Algė Ramanauskienė
Photography:
Gytis Vidžiūnas
At Pulsar, we build our brand on quality and innovation. And while the product remains our primary focus, we know that many of you are curious about the behind-the-scenes. If you’re one of these people who wonder how we come up with ideas, why we decide to go on a particular path, and how we make our content – this one’s for you. Today, Pulsar Creative Content Manager Algė Ramanauskienė shares how the recent feature video of the Pulsar Merger LRF XP50 thermal imaging binoculars was made. Read on to follow Algė and her colleagues on the journey – from idea generation to a pleasing result.
Coming up with a new approach for Pulsar product videos
We have wanted to introduce a new style for our product videos for quite some time already. It is no secret that competition in thermal imaging production is very high. Therefore, we strive always to be one step ahead of our rivals. The new video concept is one of these steps forward. It is our way to stand out and strengthen the connection with hunting enthusiasts all over the world by telling inspiring stories.
This particular video featuring the Merger LRF XP50 tells the story of a father and daughter. We decided to leave out some details, like the backstory of the main characters, because, at the end of the day, it is still a product video. Although I can give you some clues: the father and daughter have not seen each other for a long time as the daughter lives far away, studying in another city. Тhey meet after a long time and go to places that bring back good memories of time spent together.
This backstory is important because we wanted to highlight the emotions that hunting brings – it’s what hunting is about for many people in reality.
Each of us has a different idea of hunting. With this video, we wanted to show it as a mutual family hobby that connects people and evokes pleasant emotions. The Merger combines the newest and most advanced technologies, as well as classics and experience. Everything that is innovative and new is symbolized by the daughter – a young lady of the modern world. The classic form-factor of the binos and the many years of experience are embodied by the figure of the father. And finally, there is a common passion – hunting – that connects the two.
Before the launch, we asked several people to take a look at the video, and there was one comment that got stuck in my memory. Someone said that watching this video made them curious. They were interested to see how the story develops and what comes next, perhaps even the continuation of the duo’s adventures. Yet, for now, we intend to have different new characters for each new video.
The welcoming Austrians
We filmed this video in the Austrian mountains, and there are a few reasons why we chose this location. First of all, it’s the surreal beauty of the local nature. Mountains, forests, beautiful sunrises and sunsets… We would usually get up before dawn and then film until dusk. It is during the sunrise and sunset that we get the most beautiful and suitable light for filming. At midday, we would take a break because, at that time of the day, the light falls too directly, and distorted shadows are obtained.
The second reason why we decided to shoot in Austria is our amazing distributors, who helped us a lot with the locations and all the logistics while moving from one point to another. We were even allowed to use their little wooden cabin in the mountains! In general, they tried to help us with all they could, and we couldn’t expect a better welcome. Also, Austrians love Pulsar products, and hunting has deep roots in this country.
It takes a village
It would be hard to count all the people who worked on this video, but it was 12 of us who traveled to the location: representatives of Pulsar, our colleagues from Choco Agency, and two actors from Lithuania. After the casting, we brought them to a shooting range where professional shooters taught them to hold the rifle, to aim and shoot and not be afraid of the process. The daughter-actress liked that experience so much that she decided to visit a shooting range once again!
Of course, we are well aware that hunting and thermal vision sometimes causes heated discussions. So it was natural for us to ask all the candidates whether they have no restraints regarding hunting from an ethical point of view. And although the actors we chose were comfortable with hunting, they didn’t have much knowledge about it. So, during our travels, we talked a lot about it, and they were eager to learn more from different perspectives.
Months of work
It was our first video of this kind, so it took quite a lot of time to see it go live finally. The planning took about a month – we wanted to make sure every minor detail would be aligned. At the time, we worked on the story, casting of the actors, style, and so on. The shooting in Austria took us four days. And afterwards came the montage, which lasted for more than a month.
It was a really special moment to publish the video online finally. You know the feeling when after long weeks and months of corrections, your eyes get tired, everything seems the same and confuses you, you don’t understand if you’re choosing the right thing anymore? That’s what we had after multiple edits. But after a great amount of love from the audience, we realized we had hit the target straight to the point. It was really exciting to see that the organic traffic was very high compared to the previous videos. In simpler words, it means a lot of people watched the video because they liked it, not because it was advertised. For us, it was the best proof of being on the right path.
Staying away from the stereotypes
If you’ve seen our previous videos, you’ll also notice that the characters look different. Some time ago, Pulsar was prominent for a very precise type of men – bearded, gloomy, and serious faces. The characters present in the Merger video are quite the opposite. It’s the friendly, soft-hearted father and a young, sweet daughter.
When the first version came in, we showed the video to some of our brand ambassadors and distributors. They dispelled all of the doubts we might have had by telling us, “it was really interesting to see new types of characters!”
Yes, we wanted to distance ourselves from those stereotypes and to show that hunting is for all different types of people. I noticed this while working at the IWA 2022 trade fair and communicating with our brand ambassadors and distributors. By getting to know our audience, I realized that hunting is a beautiful tradition, followed from one generation to another. And most often, it involves the whole family: not only a man or a father but also the wife and the children. Hunting is for everyone.
Before purchasing any night or thermal vision device, please make sure you adhere to the local legislation and only use it when it is allowed. Our ambassadors come from various countries and travel a lot, which allows them to test different devices. We do not encourage or support the illegal use of our devices in any events. If you wish to learn more about export and sales restriction policy, please visit the following link: Export and Sales Restriction Policy.