For TBWA/London, the selection of the director was paramount for the spot introducing Sony Playstation2 (PS2). The concept was that the PS2 system will take players to "The Third Place," a somewhere destination not otherwise accessible.
Trevor Beattie, creative director of TBWA/London, explained: "It’s not waking or sleeping; not the past, not the present. It’s a third thing. And this is about getting [director] David Lynch to interpret ‘The Third Place.’ "
The end result, a black-and-white :60, is a surreal journey in which a nervous-looking young man proceeds down a darkened passageway. First a stream of fire shoots across his path, temporarily impeding his progress. But he moves on, seeing off to one side a woman against a celestial backdrop. She puts a forefinger to her mouth, shushing him to remain quiet. Looking off to the other side, he spies a second man—his doppelganger—flashing the "thumbs-up" sign.
Smoke billows before our traveler, and strange sounds continue to surround him. He literally loses his head, which detaches from his body to take a spin through the corridor. Head and body soon rejoin, and now the man’s mouth convulses open, coughing out what appears to be a human arm.
Finally, he has arrived at the sought-after "Third Place." Seated before him are his clone, a man-sized duck dressed in a business suit, a morose-looking mummy and the aforementioned arm, gently beckoning. The duck welcomes the voyager to "The Third Place." A futuristic PS2 logo fills the screen.
Simultaneously, "The Third Place" is totally unique, yet familiar. Perhaps the familiarity comes from visual kernels that are in some respects reminiscent of such noted Lynch creations as the TV series Twin Peaks and his cult feature classic Eraserhead. Lynch’s filmography also includes Straight Story, Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart.
The TBWA team consisted of creative director Beattie, art director Bil Bungay and producer Diane Croll. The production companies were Great Guns, London, and Los Angeles-based Kintop Pictures. The ad was shot by DP Scott Billups. Producing for Great Guns and Kintop, respectively, were Terry Wordingham and Deepak Nayar.
The :60 was cut by Brian Johnson, a Los Angeles-based editor secured by Lynch. Tim Fulford of Red Square, London, edited the :30 version. Henry artist was Tim Greenwood of London-based post/effects facility FrameStore. Gary D’Amico of Kintop served as a visual effects artist. Audio mixers were Raj Schgal and Adam West at Grand Central, London.
Lynch created the sound design and score for the spot, with the musical arrangement by his colleague, John Neff. Additionally, Lynch lent his own voice to the duck character.
