This PSA opens on a talking head–but it’s the head that’s doing the talking, namely New Jersey Governor John Corzine, that provides the compelling message.
Corzine looks into the camera and says simply, “I should be dead. On April 12, I was critically injured in a car accident where I lost half my blood and broke 15 bones in 18 places. We then see multiple shots of the wreckage that was the SUV in which he was a passenger.
“I spent eight days in intensive car where a ventilator was breathing for me,” continues Corzine. “It took a remarkable team of doctors and a series of miracles to save my life when all I needed was a seatbelt. I have to live with my mistake. You don’t. Buckle up.”
A medium shot shows us that Corzine is on crutches as he makes his way off camera. At the bottom of the frame appears a notice that this message was brought to us by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) PSA was directed by Peter Zavadil of Stray Dog Films in Franklin, Tenn., for agency Tombras Group in Knoxville.
Tamera Brooks exec produced for Stray Dog with Lynn Glaser Harr serving as producer. David Waterson was the DP.
The core Tombras duo was comprised of creative director/copywriter Nick Vagott and art director Brian Potter.
Editor was Brent Farwick of Karma Inc. in Knoxville.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More