National Geographic Channel pulled out all the stops when it came to promoting the third season of its highly-rated “Wicked Tuna” reality series, setting up a seven-day shoot on location in Gloucester, Mass. with more than 45 production crew members.
Gloucester is the home port for the fishermen in “Wicked Tuna,” which follows the ups and downs of the incredibly lucrative bluefish tuna industry in the Atlantic. Seven different boats and their crews are featured in the upcoming season.
The cabler wanted to inject a bit of soul into the campaign for this season, and show that each of the captains and fishermen are real characters who do this to pay the bills, not just for the television cameras, said Andy Baker, SVP and Group Creative Director at Nat Geo.
“The key story beats we focused on were the action and the competition between the captains,” Baker told Brief. “There’s a real drive between these guys to win.”
The result is a series of three cinematic, story-driven spots that also play up the harsh environment of the sea (cue the mist!).
Alongside Chicago-based Evolve, Baker and the Nat Geo team began working last summer on the extensive shoot, which included trucking in a lot of fancy toys to the Massachusetts shore.
There was the Techno Dolly, mounted on a hundred feet of railroad track. And the 360 Dolly track that surrounded some of the captains. And the Phantom Flex, Red Epic, Arri Alexa, Underwater Phantom Miro, and Sony F3.
And that’s not including their human manpower, which included famed underwater photographer Michael Muller, who helped capture some great underwater stills.
“I think the logistics are really challenging on a shoot like this. We had different boats we were shooting, so you have to have a production where the crew can be split apart,” said Andy Baker.
Five different production support boats worked with the seven ships regularly featured on the show. And it may go without saying, but getting the right shot is especially tricky when shooting at sea.
“You can’t always get the water to behave the way you want it to,” Baker said.
In the end, Nat Geo released three spots: a 45-second Macro piece focusing on the captains, a 30-second sizzle spot, and a character-driven video that focuses on some age-old wisdom.
The third season of “Wicked Tuna” premieres on Nat Geo this Sunday, February 16, at 9pm ET/PT.
Full Credits:
National Geographic Channel
CMO Courteney Monroe
SVP/Group CD Andy Baker
Creative Director Tyler Korba
Executive Producer Erin Newsome
Creative Director, Design Brian Everett
Production Manager Kevin Lahr
Co-Produced, Filmed & Edited by Evolve
GFX / Design by Evolve
Sound Design / Mix: Radium Audio Ltd
Production Team:
Director / DP Team: Joel & Jesse Edwards
Produced by Elizabeth Ai & AP: Tracy Chitupatham
Camera / Lighting Dept: Erik Ippel [Underwater Op], Chris Adams (Red Epic) Brian Heller [Cineflex] Christian Hins [Gaffer], John Antcil [Key G/E], Ben Wong, Kevin Van Egeren, Stephen Matters
Art Dept: Alexander Mann, Elek Hendrickson
Marine Coordinator: Joe Boreland
Post Production Team:
Editorial / Colorists: Joel & Jesse Edwards, Assistant Editor: Lauren Pecson
Visual Effects / Design / AE: Ryan Trommer, Joel Edwards, Ninos Houma
Score / Sound Design / Mix - Andrew Diey / Peter Malmquist - Radium Audio LTD
5.1 Sound Mixer: Ryan Pribyl
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