<a href="Therapy Studios’ resident award-winning editor Doobie White and <a href="A Common Thread‘s Director / D.P., Joshua Reis, recently co-directed a series of PSAs for the Alabama District Attorneys Association ZeroMeth.org campaign. The 60-second “Split Decision” and 30-second “Zero Chance” spots contrast people’s lives before methamphetamine use with the harsh reality after, using violent, jarring visuals and sound to emphasize the drug’s destructive effects.
The 2010 campaign was produced by <a href="A Common Thread for the D Groupe agency. The first ZeroMeth.org campaign, in 2008, had White aboard as editor and Reis aboard as cinematographer. White won an AICE (Association of Independent Creative Editors) Award for his efforts. While it was a collaborative campaign, the agency handed White and Reis the directorial reins in addition to their editor, cinematographer duties and both were given free reign creatively.
"On the one hand we had Joshua Reis as the Director / D.P. who brought beautiful filmmaking to the table," says J.P. McMahon, executive producer for <a href=". "On the other, we had Doobie, and because he had cut them in the past and did such an amazing job, it was an easy fit. Let’s get these guys together to make something that has a shock value to get people to take notice, especially for an anti-drug campaign. They worked as a great team."
Reis found the hyphenate, directing team concept to benefit the quick, two-day shoot. "The DP-editor as directors worked out really well on set," Reis says. "Budget and scheduling are tight and your resources are very limited – you really all need to be there on set rather than waiting for a conference call. For instance, a lot of scenes with the cheerleader we came up with on the spot when Doobie realized we needed more inserts."
The PSAs were shot on Super 16mm film to continue the aesthetic from the first campaign, but White and Reis wanted to up the ante and show more of the disheartening experiences of meth users. With the camera affixed to a Doggicam Bodymount, Reis filmed disorienting perspectives of the meth-using subjects. Reis used his own custom-built hand-cranked camera to shoot multiple frame rates for uneven fast and slow motion. It also allowed the cinematographer to get raw flash frames and double exposures. "Being film elements, they already have that film aesthetic rather than having to re-create it in post," says Reis. "I like to do a lot in camera and then let the editor take it even further. I think of it as a puzzle: You give everything to your editor, and he puts it together and Doobie is amazing at it." Colorist Jeremy Sawyer at Company 3 handled the transfer to high definition.
"The cool thing about spots like these are that you can explore," White says. "The agency came to us to provide visual ideas, and they were really supportive."
The most striking aspect of the spots are the before/after transitions. "There was a lot of thought to the transitions, which were not supposed to be seamless," says White. "They were kind of dirty with a double exposure. Josh was a huge key to that." With post work taking place at <a href="Therapy Studios, White worked with visual-effects artist/colorist Wren Waters on the Quantel eQ to build up layer upon layer of lighting effects, blurs and flashes. The graphics between each meth user "story" were designed by Kathy Lajvardi in After Effects.
White edited the 60-second "Split Decision" spot on Avid with a 1080 HD finish. "It started off as a :30," he says, "but by cutting the four different kids into a :30, the spot just became too fast. I felt it worked more solidly as a :60. I did one, and everyone loved it at that length." Kristin McCasey edited the 30-second "Zero Chance" spot. "A lot of spots like this you are figuring out in the edit," White says. "Kristin is really talented, and it was great to have her work on that spot."
Sound design and music composition were two more of the many hats White wore for the ZeroMeth.org project, and it was out of necessity. "In pulling music," he says, "I couldn’t find any needle-drop music that I liked that was affordable, so on my keyboard I recorded a piano ditty and reversed it, added distortion combined with sound design to make it feel uncomfortable. The thought process was let’s hit them with a ton of bricks on the transitions, when we break into a gnarly world sonically."
About THERAPY
<a href="Therapy Studios is a fully integrated post-production company whose unique, award-winning work spans commercials, features, music videos, and online media. The Los Angeles based company was founded in 2005 by executive producers Joe DiSanto and John Ramsay, and artists Wren Waters and Doobie White. They have since expanded into a collaborative team which includes top artists in all areas of post-production, including creative editorial, graphics, color correction, finishing, sound design, mix and interactive. <a href="Therapy‘s facility is located at 2010 S. Westgate Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90025. For more information, call 310.917.1507 or visit www.youneedtherapy.tv.
About A COMMON THREAD
Award Winning Los Angeles based film production company, <a href="A Common Thread, collaborate with a wide-range of national and international clients, advertising agencies and record labels. Partners, J.P. McMahon and Tristan Drew personally shepherd each project from initial conception, through post-production and out into the world. With a particular eye to the digital, viral and branded content we strive to continually create content that surpasses all expectations. Moving at the pace of technology, we embrace emerging digital media as well as fresh directorial talent from the US and around the globe. While we honor our roots in traditional filmmaking, we constantly explore hybrid filmmaking approaches that merge live-action, visual effects, motion graphics and other techniques to create new and alternative visual realities. <a href="A Common Thread is located at 4081 Redwood Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90066. For more information please contact us at (310) 823-7300 or visit us at www.acommonthread.tv.
