Behind the Spec: How I Built a 30-Second Boxing Commercial Around Three Words
I spent days planning a 30-second spec commercial.
Shot it with Australia's Light Heavyweight boxing champion, Kirra Ruston. Built the entire narrative around three words: Discipline, Focus, Power.
Posted it to YouTube.
8 views. 1 like. Zero comments.
Welcome to the reality of content creation.
The Concept: Selling a Feeling, Not a Fight
This wasn't just boxing footage.
The brief I gave myself was simple: create a spec ad that speaks the language of brands like Nike, Under Armour, or any fitness brand that sells transformation, not just products.
You're not watching someone train. You're watching someone become something.
Kirra Ruston illuminated with dramatic lighting
The structure was classic three-act storytelling compressed into 30 seconds:
The Hook (0:00–0:03): Immediate immersion. High energy. You're in the gym before you realise what you're watching.
The Story (0:03–0:20): Training montage. Sweat. Tension. Visual complexity building to a crescendo.
The Pivot (0:20–0:26): Kirra reaching his peak and shows off his skills as a fighter
The Payoff (0:26–0:38): The slow down, catching your breath, and coming down as Kirra starts to rest
It's the formula every major athletic brand uses. I just applied it to a spec project with zero budget.
Filming Strategy: Controlled Chaos
I've shot plenty of brand work in Brisbane, but this was different.
Commercial work usually has a shot list, client feedback, and multiple rounds of revisions. Spec work? You're the creative director, the DP, the editor, and the guy second-guessing every choice at 2am.
Handheld filming with a single key light
The gear setup was straightforward:
Main camera handheld for real and gritty movement
14mm wide lens to exaggerate the gym space and create isolation
50fps for slow-motion impact shots
The filming sequence wasn't chronological. I shot based on energy levels and lighting conditions, then built the narrative in the edit.
Good spec work isn't about showing off your gear. It's about proving you understand story structure and brand language.
The Edit: Cutting to the Beat
This is where most spec ads fall apart.
You can have incredible footage, but if the pacing feels off or the music doesn't match the intensity, the whole thing collapses.
I spent almost as much time finding the right track as I did editing. The music needed to feel aspirational but not cheesy. Powerful but not aggressive. The kind of track a brand would actually license for a real campaign.
Kirra Ruston mid jab
Every cut hit on a beat or a breath. The slow-motion impacts were timed to musical swells. The transition from chaos to calm needed to feel earned, not forced.
As a Brisbane brand photographer and videographer, I see this disconnect constantly: businesses want cinematic content but don't understand why their footage feels flat. It's not the camera. It's the rhythm. It's the structure. It's knowing when to hold a shot and when to cut.
Why Spec Work Still Matters
Even with 8 views, this project was worth it.
I learned more about pacing and narrative structure in this 30-second video than I did in a dozen client projects. I got to experiment without stakeholder feedback or brand guidelines. I proved to myself that I can think like a creative director, not just a camera operator.
And now I have a portfolio piece that shows exactly what kind of work I want to do more of.
The views will come. Or they won't. But the work is real, and that's what clients care about when they're deciding who to hire for their next campaign.
Have you ever created something you were proud of that nobody saw? What did you learn from it?
Right, you've made it to the end. You're probably wondering who the caffeine-fuelled bloke dissecting photos is. I'm Christo Brits.
When I’m not writing these breakdowns over a dangerously strong flat white, I run my business, CB Photography. I'm a brand photographer based in Australia, and I use every single one of these principles—story, contrast, balance—to help businesses create images that don't look like they were pulled from a stock photo catalogue from 2004.
P.S. Want the shortcut to my editing style? If you dig the moody, clean look of the photos on this blog, I've packaged my entire editing process into Lightroom Presets. They're the quickest way to get a professional look without the years of tweaking sliders until your eyes bleed. You can grab my presets right here.