This :60 for software firm Sybase is set against a stark, white background. It opens with two men facing off across a tennis net. They are limbering up for a grueling match—the oddity being that each is desk bound, armed with a laptop computer instead of a racket.
Once properly warmed up, the business suit-clad combatants throw themselves into the competitive fray, playing a game of virtual tennis as they exchange mouse clicks and keystrokes. The camera movements propel us back and forth over the net as if our eyes were watching a long, furious rally. The music expands and intensifies as the action builds.
The computer monitors add to the athletic feel, displaying montages of highlights from previous Sybase Open professional men’s tennis tournaments: Players volleying, serving, overhead-smashing and ground-stroking their way to victory.
Finally, one of the computer key-strokers clearly wins the match. The spot cuts from a shot of him raising his arms in victory, to a montage of similar rejoicing by past winners of the Sybase Open. Then it’s back to the computer court, where our victor’s worthy foe acknowledges his defeat, throwing down a wad of paper, as if throwing in the towel. A ball boy runs into view, grabs the wad and rushes off—providing some comic janitorial relief before the Open’s logo and dates appear.
Directed, executive produced and line produced by Tom Donald of Tom Donald Films, San Francisco, this spot has yet to air on television, but instead was projected on a 30-foot-wide scoreboard screen at the San Jose Arena, home to the latest Sybase Open. The ad was shot on stage at Richmond, Calif.-based The Barn, by Frazer Bradshaw.
The spot was conceptualized by creative directors Tracey Miner and Holly Seeler of Sausalito, Calif.-based ad agency Seeler & Miner Productions.
Steve Eagleton served as editor and effects supervisor via Seeler & Miner. Colorist was Gary Coates of Western Images, San Francisco. Audio engineer was Steve Bravin of Robert Berke Sound, San Francisco.
Robert Berke Sound’s Steve Eagleton and Bravin served as sound designers. Music was composed by Steve Shapiro of San Francisco-based Steve Shapiro Music.
