I was watching a car commercial not long ago, and I got to thinking - just how many takes do they do to get the perfect shot at the end of the commercial where the "hero" car speeds into frame, jams on the brakes, spins about 120 degrees, and stops perfectly composed in the center of the frame. Of course, they could shoot many many takes, waiting for that "perfect" take, but that didn't make sense to me.
What I finally figured out is, shoot Super 35, allowing space left and right for a little error. When you get the perfect take for the spin, which means the car ends up facing camera correctly, you've got it, even if the car missed its ideal mark, because you are going to correct that position in post with a bit of pan and scan, and pushing in on the image until you have that perfect final composition. (The background on these shots is usually pretty abstract, so if you make your pan adjustments to place the car center frame, who's to notice?)
I mentioned my theory to a film buff, and he said, no, these guys are so good they can actually hit the exact mark when they spin to a stop. Not very damn likely, I'm thinking, so I like my explanation, and I would hope there are some experienced commercial folks who can tell me I'm right, or prepare to eat crow.
If you can back up your answer with a few commercial credits, that would be great. He is really a hard sell. ;)
