Haines Hall, partner/editor at Spot Welders, Venice, Calif., cut Ameriquest Mortgage Company’s “Surprise Dinner,” one of this year’s nominees for the primetime Emmy Award for best commercial. This is the second time a spot cut by Haines has received a nod–in 1999, that distinction was earned by a Miller Lite spot, “Dances with Dog,” directed by Tarsem of bicoastal/international @radical.media through Fallon McElligott (now Fallon), Minneapolis.
Hall’s latest spot to be nominated was directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ) for DDB Los Angeles. The hilarious spot, which premiered during the Super Bowl, uses an absurd situation to remind viewers that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions–just like Ameriquest won’t jump to conclusions when reviewing a mortgage application. In the spot, a man is cooking dinner, with the intention of surprising his sweetheart. As he’s cooking, the woman’s white cat knocks a pot of tomato sauce off of the stove, splattering itself. The innocent man, chopping vegetables with a large knife, quickly picks up the feline–just in time for the woman to walk into the apartment and assume that her boyfriend is preparing her pet for the main course.
“I liked the idea, it was pretty out there,” relates Hall. “You don’t really know what they’re getting at when this commercial starts, but I like ads like that where you’re sort of baffled as you go along, and then it all kind of clicks at the end.”
It was the first time that Hall had collaborated with Gillespie, whom he said understands the edit process, meaning the director was good with timing and had a clear idea of what he wanted when the edit began.
For another spot he cut this year, Hall moved away from humor, embracing the surreal for the adidas spot “Hello Tomorrow,” out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco. Hall worked with director Spike Jonze of MJZ on the spot. “Hello Tomorrow” features a sleepwalking man, who successfully navigates a dreamscape with adidas_1 sneakers. The man seems to wake, and his sneakers gravitate to his feet, he then runs and flies through perilous settings–including an encounter with a bear. To illustrate his vision for the strange world of “Hello Tomorrow,” Jonze acted out the sequence for Haines, with summersaults and other acrobatic moves. The spot won a Gold Lion at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival for corporate image, and it also scored the first-ever Lion for best use of music; the spot featured a dreamy tune performed by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
“Spike is always fun to work with–it’s like working with your little brother in a way. He always seems to be having fun,” explains Hall, who has worked with the director on spots for Levi’s and music videos for the likes of the Beastie Boys and Weezer. “… He directs in a more instinctual way I think, and it allows me [while editing] a little more freedom to interpret what he’s saying and then try to make it happen.”
Hall embraces the variety in his work, noting that collaborating with different people and ideas keeps the process fresh. At Spot Welders, which he’s been with since 1995, he works primarily on spots and says that he enjoys helping people achieve the visions they have for commercials in a short period of time. “There’s a fast turn around about it that’s fun,” he comments. He is currently working on a spot for the Honda Accord Hybrid through Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica, Calif.
In 1990, Hall began his editing career working in the vault at now-defunct Propaganda Films. His stay there lasted approximately four years, as he cut his teeth assembling reels and director’s cuts. He then decided to freelance for a time, later joining Spot Welders. In addition to his commercial work, he’s cut features like Thumbsucker (2005) and Paperboys (2001), both of which were directed by Mike Mills, who helms spot via bicoastal The Directors Bureau; Hall and Mills have often collaborated on projects. “Mike is always re-inventing himself, trying new and different ideas,” says Hall. “His work is always original and very well thought out–helpful for an editor. We work quickly as we seem to be ‘in sync’ when we edit.”
