Have you ever been thrown into the middle of a situation without the chance to fully orient yourself or get a grasp of what’s going on?
This commercial does just that, thrusting us into a scenario in which two young men jump from building rooftop to rooftop in pursuit of someone or something. They throw caution into the wind as they leap across the large chasms that separate several high-rise buildings.
Soon we see two other men doing the same thing, and it appears that they are in fierce competition with the first couple of guys. Graffiti seems to be integral to the contest—the daredevils are all armed with spray paint, which they use freely. However, we have yet to see what they’re painting on the rooftops.
A man on the streets below reads his newspaper, oblivious to the death-defying acrobatics going on many stories above him. The spot then takes us back to the rooftops as one of the guys knocks down some cylinders and building materials, putting obstacles in the path of the competing duo that’s right behind him.
The gymnastics continue as the young men roll and tumble across roofs, firing their spray paint liberally. Finally, two guys stop in their tracks and hold their spray cans over their heads triumphantly.
An overhead shot of the rooftops—nine in all—offers visual context and a full explanation: the building rooftops collectively form a tic-tac-toe board, with some spaces marked by huge, spray-painted O’s, and others by X’s. The X team has won, with three X’s in a diagonal row from top left to bottom right.
As we view this larger-than-life tic-tac-toe board, a female voiceover intervenes: "Games at a higher level."
The spot cuts to an end tag with the XBox logo for the Microsoft video game system. The parting voiceover asks, "Wanna play?"
Steve Chase of The Partners’ Film Company, Toronto, and bicoastal Reactor Films directed the spot, entitled "Tic-Tac-Toe," for agency MacLaren McCann, Toronto. (In the U.S., Chase directs via Reactor Films, part of the Stoney Road family of commercial production houses.)
Don McLean of Partners’ and Garbrielle Yura of Reactor Films executive produced the job, which was a co-production of Partners’ and Reactor. For Partners’, the producers were Rob Allan and Gigi Realini.
The spot was shot in Toronto by DP Dan Mindel. Sam Pecoraro was first assistant director. Production designer was Aaron Goffman.
The agency ensemble consisted of creative director Dave Kelso, art director Gerald Flach, writer James Dunlop and producer Sandy Cole.
Editor was David Baxter of Panic & Bob, Toronto. Post artist/online editor was David
Giles of AXYZ, Toronto, with John Stollar as executive producer. Colorist was Billy Ferwerda of Notch, Toronto. Sound designer/ audio mixer was the mono-monikered Rocco of Eggplant Entertainment, Toronto.
Donnie Ruiz, Kristopher Mines, Steve Puchalski, Kenroy Allen were this spot’s principal actors. 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 emailed.
