🐔🐝🐮🐏 Stephen Austin Welch Writes, Directs And Photographs For PlayShifu.

Posted on July 10, 2022

Passion project alert! It started out as a completely commercial piece but for director/photographer Stephen Austin Welch, it quickly grew into something so much more. It’s is a perfect example of how he’s able to breathe life into a project. It’s a TURN-KEY comedy dialogue spot he was hired to concept – write – direct – edit. Producing Plugo Farm is a three part case study on Stephen’s passion, process and philosophy. Keep scrolling as Stephen tells us how this wonderful creative collaboration unfolded.

Producing Plugo Farm - my passion, my process, my philosophy 🎬

"Let me set the stage. When it comes to tv spots, branded content and documentary shorts, we offer a couple of different production methods:

TURN-KEY: written, directed and edited by KN+SAW

TRADITIONAL: boards from the ad agency, directed by KN+SAW, then finished at a post house.

This was a TURN-KEY comedy dialogue spot that I was hired to concept - write - direct - edit.

PART ONE - MY PASSION

This project began with selling the client on my original idea and concluded with having them telling me, 'We Love It!'

The client came to me early, about 8 weeks prior to the shoot, for both ideas and inspiration. There was no deck. There were no boards.

On our first Google Meet call, we discussed the new game, it’s S.T.E.A.M. Learning benefits, and their company’s passion - but we did not talk concept for the spot. Please note: this creative call was very different from most where I would be reacting to a script that had already been written and a concept pre-approved. Not with this call.

This scenario allowed trading philosophies, sharing learned experiences, and gaining mutual trust. We did not discuss concept for the spot at all. The actual concepting was completely left up to me once the call was completed. With all of this conceptual freedom, inspiration did indeed strike. As I began to write the script, and develop my pitch, ideas began to build, one upon another until I had created something very special and unique.

I presented my concept and the client loved it. I jumped on pre-production very early with my A-Team and that really gave us a leg up on logistics. As I dialed in the script, casting and locations with my producer and crew, this 'commercial' project quickly grew into a 'passion' project.

There was a collective feeling amongst cast and crew that 'this one' was special. In addition to feeling the reward of working hard, there was an air that was artistically recharging and invigorating for us all.

Often times when a client is sold on an idea, there will be a tendency for the client to pull back, and retreat to the safe center rather than sticking with the vision to execute the idea to the creative edge. I applaud my client for wholeheartedly embracing the comedic direction I scripted and in doing so, allowing us to take the story to the brink.

They would even go a step further and say, 'we talked as a team, and we thought what if…;'and their 'what if' would be an awesome idea! That’s when I knew we were truly on the same page.

PART TWO - MY PROCESS I have always adored the idea of a writing room - bouncing ideas off one another in a safe space. One of our most exhilarating moments of pre-pro was the writing room I put together with my animal actors and my producer. Over Zoom I gave each animal (Bee, Chicken, Sheep and Cow - mind you, both Front Half and Back Half) their detailed backstory. I had really fleshed out the personalities of these characters and how they interacted. For example, Bee is sassy and drives chicken nuts. Yet chicken holds her own and is bossy in her own right (she is the only one allowed to ring the doorbell!) The relationship between Sheep and Cow is also complex... you see, cow (being two people) is slow, and adorably lumbersome. Yet Cow always wants to be in front of Sheep. Sheep is bit of a spitfire. Once everyone was comfortable with their backstory and motivation, we started playing lines off one another. My idea was to have a 'dad-joke-athon.' So we came up with every pun under the sun and built lines around them. Since I knew the personality of each animal, I knew who to give the lines to and on who they should land. Lightning struck. It was a glorious, inspired, creative scriptwriting session with everyone participating. Subsequently, we set up a texting thread so anyone who thought of a new pun would text it to the group over the next week. The jokes were so bad, but certainly in the best of ways, and it became an inclusive experience for all and built communal trust with my actors. All of the animal characters I cast are improv actors or stand up comedians. I love the way they nail their physical comedy as well as their lines. I could feel their interplay nuances and how that lifts the piece. The buy-in from the client, crew and cast was phenomenal. We accomplished wonderful things on this shoot because of trust, camaraderie, reliability and collective passion. Interestingly, this shoot happened smack dab in the middle of Covid. We followed industry protocol to a tee, and instead of that being cumbersome, it made for a reduced stress environment. And if you are curious, the client chose to view remotely. I think part of that is obviously about caution, but I also feel that we built up so much trust during pre-production that they were confident in our commitment and abilities. So, what’s my favorite shot? Oh, that’s easy: when Cow is FINALLY bringing his butt (Cow actor #2) through the door to reveal Sheep still outside just shaking his head. In the editing room, with no sound yet, I laughed until tears - then watched on loop with wet cheeks, cracking up. BTW, Sheep is the stand-up comic.

PART THREE - MY PHILOSOPHY I’ve talked about my philosophy before, anytime I direct something long-ish, in this case 3 minutes, I always do shorter cuts. I do that from the start in editing by building the piece in sections that can later be broken apart. I consider each of my films to be a book that has chapters. This is ideal for social where you need content, but it’s gotta be quick. In this instance, I have cut-downs of :60 as well as a tidy proper :30. Then we have even shorter 'bite size' versions as teasers on social media. In addition to the broadcast spots, I also provided the client with a library of still photographs. This provided a well rounded set of media deliverables for their product launch ad campaign. One of the things I delight in about this spot is that it works on two levels. First, the viewer immediately understands the game through the reaction of both the kids and parents. The spontaneous reaction of the kids playing the Plugo Farm game is real. AND that is our trademark, filming 'connected moments' and storytelling that has surprise and payoff. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, what really makes me happy is honoring the product. We worked diligently to have the shots of iPad game screen unfold in chronological order to experience exactly what it is like for a child to play the game and be rewarded. This honors the mission of being a S.T.E.A.M. Learning game and reassures parents about educational screen time. Oh, and finally you may ask why I had the idea to turn 1 1/2 inch animal game figures into life-size characters? I listened very carefully to what was important to my client. They passionately explained how important it is for children to learn to nurture and care for their animals; and there was no better way than through a responsibility and reward process. I thought, aha! let’s showcase this concept by having the animals be as big as life, saying thank you, and bringing all of their personalities to life. This project filled me up. I love being the voice of advertising where I can bring just the right balance to brand awareness and brand philosophy through the art of storytelling.