Thor, represented in the U.S. by Madheart, has directed a new spot for T-Mobile in which hundreds of people grab magenta-handled clubs and engage in a game of snow golf. Conceived by G7 and produced by Dynamo Film, the spot shows people taking part in a T-Mobile event in an urban park, competing for prizes by hitting golf balls (like the clubs styled in the brand’s trademark magenta) around a golf course laid out in the snow. A few of the golfers have skills, but most are novices, with one winning the grand prize after her ball bounces off a tree and into a hole.
Thor shot the commercial in a park near Warsaw, Poland with a cast that included more than 300 extras arrayed across several acres of parkland. The challenge, he said, was to give the scene the feeling of a spontaneous event. “We captured a lot of genuine feeling because once people got involved in golfing, they tended to forget themselves and just have fun,” he explains. “It no longer appeared staged.”
Thor faced a further challenge from the weather as the shoot days were warm and there was no snow on the ground. He overcame that obstacle by using snow machines to cover critical areas with white powder. The rest was added in post-production. “That forced us to plan very carefully,” the director says. “We created a huge aerial map of the park and used it to determine where to place the snow, what camera angles we could use and so forth.”
Although the spot was originally intended to run 30-seconds, Thor worked with agency creatives to produce an additional 1-minute version that ultimately went to air. A documentary crew also attended the shoot and produced a “making-of” video. The finished spots went to air in markets across Europe.
“The spot is different because it’s set in winter,” observes Thor. “Typically, spots about ‘get-togethers’ happen in the summer, but not often when things are snowed in and cold. Here the cold weather works well because it brings the human warmth to the forefront.”
Credits
Client: T-Mobile
Agency: G7
Production: Dynamo Film.
Thor, director; Baldur Eythorsson, director of photography.
Madheart is based in Los Angeles. For further information, call 213.995.4555 or visit www.madheart.com. The company is represented on the West Coast by Lisa Gimenez Toliver (lisa@lisareps.com), Hot Betty in the Midwest (cat@hot-betty.com) and Dana Dubay on the East Coast (dana@dubay.tv).
