For Danny Ruhlmann, everything boils down to one key element: the visual. Last fall, the Australian-based director/DP, who is represented for spots by bicoastal Piper Productions, was able to bring his visual sense to bear on his very first directing gig: Jeep’s "Sunrise," via FCB Southfield, Mich.
Watching the spot—which Ruhlmann also DPed—the viewer would never guess that it was directed by a first-timer. Beautifully composed, the commercial is painterly in quality, imbued with a rich golden hue. The ad opens with a long shot of the African plain, and an enormous, liquid setting sun, against which is framed the silhouette of a giraffe. The Jeep enters the frame, as does another giraffe. The vehicle stops its forward progress, backs up, and then appears to slowly drive over the sun. The movement is real, organic; there is even a slight lurch in the handling.
Ruhlmann admits that being the director can be far more grueling than what he’s used to as a DP. "I found it much more difficult than being a DP on a level that included my time, energy and commitment," he says. "It meant such a greater commitment to the project than a DP would have to make. It was a lot more satisfying in the end. I was fortunate that the idea was so strong; and the job was more about executing the idea and making it work technically, as well as just taking my time photographically, to be able to capture these images."
Ruhlmann was not in the market to become a director when "Sunrise" came along. "It came quite suddenly and surprisingly," he recalls. "I’m motivated by visual beauty, and photography. I’d done a lot of work for Piper as a DP, and they had asked me whether directing would be something I’d be interested in. I said that if a pro-ject came along that I was right for, I’d be interested in new challenges."
One new challenge that cropped up for Ruhlmann during the filming of "Sunrise" involved the intricacies of location. Filmed in South Africa, the script required an area that would enable the vehicle to be shot driving almost on the horizon line—"but with no foreground, trees or grass or anything to obscure the image of the car," explains Ruhlmann.
A suitable location was found three hours outside of Johannesburg, when "we found a diamond mine nearby," reports Ruhlmann, "and we ended up using earth-moving equipment to create our own horizon. … In the end it was an ideal scenario. It enabled us to create the simulated sun, using the earth. That gave the vehicle the real kind of interaction with the ground as it drives over this huge mound. That kind of helped sell the idea—as it drives over the sun the car actually looks like it’s lurching and leaning, and the suspension’s moving the way you’d expect it to."
The use of visual effects after the fact was another odd element to get used to, Ruhlmann adds. "I had to change my way of thinking," he explains. "I relied very heavily on the postproduction people and their advice. But in a visual sense I just approached every element within the commercial and tried to capture those photographically as well as I could, knowing that they would come together and create a complete image that I felt was going to be beautiful."
Even though Ruhlmann clearly enjoyed his directing experience, he hasn’t directed a spot since—but not for lack of offers. "I haven’t taken the opportunity at this stage," he says. "If a directing spot comes along that’s kind of special, then it’s something I’ll do. … but I suppose I’m motivated by certain aspects. Those elements are the visual strength of an idea, and irrespective of whether I’m shooting a job or being asked to direct, that’s my main focus."
By his own estimation, only about 10 percent of Ruhlmann’s work is for a U.S. audience. The majority of it—about 70 percent—is for the Australian market. Volkswagen’s "The Times," directed by Iain Mackenzie of Window Productions, Sydney, via Foster Nunn Loveder, Sydney, won a London International Advertising Award for Best Cinematography in ’98. True to Ruhlmann’s aesthetic, the melancholy and wistful spot consists of beautifully composed images of people (and cars) in both color and black-and-white, accompanied by an updated version of the folk classic "The Times, They Are A-Changin’. "
As a director of photography, Ruhlmann says he’s been fortunate to have been exposed to different directors. "I make an effort to work with the best directors I can," he notes. And though Ruhlmann has had the opportunity to DP several feature films, he’s only chosen to do one, In a Savage Land, directed by Bill Bennett, and shot on location in New Guinea. The film fulfilled Ruhlmann’s main project requirement: stunning visuals. "We spent three months on an isolated island, and shot film that I’m very proud of," he states.
Ruhlmann’s education in composition and visual aesthetics began at the American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles. After school, he spent 10 years as a documentary cameraman, traveling around the world for outlets such as the Discovery Channel and 60 Minutes. "I really did like that," Ruhlmann remembers. "At that time in my life, that was wonderful. … I was always traveling and going to some amazing place and meeting amazing people. To me, it was just a way of life to work and live that way."
But as time went on, Ruhlmann knew he had to grow. "As I’ve matured a bit, my desire, my work, my ambitions have matured as well," he explains. "I became more interested in creating quality, and the frustration I had with documentaries towards the end was that I was running out of time and I didn’t have the resources to create what I could have created visually. So I looked at drama and commercials to try to satisfy that desire for quality. And that’s where I am at the moment. I think my images are becoming more sophisticated, and I’m pursuing the element of quality as much as I can."
In the future, Ruhlmann says, he’d probably like to DP a "big American film" at some point. As for commercials, he wants to do more car work, both as a director and a DP. "I just want to keep going the way I’m going," he concludes. "As long as there’s a challenge there, I’m interested in pursuing it."
