Praesidus Watch Co: Willys MB D-Day Collection
About the Project
Challenge
Praesidus Watch Co. needed a 30-second commercial for the History Channel that could tell the story behind its Willys MB D-Day Collection, with a very tight turnaround time of approximately 2 weeks from first call, but only 6 days from script to final cut and delivery.
The watches are made using material recovered from actual WWII Willys MB vehicles, so the commercial needed to communicate two key things: the watch is made from a recovered Willys MB, and the Willys MB played an important role in WWII history.
The piece also needed to feel more like a cinematic legacy story than a traditional product advertisement, combining archival D-Day footage, historical Willys MB footage, product cinematography, and voiceover—all on an accelerated production timeline.
Process
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Creative Brainstorming & Script Development
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Production Planning
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Virtual Set Creation & Product Cinematography
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Archival Footage Search
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Rapid Post-Production
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Delivery for Broadcast and Web
What We Did
Solution
Occulus Films developed a product-forward commercial centered heavily on the history and material behind the watch, putting the product and its story at the center.
The team filmed the watch using a small scale virtual production environment that simulated the beach at Normandy, a forest, mountains in winter, a desert, and a jungle, representing the ruggedness and versatility of the Willys MB, the watch, and its wearer. Since no modern footage of Normandy beach with anti-tank obstacles exists, the team’s lead editor & AI expert used generative AI tools to create a fitting Normandy beach background for the product hero shots.
Occulus Films shot detailed whole-product and macro shots on a dark studio background to focus the viewer on the watch’s craftsmanship, colors, and material recovered from a Willys MB. They included archival D-Day and WWII footage to connect the watch to the history it represents.
The production moved quickly. On a Saturday, Praesidus accepted the proposal. By end of day Sunday, the script and pre-production was complete. By close of Monday, the shoot was complete and a final cut was completed by that Friday end of day, including client revisions. The edit was carefully structured around the 30-second runtime and specs for broadcast television.
The Result
Outcome
The finished commercial delivered a concise, cinematic story that connected a modern timepiece to the history, material, and legacy of the Willys MB.
Despite the accelerated timeline and additional broadcast requirements, the project was completed as a polished commercial ready for History Channel. We also had additional footage from the shoot that provided Praesidus with social content.
Post Production Process
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Music and Stock Footage Search
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Rough Cut
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Client Feedback
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Final Cut
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Color Grading
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Broadcast Formatting
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Final Delivery
Deliverables
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30 second broadcast-ready commercial
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30 second web-ready version
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Raw product footage
