Video Artist Denis Ogorodov’s Creative Eye Leads to Commercial Success, Even in the Midst of the Pandemic
In the modern age where consumers find themselves overwhelmed by content and constant sales pitches, it takes a lot for a brand to stand out. With our society being more and more visually focused, intelligent brands turn to video artists, like Denis Ogorodov, to help get their message out to the masses.
From using his visual effects magic to help showcase the latest weapons for the popular video game “Remnant: From the Ashes” to creating a stunning set of commercials for Doctor’s Best wellness products, Ogorodov’s creative input has been a massive contributing factor to the success of the commercials he’s worked on.
Ogorodov’s unique range skills allows him to seamlessly tap into what the brand envisions, and then use his creativity to create something that will help connect them with the consumer.
“What makes my skill set so unique and valued, and the reason why, even during this pandemic, that I am as busy as ever, is that I am able to provide clients an all in one package,” explains Ogorodov.
“I can edit, design, color grade and create VFX for their commercial, documentary or film. This is where the industry is headed, as tools become more accessible by the masses.”
Over the years he has worked on numerous high profile documentaries, such as Alice Gu’s SXSW Film Festival Award winner “The Donut King” and the NBC hit “Inglewood Made: A Paul Pierce Story,” as well as for some of the world’s largest brands such as Amazon Twitch, NBC, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Dodge Ram and more.
One of his recent projects was a set of commercials for Doctor’s Best, a physician-founded science drive nutritional company that offers over 200 health and wellness products. The company, which places heavy emphasis on the fact that their products are thoroughly researched, was looking to rebrand, and Ogorodov was their go-to man.
“This company wanted to rebrand their whole line of products, and they chose me to help them achieve that,” says Ogorodov, who completed the series of commercials from home.
“During the start of the pandemic, most conventional studios and productions had to shut down. So I was tasked with helping create a story that felt dynamic, and unrestricted while working with a small crew, cast and limited footage combined with stock footage.”
As the video artist on the series, Ogorodov almost single-handedly did the work of what would normally be handled by a large crew.
He explains “I was in charge of storyboarding, designing, motion design, vfx, color grading, video editing the commercial and the cutdowns for social media.”
While some might shirk at the thought of that amount of responsibility, Ogorodov loved the challenge, and the results prove themselves. Driving home the attitude of honesty, health and a deep connection to nature, the commercials represent Doctor’s Best perfectly and don’t require any bells or whistles to show off, which is exactly what the brand was looking for.
He adds, “I do my best work when I am given creative control, it was a pleasure working with Doctor’s Best marketing team which was looking to me to take initiative on the ideation of the design and cut of the commercials.”
There’s no doubt that the commercials led by Ogorodov, such as the latest one for their Clear Whey isolate protein powder, helped to boost sales for the company, which has an annual revenue of nearly $15 million.
He adds, “The campaign had a great response, and achieved very high viewership retention, I was very pleased with what we were able to achieve.”
The thing that sets Ogorodov apart from most is that he’s more than just a video artist — he’s a VFX artist, editor, director, colorist and so much more; and, the rare all-in-one nature of his game makes it easy to see why he continues to be tapped to lead big jobs.
Not too long ago the developers of the highly popular video game “Remnant: From the Ashes” called him in to use his VFX prowess as the video artist behind a series of commercials that showcased the range of new weapons they were unveiling.
Published by leading game developers Perfect World Entertainment (“Final Fantasy,” “Battle of the Immortals”) and Gunfire Games (“Chronos,” “Darksiders III”), “Remnant: From the Ashes” is a third-person survival action shooter video game set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by monstrous creatures. In order to entice players to get involved and test out the new features, it was imperative that the developers released commercials that were visually exciting and also true to the game.
Acting as lead video editor across the three-part campaign, Ogorodov skillfully worked on the developer’s version of the game to create dynamic and captivating graphics to really highlight the functions of each new weapon, while accurately representing the game.
In November 2020 it was recorded that the “Remnant: From the Ashes” franchise had sold over an astounding 2.5 million units across all platforms to date. Considering these numbers, and the fact that the gaming community are amongst some of the most enthusiastic fans of all time, Ogorodov had the giant task of ensuring that each feature he was digitally highlighting lived up to its huge reputation.
“I was responsible for capturing the in-game footage, setting up the scenes and the camera angles, then using this footage to cut three fast-paced spots, using in-game music and sound effects to stay faithful to the game’s aesthetics and mood,” he says.
“I also created VFX to highlight the featured weapons, and create dynamic lower thirds and graphics featuring the weapon’s different stats, such as fire rate and weapon damage.”
From his ability to edit, color grade and create the visual effects for a project to his knowledge of how to adapt visual content from one platform to another, Denis Ogorodov is a man of many talents, and he’s a cornerstone example of where the industry is headed.
