Thundr
One Spot Built Across Two Sets
Thundr is a free random video chat app. No profiles, no swiping, you hit chat and you are talking to someone new. The team came to us wanting a white glove production, an idea handed over and brought to life as a polished ad they could run on YouTube and across social.
We produced a 30 second commercial and a 15 second cutdown, each delivered in 16×9 and 9×16, and we carried it from concept through delivery. Three concepts pitched and one chosen, a script, a storyboard, a cast, a crew, a bedroom set built at our Los Angeles loft, a green screen stage at our Los Angeles studio, and a post production pass that put every video chat window onto that laptop screen.
Thundr
One Spot Built Across Two Sets
Thundr is a free random video chat app. No profiles, no swiping, you hit chat and you are talking to someone new. The team came to us wanting a white glove production, an idea handed over and brought to life as a polished ad they could run on YouTube and across social.
We produced a 30 second commercial and a 15 second cutdown, each delivered in 16×9 and 9×16, and we carried it from concept through delivery. Three concepts pitched and one chosen, a script, a storyboard, a cast, a crew, a bedroom set built at our Los Angeles loft, a green screen stage at our Los Angeles studio, and a post production pass that put every video chat window onto that laptop screen.
Before the Cameras Rolled
The job started with three concepts. Thundr picked the one they loved, a college bedroom and a laptop full of strangers, and the script and storyboard followed from there. The storyboard was drawn frame by frame so the client could see the spot before a single light went up, and it stayed on the stage with us on shoot day.
Casting came next. We put out a call for college age talent, collected digitals and slate videos, and built a cast around the main pair on the laptop plus everyone they meet on the other end of the call. Each of those faces was booked to be shot on its own.
Then we crewed it. Producer, director, camera operators with their first and second ACs, a DIT, an audio engineer, a gaffer, grips, a props lead, hair and makeup, and craft for the whole day. Call sheet out, gear list pulled, and the loft dressed the day before so the morning of the shoot was about shooting.
Before the Cameras Rolled
The job started with three concepts. Thundr picked the one they loved, a college bedroom and a laptop full of strangers, and the script and storyboard followed from there. The storyboard was drawn frame by frame so the client could see the spot before a single light went up, and it stayed on the stage with us on shoot day.
Casting came next. We put out a call for college age talent, collected digitals and slate videos, and built a cast around the main pair on the laptop plus everyone they meet on the other end of the call. Each of those faces was booked to be shot on its own.
Then we crewed it. Producer, director, camera operators with their first and second ACs, a DIT, an audio engineer, a gaffer, grips, a props lead, hair and makeup, and craft for the whole day. Call sheet out, gear list pulled, and the loft dressed the day before so the morning of the shoot was about shooting.
Two Locations in One Day
The main portion of the spot was shot at our Los Angeles loft. Two flat walls went up and were dressed with the bed, the posters, the lamp and the clutter that makes a college bedroom read as a real place, then lit in the pinks and purples that carry the whole ad.
The second half of the day happened at our Los Angeles studio. Everyone the main talent meets on the call was recorded individually on our green screen stage, framed to match a laptop camera and lit to sit inside that screen.
Camera teams covered the loft while a DIT pulled cards between setups and an audio engineer captured clean dialogue on both sets. The behind the scenes cut here is the day as it happened, with the storyboard frames beside the shots they became.
The VFX in Action
Nothing on that laptop screen was there on the day. Every video chat window is a separate green screen performance, keyed, scaled and placed into the app interface, then tracked to the laptop shot by shot. The loft coverage was handheld, so the screen replacement had to move with the camera through every push in and every pan.
Once the composites were locked the edit was cut for pace. A video chat app sells on energy, so the cuts are quick, the music sits high and every member of the cast gets a moment on screen. Color was graded to hold the pink and purple of the set against the cooler light coming off the laptop, and the mix was finished in house.
The delivery was a 30 second commercial and a 15 second cutdown, each in 16×9 for YouTube and 9×16 for social, all built from the same shoot and the same composites. The finished spot is here, and the app itself is live at thundr.com.