Post-Production : Cinematic Sizzle Breakdown #1 | 2022 American Cinematheque Tribute to the Crafts by Benjamin Mehr

Hello Everyone! This is my first post to Stage 32, and hopefully the first of many. My goal is to post at least one sizzle breakdown a month because I have commitment issues, but I'll be sure to post more frequently if I can.

The goal of my Cinematic Sizzle Breakdown Series is to share some of my work in the sizzle reel market, and hopefully provide some valuable insights into what goes into these pieces. Furthermore, if you're in the market to have a sizzle reel made for your event, advertisement, or your own personal reel, please feel free to reach out. I'm particularly interested in working with brands such as Peacock, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Netflix, and Hulu.

THE BREAKDOWN:

The Beginning: I was honored to have the American Cinematheque reach out to me as they were looking to have a short sizzle made to open their inaugural Tribute to the Crafts event. This event is designed to celebrate all of the crew that put their hearts into each project but don't always get the recognition they deserve. They wanted something that did their honorees justice, while providing an energy to start off the show that would sustain throughout the entire event.

The Parameters: The client was looking for a 2 - 3 minute sizzle that featured 11 titles specific to the award winners.

The Process: The majority of titles for this event were powerful dramatic projects, which was suited well for a dramatic music piece to go along with it. The music is arguably the most important part of the process in any sizzle video. This was one of my earlier sizzle projects and I used this opportunity to experiment with cuts matched to heavier beat hits. Perhaps the best example of this is at the end of the sizzle. Many trailer music type songs have a building effect and land several heavy hits towards the end. It can be challenging to decide exactly how many cuts to implement for beat hits such as these, but I believe I found a nice balance on this one. I was also pleased with how the end card turned out by masking the text with footage behind it.

The Result: The client was thrilled with the end result, and shockingly no adjustments were requested after the first draft (very rare). Normally text for the title name is placed in these sizzles, but the client agreed that this one worked well without titles and because there weren't that many honorees. It was on this sizzle that I received perhaps my highest praise thus far when Joe Walker (Dune: Part One, Arrival, Sicario) mentioned that I have "Amazing milkshakes" during his acceptance speech. You can find the full event on the American Cinematheque's YouTube channel. We were also lucky enough to receive a Bronze Telly Award for this sizzle.

Thank you for taking the time to watch my sizzle, and I hope you found at least some of the information helpful. Subscriptions to my YouTube channel as well as shares are greatly appreciated. If you or anyone you know is in need of their own sizzle, please feel free to reach out to me at ben@bmoregrand.com. I'll see you at the next post!