependence on her support divers, as she was literally anchored to the sea bottom in order to stabilize her movements, this due to inherent buoyancy problems found when modeling underwater.

Maya completed the mission with professionalism as well as with much joy and courage.In addition to coping with these rough conditions, Maya had to really project her body language and to demonstrate an exaggerated yet appealing attitude for a video clip that was supposed to be amusing and funny.

It took Maya only a few minutes to adjust and to establish a sexy and amusing interaction with Roy. This was not always so simple due to fact that diving without a mask really limits ones vision and she occasionally wasted her most sexy charms on a large fish that was swimming by!

By the way, how come you didn’t ask me about the dog? After all, he’s the real star in this video!
Kelly is Boaz Samorai’s dog, my colleague and a well-known underwater photographer (Boaz, not Kelly). Boaz initially brought Kelly as he thought it would be nice for him to spend some time in the water while we film the video. However, as soon as we began filming, Kelly lost interest at the sea, and we figured that he won’t compromise on any other title than “Super Star in this video. He simply refused to get out of the frame! Since Kelly was an inseparable part of most frames taken, he accompanies the whole video, including the brilliant scene in which he elegantly and spontaneously pulls Maya’s red panties out of the sea, shakes them and takes them for a walk. A natural talent, isn’t he?

Hanging out on the beach (Credit: Sharon Rainis)

Q: What equipment did you use when filming the video?

A: We used Nikon Coolpix P7100 cameras accommodated inside Fantasea FP7100 Housings, as one of the messages we intended to deliver is that the video was taken using the equipment it was designed to promote. For the purpose of retrieving the red color absorbed by water, we used Fantasea RedEye Filters, specially designed for this housing, and compatible Fantasea lighting sets.

Maya Shiri underwater – its hard to keep the eyes open (Credit: Sharon Rainis)

Q: Can you tell us a bit about the product?

A: Fantasea Line released the FP7100 Housing for the Nikon Coolpix P7100 a few months ago. The housing is manufactured to the highest professional standards of function, style and durability. It is depth rated to 60m/200 feet and is fully functional with ergonomically designed and labeled controls.

The FP7100 Housing is ideal for outdoor and underwater photography. Underwater photographers can dive or snorkel and capture all the excitement of this fascinating world, while outdoor photographers also have the option of capturing the action of activities such as white water paddle sports, sailing, boating, surfing, fishing, hunting, backpacking and camping. The FP7100 Housing is shock resistant and protects the camera from water, sand, dust, frost and other damaging elements. It was also designed to be compatible with a complete Accessory System, enabling photographers to enhance the quality of their images.

Peter Rowlands, Editor of the prestigious UW Photography Magazine has recently reviewed this system and concluded: “The FP7100 Housing is the least expensive rigid housing in the market and I would argue that it is the market leader in terms of quality, performance and therefore value for money.”

Further information regarding this product can be found on www.nikondive.com. By the way, we have eventually also produced an introductory video clip that reviews the different advantages of this system, which you can watch here. We did our best to feature there something better and more interesting than a monotonous review, but it cannot compete with the creativity introduced by the Fantasea Fantasy video, no doubt about it!

Taking some air between shots (Credit: Sharon Rainis)

This story is an adaptation of the Hebrew Version of this article which can be found in the following link.

עידו גנוט

עידו גנוט הוא עורך ומייסד אתר הצילום מגה פיקסל. הוא מסקר חדשות טכנולוגיה מאז סוף שנות ה-90 וכתב וערך עבור שורה של מגזינים בינלאומיים מובילים. הוא עוסק בתחום הצילום מאז שנת 2009. עידו הוא גם מייסד שותף בחברת ההפקה Shooteat.co.il העוסקת ביצירת תוכן ויזואלי עבור חברות מסחריות.