A Standout Innovation in Advertising and Behind the Scenes

Behind the Mac: Editing Severance is a fantastic example of how to make Behind the Scenes material that ticks multiple boxes at once.

It is an Ad, but it offers substance and value that most ads don’t.

It’s a Behind the Scenes featurette, but it has the budget to be produced with a level of polish that is rarely seen.

The biggest takeaway from what Apple have been doing recently is that by valuing the audiences time and attention, they have been able to create a level of conversation around their products that few advertising campaigns achieve.

They’re upfront about the fact that this is essentially an ad, however when watching the actual content, it becomes clear that they are actually delivering a somewhat in-depth look at the editing process for key scenes of the show.

Instead of the audience feeling betrayed when a BTS featurette turns out to be an ad, they tell us that it’s an ad, and then proceed to subvert our expectations by putting the advertising elements in the background, only subtly reminding us on the odd occasion that the editing we are seeing has been taking place on a Mac.

This is a genius piece of marketing, but does it work as a Behind the Scenes featurette? 

Yes and no, but given the low bar for Behind the Scenes material currently being released industry wide, I think this still stands out as one of the better ones.

We are seeing insights to specific scenes and how the creative process lead the editors to select the shots they did. My favourite part is when they show an alternate edit of a scene to demonstrate how using a different angle could have compromised the audiences perception of the moment, making it seem like there was little at stake instead of the claustrophobic tension intended by the writing.

This is clearly a staged setup, but they are at least trying to give the feeling that we are hearing conversations that would have taken place as the show was being edited.

The type of content being delivered here stands in stark contrast to a bland EPK clip of the actors sitting down saying “Everyone was great to work with, this is such a great film”.

Some of the things that could have been done better include the lack of substantial on-set footage. It feels like they’re making the best of the little they had to work with, and it’s a shame because there are so many creative conversations that happen on a set which could have tied in really well to their core message, while also delivering some great insights to the fans. Instead what we get is essentially a wide shot of Ben Stiller directing actors to “stand there”.

This is where I feel the advertising angle is a little short sighted. Rather than just a 10 minute ad focussed on editing with the Mac, what if you were to tell an engaging, well rounded making-of story and then tie the Mac in via additional clips like this, as well as the passive place it would take in the story?

Instead it does feel a little cheap that we are only being given meaningful behind the scenes material when the purpose is to sell something. (I’ve got another article coming soon about the very disappointing “Behind the Scenes” clips produced for Severance Season 2)

Apple have been doing an incredible job investing in their brand, even if it means the returns are long term and not immediate. I just wish they could have gone the extra mile here by creating an in-depth Behind the Scenes documentary (whatever format it might take) that they could then tie their ads in to. What we’ve got is great, but it’s still only 10 minutes.

I’m also impressed at the decision to feature such spoiler heavy content, which inherently makes this less of an ad for Severance. I do wonder though whether they could have done a less spoiler-y featurette first, and follow up with this later. Something without major spoilers could have also been useful for short social media reels to capture the attention of people who haven’t seen the show, or wouldn’t commit to a longer YouTube video. As a fan I’m happy enough with how they’ve done it, but I feel like other scenes with less spoilers could have also worked. Why not both?

I also didn’t feel that Theodore Shapiro said as much as he could have. It felt a bit like clutching at straws for something to talk about related to editing, when they could have shown more of his process. Maybe he didn’t use a Mac.

Overall, editing is a very hard thing to document and showcase, and I think they’ve done a great job. Most films don’t give you anything at all, so despite its limitations, I’m very glad we’ve got this for Severance.