Stealing hubcaps used to be regarded in some circles as a rite of passage for juvenile delinquency. But surreptitiously installing custom magnesium alloy ("mag") rims on unattended parked cars is the offbeat twist in this :30 spec that serves as what in a sense is a directorial rite of passage for Andrew Hardaway, best known as a visual effects artisan with credits spanning commercials, shorts and longform.
"New Mags" opens on a guy parking his Volkswagen (VW) Beetle on the street to run into a store for a few items. Unbeknownst to him, his car is being stalked by a gigantic ball comprised of mag rims. We see a reflection of the hovering ball, which dwarfs the Beetle, in the vehicle’s side view mirror.
When the guy emerges from the store, grocery bags in hand, he is horrified to see the ball poised to attack his beloved Beetle. He puts up a gallant fight, as individual mag-capped appendages elongate from the ball and reach out toward the automobile.
The contents of the man’s grocery bags spill out all over the parking lot, and at one point, he swings a loaf of bread at one of the appendages-but to no avail. The arms cover each tire and rotate briefly, installing four shiny, stylish, new mag wheel hubcaps onto the car. The guy looks at his new mags in amazement as the giant ball takes off, presumably headed to the next Beetle on its hit list.
An end tag simply reads, "Custom Alloy Rims," accompanied by the VW logo.
Entitled "New Mags," this spec piece was created, written and directed by the New York-based Hardaway, whose full-time gig is as a freelance visual effects supervisor. In-between those effects assignments, Hardaway directs and builds his reel, the funding for his spec fare coming from his effects supervision endeavors. Prior to freelancing for the past year and a half, Hardaway was an effects supervisor at Radium, the digital effects studio with bases of operation in San Francisco and Santa Monica. Previously, he worked as a CG artist for Industrial Light+Magic, San Rafael, Calif., from 1996 to ’00.
Among Hardaway’s visual effects credits are assorted spots (7-Up, Acura), Mike Nichol’s Angels in America for HBO Films and a couple of the BMW shorts in "The Hire" series (Ambush directed by the late John Frankenheimer, and Chosen helmed by Ang Lee; both produced by bicoastal Anonymous Content for Fallon Minneapolis).
Since Hardaway caught the directing bug, however, he has been looking to expand into that discipline via visual storytelling. He served as a second unit director on Frankenheimer’s film for HBO, Path to War. He also directed a Lexus spec spot, and now VW’s "New Mags" is his latest helming experience. Working over the years with directors such as Lee, Frankenheimer and Nichols has provided him with a master education in directing. Hardway, who’s currently unsigned as a director, described "New Mags" as being a "fictional urban myth: A giant mag ball rolls around in the wee hours finding older Beetles and updating their mags to the latest model year."
Offering Hardaway special assistance on "New Mags" was bicoastal Headquarters, with Shelly Townsend and Cyn Guzman serving as executive producer and head of production, respectively. Hardaway’s crew included DP Kevin Ward, first assistant director Peter Merwin, production designer Joel Lang and producer Nadine Brown.
The spot was edited by J.D. Smyth of Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles. Linda Carlson executive produced and Kathy Kogar produced for Rock Paper Scissors. The visual effects/post team at Radium, Santa Monica, consisted of Inferno artist/online editor Ali Leventhal, visual effects supervisor/lead animator Aladino Debert, 3-D modeler David Rindner, executive producer Matthew McManus and producer Sascha Flick. Colorist was Beau Leon of The Syndicate, Santa Monica, with Reggie Diaz producing.
An ensemble from Endless Noise, Los Angeles contributed heavily to the piece: composers Jeff Elmassian and Andy Rehfeldt; sound designer/audio mixer Kevin Keller; executive producer Celia Williams; and producer Kacy Palmieri.
Williams, the former director of broadcast production at DDB New York who joined Endless Noise earlier this year (SHOOT, 1/17, p. 1), characterized Hardaway as having "a very strong point of view. He knew precisely what he wanted and he was also very articulate. His focus, maturity and the quality of his work literally blew us away."
The principal actor in this spot was Ori Pfeffer. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
