Director Michael Grasso’s newfound focus on reality-based storytelling is best exemplified in "Black Hawk," a spec spot he wrote and directed several months ago for the U.S. Army—a client for whom he’s done a considerable amount of work over the years.
"Black Hawk" revolves around a family having a discussion around their dining room table. The argument is ostensibly about why the son should join the army. Visually highlighted by a muted color palette and close-ups, the spot shows the son defending joining the army to his skeptical father. "Billy’s brother is flying Black Hawks," the son asserts, followed by his dad’s response, "Oh, so all of a sudden you know what it’s like to be a soldier." At one point, the mother comments, "They do pay for college," and her husband answers, "It’s a ticket out of here, Helen." But the ending offers a surprise when the heretofore silent daughter announces, "I report next Tuesday," to which the dad reluctantly says OK.
"I wrote it as a misdirect," says Grasso, who is partnered with managing director Diane McArter in Omaha Pictures, Santa Monica. "In the end, the son is defending his sister’s decision. I thought it would be interesting to tell the story from that perspective. It made it really impactful."
The army piece displays a new photographic approach taken by Grasso, who has previously been known for more a more emotional brand of storytelling. "The approach photographically was that less is more," says Grasso, "to take the minimum amount necessary to tell the story. I cut out everything that was unnecessary. Maybe ten or twelve years ago, I would have used extremely long lenses, a wide establishing shot, shooting people over the shoulder … reaching for those emotional moments. But now, I used prime lenses and moved the camera very close to the person, so that viewers were inside the moment—not outside looking in."
As Grasso sees it, the difference between the two types of storytelling is that the more emotional, heart-tugging spots would lead viewers as to what they should feel and think (supported by musical and editorial cues) whereas the reality-based approach is much more straightforward and lets viewers decide for themselves what to feel. "I think it’s important for directors to keep growing," says Grasso. "We need to assess the market, and adjust our skills and approach accordingly."
Another example of this reality-based approach is a Cincinnati Bell spot "Conversation," via Gee Jeffrey & Partners, Cincinnati. In the spot, a 20-something guy is traveling by car with his brother, sister-in-law and their infant son. They’re on their way to pay a holiday visit to their mother, and the ad focuses on a "conversation" the 20-something guy has with the infant in the car’s back seat. In response to the infant’s babbling, his uncle offers comments, such as, "No, no. Ed was the horse and Wilbur was the guy." When his cell phone rings (it’s his mother calling), he talks briefly with her before passing the phone to the baby. "The idea was to make it non-emotional; to not tug at the heartstrings," notes Grasso, "but instead to make it a real moment."
Grasso had planned to shoot the Bell ad entirely on location, from inside the vehicle using a camera car. However, the 20-degree climate in Toronto at the time of the shoot nixed that plan, forcing the spot to be shot on stage, with background plates shot later and composited in. There was concern whether "Conversation" would be realistic enough, Grasso relates, but the composites, done by Third Floor Editorial, Toronto, were undetectable. "I’ve been directing for thirty years," notes Grasso. "What job doesn’t have problems or challenges? As a director, you have to know the production process, and be able to problem solve."
Adaptability
Grasso has long known how to roll with the punches. He started directing in the ’70s in Sacramento, Calif., working in the art department at a local TV station before moving on to ad agency Wade in ’75. The shop was so small that he functioned both as a creative director and an in-house director on projects, he relates. In ’77, Grasso opened his own Sacramento shop, Grasso Productions, though which he directed broadcast promo work, initially for TV station KPIX, San Francisco, and later for stations nationwide, icluding WABC, New York.
When Wade’s owner, Fred Wade, died in ’81, some of the shop’s clients that had worked with Grasso subsequently approached the director. "They came to me," he recalls, "and said, ‘We want you to open an agency.’ " Thus, in ’83, Grasso simultaneously had his own production company and his own agency. "It got to be too much," he says. "I’d be doing a shoot for WABC, but also writing copy for print ads for the agency."
In ’87, Grasso closed the agency and moved his production house to New York, where, for eight months’ time, he lived with a group of five others (including his brother, DP Joe Grasso) in a 1,000 square foot loft co-op. His work for WABC attracted the attention of the former production house Dennis Guy & Hirsch; Grasso signed with the company in ’86. He proceeded to work through Lovinger/Grasso/Cohn (the company later split, forming bicoastal Cohn+Company and Lovinger Adelson Mahoney, New York) for four years, followed by a stint at Gartner/Grasso (now bicoastal Gartner)for three years. At the latter shop, Grasso first worked alongside McArter. The two would go on to launch Omaha Pictures in ’95. "She and I are very much of like minds," observes Grasso, "in terms of how a company should operate, and how a managing director should manage directors. And I had a great belief that she’d be a great manager and someone with great values."
Grasso notes that he’s been fortunate to enjoy a long career in the spot industry. In part, that longevity is due to his adaptability as a director. In the late ’80s, Grasso directed spots for Miller Genuine Draft that were then considered groundbreaking for their use of gritty, handheld footage. He subsequently became known for larger corporate image campaigns—such the Chase Bank spot, "The Right Relationship" that he directed three years ago for FCB New York, and "Rice, Mom & Kids" a spot he helmed for Biotech via Sawyer Miller & Company, New York.
Those commercials are worlds away from a recent anti-smoking campaign Grasso directed for the New York Department of Health via Korey Kay & Partners, New York. The four :15s—"Send Me The Money," "Money," "You" and "Will Kill You." Each opens with the voice of a teenager relating a statistic about smoking. In "Send Me The Money," for instance, the stationary camera is focused on the back of a city bus as we hear a male teen saying, "The tobacco industry spends over twenty-six million dollars a day to try to get me to smoke." The teen comes into frame, walking down the aisle and sitting down. "But I don’t want to smoke. I’d rather they just send me the money." This is followed by the supered tag: "We Won’t Be Bought."
The anti-smoking spots were meant to be a contrast to the "in your face" Philip Morris anti-smoking ads, according to Grasso. "The idea for this campaign was ‘Let’s not talk down to kids,’ but [instead] use techniques to pull them in [via] the reveal of a kid at the end of the commercial."
Among Grasso’s recent credits are: a new branding campaign for Pillsbury via D’Arcy, New York, as well as a PSA entitled "Accomplishments," for the Aging in New York Fund via J. Walter Thompson, New York, that combines still photos with live action. Currently, Grasso is in the midst of 20-day shoot in South Africa for a global campaign for Kraft via Ogilvy & Mather, Paris.
"Budgets are tighter for advertisers now," notes Grasso, "and they have to make a big impact with fewer dollars. Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen more jobs that emphasize substance rather than technique. In my career, I’ve always tried to make sure that the two things work strongly together."n
