Ducati Spec Commercial - Ducati.ms

dantheadman · Nov 7th, 2011, 9:32 pm

Hey guys, name is Dan. I'm a studying Art Director at Art Center College of Design and I love Ducati's. So naturally, I saw it fitting that I decided to take up Ducati as a mock client for the reel. Like the title says, I'm shooting a Ducati spec commercial with a team of skilled photographers, graphic designer and a director. We've been on the hunt for the most optimal location to possibly shoot. We want a barren desert, mountains are fine, but something with low traffic and a clean road with just 1 way traffic going in each direction.

We've been to a couple different deserts; one out in Palm Springs, another near Vegas, and another one near Irvine, but the random drives out to these locations are killing us. I was wondering if any of you could help us out with some possible locations that we could scout. If any of you have ridden out here or have experience or even any suggestions, please let us know. Under 3 hours drive from Los Angeles would be best, but anything will be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.

Oh and the bike being showcased is a Ducati 848 Evo in red. We have something worked out with a Pro Italia rider. All he would be doing is going 40-50mph on this long stretch.

Wonway · Nov 7th, 2011, 9:48 pm

Ducati's and long stretches don't go together. HD may be more suited to that type of landscape.

For Ducati, try the spring greenery in the Tennessee / North Carolina mountains or a local Starbucks

.

A flat long stretch would only be doing a disservice to everything Ducati.

Also, is Art Center College of Design a Sally Struther's course? I thought I saw it on her infomercial.

redpato · Nov 7th, 2011, 9:59 pm

Pay no attention to the resident troublemaker. However, on the other hand, he is absolutely correct about long straight roads and Ducatis not a good mix. Depending on your target audiance, any knowledgable rider will know that. Aside from that, come up to Lancaster and the High Desert, a little over an hour from downtown LA. Do a Mapquest search of the area and you'll find many a long flat straight road to the northwest of the city. You just need to come up and scout out a location.

Sally Struthers course, that is too funny!

"in God we trust"

dantheadman · Nov 8th, 2011, 12:12 am

Definitely the troublemaker, I can see that haha.

But in all seriousness, the concept is a bit more driven towards a storyline which I won't get into for the sake of simplicity. However, we do need this long stretch of road and desert for the execution.

Redpato that's a great suggestion. We'll definitely hit up Lancaster and go scout it out. However, why do you guys say Ducati's and long stretches aren't a good idea. This is the first time I've heard something like this. None of the riders I've talked to about this concept bothered mentioning anything of the sort. I doubt it's because of their lack of knowledge as a rider considering the guy we will potentially be using in the spec commercial has ridden for pro italia for over 15+ years from what I'm told.

redpato · Nov 8th, 2011, 12:21 am

Ask your rider what model(s) of Ducs he's ridden and in what environment? If it's racing, as is their heritage, it is going to be on road courses that are full of curves, twists, and turns. There are sport touring riders amongst the brand but for the most part they, too, look for the long and windy road, not straight long boring roads.

"in God we trust"

stryder · Nov 8th, 2011, 6:49 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by dantheadman

Definitely the troublemaker, I can see that haha.

But in all seriousness, the concept is a bit more driven towards a storyline which I won't get into for the sake of simplicity. However, we do need this long stretch of road and desert for the execution.

Redpato that's a great suggestion. We'll definitely hit up Lancaster and go scout it out. However, why do you guys say Ducati's and long stretches aren't a good idea. This is the first time I've heard something like this. None of the riders I've talked to about this concept bothered mentioning anything of the sort. I doubt it's because of their lack of knowledge as a rider considering the guy we will potentially be using in the spec commercial has ridden for pro italia for over 15+ years from what I'm told.

If the reel is on Ducati "specs", then to showcase the bike on straight roads misses the point of the specs, ie think "features and benefits." The benefit of a Ducati feature/spec like for example the trellis frame, is it's very stable in corners.

The benefit of Ducati's L-twin feature/spec for example, is low end grunt and widely spaced power strokes to power out of corners with more traction. etc.

Mountain passes like those in the Sierra Madres come to mind.

DesmoDog · Nov 8th, 2011, 10:17 am

I don't think the term "spec" means the same thing to you two. I'm guessing the OP means spec as in no client, no one ordered it, they're just shooting it to have something to show people.

As for long stretches, an 848's claim to fame has to do with how it performs on racetracks and twisty roads, not long stretches of straight level roads. It would be like advertising a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Edition as a commuter car and not leveraging the whole off road side of it... Put simply an 848 is out of it's element in that situation. There are better bikes for that. I've never ridden an 848 but if it's anything like my 996, 40-50mph on a long deserted stretch of road would be a bad dream. Literally painful.

**scott** · Nov 8th, 2011, 10:31 am

LOL... spec = speculation

stryder · Nov 8th, 2011, 12:10 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott

LOL... spec = speculation

DOH!!

Still, it's better to shoot a video of any Ducati on some nice twisties, be it speculation or specification driven.

jack · Nov 8th, 2011, 4:19 pm

I have to go along with the others on this, a straight road and a Ducati? That is not the market Ducati is targeting. A train, a tractor-trailer, a bus, even a cement mixer ... they are going to be much happier on a straight road than a twisty road. That's just my prespective.

One of my favorite riding pictures is from a Honda advertisement. The picture is taken across a hilly field with just a two lane road winding up a hill. The solitary rider is at the top of the hill, leaning into a turn with nothing but the sky as a background. This picture is taken just before the rider disappears from view. You can't tell what the rider is wearing or what he/she is riding, they are just a dark sillouete. It said more about finding your own way and making your own fun on two wheels then any other advertisement I ever seen. I'll guess that was taken sometime in the early to mid 80's, in the rolling hills south of Laguna Seca.

Good luck with your shoot. Post some pics or a clip here ... there aren't any bad pictures of moving Ducatis, unless they are up-side-down ......