paolo wrote:Brian,
Doesn't it strike you as wrong to show California when you are describing the Philippines? What about the shots of crystal-clear water, are those also from somewhere else?
Not at all. I've produced commercials that have shown 80 countries and this kind of thing is so common. It's a pretty hostess with a generic blue ocean behind her. In those particular scenes, I'm not selling the ocean behind her, I'm not selling the property, I'm selling her. You need to realize, this isn't journalism, it's advertising. What I'm doing here is no different than what all the websites here do: casting your property in the best possible light be it through photoshop tricks, or gushy flowery (exaggerated) literary descriptions of properties.
I would be uncomfortable if the hostess walked to the edge of the sea and said "Look at this beautiful water! You could be here!" but she never does that. She's only on camera briefly if you think about it. It's a classic switchaway. It's done all the time in video production.
Can you really imagine a guest showing saying, "Hey! That's not the same blue ocean I saw in the video! It's two shades darker! and Where's that pretty little hostess!" These aren't realistic concerns.